Arizona Senate Passes “Birther” Bill

 
Hawaii Native Barack Obama                    Arizona Governor Jan Brewer

Arizona’s state Senate approved a bill Wednesday that will require presidential candidates to prove they are U.S. citizens before they can be included on a state ballot. Prompted by challenges to President Barack Obama’s citizenship, see, e.g., here, and, therefore, eligibility for the job, the bill passed 20-9 in the Senate, and now moves to the state House for a final vote before heading to Republican Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk. Read more about the latest controversial bill from Arizona on Politico.com.

It is hard to say what is fueling the persistence of the “birther” movement and teh claim that President  Obama is not eligible for the Presidency. In the only provision of the U.S. Constitution of its kind for any office, the Constitution provides that “[n]o Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President.” U.S. CONST. art. II, § 1, cl. 4 (emphasis added). Despite the release of public records establishing that President Obama was born in Hawaii, his eligibility for the Presidency has repeatedly been challenged on the ground that he allegedly was born outside of the United States. See Samuel G. Freedman, In Untruths About Obama, Echoes of a Distant Time, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 1, 2008, at A21; Frank Rich, The Obama Haters’ Silent Enablers, N.Y. TIMES, Jun. 14, 2009, at 8; Dana Milbank, President Alien, and Other Tales From the Fringe, WASH. POST, Dec. 9, 2008, at A3. There is even a website devoted to the so-called “birther” movement, which CNN’s Lou Dobbs gave mainstream credence on his prime time news show before his abrupt departure in late 2009, see Michael Shain & David K. Li, Dobbs Gave Up on $9M, N.Y. POST, Nov. 13, 2009, at 15.

Besides being challenged as a foreigner, President Obama has been accused of being Muslim, even though he emphatically insists that he is Christian. See Angie Drobnic Holan, Fact: Obama Isn’t a Muslim, ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, Aug. 27, 2010 (“The Pew Research Center last week reported that 18 percent of Americans believe Obama is a Muslim, up from 11 percent in March 2009. A Time magazine poll also released last week found even more people—24 percent—said he was a Muslim.”).

The latest Arizona law makes me ask again:  what is going on in Arizona?

KJ