Obama campaign mocks birthers with "Made in America" t-shirts

Obama's 2012 campaign apparatus is offering "Made in America" t-shirts on its campaign website

/ Obama for America

Updated: 1:55 p.m. ET

Despite President Obama's initial hesitation to dignify the "birther" question, his 2012 campaign team is ready to capitalize - both politically and financially - on doubts about his U.S. citizenship.

Earlier this year, Mr. Obama ceded to pressure from "birthers" (a contingent of Americans - including Donald Trump - who expressed skepticism about his Hawaiian origins) to release his long-form birth certificate as proof that he was, in fact, born in the United States. At the time, however, the president condemned "sideshows and carnival barkers" for distracting the American public with "silliness" rather than focusing on substantive issues.

Now, Mr. Obama's 2012 presidential campaign is poking fun at the issue, and inviting supporters to get in on the joke - for just $25 or more.

"Obama for America," the president's campaign arm, is offering t-shirts that play on the questions surrounding his citizenship. The front of the shirts feature a picture of the president, under which reads the line "Made in the USA." The back depicts a copy of the president's long-form birth certificate. ("Made in America" mugs are also available for purchase.)

"Wear your support for this campaign with an official Made in the USA T-shirt. Donate $25 or more today and we'll send you your limited-edition shirt," the website advertises on the donation page.

Julianna Smoot, the Obama 2012 deputy campaign manager, explained the paraphernalia in an email: "There's really no way to make this stuff completely go away," she said. "The only thing we can do is laugh at it -- and make sure as many other people as possible are in on the joke."

Citing a new birther-inspired book called "Where's the Birth Certificate?", Smoot - who describes the book as "a greatest-hits reel of delusions, ranging from 9/11 conspiracies to claiming that there is an infinite supply of oil in the Earth's core" -argues that the best way for the Obama campaign to effectively combat the misinformation is to joke about it.

"Last year, the President said, 'I can't spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead.' This is about as close as we can get," she said. "If the facts can't make these ridiculous smears go away, we can at least have a little fun with it."

[Lindag10]

by san850 May 20, 2011 9:34 AM EDT
Oooohhhhh, JV thinks her "trash talk" makes her look tough....wrong. Makes her look stupid.


-----------------------------

Oh dear JV came out to play and I missed it. I had no idea she'd get SO excited over a T-shirt. I thought the whole thing was really light weight and didn't even bother with it until today. Silly me, I missed pulling JV's chain. Darn.

[JV1970]

Will you think it's "light weight" when the Republicans print their own tee shirts that ridicule you Democrats? Probably not! You'll be crying all over these comment boards and saying that whatever is printed on them is lies and you'll think it's not fair!

[san850]

Oh, JV's back. She really is distraught and preclempt over a simple, harmless T-shirt that only depicts a truth, doesn't have any foul language on it, and doesn't slander anyone. Go figure. She must be taking it so personally since she is a self-professed card-totin' "birther" and has had to abandon that cause since that little conspiracy thingy blew up in their faces. Now she can form a group of "shirters" since she and at least one other has latched on to this as their "issue of the day".

[justme2012]

Love him or hate him, Bush was never tacky!

[JV1970]

Those tee shirts are not only tacky but they're UGLY TOO!

[san850]

How cute! These two birthers just cannot handle a simple little T-shirt that "mocks" their ignorance.

Mockery shouldn't bother them.....these teabaggers have done nothing BUT mock President Obama for three years. Guess when karma turns on them, it's hard to handle.

[jgg000101]

you just know that somebody's going to do a knock-off of the shirt substituting aunt zetuni's photo, and one with the stepbrother in the hut, and one with the other stepbrother who was busted for running a phony muslim charity in the states, and a shirt of obama in that kenyan ceremonial outfit that hillary dredged up.

[JV1970]

Well it would serve you Democrats right for pulling something like this! You can count on one thing, the Republicans are going to retaliate in some way!

[kansas1946]

I think these are so fun that I bought one yesterday. I think I will wear it to a Tea Party rally. Maybe not though. I might get beaten to a pulp by those nuts.

[justme2012]

Yes you have to be careful around all those old white senior citizens. They are so scary with their walkers.

It is so funny to actually go to a tea party and then read all the fear they instill in socialists.

[JV1970]

justme2012 The Tea Party isn't all senior citizens! Are Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman senior citizens? I don't think so!

[Zann-Zel]

by JV1970 May 19, 2011 5:27 PM EDT
san850 You don't know the meaning of the words "get in the gutter, attack like pit bulls, sling some mud, claw the eyes out of their opponent." But you're about to! If you think the last campaign was bad, it was nice and civil compared to what's coming
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JV I remember the last campaign & all the ridiculous untrue scare tactics they used! This time they can't get away with it, well for most rational people anyway. They won't be able to say the country will fall - it didn't. They won't be able to say he'll take away your guns - he hasn't. They won't be able to say we'll end up under Sharia Law - hasn't happened. They won't be able to say he'll make all abortion legal - hasn't happened either. And once we get past Saturday I'm pretty sure you can say the world wouldn't end because a black man became American's president! LOL! You won't even be able to say ANYONE in the race has more experience - he'll have the ONLY experience in the race! Its actually gonna be fun watching the circus! : )

[Zann-Zel]

LOL! I'll just accept your challenge JV - we'll compare notes now and then on how worried we are about our choice winning! ; )

[san850]

Zann-Zel.....dontcha just love pulling JV's chain? Give her a little bait and she takes it hook, line and sinker. This is better than playing "Whack-A-Mole" (or "Whack-A-Birther" to be exact).

[slatep]

Obama spent more than $1 MILLION to keep his birth certificate and college records from the public.

What conclusion were people supposed to arrive at.?

Now he is spitting in the faces of all those who honestly believed; and many still believe, he lied about where he was born.

In light of all the lies he told and the promises he made while campaigning for the Presidency; what else did he expect.

I'm still not certain the birth certificate is real.

A skilled reproduction artist can make a piece of paper bought yesterday at Staple's look like it's 2,000 years old.

If Obama has had to resort to selling tee shirt to earn money for his campaign; it sounds to me like a lot of his former supporters may have fallen off the bandwagon once they realized what kind of President he really is.

[san850]

@slatep....please don't tell us that you still believe that crap about him spending a million to "hide" something. Did you ever learn how to do research? Haven't you seen the many, many articles from legitimate, trustworthy sources that have DEBUNKED this garbage? Do you live under a rock?

I can assure you that President Obama has not lost any supporters and has, in fact, gained a lot recently....so he definitely will not need or miss your vote.

[Zann-Zel]

http://my.democrats.org/page/content/president-obama-birth-certificate

[Zann-Zel]

JV - don't want you to think I'm not answering you so here ya go:
Here's the truth about Barack Obama and the bill:

?At the time Barack voted against a bill containing language designed to protect infants who were "born alive," such protection was already on the books as Illinois state law.[1]
?The accusations against Barack are so reckless that not even the Republican state senator who sponsored the bill will support them. In fact, he freely admits that "None of those who voted against SB-1082 favored infanticide."[2]
?The bill was opposed by many legislators and groups like the Illinois Medical Society because of the unintended impact it would have had on other laws and legal precedents in Illinois.[3]
?Barack is on the record[3] saying that he would have supported a similar bill that came up in Congress -- but that didn't pose a threat to a woman's right to choose the way the Illinois bill did.[4]

[Zann-Zel]

Illinois Law Stated That A Doctor Must Preserve The Life And Health Of A Fetus If In The Course Of An Abortion, There Is Reasonable Likelihood Of Sustained Survival.

If you want more go here:
http://fightthesmears.com/articles/15/wildaccusations.html

And if you want more info than that on your Smears try here:
http://fightthesmears.com/

[san850]

Zann-Zel....now you know that JV1970 does not have the capability (or desire) to handle truth and facts. She gets her jollies by spreading hate, fear, and lies about her President.

[noloyalisti]

If you look up ignorant and stupid in the dictionary, there are pictures of these racist, Republicon Birthers. Brainless idiots with way too much time on their hands.

[Zann-Zel]

JV1970 May 19, 2011 1:36 PM EDT
san850 If the Democrats are resorting to this then they have already driven off the cliff!
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OMG! The Democrats have resorted to putting the TRUTH on a t-shirt!
LOL!

[san850]

I know Zann-Zel!!!! The rightwingnuts cannot handle the TRUTH! They have resorted to calling a simple T-shirt..."gutter" politics...LOL!

[Zann-Zel]

Actually JV this truth IS about Obama.
No one else.

[noloyalisti]

Obama is not selling the T-shirts, fund raisers are. I think they should also sell I Love the Tea Bagging Koch Brothers, too. Or, When the Racists Grow Up, They Can Be President Too.

It's endless with these mindless, gullible fool Republicons and the corporate sponsored Tea Bag KKKlanners.

[justme2012]

Obama had to approve the T-shirt for them to use his image and BC on it.

[san850]

@justme.....awwwwwwww, I can smell another "conspiracy theory" boiling...."Did he approve the T-shirt, or did he not approve the T-shirt??" ...Quick, call Donald Trump to send out his "investigators".