No, Obama's grandmother didn't say he was born in Kenya

[kskiska]

Among those on television who've been covering the sudden public resurgence of the Birther movement -- but in a much more responsible way than Lou Dobbs -- is MSNBC's Chris Matthews. The other day, he beat up pretty badly on Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., who's a co-sponsor of the "Birther bill" that would require future presidential candidates to provide proof of their natural-born citizenship. Thursday, he hosted Watergate burglar turned radio host G. Gordon Liddy, who's fallen under the Birthers' sway.

Liddy himself looked decidedly unwell, and sounded out of sorts -- even Matthews seemed to realize that making him into a piñata would be unsporting. I'm not going to do it either, but you can watch the video below.

(snip)

In that interview, Sarah Obama does in fact say at one point that she was there for her grandson's birth. But that was a mistake, a confusion in translation. As soon as a jubilant McRae began to press her for further details about her grandson being born in Kenya, the family realized the mistake and corrected him. And corrected him. And corrected him. (The audio is available for download here.)

(snip)


Here's the conversation:

MCRAE: Could I ask her about his actual birthplace? I would like to see his birthplace when I come to Kenya in December. Was she present when he was born in Kenya?

OGOMBE: Yes. She says, yes, she was, she was present when Obama was born.

MCRAE: When I come in December. I would like to come by the place, the hospital, where he was born. Could you tell me where he was born? Was he born in Mombasa?

OGOMBE: No, Obama was not born in Mombasa. He was born in America.

MCRAE: Whereabouts was he born? I thought he was born in Kenya.

OGOMBE: No, he was born in America, not in Mombasa.

MCRAE: Do you know where he was born? I thought he was born in Kenya. I was going to go by and see where he was born.

OGOMBE: Hawaii. Hawaii. Sir, she says he was born in Hawaii. In the state of Hawaii, where his father was also learning, there. The state of Hawaii.

more…
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/

[BlooInBloo]

1. Step-grandmother.

[vaberella]

2. He still didn't manage to trip her up, but he was bloody trying. n/t

[CAG]

3. There you libruls go again spreadin outright facts and transcripts and context to

the argument!

[JaneQPublic]

6. As Stephen Colbert says...

...the truth has a strong liberal bias.

[FrenchieCat]

4. Yeah....like someone's step grandmother is gonna be there,

but the Maternal Grandmother isn't.

OF course, we are talking about a father who left his wife and son when he was two,
and didn't bother coming back around till he was 10.

Yeah....
Real close knit extended family. :sarcasm:

[EmilyAnne]

5. I listened to the tape and had to immediately take a shower. It was such a sleazy thing to do.

The "Christian" who conducted this interview kept telling Sarah Obama that he would get her a bible in Swahili.
It was an obvious ploy to make himself look like such a good man to the fundie audience that would be listening to the recording.
"Wow, what a good, Christian American that Pastor McRae is. Why, he even wants to send a Swahili bible to the Anti-Christ's grandma!"

Please.
McCrae is a disgusting man and anyone who can listen to that recording without getting the creeps has an essential chip missing.

[zbdent]

7. I could see numerous calls of "OBJECTION!"

followed by "SUSTAINED!"

leading and badgering the witness ...

[yellowcanine]

8. That is funny as heck. Wonder why the birthers don't play that part? Of course you know the

hard core birthers say it doesn't matter where he was born. He was not a "natural born" citizen because his father was a British citizen and that made him a British citizen or he was adopted by the Indonesian step dad and that made him Indonesian, etc.

[Dollface]

9. Obama 'birthers' are ignoring the real conspiracy about the veracity of his birth certificate

:evilgrin: Follow the link to the truth!

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/07/obama_birthers_are_ignoring_th.html

[Dollface]

10. Was his mother a US citizen?

[RamboLiberal]

11. Yes his mother was a citizen but the birthers have another ruse

to explain why that doesn't apply. Has to do with her age. Snopes explains here.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp

[Myrina]

12. Barack H. Obama SENIOR was born in Kenya ..

... so Grandma isn't lying. Or confused.

However, the media needs to keep in mind that there's a Senior and a Junior before they start trying to accuse the family of backpedaling, lying or wtf-ever.