or black. except barack obama sr. wasn t a black american or an african-american. he actually was african. another, cadene boyer, is claiming the k in kansas in box 15 was produced by a typewriter not produced until 1963, proving the document is a fake. texas state representative leo berman, who we ve had on this show who repeatedly, repeatedly gave out inaccurate information or information based on rumors that were printed on the internet, you saw him a few moments ago, he told our producer, david puente, tonight, the copy is not certified. and i say that because it appears to be brand new for a document that is supposed to be 50 years old. he goes on to say, i wish it were a valid birth certificate so we can put this matter to rest. just because hawaii doesn t call tay birth certificate, they call it a certificate of live birth, some people apparently still don t believe it s a birth certificate. tonight on msnbc state senator steve smith, who sponsored arizona s birther bill, he
where the american people are going to go on this. maybe we can get the majority of americans to believe these illegitimate and should not be president. and other republicans openly stoked it. like the house republicans who co-sponsored a birther bill. it s gone way too far for too long. let s bring in the president of the national action network reverend al sharpton with us tonight. and professor of sociologist at georgetown university, michael eric dyson. gentlemen, great to have you with us. reverend, i ll ask you first. if this had been a white president, would we be seeking his birth certificate the way they have been on president obama and the work over we ve seen for 2 1/2 years? what do you think? frankly, i don t believe we would. and i don t think it is just the birth certificate, though, clearly that has gone way out of bounds. and the media coverage, the saturation day and night has been appalling. but now we ve also gone to questioning whether or not he was qualified to
obama s birth certificate has long been a settled issue. the speaker s focus is on cutting spending, lowering gas prices and creating american jobs. if john boehner thinks this is settled, he needs to show some leadership tonight. and force the republicans in the house to drop the birther bill that they are trying to push through. but don t hold your breath because we all have to remember, what the speaker of the house told brian williams. the state of hawaii has said that president obama was born there. that s good enough for me. would you be willing to say that message to the 12 members in your caucus who seem to either believe otherwise or are willing to express doubt and have co-sponsored legislation brian, when you come to the congress of the united states, there are 435 of us. we re nothing more than a slice of america. people come, regardless of party labels, they come with all kinds of beliefs and ideas.
president obama was not born in the u.s. or they weren t sure. so republican politicians wanting to capitalize on racial dissatisfaction, the whole idea that someone like barack obama was allowed to run for a job like this, they have found this to be a potent way to stir that up, to capitalize on that, to capture that, and they are not going to give that up. a congressman from texas today announcing that this whole thing with the president in the briefing room and the birth certificate only proves that we need a federal birther bill, like the one he co-sponsored back in 2009. newt gingrich responding to this incident today by saying of the president s decision to release his long form birth certificate, mr. gingrich s response was what took him so long as if to say the conspiracy continues. why did it take so long? the texas republican who is behind that state s state level birther bill announced already today that his bill is, quote, still on the table. we want to see a birth certif
session. so for president obama actually to give this press conference today was helpful for republicans because it puts it in the rear-view mirror so when they get to capitol hill on monday, they can move forward with these other pressing issues that they know is what the american people care about. they have to win independents. they don t need to win birthers. you say it s been a loser issue. i m curious. how long has it been a loser issue because none of the republican leadership has viewed it that way. and also, what about the birther bill that s in the house being brought up by a dozen republicans? i mean, it seems like the republicans have just been wallowing in this, that they really kind of love watching this spat going back and forth. well, the very first republican to encounter this issue, john mccain when he was running against president, then senator obama. he investigated the birther issue. he had a lawyer on it. i am very close to this lawyer. i know him very well. h