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Dismissal of a challenge to President Barack Obama’s presence on the Kansas ballot Monday provoked an angry reaction from people both skeptical and certain the Democratic Party’s nominee possessed valid U.S. citizenship.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach, chairman of the three-person State Objections Board weighing the ballot complaint, said Obama’s name would be on the November election ballot.
Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer, all Republicans, generated a fire storm of controversy Thursday by delaying a decision on the complaint pending acquisition of authenticated Obama birth documents from Hawaii.
The complaint filed by Manhattan Republican Joe Montgomery asserted Obama was not a natural-born citizen because his father was from Kenya. However, Montgomery withdrew his 40-page claim Friday due to “intimidation directed not only at me, but at people around me.”
Mark Dugan, a staff member in the administration of Gov. Sam Brownback and the substitute for the lieutenant governor at the meeting Monday, made a motion to accept all new Obama birth documents acquired over the weekend and to close the case.
Before a vote could be taken, a leading figure in the “birther” movement that dedicates itself to questioning Obama’s citizenship status demanded to be heard. Orly Taitz, of California, said dropping the complaint registered in Kansas would amount to treason.
“You have evidence showing blatant forgery,” she said. “This is a matter of national security.”
She said Obama was using a Social Security number from the state of Connecticut. Previously, she has made a series of political claims: Obama donated money to Hamas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency is building internment camps for anti-Obama dissidents and Hugo Chavez owns the software company that runs American voting machines.
In 2008, Taitz filed a lawsuit in California alleging state officials failed to determine Obama’s eligibility for placement on that state’s presidential ballot. The case was dismissed in 2009 and the U.S. Supreme Court declined, without comment, to review the matter in 2011. A related federal lawsuit claiming Obama was ineligible to be president was dismissed in 2009.
John Campbell, representing the attorney general at Monday’s hearing in Topeka, objected to granting Taitz a platform to air her grievances.
“No, no, no,” he declared. “There is no reason not to adjourn.”
Kobach, who allowed Taitz to offer brief remarks, said Taitz had no right to formally intervene, because Montgomery had withdrwn the complaint and the board literally had nothing on the table to consider.
“At this point,” he said, “the board is without jurisdiction to rule on Mr. Montgomery’s objection. We have no authority to hear someone else. I understand you have very strong objections.”
Taitz and Kobach engaged in a rapid exchange of opinion — repeatedly talking over each other — about Kansas law on ballot challenges.
The vote of state board members to adjourn the 10-minute meeting was unanimous, but Kobach was intercepted at an exit to Memorial Hall by T.J. Gaughan, of Topeka, who criticized the state board for investigating claims Obama didn’t have standing to run for president.
“You’re phony baloney, Kobach. You’re full of it,” Gaughan said as the secretary of state left the room. “I’m an American, I can say that. You give validity to the issue by recognizing it and putting it in front of a meeting. It’s absolutely embarrassing.”
In lobby of the building adjacent to the Kansas Capitol, Taitz, Gaughan and others launched into a roaring exchange about Obama.
Taitz said the proceeding in Kansas demonstrated how government officials could derail legitimate complaints of wrongdoing.
“They are so utterly corrupt,” she said. “They covered it up. They swept it under the rug.”
A woman who declined to disclose her name swooped in to declare Taitz part of a “fringe group” that had no business infiltrating voting rights issues in Kansans.
“We should be ignoring this,” the woman said. “His mother was born in Wichita.”
Gaughan jumped back into the fray, but portions of his comments were inaudible over those of Taitz.
J.A. Lee, a uniformed member of the Capitol Police, put an end to the fracas by ordering Gaughan and Taitz to leave the building.
“You’re going to have to vacate the premises,” he said.
Kobach, in an interview, said he found no reason for people to hold the State Objections Board up to ridicule because it was responsibly doing its job to faithfully consider each complaint.
“Our objection board hears every objection. Some of them are strong. Some of them are weak. We listen to the facts. Then we make a decision,” Kobach said.
Kobach, an informal adviser to GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, said certified documents from officials in Hawaii confirmed birth records released by the White House were accurate.
“That, for me, settles the issue,” Kobach said. “There can be no doubt.”
http://cjonline.com/news/state/2012-09-17/kansas-board-drops-obama-ballot-complaint
The people of Kansas have a governor and attorney general who should both be arrested for possible collusion with the powers that be who back Obama. My heart goes out to them.
the nazi’s used the same tactics in the beginning and then escalated their hate to murder! occupy has already threatened murder! the govt does nothing!