Birther Madness!

The Arizona legislature has become the first in the country to pass a so-called Birther Bill.  The law, if signed, would basically require any presidential or vice-presidential candidate to prove their US citizenship to the Arizona Secretary of State for the purposes of being placed on the ballot.

I'm certainly no expert on constitutional or election law, but it would seem to me that the determination of a Federal candidate's citizenship for a Federal office is in the purview of the Federal Government.  Although they say it has nothing to do with Obama (yea, right!).

I see several ways this could play out.  First, the Obama Department of Justice could sue the state claiming that the right to determine citizenship if a federal issue and not a state issue.  However, if the Obama Administration did try this, then the conspiracy theorists would see that as proof positive that Obama is simply trying to hide is Kenyan birth for another term.  Second, Obama can give an electoral middle finger to Arizona and simply not bother to put his name on the ballot as a candidate for President.  He has no chance of winning Arizona anyway, so how bad would it look to Arizona to not have a Presidential candidate from one of the two major parties not on its ballot.  In fact, Arizona could end up with no candidate from the Dems or GOP (more on that later).  Again, conspiracy theorists would see this as proof positive that Obama is trying to hide his Kenyan birth by not placing himself in a situation where the "truth" would be told.  Funny how conspiracy theories are always proven true by contradictory evidence.  Third, he could submit the necessary forms as specified (the long birth form is not a requirement) and then wait and see if our Secretary of State is a birther and reject his bid.  In which case, the conspiracy theorists would say, "See, we told you so!"  Or, the Secretary of State could simply say, "Yes, he qualifies."  In which case, the conspiracy theorists would claim it is all a plot of the liberal media to hide the truth.  Oh, wait.  They already are.  Never mind.


Now, here is the irony.  A recent story from the Atlantic, is asking where Mitt Romney's birth certificate is?  I don't know what reason Romney has for not showing his birth certificate, and I pretty much don't care.  No candidate running for President in this day and age is going to get away with not being a U.S. Citizen.  There are simply too many public records and recorded history to get away with it.  I have no doubt Romney is a U.S. Citizen, and a natural born one at that.  But, what irony would it be if he refused to show this information to the Arizona Secretary of State and was not put on the ballot, assuming he wins the GOP nomination.  How cool would it be for Arizona to be the first state to ever cast its electoral votes for a third party candidate, because they are the only ones on the ballot.  Arizona would be the laughing stock of the nation, surpassing Alabama for that time.

What?  We already are the laughing stock of the nation?  Damn.  Alabama, you need to work hard to get the title back for The Most Bassackwards State in the Union.