Remember the "trial" that was actually a hearing before an administrative trial judge who was charged with issuing a recommendation to the Georgia Secretary of State? Well, he issued his statement to the Birthers today:
Basically, his ruling said that the birther's "evidence" isn't -- in the words of administrative law, their "evidence" has "no probative value". I.e., it's speculations, made up silliness, unproven / unprovable nonsense, nothing that counts as evidence in the legal meaning of the term. A state administrative judge doesn't have to comply with the full multi-volume stack of books that comprise the Federal Rules of Evidence, but in every state you can't just come in and say "The President's birth certificate is forged!" -- you have to prove it, with actual evidence. Otherwise you're just expressing an opinion, and an opinion isn't proof of anything other than that, like every asshole on this planet, you got an opinion.
And in case you're wondering, even if you're a world-renowned expert on Photoshop, saying "the President's birth certificate is clearly photoshopped!" is *still* just an opinion. Under the rules of evidence of *any* state, you have to *prove* it's photoshopped, your opinion is just an opinion, which is worthless unless you can produce the actual person who photoshopped it and corroborating evidence that he indeed was there and did the job.
If there was anything the birthers had that met the most rudimentary of the rules regarding what comprises evidence in a court of law, Obama would likely be off the ballot in Georgia. But they have nothing. They will always have nothing. Because their actual problem with Obama isn't where he was born. Their actual problem is what he was born -- i.e., black.
-- Badtux the Law Penguin
no shit and a yuk yuk.
ReplyDeleteI love your vid choice.
ReplyDeleteWhile correct re. evidentiary procedure, a verifiable document would be sufficient. As of now, Occidental College gas not released his student records (apparently @ Obama's request). The birthers have a contention that he received financial aid as a foreign student. That would be interesting, if there were data to support the contention.
It is a bit queer that the president would not be fully forthcoming with all of his scholarship data. The withholding merely adds fuel to the fire.
/snark on/ If the President really felt he needed all of his personal information out in the public realm he could just join Facebook. /snark off/
ReplyDelete[snarkon] I've not released my college transcripts or the details on the scholarship I received for my freshman year of college either. Guess that makes me ineligible to be President. [/snarkoff]
ReplyDeleteWe have this procedure for determining eligibility for office here in the USA. It's called the VOTE. Relying on anything more other than the crudest of pre-screens to pre-screen the candidates before they're allowed on the ballot puts us in the same category as the old Soviet Union or Iran, where only ideologically correct candidates approved by the Party/Ayatollahs/etc can run for office.
Of course, you can say that money puts us in the same category *too*, but at least that's not a pre-screen that relies on overturning the will of the voters, that's a pre-screen that works because voters, for some bizarre reason, insist on voting on the candidate with the most and best attack ads against the other candidates, i.e., the candidate with the most money. But it's still the voters who are deciding in the end, for better or for worse (for worse in way too many cases, alas).
- Badtux the Civics Penguin
It doesn't matter how much information the President releases, the birthers will continue with their nonsense until his last day in office. Not only can they not see straight, they don't want to see straight. They just want to make life as miserable as they can for the Obama administration. They are nothing but haters.
ReplyDelete