Donald Trump's latest "bombshell" against Obama

[XCashier]

Two days ago, Trump claimed he was going to drop a bombshell against Obama on Wednesday. Well, here it is: http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/...AMPAIGN-TRUMP/

Dumb Donald demands to see President Obama's school records now.

[Rapscallion]

Has he said why he wants to see them?

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

It's probably just another page from the birther conspiracy nutjob handbook.

In fact, if you type in "trump" and "birther" into Google, one of the first responses is a piece titled "Trump's October Surprise: More Birther Nonsense."

^-.-^

[mikoyan29]

Usually this is the kind of stuff that is asked of a candidate running for a first term and not one running for a second term. Generally, when you running against an incumbent, this sort of thing doesn't matter, only that person's record as whatever office you are seeking. So I guess Obama's record is not bad enough that they have to resort to this.

It doesn't really matter in the long run, Obama released his birth certificate and there are people that say it's fake. So Obama releases this information and it still wont solve anything as far as those people are concerned. So what is Trump saying that we really elected a high school dropout or something?

[XCashier]

According to the Mail Online,

Trump's appeal for passport records, meanwhile, appears to be linked to the 'birther' conspiracy theory which holds that Obama was not born in the U.S. and in which the businessman has been a leading voice.

[Rapscallion]

I'm not smelling birther - I'm smelling desperate attempts to get any sort of leverage possible. Let's be fair here - if Romney gets in then Trump will easily recoup that five million and more. It's an investment, not a serious political point.

Rapscallion

[Andara Bledin]

No. Trump is one of the most vocal and most visible members of the whole birther thing.

As for Trump recouping that money, it's not like he's actually a successful businessman. Although, I suspect that as a media figure (reality show, etc) he does a lot better than he's managed while actually running real businesses.

Even if it were an investment, he's still trying to make a serious political point.

^-.-^

[crashhelmet]

He's been requesting the college records for a while because he thinks they list his place of birth as Kenya. This stems from an article written about him while he was at Harvard that mistakenly said he was born there, if I remember right. Your passport lists what city and state you were born in as well.

Regardless of who wins the election, Trump can just write off the taxes anyway. He'll break it up into smaller amounts and spread them out across his shell companies, write it all off over the 5 year allowance, or a combination of the two.

If and when the President provides this information and further kills the birth movement, Trump will take credit for it again.

This is a complete no lose situation for him.

[Nekojin]

Even responding to this latest farce would do nothing but give legitimacy to Trump. By responding to it, they're giving the perception that they take his claim seriously. By simply ignoring him, they give the perception that the entire affair is beneath notice.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm increasingly convinced that Trump isn't even a has-been, he's a never-was. All of his "successes" are due to his father's connections, and almost all of Trump's signature projects, where he was solely in control, have been absolute disasters. He's got the Midas Touch in reverse.

[MadMike]

I'm amazed that anyone takes this windbag seriously. I'm starting to think that muskrat that sits on top of his head is starting to eat into his brain.

[HYHYBT]

Even aside from the birther business, the results will play well for a certain crowd *no matter what they are*.

Ignore or decline: "See, Obama's hiding something big to turn down that money!"
Release negative transcripts: "See, Obama's unqualified, shouldn't have been passed, whatever."
Release really good transcripts: "See how elitist Obama is? They're probably fake anyway."

[Panacea]

I'm not smelling birther - I'm smelling desperate attempts to get any sort of leverage possible. Let's be fair here - if Romney gets in then Trump will easily recoup that five million and more. It's an investment, not a serious political point.

Rapscallion

Oh, I'm definately smelling birther, and this really isn't big news. The birther nuts have been on this dead horse for awhile now, demanding his college transcripts. At first, they pretended it was about his grades, but when people pointed out that a guy with bad grades does NOT get on the Harvard Law Review, the real motives came out.

I had this very conversation with a Romney campaign worker who knocked on my door a few weeks ago looking for the guy I bought my house from (tightfisted cheapkskate, figures he'd be a Republican). When I told her I was the new homeowner, she asked if I had any questions about Romney.

Door Opened. Panacea Walks Through

Me: Sure. I'd like to know when Governor Romney is going to release his tax returns.

Worker: He already did
Me: For one year. I'd like to see him release 12 years like his dad did

Some back and forth on this, then she says well why won't Obama release his college records?

Me: Well, first of all there is no precedent. Gov. Romney's father set the tax records one himself. But second, a college transcript tells us nothing. The guy made Harvard Law Review; we know he has the academic chops.

Worker: But we would know what positions he took in papers he wrote.

Me: That's not in a college transcript. I work in higher education; I know. Harvard probably doesn't even have those papers anymore--the man graduated in 1991 (the same year I got my MA in History, and I know for a fact my university doesn't have copies of my papers anymore, because I asked them a couple of years ago).

Worker: But we'd be able to find out how he paid for college.

Aha! The light begins to dawn. That's what the birthers are really after. They want to know if Obama applied for college as a foreign student, on a foreign scholarship. Of course, we already know how Obama paid for college: student loans, like the rest of us, that he spent 10 years paying off (Lawyers get paid well, lucky bastard).

Me: You won't get that information from his college transcript, either.

Bottom line is Obama couldn't release his original application to Harvard or any other school he went to, nor his Financial Aid records even if he wanted to. First of all, any paper copies have long been destroyed. That stuff takes way too much space to hold on to. His student loan paperwork was not held by the colleges, it's held by the banks. That paperwork also likely no longer exists, since the debts have been discharged. At best they're on microfilm (remember, Obama graduated Harvard Law in 1991, before scanning replaced microfilm).

Of course the birther nuts would see these routine practices as just more proof of a big conspiracy to hide the "truth", not realizing that this information isn't available for anyone.

Morons.

[fireheart17]

I wonder just how far it will go.

What's next....having Obama produce his "pedigree" to find any evidence of "non-American" blood?
Forcing Obama to produce the results of his parents education?
Searching his house for any signs of non-American culture?

Idiots.

[Mytical]

I think whatever creature has taken up residence on his scalp has drained all of his intelligence. *shrugs*

[Duelist925]

I think whatever creature has taken up residence on his scalp has drained all of his intelligence. *shrugs*

This statement makes a fundamental mistake: I think any intelligence eating creature that set up shop would have starved to death long ago.