USA Today is reporting that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal seems willing to do what his GOP counterpart in Arizona, Jan Brewer, did not: sign into law a measure that would require presidential candidates to prove their U.S. citizenship.
Brewer on Monday vetoed a "Birther bill" that passed the Arizona Legislature. Arizona would have become the first state to enact such a law.
Two Louisiana GOP legislators — state Rep. Alan Seabaugh and state Sen. A.G. Crowe — have introduced a bill that would require federal candidates who want to be on the state ballot to attest to their U.S. citizenship and provide an "original or certified copy" of their birth certificate.
Catalina Camia reports, "It's not part of our package, but if the Legislature passes it, we'll sign it," Jindal press secretary Kyle Plotkin told the Times-Picayune. Jindal says that he believes the president is a citizen but wants to make sure the law is clear in order to avoid further issues like the one plaguing President Obama.
About a dozen states, including Oklahoma, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and New Hampshire, have legislation pending or filed dealing with presidential qualifications.
Wow. We wonder if this bill includes parts about providing baptismal and circumcision records like Arizona's bill? If Jindal and the lawmakers believe that the president is a citizen, why move forward with signing legislation that is based in racism as opposed to logic? There is no need for a clarification of the law when the criticism has been about the president, not about the law, which is quite clear. The inability of some Americans to accept that there is a black man in the Oval Office is what's driving these critiques, not the law.
Jindal and the other GOP lawmakers' attempt to pretend that the Birther bill is about the law and not the man is pretty weak. It's called spin, and at The Root, we have another name for it: hogwash. They have taken their racism too far, even for other Republicans, and now they need a new angle, which of course is the law. At best, Jindal's duplicitous double-talk is transparent, and at worst, it shows just how gullible and weak-minded he thinks the American people are. That is truly the sad part about these Birther bills. So, nice try, but no cigar.
Read more at USA Today.
In other news: Obama Declares 18 Counties in North Carolina a Disaster.
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