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Can Donald Trump Bring Birther Suit Against Obama?

Oral arguments before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals raise the question of whether Donald Trump could sue to have President Obama removed from the ballot for the 2012 election:

Leaders in the so-called "birther" movement argued their case over President Barack Obama's U.S. citizenship before a federal appeals court Monday in Southern California, claiming the full birth certificate he released last week had been doctored.

[. . .] The appellate panel wonder[ed] how the lawsuit could have merit, given it was filed after the election and Obama had already taken office. "You did not file a claim at the time when the kind of relief you would be talking about might be plausible," Judge Raymond Fisher said. "It doesn't do anything for your candidates now."

[. . .] Assistant U.S. Attorney David DeJute acknowledged the courts may be the proper venue had a lawsuit challenging a candidate's citizenship been filed before an election. "I think a candidate can challenge the qualification of another candidate, assuming of course that candidate does so in a timely manner," DeJute said.

(Emphasis supplied.) It appears that if Donald Trump runs for President, he could file a "birther" suit against President Obama and seek his removal from the ballot. The ball is in The Donald's court (pun intended), no?

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    Oh, good grief. (5.00 / 3) (#2)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:25:32 PM EST
    When are these people ever going to quit filing suit?

    It's funny that the GOP never mentions this kind of junk when they talk about "frivolous" lawsuits.

    Speaking of "frivolous" (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Peter G on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:35:12 PM EST
    The last time Taitz sued over the birth certificate, the judge fined her $20,000 for bringing frivolous litigation, and the appeals court upheld it.  The Ninth Circuit may do the same again in the present case, as well as dismissing it as moot (since the suit was a challenge to the "certificate of live birth" and she's trying to change the subject on appeal to a new document that was not in the case in the lower court).  Moreover, traditionally when someone has been penalized for frivolous litigation and yet persists, the fine the second time is greater.  Anyone else pursuing this baseless path should take heed.

    Parent
    Well, personally, (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by Zorba on Tue May 03, 2011 at 04:29:24 PM EST
    I want to see Orly Taitz's original naturalization papers so she can prove that she's an American citizen.  And I want to see the results of her English and Civics test, while we're at it.  Plus pictures of her taking the Oath of Allegiance.  If she can't produce all of those, maybe we should deport her as an illegal alien.

    Parent
    Well, of course not (none / 0) (#9)
    by Zorba on Tue May 03, 2011 at 02:54:55 PM EST
    When anyone else files a lawsuit that they don't like, it's "frivolous."  When they do it, it's of the utmost importance.  And while I'm typing away here- does anyone (who is old enough) remember any questions whatsoever about George Romney's birthplace when he was running for President in the 60's?  He was born in Mexico (in a Mormon colony), after all.  Granted, he didn't get very far in his quest for the Republican nomination, but I don't recall anyone even breathing a whisper of a concern about this.

    Parent
    I don't (none / 0) (#10)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 03, 2011 at 03:23:32 PM EST
    remember it happening but apparently in my readings of this whole birth certificate crap, Romney was accused of not being an American citizen along with Lowell Weicker who was born in France to American parents. So yeah, this isn't the first time this sort of crap has come around. I'm sure that if Romney had made it to the Presidency these nuts would be filing suits against him.

    Parent
    I'm no Constitutional scholar (none / 0) (#12)
    by Zorba on Tue May 03, 2011 at 04:08:08 PM EST
    (far from it), but I thought that if one of your parents was an American citizen, then you are automatically an American citizen, no matter where you were born, and so that makes you a "natural born" American citizen.  (And for that matter, the first several Presidents of the United States were not born either of American citizens, or on American soil, because there was no "United States of America" when they were born.)  I'm so tired of this birth certificate nonsense.  There are legitimate reasons to criticize Obama (or any American President), but this "Is he an American citizen" nonsense is just that- total nonsense.

    Parent
    You are (5.00 / 0) (#19)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 03, 2011 at 06:04:05 PM EST
    right. Weicker and Romney both were American citizens. It's just the same old crap with a new name this time around.

    The unfortunate thing is that so many people don't even know what constitutes citizenship. A friend of mine who voted for Obama thought that the children born here whose parents were illegal aliens wouldn't be citizens. When I told her that all they had to do was be born here according to the US constitution, she said well, that's dumb. So unfortunately this problem isn't just confined to the GOP.

    Parent

    that's what I always thought too (none / 0) (#13)
    by CST on Tue May 03, 2011 at 04:23:08 PM EST
    apparently we're wrong?

    I know a kid who was born abroad to American parents (two of them) who's parents rushed to a military base hospital so he would be born on "American soil" just in case...

    but it doesn't really make sense to me either.

    Parent

    I guess (none / 0) (#15)
    by Zorba on Tue May 03, 2011 at 04:30:23 PM EST
    we were wrong, then.  {sigh}

    Parent
    Different class of nuts (none / 0) (#18)
    by cal1942 on Tue May 03, 2011 at 06:00:45 PM EST
    in those days.

    There were a few rumblings about Romney (as I recall) but nothing like what we're seeing now.  It seemed mostly settled by the fact that his parents were Americans.

    If he'd won the nomination it may have been different but in a way the two cases are not the same.

    Romney's 'brainwashing' remark did him in pronto.  Comedians picked up on it immediately.  "The Romney doll, complete with washable brains."

    Parent

    Great comment Ga6th (none / 0) (#17)
    by cal1942 on Tue May 03, 2011 at 05:54:56 PM EST
    I would like to add that the GOP is only against ordinary people bringing lawsuits against their 'betters.'

    Parent
    I'm pretty sure that's a stupid admission (none / 0) (#1)
    by andgarden on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:17:42 PM EST
    I think Presidential candidate qualifications are to be judged by the Electoral College and/or Congress. I'm inclined to say that this isn't justiciable.

    Oh me too (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:36:32 PM EST
    But how much longer dc I have to kick The Donald around?

    Parent
    why wait till the general? (none / 0) (#3)
    by beowulf on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:28:11 PM EST
    Unless Trump runs as a Democrat, he wouldn't be an opposing candidate until the general election.  More likely that a birther files for the Democratic nomination and then files suit.

    Cuz in that case (none / 0) (#6)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:37:40 PM EST
    I don't get to blast Trump, which is the point of my post.

    Parent
    I'm going to be unhappy if Trump (none / 0) (#7)
    by observed on Tue May 03, 2011 at 12:56:28 PM EST
    doesn't stay in long enough for people to speculate about a Trump/Giuliani ticket.


    Parent
    Let's speculate now (5.00 / 3) (#8)
    by ruffian on Tue May 03, 2011 at 02:37:39 PM EST
    I speculate that would be a recored number of combined marriages. what a very pro-family ticket!

    Parent
    I like where Trump's head is at (none / 0) (#11)
    by beowulf on Tue May 03, 2011 at 03:37:51 PM EST
    He's running as a country & western Marxist  (as the National Review once dubbed George Wallace's mix of cultural conservatism and fiscal liberalism).  The harder right he goes on social issues, the further to the center he can go on economic issues.

    Thanks to the birther indirection, he's leading in the GOP polls even as he tells conservative supporters like Sean Hannity what he'd do about entitlement reform, "I don't care what plan the Republicans put, I'm protecting the seniors.."
    And when Hannity asks how he'd balance the budget, Trump changed the subject from deficits to jobs (taking a whack at China along the way), "Don't forget China is taking our jobs.... the best thing for balancing the budget is to have a strong economy. And the economy can never come back if we are going to always have high unemployment."
    http://www.newdeal20.org/2011/04/28/why-the-white-house-gave-donald-trump-a-victory-lap-43244/#comme nt-13648


    Parent

    He knows (none / 0) (#16)
    by NYShooter on Tue May 03, 2011 at 05:52:32 PM EST
    which buttons to push:

    "I don't care.......I'm protecting the Seniors."

    Parent

    yup, very clever angle of attack (none / 0) (#20)
    by beowulf on Tue May 03, 2011 at 07:02:44 PM EST
    He's leading in the GOP polls by locking in conservatives by going further to the right than anyone else on cultural issues (e.g. pro-birther, anti-China), at the same time he appeals to moderates by moving further to the left than anyone else (including President Obama) on fiscal policy.

    "When this country becomes profitable again, we can take care of our sick; we can take care of our needy," he told Human Events. "We don't have to cut Social Security; we don't have to cut Medicare and Medicaid. We can take care of people that need to be taken care of. And I'll be able to do that."
    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0411/53562.html

    Pretty diabolical (almost Armando-esque), he's running as Bobby Knight AND Bobby Kennedy. :o)


    Parent

    Does (none / 0) (#21)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 03, 2011 at 07:25:51 PM EST
    anybody even believe him on the cultural issues? I don't for one which could play in his favor if it was the general election. I don't know so much in the GOP primary though. My conservative friends don't think that he's a "real conservative"

    Parent
    anyone even believe him? gullible = GOP base (none / 0) (#22)
    by beowulf on Tue May 03, 2011 at 07:57:55 PM EST
    A new poll out from Rasmussen Reports finds that the reality star/real estate tycoon is now the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination.

    Among "likely" GOP primary voters, 19 percent said they currently plan to vote for Trump. Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee came next, with 17 percent and 15 percent, respectively. Sarah Palin and New Gingrich rounded out the top five with 9 percent each... This week's poll also shows that Trump is the most popular with primary voters who consider themselves part of the Tea Party. He was their top choice with 22 percent of the vote compared with the 16 percent he earned from non-members.
    http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2011/04/28/gop_primary_poll_donald_trump_now_in_front_of_mitt_romney_ mike_h.html


    Parent

    Gullible is (none / 0) (#23)
    by Ga6thDem on Tue May 03, 2011 at 08:08:10 PM EST
    almost an understatement.

    Parent