Another Ridiculous Demand For Obama’s College Transcripts

Once again, people are demanding to see Barack Obama's college transcripts for no good reason.

Wayne Allyn Root, a former Republican who was the 2008 Vice-Presidential nominee of the Libertarian Party and now serves as the head of the Libertarian National Campaign Committee, has fired up conservatives with a piece at The Blaze where he purports to offer some advice to Mitt Romney

By attacking Romney’s tax records, Obama’s socialist cabal creates a problem that doesn’t exist. Is the U.S. Senate Majority Leader making up stories out of thin air? You decide. But the reason for this baseless attack is clear- make Romney defend, so not only is he “off message” but it helps the media ignore the real Obama scandal.

My answer for Romney? Call Obama’s bluff.

Romney should call a press conference and issue a challenge in front of the nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Simple and straight-forward. Mitt should ask “What could possibly be so embarrassing in your college records from 29 years ago that you are afraid to let America’s voters see? If it’s THAT bad, maybe it’s something the voters ought to see.” Suddenly the tables are turned. Now Obama is on the defensive.

My bet is that Obama will never unseal his records because they contain information that could destroy his chances for re-election. Once this challenge is made public, my prediction is you’ll never hear about Mitt’s tax returns ever again.

Why are the college records, of a 51-year-old President of the United States, so important to keep secret? I think I know the answer.

So, what exactly, is it that Root thinks we’ll find in Obama’s Columbia University transcripts? Well, to a large degree it boils down to the “Obama isn’t very smart” and “Obama is a foreigner” arguments:

If you could unseal Obama’s Columbia University records I believe you’d find that:

A)   He rarely ever attended class.

B)   His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School.

C)   He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student.

D)   He paid little for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid and scholarships given to a poor foreign students like this kid Barry Soetoro from Indonesia.

If you think I’m “fishing” then prove me wrong. Open up your records Mr. President. What are you afraid of?

None of this really new for Root, who apparently made his money in the Las Vegas sports betting business. Indeed, he’s been pedaling the “I went to Columbia when Obama did and I never remember meeting him” line, which he also says in this piece for at least three years now. Of course, the fact that he might not remember meeting one person among the large number of students at Columbia 30 years ago is probably more proof of Root’s failing memory than any conspiracy to hide Obama’s college years, but Root obviously doesn’t consider that. Indeed, in 2009 he was scheduled to appear at a birther “trial” of President Obama before he backed out after being criticized over it. He’s also not much of a libertarian either, which isn’t surprising considering that he was on the side of the Pamela Geller’s of the world during the so-called “Ground Zero Mosque” controversy, and in April he pretty much endorsed Mitt Romney for President rather than his own parties nominee. Why he’s give a position of responsibility in the LP is something I’ve never quite understood.

The reaction from the conservative blogosphere to all of this has been distressingly sympathetic. Ed Driscoll seems to think this is a good idea, as does Stephen Green. Theusual suspects are absolutely thrilled about the idea. The only voice of sanity I’ve seen on the right in response to Root’s straight from birther territory nonsense is Ed Morrissey:

People have criticized Obama for not releasing his college records, especially in 2008, when he ran as a super-intelligent outsider whose lack of experience was anasset to bringing a fresh perspective to Washington and policy.  Poor grades would certainly have been relevant at that time, but probably not so much today.  (Root argues in his piece that he thinks Obama scored scholarships as a “foreign exchange” student based on his years spent in Indonesia, but Obama had been in the US all through his high-school years, so that doesn’t seem very plausible.)

The problem for Romney in this kind of strategy is that it will serve as a distraction from his central premise: that Obama’s record as President shows that his policies have failed, and that the US needs new leadership, especially on the economy

I’d suggest it would also make Romney look like a lunatic and that it would do nothing to deflect criticism over not releasing tax returns. Indeed, responding to such demands by bringing up irrelevant nonsense about college transcripts that has been a central part of birtherism from the beginning would play right into the Obama campaign’s hands by making Romney seem as if he’s a captive of the far-right lunatic fringe. As Morrissey says, if Romney is going to succeed in this election it’s going to be because he focused on the economy, not because he engaged in some insane plan to force Obama to reveal thirty year old college transcripts that have no relevance whatsoever to the race for the White House.

As I noted when I wrote about this college transcript issue back in May, the whole thing really is exceedingly silly:

Ever since then, there’s always been a contingent of people in the media and the pundit class who argue that candidates for President should release their grades. I’ve never been quite sure what the purpose of this other than the hope that there might be something in there that would embarress the candidate. The fact that there’s not likely to be anything in there relevant to the election doesn’t seem to matter. In the particular case of Barack Obama, the demand for college transcripts is often pushed by the same people who have spent the last four years demanding to see his birth certificate, often making the erroneous claim that Obama was registered as a foreign student when he was in college, or that there is some admission in the college records that would prove he isn’t eligible to be President. For the non-birthers, the demands for transcripts is often linked to the equally erroneous belief that he wasn’t properly vetted in 2008.

As I’ve noted before, that last claim is completely untrue. If anything, Obama may be one of the most vetted Presidential candidates in recent history, at least when it comes to the things that actually matter to his fitness to be President (and many things that don’t I’d submit). When people talk about “vetting” now, they’re talking about things that they think are important, that voters have decided really aren’t such as the whole Jeremiah Wright issue, Obama’s association with Bill Ayers, and what grades the President of the United States got in college classes he took some thirty years.

Barack Obama has been President for nearly four years now, and he’s been on the national scene since 2004 when he delivered the Keynote Address at the Democratic Convention and, later that years, was elected to the Senate. The suggestion that we don’t know who this man is, where he came from, or that he hasn’t been “vetted” is simply absurd. What conservatives who repeat this meme are really saying is that Obama wasn’t “vetted” because the voters didn’t think mostly irrelevant things about his past should have disqualified him from the Presidency. Their effort to try to “vet” him now on issues like college transcripts is nothing more than a pathetically desperate effort to find something, anything that they can use against him in the upcoming election and I think it’s rooted in the fact that they still cannot accept that he beat them in 2008.

FILED UNDER: 2012 Election, US Politics, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Console says:

    Yet no one is demanding the privileged white guy’s college transcripts…

  2. FC_GPO says:

    Here’s the problem. In 2004, John Kerry withheld his transcripts while he championed himself as some great liberal intellectual. After he lost, his Yale transcripts were made available, and lo and behold, he actually had marginally WORSE grades at Yale than did Bush. So on the heels of that, you’d think the very next Democratic nominee would make darn sure to release his grades and get that out of the way. But he didn’t. Columbia’s graduation program indicates that Obama didn’t graduate with honors, so one wonders how he got into ultra-competitive Harvard Law School. If Democrats are going to insist that Romney provide documentation above and beyond what the law requires, it’s only fair to insist that the President do the same.

  3. Console says:

    @FC_GPO:

    It’s fair if romney provides his college transcripts…

    otherwise it’s just a stupid and illogical temper tantrum.

  4. JKB says:

    Ah but C and D in the list could be most damning. Obama may have defrauded the universities and possibly the federal government by claiming public assistance benefits for which he did not qualify. What are the consequences of a President who is a fraudster and who through his public policy encourages others to defraud the government or ignore federal law and regulations.

    In fact, I got a call from a guy who was at Columbia and Harvard when Obama was there and he said, “You know, JKB, he never did his homework. For ten years, Obama didn’t turn in one assignment”. That’s easy enough to disprove, Obama just need to release his transcripts.

  5. grumpy realist says:

    @FC_GPO: You don’t seem to have noticed what has been historically released by candidates for the presidency. Tax returns, yes. College transcripts, no.

    What Kerry released or didn’t release, etc. is irrelevant.

  6. stonetools says:

    Hey, let’s go all the way and ask for Romney’s elementary school report cards. That’s just as relevant as either candidate’s college transcripts.

  7. C. Clavin says:

    Considering that he is a Birther…my guess is Root doesn’t remember Obama because all black people looked the same to him…DIFFERENT AND SCARY…especially 30 years ago.
    But no matter…society can and will move forward without those like Root.
    Bottom line for people like Root…if you can’t dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.

    I find it amazing how many people are willing to stick their necks out for Romney on this…based only on the word of a man that has a tenuous relationship with the truth.
    Many corporations and wealthy individuals do not pay income taxes.
    http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/06/big-paychecks-tiny-tax-burdens-how-21000-wealthy-americans-avoided-paying-income-tax/
    It is well within the realm of possibility that Romney paid no income taxes…for at least one year, maybe more. There is only one way for us to know. It is clearly relevant information in a campaign that is largely about taxes and spending and the economy.
    On the other hand Harry Reid said that someone told him something…I don’t have a hard time believing that someone told Reid something…I’m sure people tell the Senate Majority Leader all kinds of things…now, that something may very well be wrong…there is only one way for us to know.

  8. Moosebreath says:

    Let’s take this on the merits. The reasons given are:

    “A) He rarely ever attended class.

    B) His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School.

    C) He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student.

    D) He paid little for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid and scholarships given to a poor foreign students like this kid Barry Soetoro from Indonesia”

    Of these, A and D would not be on the transcripts, and I strongly doubt C would be, either. So he is just setting everyone up for further fishing expeditions.

    Meanwhile, Root suggests that Romney offer to release “more of his tax returns”, which is remarkably vague. Does this mean Romney will actually release a full tax return (something he has yet to do to date)? A second year’s partial tax return? Or is he going to release the full 12 years of full returns his dad did? Or the 20+ years he gave the McCain campaign when he was being considered for VP?

  9. Console says:

    @C. Clavin:

    What kills me is that people are completely happy not demanding any transparency from their candidate (they don’t care about romney’s taxes or HIS transcripts), but all of a sudden Obama (who has shown more transparency by far than romney) gets this list of demands.

    Then they wonder why black people don’t like republicans.

  10. Moosebreath says:

    @JKB:

    “In fact, I got a call from a guy who was at Columbia and Harvard when Obama was there and he said, “You know, JKB, he never did his homework. For ten years, Obama didn’t turn in one assignment”. That’s easy enough to disprove, Obama just need to release his transcripts.”

    Clearly, you have never seen a college transcript. Nice try, though.

  11. Dave Schuler says:

    It’s a fishing expedition. Lot of that going around.

  12. mantis says:

    Root argues in his piece that he thinks Obama scored scholarships as a “foreign exchange” student based on his years spent in Indonesia, but Obama had been in the US all through his high-school years, so that doesn’t seem very plausible.

    Birthtard arguments are impervious to logic.

  13. gVOR08 says:

    @grumpy realist: My recollection is that both Bush and Kerry’s grades were leaked, not released.

  14. mantis says:

    @FC_GPO:

    In 2004, John Kerry withheld his transcripts while he championed himself as some great liberal intellectual.

    Citation needed.

    So on the heels of that, you’d think the very next Democratic nominee would make darn sure to release his grades and get that out of the way.

    I wouldn’t think that. Why would you think that?

    Columbia’s graduation program indicates that Obama didn’t graduate with honors

    Citation needed.

    so one wonders how he got into ultra-competitive Harvard Law School.

    I have a guess as to why you think he got in, anyway.

    If Democrats are going to insist that Romney provide documentation above and beyond what the law requires, it’s only fair to insist that the President do the same.

    No problem. Obama already released twelve years of his tax returns. Where are Romney’s?

  15. Gromitt Gunn says:

    You have to wonder if any of the people asking for college transcripts have every actually been to college themselves. A transcript is a record of your final grades by semester and what degree program you were in and what degree(s) you actually received and when.

    Your nationality, scholarship programs, admissions status, attendence records, etc… *none* of that will be on a transcript. Acting like it will just makes you look like a feckless moron to anyone with even a quarter of a brain.

    Next these idiots will start trying to get the Tea Party Caucus in the House to overturn FERPA.

  16. mantis says:

    @gVOR08:

    My recollection is that both Bush and Kerry’s grades were leaked, not released.

    Kerry’s transcripts were in his Navy file, which he released to the Boston Globe after the election. They reported his grades.

  17. David M says:

    This distraction doesn’t even start to make sense. He graduated with honors from Harvard Law, how surprising can his transcripts/grades even be?

  18. The “leaked grades” story is from the 2000 election when someone leaked Bush’s, and then Gore’s transcripts to the press. That was a violation of federal laws providing for privacy in education records. Indeed, under that law parents are not entitled to a copy of their child’s college grades even if they happen to be paying the tuition bill.

  19. sam says:

    @FC_GPO:

    Columbia’s graduation program indicates that Obama didn’t graduate with honors, so one wonders how he got into ultra-competitive Harvard Law School.

    The Columbia wiki says:

    It has been reported that Obama graduated without honors…, but if the policies then were the same as they are today, he would not have been eligible for Latin honors, because he spent only two years in the college.

    So perhaps he simply wasn’t eligible because he’d not spent enough time there. Says nothing about his academic standing.

    But, really now, only someone woefully uninformed would make this argument:

    If Democrats are going to insist that Romney provide documentation above and beyond what the law requires, it’s only fair to insist that the President do the same.

    The “law” does not require Gov. Romney to release his tax returns. Nor does the “law” require the president to release any of his academic records. The arguments for the releasing of the documents are purely political. But I want you guys to run with

    Obama’s College Transcripts = Romney’s Tax Returns

    Good luck to you. Of course, you could always argue that Obama’s real transcripts are hidden in a safe deposit box–along with his Kenyan birth certificate–in any one of a number of foreign countries (Google Romney, offshore accounts, for a good list of such locales). Again, good luck to you.

  20. grumpy realist says:

    @Moosebreath: Yes, I think that JKB has shown himself as someone who has never looked at a transcript….which makes me think he has never gone to college himself.

  21. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    Huh. Mentions of getting Romney’s college and grade-school transcripts, but no mention of his high school grades? I wonder why.

    Oh, yeah, because that’s already out.

  22. mantis says:

    @Jay Tea (Jenos Idanian #13):

    So the Globe found one of his report cards from high school. So what?

  23. sam says:

    @mantis:

    So the Globe found one of his report cards from high school. So what?

    Well, it shows that Gov. Romney had real potential in Art (Painting, even) and French. Art and French??? Jesus Christ! Next thing you know, we’ll be instructed to refer him as Wilárd, and not good ol’ Willard. Come to think of it, though, Wilárd sounds a lot like M’lord, so he might be cool with that.

  24. Stajack says:

    By the Dems own standard, if President Obama has nothing to hide, he should release his college transcripts AND his admissions records. Why should the demand for transparency be a one way street?

  25. DRF says:

    Root obviously isn’t too bright. Unlike tax returns, there is no tradition of Presidential candidates disclosing their college transcripts, and normal, sane people don’t think this is particularly relevant. AFter all, GWB admitted having mediocre grades at Yale, and Republicans still voted for him.

    I’m not sure what the point of this demand is–to show that Obama isn’t as “smart” as he seems to be? To show that he must have been admitted to Harvard Law School via affirmative action? This may well be true, but let’s remember that one doesn’t get on Harvard Law Review by affirmative action.

    Finally, to Root: He asks if Reid is making all of this up, and says “you decide”. Well, we can’t decide unless Romney releases his tax returns. Then we can decide.d

  26. Console says:

    @Stajack:

    What the hell are you talking about? Obama (and every other candidate for the past 40 years) has released his tax returns therefore Romney should release his.

    If you want Obama to release his academic records, then you should also ask that Romney release his ACADEMIC records.

  27. al-Ameda says:

    By attacking Romney’s tax records, Obama’s socialist cabal creates a problem that doesn’t exist. Is the U.S. Senate Majority Leader making up stories out of thin air? You decide. But the reason for this baseless attack is clear- make Romney defend, so not only is he “off message” but it helps the media ignore the real Obama scandal.

    “Obama’s socialist cabal” tells you all you need to know about that moron.

    Oh, and I’m sure that the public cares more about Obama’s grades at Harvard Law School, than it does about Romney’s tax returns. Obama gets an A-minus in Constitutional Law? Impeach him! Romney claims $77,000 tax deduction for Dressage Horses? Is there room on Mount Rushmore?

  28. jukeboxgrad says:

    jenos:

    no mention of his high school grades … because that’s already out

    A reader who was not familiar with your track record of chronic dishonesty would think, based on your words, that what was “out” was a complete record “of his high school grades.” But as mantis has pointed out, what you have shown is just one report card, issued in November of his freshman year. Most “of his high school grades” are not “out,” so your claim is mostly false.

    We also don’t know how the Globe obtained that document. If it was leaked, Mitt doesn’t get credit for releasing it. Just like with Bush and Gore: their transcripts were leaked, not released voluntarily.

    grumpy:

    You don’t seem to have noticed what has been historically released by candidates for the presidency. Tax returns, yes. College transcripts, no.

    This is a key point. The people whining about Obama’s transcripts never, ever mention that no POTUS or major candidate has ever released their transcripts. This includes McCain and Romney. Likewise, prior to Obama no POTUS had ever released their birth certificate. (We eventually saw Reagan’s, but not until after he left office.)

    So a bunch of people in the GOP have essentially taken this position: Obama needs to do more than what is normal, but it’s OK for Mitt to do less than what is normal.

  29. al-Ameda says:

    @Jenos Idanian #13:

    Huh. Mentions of getting Romney’s college and grade-school transcripts, but no mention of his high school grades? I wonder why.
    Oh, yeah, because that’s already out.

    So, why won’t Romney do what presidential candidates are asked to do – release his tax returns?

  30. mantis says:

    @jukeboxgrad:

    it’s OK for Mitt to do less than what is normal.

    As I’ve noted before, Lord Romney need not answer to the help.

  31. Tkevan says:

    @Console:
    Romney has already released his transcripts.

  32. jukeboxgrad says:

    Romney has already released his transcripts.

    Citation needed.

  33. Console says:

    @Tkevan:

    Nah, that isn’t even remotely true.

    It’s like when people claim that Mccain released his birth certificate. Didn’t happen.

  34. JPD says:
  35. JPD says:

    This is all politics. I would bet if Romney PUBLICALLY challenge Obama’s transcripts or better how he paid for college in return for 19 yrs of tax returns the whole issue would go away. Have we ever had a president with an aii
    as before?

  36. Tsar Nicholas says:

    I guess I’m out of the loop. Since when has there been a Libertarian National Campaign Committee? That’s a joke, right? If not, well, it’s sort of like forming a DeLorean Repair Shop Association, isn’t it?

    In any case, Obama’s transcripts are not relevant for the simple and obvious reason that he’s the president. Makes no difference whether he’s from Venus or Mars, whether he flunked pre-calc at Columbia or got an A+, or whether he took real courses, or loopy courses, or for that matter underwater basketweaving. He’s been in office for almost four years. He should be judged on his record as president, not on what happened 20+ years ago at a loopy campus in Upper Manhattan.

    Romney’s transcripts actually are relevant, in the literal sense, because he’s the challenger. He has no track record as president. Let’s not pretend there are not any differences between an incumbent and a challenger. For the same reasons that if you’re hiring someone within your own company to fill a promotion vacancy the standards are and should be different than for someone applying from outside the company. That all said, I don’t begrudge Romney for not wanting to release transcripts. His response simply can be that he has a documented track record in goverment, quasi-goverment and in the private sector to boot.

    Concerning the birthers, transcripters (is that a word?), truthers, or whatever, ultimately it’s about the lowest common denominator principle in action. Bad demographics + bad brains = absurdities and banalities galore.

  37. Dazedandconfused says:

    Root is a fool. This keeps the income taxes front and center, it doesn’t change the subject.

    They think they can steamroll this? Hubris!

  38. steve says:

    Wow! How did Romney get into Harvard with grades like those in high school? Not even a 3.0.

    Steve

  39. Robert Levine says:

    After someone has been elected President and done the job for four years, the relevance of events thirty years ago diminishes to the vanishing point. And that’s how it should be.

  40. al-Ameda says:

    @Dazedandconfused:

    Root is a fool. This keeps the income taxes front and center, it doesn’t change the subject.
    They think they can steamroll this? Hubris!

    Root is running a rope-a-dope strategy on himself.

    By reminding everyone that Obama has not released his grades, he also reminds everyone that for about 18 months Birther morons demanded that Obama prove that Hawaii was a state when he was born. It reminds people that about 50% of those who oppose Obama could not locate the Pacific Ocean on a labeled map of the world’s oceans.

  41. grumpy realist says:

    @Tsar Nicholas: Tsar, I think I love you. “DeLorean Repair Association.” Snork.

    Who in the %^$%%$$ decided that Root should be the Libertarian VP candidate?! Does he know how nuts he is sounding?

    (I must confess, I signed up as Libertarian the first time I registered for voting. Got me off ALL other mailing lists, plus never heard a peep out of any Libertarian, period. Face it, the Libertarian Party couldn’t organize a two-car funeral.)

  42. anjin-san says:

    Ah but C and D in the list could be most damning. Obama may have defrauded the universities and possibly the federal government

    Well yea, he’s black, so how could he have gotten into good schools without cheating? And we know those people don’t hesitate to defraud the government.

  43. Anne says:

    First of all, pointing out someone’s skin color should never have a place in a commentary. As Americans, we should be past that. And how can anyone even hint that Obama has transparency? You’ve got to be kidding. His whole life story is so obviously convoluted and full of contradictions. His own “narrative” as supposedly “written” by him is apparently exaggerated to the point of fiction. How for instance did the President get into an Ivy League University if he in fact was into doing drugs and “occasional blow” as he himself stated? And if he wasn’t a great student as he claimed before college, how then did he get into Harvard of all places? And if he was not from a wealthy family how was his education financed? His grades likely wouldn’t matter at all. What does matter is that so little is know about his past. Don’t fans of Obama have even the slightest curiosity about who this person really is? And by the way, his own former neighbor in Chicago, Bill Ayers, once claimed to have written “Dreams From My Father” himself (as per research by Jack Casual). Why doesn’t the media even delve into the most basic questions about the President? Even if you blindly adhere to this guy’s agenda, don’t you wonder at all about his true past?
    For the love of God, please read Jack Cahill’s book about Obama for starters. Just read some of the writing he supposedly did as a student and question how he could then
    possibly have written “Dreams.” The questions about his grades really have to do with the fact that the media has protected and propped up this man to the detriment of all of us. Not all of the US Presidents had excellent grades, but a heck of a lot more was known about them than has ever been exposed about our current President. It is doubtful that Americans would care what his grades were, but they might be concerned if he got into Harvard deceptively as a Foreign Student by claiming to be from another country. Be curious if nothing else, as to who Valerie Jarrett, Frank Marshall Davis , Van Jones, and Anita Dunn are to the President. When you can identify all of these individuals and how they relate to the President, you will see a fascinating and disturbing narrative that has been virtually ignored by most of the media. Find out what these people have in common. Read about George Soros and his connection to this “man of the people.” And do observe, Obama has a long record of smearing his opponents from his days in Chicago. What his people will do to Romney will grow even more distasteful in the weeks to come. This is a sad way for the current President to conduct himself. Obama needs to be replaced and is incredibly dangerous to the future of America. That the writer of this article thinks Obama has been vetted is preposterous. How many Americans even know who Jarrett, F.M. Davis, Anita Dunn, Van Jones, or Cass Sunstein are in relation to the President? The fact that so few know disproves the contention of the article.

  44. swbarnes2 says:

    Well, to a large degree it boils down to the “Obama isn’t very smart” and “Obama is a foreigner” arguments:

    It is positively dishonest after post after post after post that you still refuse to tell the whole truth on this. Conservatives didn’t decide out of the blue, or though a careful assesment of the evidence that Obama didn’t deseve his academic awards.

    Obama’s black. That’s why a huge number of conservatives hold as an axiom that he’s not intelligent. That’s an integral part of understanding why conservative politicians are doing all this, but you can’t admit it, which is why you label half of what Republicans and conservatives do as inexplicable. It’s easily explicable if you are willing to be honest about what’s really going on.

  45. al-Ameda says:

    The questions about his grades really have to do with the fact that the media has protected and propped up this man to the detriment of all of us. Not all of the US Presidents had excellent grades, but a heck of a lot more was known about them than has ever been exposed about our current President.

    LOL!

  46. anjin-san says:

    How for instance did the President get into an Ivy League University if he in fact was into doing drugs and “occasional blow” as he himself stated?

    There were at least half a dozen people in my high school class that got into Ivy League schools who used drugs. I expect that is probably typical. A lot of people used drugs in the 70s…

  47. anjin-san says:

    Obama’s black

    Sooner or later, all roads lead here…

  48. @Tsar Nicholas:

    I guess I’m out of the loop. Since when has there been a Libertarian National Campaign Committee? That’s a joke, right? If not, well, it’s sort of like forming a DeLorean Repair Shop Association, isn’t it?

    It should also be noted that Root’s organization, the LNCC, is not the same thing as the Libertarian National Committee. Root is deliberately trying to trick people into thinking he’s a high ranking official in the Libertarian Party.

    @grumpy realist:

    Who in the %^$%%$$ decided that Root should be the Libertarian VP candidate?!

    The LP VP candidate is Jim Gray, although Root was in 2008 (a move the party ended up regretting when he turned into a birthtard after the election).

  49. Gromitt Gunn says:

    @Anne: Major kudos to whichever regular decided to write out a truly wonderful birther spoof. Best laugh I have had all day.

  50. Jeremy R says:

    @al-Ameda:

    “Obama’s socialist cabal” tells you all you need to know about that moron.

    He’s a birther kook whose jealousy over Pres. Obama getting into Harvard, while he failed to, manifests itself through white victim-hood and racial grievance politics. Here’s Root being interviewed on the subject back during the 2008 campaign:

    http://reason.com/blog/2012/08/07/reason-rewind-wayne-root-was-saying-the

    Root: A vote for Obama is four years of Karl Marx, and no one should be happy about that. He’s a communist! I don’t care what anybody says. The guy’s a communist…. And his mother was a card-carrying communist, and he says she’s the most important person in his entire life; he learned everything from her. […]

    And I’d be willing to bet every dime I have in the world, a million dollars I’ll put, I’ll put a million dollars cash on the fact—

    Welch: This is on the record—

    Root: —that my GPA was better than Barack’s—

    Welch: Oooooh.

    Root: …and he got in based on the color of his skin.

    Does anyone doubt that possibly Barack could have gotten into Harvard with a C average because he’s black, where as I, white, couldn’t get into the same school with a B-plus, A-minus average? And yet his wife says that America is a terrible nation unfair to minorities! I say, Au contraire!

    I say the whole problem with America is we are racist against people because of the color of their skin. We’re helping people because they’re black. We’re helping people because they’re minority. We’re helping people because they’re poor. In reality only those who have the most skill and talent should get into Harvard, not because of the color of their skin.

    So now I ask out loud in the press, I challenge my classmate to give his GPA against mine. And let’s see if he really is the bright guy they all say he is. What if we discover he got into Harvard with a C average? Is he then the brilliant man America thinks he is? That would be a very good question, don’t you think?

  51. KansasMom says:

    @Jeremy R: Yet we know that George W. Bush got into Harvard after being a C student at Yale. I’d guess (not that I’d know for sure) that the affirmative action list was a whole lot more competitive than the legacy, rich guy, cheerleader list.

  52. KansasMom says:

    @Anne: Christ lady, his name is Cashill and he is insane. But go ahead, run with the paranoid musings of a gigantic wacko, it can only help your cause.

  53. jukeboxgrad says:

    Is he then the brilliant man America thinks he is?

    Jim Lindgren:

    In traditional academic terms, Obama did better in school than any president in the last 40 years.

    Link.

  54. @Gromitt Gunn:

    @Anne: Major kudos to whichever regular decided to write out a truly wonderful birther spoof. Best laugh I have had all day.

    Don’t forget this gem, buried in the middle:

    And by the way, his own former neighbor in Chicago, Bill Ayers, once claimed to have written “Dreams From My Father” himself (as per research by Jack Casual). Why doesn’t the media even delve into the most basic questions about the President? Even if you blindly adhere to this guy’s agenda, don’t you wonder at all about his true past?
    For the love of God, please read Jack Cahill’s book about Obama for starters. Just read some of the writing he supposedly did as a student and question how he could then
    possibly have written “Dreams.”

    LOL indeed.

  55. Earl says:

    Doug, you’re good. Maybe you ought to move to Vegas and take up gambling. I think you’ve made a good wager that someone on “your team” will not be famously up-and-demanding a Republican’s college transcripts some day in the future (a future day which you would be certainly very quiet, out of town. or preoccupied, I’m sure).

    Or you’re just very stupid; don’t you remember Bush? Don’t you remember the standard trope about conservatives being anti-intellectual uncultured ignoramuses? You really think it “just peachy” that Obama, the smartest man in any room, has not released his college records?!

    LOL

  56. wr says:

    @Anne: Shorter Anne: “Race has no placem in American politics. But there’s a ni**er in the White House!!!”

  57. Ron Beasley says:

    I had a very successful career as an engineer. I was good at what I did. But if anyone had asked for my transcripts I never have had the chance. My grades in college were horrible. I was on probation every other term the first two years as I struggled through required stuff that bored the hell out of me. The last couple of years were much better as I got into the meat of what I went to college for. I graduated from college in 1968, long before digital documents. When I applied for my last job in 1995 they actually tried to get my transcripts and they were told by the college that they were stored in a musty warehouse and it might be months before they could find them. They asked me to fax them a copy of my diploma instead.. Dodged a bullet there.

  58. al-Ameda says:

    @Ron Beasley:
    Undergraduate engineering must be a meat grinder. I have 2 college friends who are now retired after very successful 30 year careers as chemical engineers. They had grades that ran them on and off probation for the 4 years I knew them. All their employers cared about was if they could do the necessary work – they did, very well.

  59. Ron Beasley says:

    @al-Ameda: It’s ironic in a sense but some of my biggest problems grade wise was literature. I didn’t read the books and rarely even went to class. But the strange thing is I actually read the books after I graduated and enjoyed them and found so much inspiration in them that I sought out other titles by the authors. I became a big fan of Joseph Conrad after I actually read The Heart Of Darkness. I became an Aldous Huxley fan after reading Antic Hay. Both books I should have read in college but didn’t.. Perhaps it’s a maturity issue or perhaps those were simply troubled times with the Vietnam war breathing down my neck. Or maybe it’s just me. I once told my adviser in high school that school was interfering with my education. OK, I’m a pompous ass hole.

  60. bill says:

    romey’s status in college is well known and he’s not campaigning on it. obamas camp said he’s “an intellectual” yet they won’t prove it. kerry was seen as some sort of collegiate genius but had similar college grades as w…. who has an mba from harvard- which they must just shell out online from what we hear in here. obama also campaigned on “transparency”- and he’s very opaque, 3+ yrs later. if you all knew how difficult it is to transfer into columbia after 2yrs elsewhere maybe you’d be little curious? probably not though as the anointed one can do no wrong….

  61. David M says:

    @bill: Hmm, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to bring up the similarities between Romney and W, I can’t think of a quicker way to turn off voters. And just FYI, Romney has not released his college transcripts, so no it’s not “well known”.

    Why so many attacks like this on Obama, is it that they just can’t believe a black man could be successful?

  62. Console says:

    @bill:

    romey’s status in college is well known and he’s not campaigning on it.

    What the hell does that even mean?

  63. bill says:

    @Console:

    romney’s school cred is solid, he released 2 yrs of taxes and he’s more experienced and successful than obama- who btw campaigned on “transparency” but can’t seem to define it. mlk’s folks were republicans and he turned out pretty good. obama doesn’t care about the black vote anyway, they’ll vote90+% for whatever democrat runs and he knows it. the whole “black people” bs is so 60’s anyway, move on and join the party!

  64. bill says:

    @David M:

    enrolled in Brigham Young University. He graduated in 1971 with a Degree in English, with a 3.97GPA. His young family then moved to Boston, and Mitt enrolled in both Harvard Law (HLS) and Harvard Business School (HBS). He obtained his MBA from HBS in 1975 and graduated cum laude from HLS with his Juris Doctor the same year, finishing in the top 5% of his class.

    obama’s half black so he can actually be critiqued by all of us! “success” is something we’re all waiting for, really.
    the media should be asking these questions, not holding back because of his heritage- that’s racist!

  65. Console says:

    @bill:

    That’s nice, Obama graduated magna cum laude from HLS.

    I mean seriously, the only thing you just told me about Mitt that I don’t know about Obama was his undergrad GPA. Not exactly mindblowing stuff

  66. David M says:

    @bill: That same info is available about Obama on Wikipedia. Why ask Obama to release something (transcripts) no candidate has ever released before? Romney certainly isn’t going to release his, and all these calls for Obama’s never seem to be interested in other candidates transcripts.

    Obama has released 10 or 12 years of tax returns, Romney has released 1 partial year, it shouldn’t be a surprise people want more released.

  67. Console says:

    Obama can graduate from the same school as Romney… do better than Romney (magna cum laude is better than cum laude) but in bill’s eyes this means Romney has “cred” but Obama has explaining to do.

    In what world is this ridiculous double standard not about race? And not about white resentment?

  68. Anne says:

    Thank you for pointing out that glaring typo! You are correct, and of course I know the correct spelling of his name. However, whereas Cashill actually did some research on his subject (regardless of how you personally view him) the Obama Zombies (who are so well represented here in the comments) are in complete group-think lockstep. It’s really quite stunning. Again, I can only wonder if they really know who Valerie Jarrett is, Anita Dunn, Van Jones and Cass Sunstein and Georg Soros are in relation to this President. And do you really feel it appropriate to smear people by claiming to know the state of their mental health? How does your path in life compare to Cashill and how would your page on Wikipedia compare to his? I know my own isn’t comparable.

  69. grumpy realist says:

    @Anne: No, Cahill is a total fruitcake who makes up stories about Obama and about himself. Grants himself non-existent awards from fake organizations. Which you’d realize if you actually did any research.

    Go check some of the birther debunker sites. Obamaconspiracy.org is a good one. So is BadFiction.

  70. Brian Kovack says:

    Strange every white guy that’s run for President produced college transcripts since JFK. We knew Kerry’s grades were not up to par with Bush’s in 2004 election; I wonder why? We know Rick Parry had a C in science in college – was it a guess? WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS PRESIDENT ACCEPT HE’S INCOMPETENT!! So this racist crap doesn’t hold water.

    Because Obama is a “Black Man” should he be judged by lower standards than his white predecessors? Should we overlook the lack of leadership, the inability to solve problems or to be pragmatic? To lower standards for Obama because of his skin color is called Affirmative Action. That doesn’t cut it in the oval office and that’s why this country is in trouble!!!!

    This man has lied about his life, and lied to the American people about his intentions on destroying this great country. If this man is such a great scholar then what’s the big deal – show your pedigree; every other Presidential candidate has. Remember John McCain, or Hillary Clinton? We know there college grades. Maybe Obama can produce his college transcripts before he visits all 57 states.

  71. Brian,

    That’s simply not true. Bush v. Gore was the first election where college grades became an issue and in that case the transcripts were leaked in violation of Federal law and the same is true of the Perry college transcript.

    It is simply not true that every Presidential candidate since Kennedy has voluntarily released their college grades. Furthermore, as I said in the post, those grades are entirely irrelevant to a Presidential election

  72. bill says:

    @Console:

    He asked, and as i said before, obama’s camp declared him to be one of the most intellectual candidates we’ve seen- but will not prove it…. the election is about performance, and obama has not performed well the past 3+ yrs. time to “move on”!

  73. jukeboxgrad says:

    brian:

    every white guy that’s run for President produced college transcripts since JFK

    Just to underline what Doug said: the number of presidents who have released their transcripts is zero.

    The number of wingnuts who absorb and regurgitate complete bullshit? Quite large.

    bill:

    enrolled in Brigham Young University

    Why is Mitt hiding his transcript?

    obtained his MBA from HBS

    Why is MItt hiding his transcript?

    graduated cum laude from HLS

    Why is he hiding his transcript? Because Obama was magna cum laude and Mitt wasn’t? Because Obama was president of the law review and Mitt wasn’t?

    obama’s camp declared him to be one of the most intellectual candidates we’ve seen- but will not prove it

    One more time:

    In traditional academic terms, Obama did better in school than any president in the last 40 years.

    Let’s see if you can figure out if the person who said that is in “obama’s camp.”

  74. mattb says:

    @Brian Kovack:

    Strange every white guy that’s run for President produced college transcripts since JFK. […] So this racist crap doesn’t hold water.

    Because Obama is a “Black Man” should he be judged by lower standards than his white predecessors? Should we overlook the lack of leadership, the inability to solve problems or to be pragmatic? To lower standards for Obama because of his skin color is called Affirmative Action. …

    So beyond the fact that you have your facts completely wrong (i.e. that every president and candidate before Obama had voluntarily released this information), it’s worth nothing how much of your argument here seems to revolve around race.

  75. mantis says:

    I see the vdare brigade arrived. What a mess they make of everything.

  76. Anne says:

    @wr: @wr:

    WR

    Wow! Your mind is in a very low and hate filled place. What a sad representation of those who share your view.

  77. dustin says:

    I guess he threw his whole transparecy crap out the window! Oh well we only have 4 more months of this guys b.s. Then we get to deal with Romney’s b.s. So basically no matter who wins this country is still screwed!

  78. al-Ameda says:

    @Anne:

    It’s really quite stunning. Again, I can only wonder if they really know who Valerie Jarrett is, Anita Dunn, Van Jones and Cass Sunstein and Georg Soros are in relation to this President.

    LOL!
    Just because you don’t know who those people are does not mean that they are evil.

    By the way, what about Cass Sunstein bothers you? He’s somewhat libertarian and was a renowned scholar at the University of Chicago.

  79. Console says:

    @al-Ameda:

    Probably because Sunstein came up with the idea of “nudge economics.” You’d think that implementing government policy in a noncoercive way would be something right-wing thinkers could appreciate. But the Anne’s of the world probably see it as socialist brainwashing.

  80. Morons4obama says:

    You libtards just can’t seem to grasp the concept of ordinary income taxation versus capital gains or interest taxation. If Romney didn’t produce ordinary income (as a W-2 employee), he doesn’t have to pay taxes on that income so it is quite possible he didn’t pay income tax for any given year. However, he continues to pay capital gains and interest tax on his various investments which he continues to pay over and over with his own risk capital (not taxpayers money). This is the charade of obama’s liars that claim Romney’s tax rate is 14% which is on his after investment expenses and deductions. obama is too dumb to understand this but his lying sack of minions axelrod and pelosi (hypocritical witch of the west) and they depend your continual financial stupidity to exist.

    Back to the point, the author is a typical liberal sycophant, if barry sotoero had been a white republican, she and her pathetic band of academic miscreants would be stewing, frothing, wringing, and peeing in the streets. Oh wait, thats Occupy Whatever street – ie anything but get a job!

  81. george says:

    @Morons4obama:

    You libtards

    Didn’t read anything past that. Anyone who starts their argument throwing out a six year old’s insult is going to be a waste of time 99% of the time. Same thing with “Repuglicans”, “Sheeple”, and “Zombieland”.

    Though it is considerate for writers to advertise their mental maturity in the first sentence.

  82. @george:
    He is going for the record of rightwing nut job talking points in one post though.
    The jenos/jay/jan contingent are going to be upset

  83. cl1970 says:

    Romney has not released his grades. If he wants to call for Obama’s grades than he should release his own. By the same token, since Obama has released his taxes, Romney should release his own. It is not fair to say Obama should release his taxes AND his grades and Romney only has to release his taxes. That is ridiculous. Sometimes I think the Republlican Party intentionally preys on the feeble-minded with these ridiculous lines of reasoning.

    PS Brian Kovack: Neither McCain nor Romney have release their college trascripts and last I checked….they are white guys. You are kind of dumb.

    Strange every white guy that’s run for President produced college transcripts since JFK. […] So this racist crap doesn’t hold water.

    Because Obama is a “Black Man” should he be judged by lower standards than his white predecessors? Should we overlook the lack of leadership, the inability to solve problems or to be pragmatic? To lower standards for Obama because of his skin color is called Affirmative Action. …

  84. mantis says:

    @cl1970:

    Sometimes I think the Republlican Party intentionally preys on the feeble-minded with these ridiculous lines of reasoning.

    Sometimes?

  85. Tiredofthis says:

    Why are both parties so full of S–t!! Every candidate releases more than 1 year of taxes and college transcripts. Romney does not want something seen in his taxes. Probably nothing major but the use of legal tax shelters. Obama has spent over 1mill on sealing his transcripts. No idea what is in there, probably noting major either. Maybe someone listed as a emergency contact or some association that is not to his benefit now. Either way, neither side of this is on the high ground, NEITHER. One man currently is and one man wants to be, the most powerful person in the world. They want us to hire and pay them with our money. We have the right to see all the information we can (with in reason). Neither of them are transparent, Obama has never been and Romney is newer on the stage but falling in line. Both of them should disclose these items and the one that doesn’t should not be voted for……..

  86. David M says:

    @Tiredofthis: Why are people still claiming candidates usually release transcripts? That is completely, 100%, absolutely false.

    Obama has released at least 10 years of tax returns, Romney has released 1 partial year, so it’s fairly obvious Obama is much more transparent than Romney.

    So, given that Obama will release his tax returns for many more years than Romney, and neither are releasing their transcripts, are you now voting for Obama like you just said you would?

  87. al-Ameda says:

    @Morons4obama
    Does your mom know that you waste her bandwidth like this?

  88. jukeboxgrad says:

    tiredofthis:

    Obama has spent over 1mill on sealing his transcripts.

    FactCheck:

    The idea that any Obama record is “sealed” is a falsehood

    Wingnut bullshit is endless.

  89. Tiredofthis says:

    @David M: The question of transcripts is not a matter of historical trends. It is based on them being requested and then going to extreme measures to seal them. Different candidates release different amounts of tax returns also. By the way, there is no requirement to release any returns, only disclosures.
    The blind following of Obama I just do not understand. I voted for Obama in 2008, he preached then about his transparency, and followed it up with 1) Criticized Hillary for not releasing information during First Lady tenure, Obama seals his State Senate Papers 2) Ran aids referring to McCain for being too old, McCain released thousands of pages of medical records. Obama released a 1 page summary. 3) Back door deals for Health Care and not letting C-Span cover the Health Care Negotiations. 4) Way too many associations that have never been addressed ACORN, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright. 5) Fast and Furious…. For anyone to even try to say Obama is transparent is a blind follower. I voted for him and hopped he was legit; he has failed the transparency test badly.

  90. jukeboxgrad says:

    It is based on them being requested and then going to extreme measures to seal them.

    One more time. FactCheck:

    The idea that any Obama record is “sealed” is a falsehood

    Wingnuts are impervious to facts.

    And let’s look again at this statement you made:

    Every candidate releases more than 1 year of taxes and college transcripts.

    One more time: no president or major candidate has released “college transcripts.” Ever. Not even one. If you claim otherwise, prove it. Where are Mitt’s “college transcripts?”

    And Mitt has not even released “1 year of taxes.” He has released one return that is incomplete.

    McCain released thousands of pages of medical records.

    No, they were never “released.” A few select reporters were allowed to look at them for a few hours. And let us know where we can see his “college transcripts.”

    Thanks for being such a classic example of how the GOP runs on ignorance and dishonesty.

  91. wr says:

    @Anne: Knock off the phony sanctimony. You post racist BS on here, you’re going to get called on it, even if you do try to subtly hide it by saying “this is not racist.”

  92. Boxcutters denied says:

    The relevancy here is whether or not BHO declared himself as a Foreign Exchange student on any documents. Given the obscurity of his background, it’s certainly plausible. Let’s see a data dump on both sides. As American voters, we deserve to know everything about the candidates and the incumbent. Proper vetting has not occurred for either.

  93. mantis says:

    @Tiredofthis:

    I voted for Obama in 2008,

    Bullshit!

    @Boxcutters denied:

    The relevancy here is whether or not BHO declared himself as a Foreign Exchange student on any documents.

    Also bullshit!

    Given the obscurity of his background, it’s certainly plausible.

    Not at all, actually.

    Let’s see a data dump on both sides. As American voters, we deserve to know everything about the candidates and the incumbent.

    Fine. Romney can start by releasing the twelve years of tax records Obama already has.

  94. mattb says:

    @Tiredofthis:

    4) Way too many associations that have never been addressed ACORN, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright.

    Really… because there has been absolutely no reporting at all on ACORN, Bill Ayres, or Reverend Wright. And Obama has never had to answer a single question about any of them. Nor were those questions ever asked at national forums…

    BTW, you missed Rezco in your game of “not vetted” bingo.

  95. David M says:

    Romney’s father was born in Mexico, and McCain was born in Panama. Seems odd that those aren’t issues, but Obama being born in Hawaii is.

    I wonder what’s different about Obama that people feel the need to suggest he’s not from this country, but yet not raise the same question about McCain or Romney. It’s just so hard to figure out what it could be.

  96. The Q says:

    JKb wrote,…. according to his source who went to school with Obama, “he never did his homework.”

    Next wingnuts will ask to see that he “ate all his vegetables” in grammar school, “never wore white after labor day…” Never looked askance at a “white lady”…..they will want him to document that he actually “uses his turn signals and doesn’t just lecture white folk on how to drive, while he violates all safety rules himself.”

    Is there no end to the wingnut insanity?

    Actually no, as Brian belches out such moronic flatulence that it boggles the mind. He insists that Negroes aren’t held to a double standard, that in fact, they have it easy.

    Brian, your white boy bush took the dow from 13,000 to half that….Obama takes it from 6800 to the present 13,100 and to you he is incompetent. White boy bush takes an economy that in the 8 years before his rule created a net of 20 million jobs with an unemployment rate less than 5% which bush inherits, but then plunges us into a depression and doubles the unemployment rate and only creates 1 million jobs in his 8 year term. Obama creates 3.1 million jobs in 3 years and he’s an amateur since we’ve had 12 straight quarters of positive GDP compared to the Bush nightmare of 18 months of negative GDP his last years.

    Brian, only in the bizzarro world of the unconscious bigot is Obama the failed black President.

    But as someone mentioned earlier, the rhetorical device of conflating something trivial with something of substance is the truly scary aspect of wingnut propaganda.

    It gives the wingnuts an out. Instead of focusing on the wrongness of romney withholding his tax returns, they salivate over the “foreign aid hidden in Obama’s refusal to release his school records.”

    Do this real world experiment which I did last night when dealing with an idiot Republican, sorry to repeat myself.

    Idiot: “Why won’t Obama release his school records huh? Romney has released what he is legally required to. why won’t obama release his transcripts and why do liberals defend that.”

    Me: “yeah you’re right, obama should release his transcripts and romney should release his tax records.

    Idiot: “No romney has already disclosed his tax returns, while Obama has something to hide.”

    It never ends. their eyes glaze over and their mind shuts to any outside interference or reason.

    Obama is a liar…Obama is a failure….Obama took my lunch money…..Obama is the reason I can’t get laid…

    For proof of the insanity, just look above at the anti obama responses

  97. Anne says:

    WR…
    .
    ha,ha….this coming from the person who actually decided to post the “n…..” word”….!!!!
    Hey, you actually managed to insult everybody ….those you try to accuse of racism, and those who might possibly share your “views”
    good try….that has no place in any worthwhile discourse. Calling others “racist” is a cheap and intellectually lazy tactic, that has become more than pathetic. It is however the usual reaction of those who can not defend the current President’s actions.

  98. al-Ameda says:

    @Tiredofthis:

    The blind following of Obama I just do not understand. I voted for Obama in 2008, he preached then about his transparency, and followed it up with 1) Criticized Hillary for not releasing information during First Lady tenure, Obama seals his State Senate Papers 2) Ran aids referring to McCain for being too old, McCain released thousands of pages of medical records. Obama released a 1 page summary. 3) Back door deals for Health Care and not letting C-Span cover the Health Care Negotiations. 4) Way too many associations that have never been addressed ACORN, Rashid Khalidi, Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright. 5) Fast and Furious…. For anyone to even try to say Obama is transparent is a blind follower. I voted for him and hopped he was legit; he has failed the transparency test badly.

    You’re not serious

  99. bill says:

    like i said before, obama’s people sold him as “intelligent” but won’t bother backing it up and shun anyone who asks questions. getting a degree at harvard is nice and all but the unibomber got into harvard too. even the hated “w” got an mba from there….sure , it’s easy i guess.
    they also campaigned on transparency, just not when it comes to the tough stuff i guess.
    and if you didn’t hear, mitt romney can cause cancer and kill you- you better not cross this man!

  100. David M says:

    @bill:

    Here’s the evidence:

    In late 1988, Obama entered Harvard Law School. He was selected as an editor of the Harvard Law Review at the end of his first year, and president of the journal in his second year…graduating with a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991

    Obama has been more transparent than Romney, so aren’t you directing all these questions at Romney?

  101. jukeboxgrad says:

    obama’s people sold him as “intelligent” but won’t bother backing it up

    You should discuss this problem with Jim Lindgren, Orin Kerr, Bradford Berenson and Michael McConnell (link, link).

  102. wr says:

    @Anne: “Calling others “racist” is a cheap and intellectually lazy tactic, that has become more than pathetic.”

    Unless, of course, you’re talking to a racist.

    Go back to vdare, or whatever white supremacist swamp you climbed out of, honey. No one here is buying your swill.

  103. mantis says:

    @bill:

    like i said before, obama’s people sold him as “intelligent” but won’t bother backing it up

    The president is out there, every day, being intelligent. It’s plain as day.

    Except, unfortunately, stupid people don’t actually recognize intelligence when they encounter it.

  104. sergie says:

    yet they can demand tax records from the white crook, but not the half black crook because that would be racist…hypocrites.

  105. mattb says:

    @sergie:

    yet they can demand tax records from the white crook, but not the half black crook because that would be racist…hypocrites.

    You realize that makes absolutely no sense…

    Obama has released his tax records. And has done so for a number of years. So what exactly makes them hypocrites.

    Oh, and extra points for dragging race into the stupid comment for no apparent reason…

  106. Mike says:

    @FC_GPO:

    We do know that President Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Harvard Law School which means he was in the top 10% of those graduating. Obama was also president of the Harvard Law Review.

  107. bill says:

    @mantis: he’s got you fooled at least, i don’t worship smooth talking salesman i guess- never have.

  108. bill says:

    @David M: awesome, so i guess “w’ is also a genius as he got an mba there! great analogy.

  109. jukeboxgrad says:

    I wonder what you mean by “there.” GWB didn’t go to Harvard Law School. He did not graduate magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. He was not president of the Law Review at Harvard Law School.

    The most basic facts are over your head. A perfect Republican.

  110. James says:

    @FC_GPO:

    He didn’t graduate with honors because he only spent two years at Columbia, and thus ineligible for Latin honors, not because his grades were bad.

  111. bill says:

    @James: but we don’t know that his grades were good/bad as our “champion of transparency” is not sharing!

  112. jukeboxgrad says:

    but we don’t know that his grades were good/bad

    You shouldn’t say “we.” You’re ignorant, but not everyone is ignorant. I already mentioned a few people who can help you become a little less ignorant (link), but you’re ignoring them. You’re doing a good job of demonstrating that you are quite attached to your ignorance, and will let nothing get between you and your ignorance. Speaking of “grades.”

  113. Were I Mitt Romney, I would bring my tax records, my photo ID, my birth certificate and my college transcripts to my first debate with Obummer with an opening statement of: “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

  114. James says:

    @bill:

    His grades were good enough to A.) Graduate and B.) get into Harvard Law School. Harvard Law isn’t for slouches; even if you think affirmative action helped Obama, he still had to have a decent GPA. Perhaps he should release his LSAT scores as well.

    An undergraduate GPA is not really relevant to the job of US President, especially if the candidate also has postgrad education: (MBA, law degree, master’s, Ph.d.) that means he had a high enough GPA to continue his education. Tax returns, financial dealings, and medical reports are more relevant to the position of US President.

  115. jukeboxgrad says:

    melnick:

    Were I Mitt Romney, I would bring my tax records, my photo ID, my birth certificate and my college transcripts to my first debate with Obummer with an opening statement of: “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

    If it’s so easy for you, why did you wait until 5 weeks before the election? You’ve been running for president for years, and you could have released that information years ago. I guess you didn’t want GOP primary voters to have any chance to evaluate that information, and I guess you didn’t want all voters to have much time to evaluate it.

    And if releasing your tax returns is something easy to do that you always intended to do, why did you previously tell us you absolutely wouldn’t do it? I guess that statement was something you didn’t really mean, just like so many of your other statements.

    james:

    An undergraduate GPA is not really relevant to the job of US President, especially if the candidate also has postgrad education

    Yes, especially if there’s a lot of information available about their performance in grad school (link). Obama did exceptionally well at HLS, which makes any earlier academic problems (if they even existed) pretty meaningless and irrelevant.

    Tax returns, financial dealings, and medical reports are more relevant to the position of US President.

    Yes. In particular, a tax return from 2009 (which Mitt won’t show us) is a lot more relevant than college grades from thirty years ago.

  116. bill says:

    “You shouldn’t say “we.” You’re ignorant, but not everyone is ignorant. I already mentioned a few people who can help you become a little less ignorant (link), but you’re ignoring them. You’re doing a good job of demonstrating that you are quite attached to your ignorance, and will let nothing get between you and your ignorance. Speaking of “grades.”

    typical liberal rhetoric, call someone names if you don’t have a good answer. I’m sure obama is intelligent as he did get into harvard, the point of the questioning is when you declare someone to be so intelligent you should have no problem proving it. hiding it makes people ( people like me at least) curious as to what your hiding. what could be so bad about divulging your grades when your so smart? It’s not like anyone’s going to see how you got into the school let alone paid for it.
    it’s like when john kerry’s people decided to run him as a “war hero”- when he was basically jane fonda without the nice azz! bad move for them as kerry explored running for prez before and never brought up his military past- for very good reason. anyway, obama had 3 yrs to do something and didn’t- will not miss him.

  117. jukeboxgrad says:

    what could be so bad about divulging your grades

    Except that we essentially know Obama’s grades at HLS. See if you can figure out what ‘magna cum laude’ means.

    Republicans are impervious to facts. Thanks for providing such a vivid demonstration; the inadvertent public service is considerable.

    what could be so bad about divulging your grades

    Then please explain why Mitt is hiding all his college and grad school transcripts.

  118. jeffrey theall says:

    he’s the president. what’s he hiding? if he’s so vetted and everything he does is transparent is this the one area where he’s sticking to principle? if there’s nothing there, then why the refusal to release them?

  119. jukeboxgrad says:

    Congratulations on not reading the thread. It contains answers to all your idiotic questions.

  120. James says:

    One more thing on college transcripts. Obama transferred from Occidential to Columbia, normally one needs a minimum of a 3.00 GPA to transfer to different schools. Transferring to Columbia may have required a 3.5 or better as it does today. Potential transfers are expected to have a minimum GPA of 3.5 overall. http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/apply/transfer

    Assuming that Columbia transfer students in 1981 were under the same requirements as transfer students today his undergrad GPA at Occidential was at a minimum 3.5, and probably close to 4.0. Usually students’ GPA gets better as they progress through school and focus on their major study of interest, so Obama’s GPA at Columbia was quite possibly over 3.5 as well.

    He graduated from Harvard Law with summa cum laude so his GPA there was close to 4.0. So most likely we can conclude Obama had high GPAs from Ivy League schools, so releasing his transcripts wouldn’t prove much other than opening himself up to criticism for bragging.

  121. James says:

    Exactly what transparency are you talking about???

    Every thing we hear about is AFTER the fact!

    We know less about this man and his past than ANY politician in history.

    Learn to think for yourself and refuse to “be told” what you should believe!!!

  122. Bill says:

    This is all pretty simple – when you’re running for a president of the United States, you are effectively submitting to every aspect of your life becoming public – everything should be released – tax records, transcripts, driving records, pet vaccinations . . . everything. The public has a right to know these things. This is called vetting and should be done for every presidential candidate (it clearly was not done very well for Obama). So – Romney should release all of his tax records AND Obama should release all his transcripts. It’s fairly absurd to argue that Romney should release his, while also claiming it’s no big deal for Obama to release his – everything goes.

  123. James says:

    @Bill:

    Still you persist. So I suppose we know President Bush’s pet vaccinations, or Reagan’s. Heck do you even remember the name of President Reagan’s pet without looking it up? This is silly.

    Relevant documents should be vetted. Tax forms are released to prove not only if there was illegal financial activity (which the IRS may or may not uncover) but also if there was unethical (but still legal) activity. If a candidate keeps 5 million dollars in foreign bank accounts and declares it on his tax returns that might be legal, but voters may want to know that in case it affects his foreign policy decisions as President.

    Medical records are released to determine if the President is healthy enough to withstand the rigors of the job and not die in office. Criminal records are released (or should be) so the public is informed if their presidential candidates are criminals or not. The only convicted criminal who became President was George W. Bush and he failed to release that information voluntarily.

    College transcripts are necessary if you are applying to grad school or a first job, or a job in academia, but not necessary for the Presidency. Do you think Obama could fake his degrees or grades? He taught law at the University of Chicago for 12 years; do you think they took him at face value that he was a Harvard graduate or do you think they looked at his transcripts?