Anne E. Kornblut (Washington Post): After his major address on the deficit two weeks ago, President Obama sat down for an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos expecting a conversation about fiscal issues.
Instead, Obama faced repeated questions about the controversy surrounding his place of birth … the interview added to the growing sense within the White House that the mainstream media was perpetuating a dangerous myth.
Obama had grown incredulous at the overall debate. He had watched as even Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Rep. Paul Ryan had been sucked into the discussion of his birthplace, aides said … on April 19, in a meeting with White House counsel Bob Bauer, the president asked about the feasibility of getting his long-form birth certificate at last …..Last week, it was Obama who made the call to proceed. “He was the driving force,” the official said.
…the process began early in the week of April 18, after Obama raised the subject. White House counsel Bauer reviewed the legal steps necessary to obtain the long-form document, which is not routinely released by authorities in Hawaii …..When administration officials released the paperwork on Wednesday morning shortly after 9 a.m., it came as a shock to the political establishment….
….Aides acknowledged that there would have been a potential upside to keeping the obviously outrageous myth alive. “He did that despite the fact that it probably was…probably in his long-term political interests to allow this birther debate to dominate discussion in the Republican Party for months to come,” Pfeiffer said. “But he thought even though it might have been good politics, he thought it was bad for the country. And so he asked counsel to look into this.”
Full article here
The Obama Diary 
” … Pfeiffer said. “But he thought even though it might have been good politics, he thought it was bad for the country. And so he asked counsel to look into this.” ”
That’s the money quote and will be exactly how President Obama and his team do address it, to their great benefit.
Once again, they will point to the fact that the President rose above ‘politics’ to place the very real and challenging problems of Americans ahead of scoring cheap points by allowing the Republicans a few more months of proving to everyone that they are long – very long – on carnival stunts, decorated in racism, and completely short on governance.
“…but he thought even though it might have been good politics (allowing the birther mess to continue), he thought that it was bad for the country.” quote attribited to an aid in the artice cited above.
Enough said.
Wonderful article. OMG I’m watching Lawrence O’Donnell and he just called out NBC in the harshest terms possible. He basically called for people to protest NBC Entertainment and tell NBC Entertainment not to renew Donald’s show The Apprentice. He called NBC a joke and said they are pandering to a race baiter. Wow …. He was harsh and it was B-E-A-U-T-F-U-L to watch. He took no prisoners !!!!!
I missed it, and I would love to see it if anyone has access. Is there an organized campaign to protest NBC re. Trump? If not, there should be.
Hi dotster, watch Lawrence O’Donnell. This is a very good moment on Lawrence with the evil birther lady.Watch
I watched O’Donnell to and he have really been going after Trump and NBC.
Boycott NBC!!!!
I knew we had a smart and wise President! GO OBAMA!
Chipsticks, will the President’s fundraisers be televised?
Hi Halo, I’m not sure, I’m watching CNN’s live stream (http://edition.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=4) in case anything comes up, but nothing so far.
The first of the three fundraisers is over, the next two
9:25 pm – The President delivers remarks at a DNC event – Waldorf Astoria
10:15 pm – The President delivers remarks at a DNC event – The Town Hall
Will keep checking.
Got it. Will keep checking as well. By the way, the NYC Waldorf is fantastic.
😆 I walked through it once in my scruffy jeans and t-shirt, I didn’t feel too welcome!!
Lol, but listen Chips, I went to a Dinner Dance there many years ago now, and I had on a pair new Shoes, and I was not tipsy either, but when I went to the bathroom later after dancing, I looked down at my feet, and my shoes were on the wrong foot. LOL, I couldn’t believe It, Lol
Since I have been trying to figure out what set off Trump on this sick, senseless racist campaign against Obama, I thought this was interesting (wonkette/WaPo): I knew that the WH had rebuffed Trump’s offer to build a Trump wing onto the WH—probably some gaudy, gold trimmed thing—-but I didn’t know that he had called Axelrod and asked to be put in charge of the oil spill because he said he was good at “big projects”—ay yi yi. This was later on, and they were close to getting it sealed, and I’m sure they rolled their eyes big time at this presumptuous offer, but Axelrod called him back and said thanks, but we’ve got it taken care of. And during that phone call was when Trump then moved on to his offer to build a hundred million dollar banquet room addition to the WH. Axelrod said he’d pass this on to the social secretary—heh. And apparently no one was overly thrilled about this great idea, a T annex on the WH, and it must have steamed Trump’s itty bitty baby mind to no end, made him furious that he was dismissed—-he complained to some reporter about it—that he set out to “get even” and try to destroy Obama in retaliation. His over-inflated ego could not handle these rejections.
Thanks for the info. dotster. With all of the people like this (Tavis comes to mind and Jesse Jackson in the days of the campaign) their attacks are based on the fact that they feel slighted in some way, or jealous. PBO refuses to kiss anyone’s ring or to ask their permission, or the be impressed by some fool who is a legend in his own mind. The president has “stuff to do” and he does not have time for poseurs. He is what they all want to be and have no clue on how to become: a MAN. The little boys will soon all go away and cry in their milk as they fade to an old, irrelevant joke. The prsident’s display of cool power, lightly and intelligently wielded is the sexiest thing that I have ever seen.
So true!!!
This whole debacle was crazy. Soon we will be asked to show papers to vote, or get a passport, etc. It has already started, in Florida they are trying to get legislation to have married women show BC or not vote…WTF is that all about?
I think this explains why Anderson Cooper decided to do the birther expose this week and why Shep Smith stated “President Obama is an American Citizen. Period.” earlier this week – they got wind of Obama getting the “long form” released and wanted to get ahead of the release after dabbling in it just like everybody else for years.
I think you are right. They are so fake these media types!!! They all suck!!!
I agree 100 ./.