Camille Paglia Provides Much-Needed Intellectual Cred for Birthers

By Roy Edroso Thu., Sep. 17 2009 at 10:20 AM

Categories: Featured, Politics

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And you thought birtherism was just for hillbillies and Republicans! David Weigel heard Camille Paglia on NPR yesterday, where the author of Sexual Personae and UArts professor told a no doubt astonished latte-drinking audience that "there are legitimate questions about the documentation of Obama's birth certificate. I'm sorry, I've been following this closely from the start." Indeed she has; we noticed her railing on the topic as far back as November ("simple questions about the certificate were never resolved to my satisfaction"). Now that they've got a genuine intellectual on board, the birthers just need a popular entertainer to carry their message to the sheeple. Come on, Toby Keith, what are you waiting for?

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She is a filthy homosexual who teaches the values of the Beast to impressionable minds.
Tup Tup, disagree with a teabagger and you are named a liberal, if you really know me, you would know that I am far from being a. I believe in hard work, lower taxation, less government spendthrifting just as much as you but the place where I differ, I feel this whole teabag movement is a fraud because if you guys were really about less government spending you would also include defense spending, we do not need army bases in just about every country you could think of, do you teabaggers ever think about how much money that is costing us? <a href="http://steakandeggs.net">Steak and Eggs</a> Your hero Sarah Palin is already talking about Iran as WWIII, how many trillions will that add to the deficit, this is why I think you guys are frauds, there is not way you can be for cutting the deficit and have our military bleed money the way it is.
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One thing to think about is that not everybody is going to like or accept us in existence even if we like them. The comment which has upset you sounds like she doesn�t like you and is just trying to upset you - I wouldn�t believe about it as criticism but just an insult. The other thing that comes to mind is that people say nasty points for all types of reasons and issues - maybe she is jealous of you, or doesn�t like herself, or sees you as a threat, or wants to be top dog - all kinds of motives and really it just doesn�t issue because who and what you are is your company and it�s essential that you simply like you.
This is a good blog. Keep up all the work. I too love blogging and expressing my opinions. Thanks :)
Ok, for all of you who think Paglia has "gone off the rails", you clearly don't understand her. She is not about following ideologues. She has been widely touted as a dissident feminist. And while I don't agree with her on everything, if I were to debate her, at least that conversation would be based on facts and knowledge, not on spin and ideological drivel. As I said, I don't agree with her on everything, but I DO respect her. Because she's honest. And that's something that is sorely lacking these days. So I imagine for those dumping on her, that it is difficult to deal with someone who actually thinks for herself, researches her beliefs and backs up her assertions with more than just talking points.
Okay, Steve. Why is the birth certificate embossed with the state seal of Hawaii a fake? Please explain how you know?
I guess that there's at least one adult daycare that lets out early on Thursdays.
As a real big boy conservative who is also not a Republican, I love Paglia! She is asking a question that most clear thinking people without an agenda have. Of course, lemmings who are running off the "Obama cliff" are afraid of any questions (racists) as they mount, but that doesn't change the fact that they exist! So, exactly where is his Birth Certificate and why can't they provide it? Very simple questions! (And lying about having provided it in the past is not an answer! We have seen that fraud!)
Wait, did you just call Paglia a "genuine intellectual"???
Uh, guys? The governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, is a Republican who endorsed McCain. If there were ANY doubts about whether Obama was born in Hawaii, wouldn't she have addressed them and thus ensured a McCain victory? PS: Obama's birth was announced in the papers. A copy of the birth announcement is online. PPS: If Obama has to step down, you don't automatically get a Republican president. You get President Biden. Give it up, guys.
Camille is speaking the truth: there are legitimate questions about Obama. You tell 'em Camille! go girl! :)
[ignobility] said "Obama could release a video of his birth with the name of the hospital in the background, and these idiots wouldn't believe it." Wrong, because you have it backwards. He could NOT release it because those you call "idiots", and everyone else, WOULD believe it. He would be ruined because it would reveal what he is hiding. Or maybe not. Release it and let's find out.
Better trolls, please.
Roy You're a idiot. Toby Keith is a Democrat and an Obama supporter. Try getting your facts straight.
Obama could release a video of his birth with the name of the hospital in the background, and these idiots wouldn't believe it. Nothing can or will convince them that their claims are ridiculous.
Perhaps someone can explain how a person that admits to being a kenyan citizen and a subject of Great Britain, "at birth," can be a "natural born citizen? The British Nationality Act of 1948 provides in pertinent part as follows: 4. Subject to the provisions of this section, every person born within the United Kingdom and Colonies after the commencement of this Act shall be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by birth: Provided that a person shall not be such a citizen by virtue of this section if at the time of his birth -- (a) his father possesses such immunity from suit and legal process as is accorded to an envoy of a foreign sovereign power accredited to His Majesty, and is not a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies; or (b) his father is an enemy alien and the birth occurs in a place then under occupation by the enemy. 5. (1) Subject to the provisions of this section, a person born after the commencement of this Act shall be a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by descent if his father is a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies at the time of the birth ...." Under the British Nationality Act of 1948, Obama's father became a British citizen under Section 4 by being born on the soil of an English Colony, Kenya. Under Section 5, when Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii or some other place, he automatically became a British citizen by descent from his father who was a British citizen under Section 4.
Will you, Roy Edroso, pick up the phone and get the answers to the questions that HI is stonewalling me on? Sorry, we have calls of our own to make. Have you tried putting a handkerchief over the receiver and identifying yourself as Heywood Jablome?
It's fun to watch establishment DINOs throw another colleague under the bus.
A couple questions for Roy Edroso (in addition to the still-unanswered questions I've posted to his personal site): 1. In the recent case, did the judge apply different evidence rules to Taitz than to BHO? See this: 24ahead.com/judge-clay-land-shows-pro-obama-bias-dismissing-orly-taitz-b I know that Edroso will be able to handle that as a discrete issue and won't confuse the part with the whole. (OK, I suspect he won't be enough of a genuine intellectual to differentiate the part from the whole, and I know that BHO fans won't be able to do that.) 2. CNN strongly implied that HI's governor had confirmed that BHO was born there, despite the fact that she's never done that. The most she did was reference his HI roots in order to downgrade them; she did not confirm in her official capacity that he was born there as CNN strongly implied. Will you, Roy Edroso, pick up the phone and get the answers to the questions that HI is stonewalling me on? See the questions in the FAX here: http://24ahead.com/lingle-obama-hawaii
Paglia should go back to doing what she does best: telling college women that being date-raped isn't so bad.
"No 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; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States." Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, which became a state in 1959. Obama was born in 1961. If one really wants to cause some controversy, focus on "or a citizen of the United States," - perhaps Arnold Schwartzenegger can run for President as long as he's a citizen and have been a resident for at least 14 years.
"No 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; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States." Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, which became a state in 1959. Obama was born in 1961. If one really wants to cause some controversy, focus on "or a citizen of the United States," - perhaps Arnold Schwartzenegger can run for President as long as he's a citizen and have been a resident for at least 14 years.
If Obama was born in the USA, I just don't understand why he's spent over $1M to avoid publishing this information. That, and that alone has brought me from "this is ridiculous" to "gosh, maybe there IS something to this" Why would he invest this much energy and money in not producing it?
So many unanswered questions... - Long-form of birth certificate will answer some basic ones - Answers about foreign citizenship - Anwers about whether his mom relinquish his US citizenship and was he adopted in Indonesia - Answers about as who's citizen did he travel and lived overseas during his first 40+ years BEFORE he got his first US passport (that he says was in 2004) - Answers about his US or foreign student attendance at US schools - Answers about how if he or his mom give up his US citizenship did he regain it? - And finally, what is correct interpretation of the Constitution that some read as disqualifying someone who's parents are not both US citizens. Well, Obama has spent more than a $1M to avoid answers, the media has helped is effort, and now the Democrats are stuck for better or worse trying to keep a lid on this. But questions remain and nothing can be kept secret forever...
It's not just the Birth Certificate, what about the passports? Indonesian?
Interesting how none of the posts actually analyze the merit of her column...
Really, there are unanswered questions. If there is nothing to hide why is so much effort being expended to hide things?
Aww- Camille's not lockstep enough for you? Cry me a river.
Could not agree more. What happened to her? Age tends to turn people cranky. I always thought she was a bit irrational (though logical), but didn't think anything of it because she was saying things I agreed with. She has always been a side-blinded intellectual.
Could not agree more. What happened to her? Age tends to turn people cranky. I always thought she was a bit irrational (though logical), but didn't think anything of it because she was saying things I agreed with. She has always been a side-blinded intellectual.
I used to enjoy Paglia a long time ago but she has really gone off the rails. She spews republican bullshit in Salon all the time. I stopped reading her or paying any attention to her a few years ago. She's irrelevant anymore. If we just ignore her, she will go away.