Barack Obama Turns 50 Today!

August 4, 1961 Barack Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is now the 44th President of the United States and turns 50 years old today.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Who Caused The Debt: Bush or Obama?

This graphic tells the story of how we got to this point where the Republicans are holding the full faith and credit of the United States hostage to their fact-challenged disastrous policy viewpoints taxes and finances.

Another Gay Rights Win For Obama: DADT Ends 09/20/2011

Today, President Barack Obama, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen all certified that the lifting of the ban on open service by lesbian, gay or bisexual Americans in the U.S. Armed Forces will not negatively impact national security. The certification was the last step to be taken after DADT repeal legislation passed the Congress last December and was signed into law by the President in front of a crowd of cheering supporters. The military's anti-gay policy will cease to be in effect 60 days after today's certification, or on September 20, 2011.

This is the another huge gay rights win which must be credited to Obama, following his enactment of the federal hate crimes act in 2009, his determination by the federal government that laws affecting sexual orientation must receive heightened scrutiny and thus declaring DOMA to be unconstitutional earlier this year and now the enactment of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

The main thing left on the gay rights agenda is some forward movement on federal government forcing it's contractors not to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, since it is unlikely that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) will be passing Congress any time soon.

Statement by the President on Certification of Repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell

Today, we have taken the final major step toward ending the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law that undermines our military readiness and violates American principles of fairness and equality.  In accordance with the legislation that I signed into law last December, I have certified and notified Congress that the requirements for repeal have been met.  ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ will end, once and for all, in 60 days—on September 20, 2011. 

As Commander in Chief, I have always been confident that our dedicated men and women in uniform would transition to a new policy in an orderly manner that preserves unit cohesion, recruitment, retention and military effectiveness.  Today’s action follows extensive training of our military personnel and certification by Secretary Panetta and Admiral Mullen that our military is ready for repeal.  As of September 20th, service members will no longer be forced to hide who they are in order to serve our country.  Our military will no longer be deprived of the talents and skills of patriotic Americans just because they happen to be gay or lesbian.

I want to commend our civilian and military leadership for moving forward in the careful and deliberate manner that this change requires, especially with our nation at war.  I want to thank all our men and women in uniform, including those who are gay or lesbian, for their professionalism and patriotism during this transition.  Every American can be proud that our extraordinary troops and their families, like earlier generations that have adapted to other changes, will only grow stronger and remain the best fighting force in the world and a reflection of the values of justice and equality that the define us as Americans.

DADT Certification

Obama Names 4th LGBT Judicial Nominee

Michael Fitzegerald becomes President Obama's

4th openly LGBT nominee to the federal judiciary

Wow! Just days after Paul Oetken became the first openly gay man was confirmed as a U.S. District Court judge to the Souther District of New York, President Obama has named a 4th openly LGBT individual to become a federal judge with lifetime appointment. He is Michael Fitzgerald and joins Ali Nathan, J. Paul Oetken and Ed Dumont as openly LGBT federal judicial nominees of the Obama administration. The Oetken nomination has passed the Senate, the Nathan nomination is on the floor and there is no scheduled action on the Dumont nomination planned.

Here's the press release from the White House on the Fitzgerald nomination:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 20, 2011

President Obama Nominates Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama announced his nomination of Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. 

"I am honored to nominate Michael Walter Fitzgerald to the United States District Court," President Obama said.  "His impressive career stands as a testament to his formidable intellect and integrity.  I am confident he will serve the people of California with distinction on the District Court bench."

Michael Walter Fitzgerald: Nominee for United States District Judge for the Central District of California

Michael Walter Fitzgerald has been a named partner at the law firm of Corbin, Fitzgerald & Athey LLP in Los Angeles, California since 1998, where he handles civil and criminal litigation in both federal and state courts.   Previously, he worked at the Law Offices of Robert L. Corbin PC from 1995 to 1998 and at the law firm of Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe from 1991 to 1995.  Between 1988 and 1991, Fitzgerald served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles.  Upon graduation from law school, he clerked for the Honorable Irving R. Kaufman of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.  Fitzgerald received his J.D. in 1985 from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) and his A.B. magna cum laude in 1981 from Harvard University.

### 

President Obama Endorses DOMA Repeal Bill!

Today is when the Senate Judiciary Committee is hearing testimony about the repeal of the so-called Defense of  Marriage Act, through consideration of S. 598, the Respect for Marriage Act.

However, yesterday the Whuite House Press Secretary Jay Carney made news yesterrday when he announced that the President was endorsing the legislation, even before its first committee hearing (a rare step for Presidents to take with legislation).

The response was to a question by openly gay reporter Chris Geidner of Metro Weekly:




The transcript of the exchange is available:

Metro Weekly: The president has said in the past that he opposes the Defense of Marriage Act, but he is yet to endorse the Respect for Marriage Act, which is the specific piece of legislation --

Carney: Senator [Dianne] Feinstein [(D-Calif.)], yeah.

Metro Weekly: -- aimed to repeal the bill. Tomorrow, the Senate will hold the first hearing into that bill. Is the administration ready to endorse that bill?

Carney: I can tell you that the President has long called for a legislative repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, which continues to have a real impact on the lives of real people -- our families, friends and neighbors. He is proud to support the Respect for Marriage Act, introduced by Sen. Feinstein and Congressman [Jerrold] Nadler [(D-N.Y.)], which would take DOMA off the books once and for all. This legislation would uphold the principle that the federal government should not deny gay and lesbian couples the same rights and legal protections as straight couples.

It should be interesting how far Senate Democrats want to push DOMA repeal. They presumably have the votes to get it out of committee but probably not the 60 votes to break the inevitable filibuster. And passage in the U.S. House is a non-starter.

1st Openly Gay U.S. District Court Judge Approved By Senate

As I blogged about earlier this year, J. Paul Oetken is the first openly gay man to be nominated for a lifetime federal judgeship. On Monday, the United States Senate approved Oetken's nomination by a vote of 80-13 to a seat on the Southern District of New York, which covers New York City and is one of the busiest and prestigious federal courts in the country. Amazingly, Oetken will join the same bench that the nation's only openly lesbian federal judge sits on. Deborah Batts is an African American lesbian judge who was nominated by President Clinton and approved by the Senate in 1994. All 13 Senators voting No o Oetken's nomination were Republicans.

Chris Geidner reports:

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has been supporting the nomination, praised Oetken's background and experience on the Senate floor shortly before the vote, saying "His confirmation will only improve the workings of one of the best and one of the busiest courts in the country."

Of Oetken's place as the first, Schumer said, "At this moment, Paul is not just an excellent candidate, as the first openly gay man to be confirmed as a federal judge and to serve on the federal bench, he will be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in just the last few decades."

Before the vote began, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee -- also announced that he would be voting for Oetken, who was born in Iowa.

When the vote did come, all Democrats voting approved the nomination, with Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) the sole Democrat not voting. Moreover, a majority of the Senate Republican caucus -- 28 members -- voted to approve the nomination, with 13 Republicans opposing the nomination and six members not voting.

The "no" votes came from Sens. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.). The Republicans not voting were Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and David Vitter (R-La.).

This is great news. Someone should ask all the Republican presidential candidates whether they would nominate an openly LGBT person to a federal judgeship. President Obama has also nominated an out lesbian, Ali Nathan, to a federal judgeship as well. That nomination is now pending on the Senate floor.

Obama Raises Record $86M In First 3 Months

President Barack Obama raised a record amount of cash in the first 3 months of his 2012 re-election effort: $86.7 million.

The Washington Post's The Fix reported:

Obama’s re-election campaign collected $47 million, while the president raised another $38 million for the DNC via a joint fundraising committee that allows donors to write a single check that is then divvied up between the two entitites.

The haul far surpasses the goal [Campaign Manager] Messina set for the campaign’s national finance committee of collecting a combined $60 million between April 1 and June 30.

[...]

Obama’s total is more than the $35 million raised this past quarter by all the Republican presidential candidates combined (although Minnesota Rep.Michele Bachmann has not yet reported her fundraising). The GOP is lagging in fundraising, a problem made more acute by Obama’s success. By this point in 2007, 10 GOP presidential hopefuls had collectively raised more than $118 million. Obama had raised $58.9 million over two quarters.

This is excellent news, but it's probably going to take a billion dollars to re-elect the president if, as predicted, unemployment is well above 8.5% on election day 2012.

Barack Obama Wants To Make Sure The Kiddies Have The Internets

As the rest of America gradually loses faith with Barack, I am growing to love him more and more.  Although the POTUS may know the proper way to pronounce "Taliban" and "Pakistan", he seems to think that the fantastical computer system we use to communicate with people on the bottom of the world (READ: China) is called "Internets".  No, Mr. President.  No.

Obama's Remarks at 2011 LGBT Pride Reception

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

For Immediate Release                                                             June 29, 2011

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT

AT RECEPTION OBSERVING LGBT PRIDE MONTH

East Room

6:00 P.M. EDT

     THE PRESIDENT:  Hello, everybody!  (Applause.)  Welcome to the White House.  (Applause.)  

Nothing ruins a good party like a long speech from a politician.  (Laughter.)  So I'm going to make a short set of remarks here.  I appreciate all of you being here.  I have learned a lesson:  Don't follow Potomac Fever -- (laughter) -- because they sounded pretty good. 

We’ve got community leaders here.  We've got grassroots organizers.  We've got some incredible young people who are just doing great work all across the country -– folks who are standing up against discrimination, and for the rights of parents and children and partners and students --

AUDIENCE MEMBER:  And spouses.

THE PRESIDENT:  -- and spouses.  (Applause.)  You’re fighting for the idea that everyone ought to be treated equally and everybody deserves to be able to live and love as they see fit.  (Applause.)

Now, I don’t have to tell the people in this room we've got a ways to go in the struggle, how many people are still denied their basic rights as Americans, who are still in particular circumstances treated as second-class citizens, or still fearful when they walk down the street or down the hall at school. Many of you have devoted your lives to the cause of equality.  So you all know that we've got more work to do.

But I think it's important for us to note the progress that's been made just in the last two and a half years.  I just want everybody to think about this.  (Applause.)  It was here, in the East Room, at our first Pride reception, on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a few months after I took office, that I made a pledge, I made a commitment.  I said that I would never counsel patience; it wasn’t right for me to tell you to be patient any more than it was right for folks to tell African Americans to be patient in terms of their freedoms.  I said it might take time to get everything we wanted done.  But I also expected to be judged not by the promises I made, but the promises I kept.

Now, let's just think about it.  I met with Judy Shepard.  I promised her we'd pass an inclusive hate crimes law, named after her son, Matthew.  And with the help of Ted Kennedy and others, we got it done and I signed the bill.  (Applause.)

I met Janice Lang-ben, who was barred from the bedside of the woman she loved as she lay dying, and I told her we were going to put a stop to that discrimination.  And I issued an order so that any hospital in America that accepts Medicare or Medicaid –- and that means just about every hospital in America  -– has to treat gay partners just as they have to treat straight partners.  Nobody in America should have to produce a legal contract.  (Applause.)

I said we'd lift the HIV travel ban.  We got that done.  (Applause.)  We put in place the first national strategy to fight HIV/AIDS.  (Applause.)

A lot of people said we weren’t going to be able to get "don't ask, don't tell" done, including a bunch of people in this room.  (Laughter.)  And I just met Sue Fulton, who was part of the first class of women at West Point, and is an outstanding advocate for gay service members.  It took two years through Congress -– working with Admiral Mullen and Secretary Gates and the Pentagon.  We had to hold together a fragile coalition.  We had to keep up the pressure.  But the bottom line is we got it done.  And in a matter of weeks, not months, I expect to certify the change in policy –- and we will end "don't ask, don't tell" once and for all.  (Applause.)

I told you I was against the Defense -- so-called Defense of Marriage Act.  I've long supported efforts to pass a repeal through Congress.  And until we reach that day, my administration is no longer defending DOMA in the courts.  The law is discriminatory.  It violates the Constitution.  It’s time for us to bring it to an end.  (Applause.) 

So bottom line is, I’ve met my commitments to the LGBT community.  I have delivered on what I promised.  Now, that doesn’t mean our work is done.  There are going to be times where you’re still frustrated with me.  (Laughter.)  I know there are going to be times where you’re still frustrated at the pace of change.  I understand that.  I know I can count on you to let me know.  (Laughter and applause.)  This is not a shy group.  (Laughter.)   

But what I also know is that I will continue to fight alongside you.  And I don’t just mean as an advocate.  You are moms and dads who care about the schools that your children go to.  You’re students who are trying to figure out how to pay for going to college.  You’re folks who are looking for good jobs to pay the bills.  You’re Americans who want this country to prosper.  So those are your fights, too.  And the fact is these are hard days for America.  So we’ve got a lot of work to do to, not only on ending discrimination; we’ve got a lot of work to do to live up to the ideals on which we were founded, and to preserve the American Dream in our time -– for everybody, whether they're gay or straight or lesbian or transgender. 

But the bottom line is, I am hopeful.  I’m hopeful because of the changes we’ve achieved just in these past two years.  Think about it.  It’s astonishing.  Progress that just a few years ago people would have thought were impossible.  And more than that, what gives me hope is the deeper shift that we’re seeing that’s a transformation not just in our laws but in the hearts and minds of people -- the progress led not by Washington but by ordinary citizens. 

It’s propelled not by politics but by love and friendship and a sense of mutual regard and mutual respect.  It’s playing out in legislatures like New York.  (Applause.)  It’s playing out in courtrooms.  It’s playing out in the ballot box, as people argue and debate over how to bring about the changes where we are creating a more perfect union.  But it’s also happening around water coolers.  It’s happening at Thanksgiving tables.  It’s happening on Facebook and Twitter, and at PTA meetings and potluck dinners, and church halls and VFW Halls. 

It happens when a father realizes he doesn’t just love his daughter, but also her partner.  (Applause.)  It happens when a soldier tells his unit that he’s gay, and they say, well, yeah, we knew that –- (laughter) -- but, you know, you’re a good soldier. It happens when a video sparks a movement to let every single young person out there know that they’re not alone.  (Applause.) It happens when people look past their differences to understand our common humanity.

And that’s not just the story of the gay rights movement.  It is the story of America, and the slow, inexorable march towards a more perfect union. 

I want thank you for your contribution to that story.  I’m confident we’re going to keep on writing more chapters.

      

     Thank you very much, everybody.  (Applause.) 

                                           END                                  6:10 P.M. EDT

Graph Showing Obama's Positive Impact on Economy

Barack Obama became President of the United States on January 20, 2009. Ever since he took office the economy has improved, with average number of jobs gained or lost entering positive territory in 2010.

Daily Kos posted this graphic earlier this week, and explained:

Let's start with the recovery act. In the 27 months since President Obama signed it into law, we've lost 1.3 million private sector jobs and 1.8 million overall.

Those are terrible numbers, but in the 27 months before the stimulus, we were losing private sector jobs more than three times as quickly. During that stretch, we lost 4.5 million jobs in the private sector jobs and 4.1 million jobs overall. (The reason we lost more private sector jobs than jobs overall is that public sector hiring went up by nearly one-half million. Under Obama, we've lost a half-million government jobs, an ironic fact given the false Republican claim that government hiring has increased.)

As you can see in the chart at the top of the post, as bad as the jobs picture was in 2009, it was even worse in 2008, and things have turned around in 2010 and 2011 with job growth stronger than it was in 2007. Moreover, we've now had sixteen straight months of private sector job gains.

With unemployment still at 9.1%, economic growth is obviously still way below where anybody wants it to be, but to the extent the administration has fallen short, it's that they've soft-pedaled the need for more stimulus funds to accelerate the recovery beyond its current pace.

And the fact remains that unlike Bush and the Republicans who wrecked the economy in the first place, Obama and the Democrats haven't made things worse. They've made things better.

I understand people being impatient about the economy, but considering voting for a Republican, who will only make things worse, not better, why?

Gay U.S. Congressmembers Urge DADT Veto Threat

There are currently four openly gay members of Congress, out of 535 total, Rep. Barney Frank (MA-05), Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) and Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01). All four have signed a letter to President Obama urging him to issue an official veto threat of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 if it is not stripped of it's provisions which would prevent the certification (and thus completion) of the repeal of DADT, the anti-gay policy which prevents open military service by lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans.

Pam Spaulding posted the letter to Scribd:
06-03-11 Letter to President Re DADT

There are other odious provisions in the Defense Authorization bill (such as a reiteration of the Defense of Marriage Act and a prohibition of solemnizing marriages on military bases in states which allow same-sex marriages) which the White House has already expressed its opposition to, but this is a step below a veto threat in the Washington-based kabuki dance of how provisions become federal law.

That is probably why the 4 openly LGBT representatives to specifically ask for a veto threat. It should be noted that there is no way that a provision to prevent the repeal of DADT can become law without President Obama's affirmation. I am confident that will not happen, and DADT will be gone by the end of the year.

Hat/tip to Pam's House Blend.

Obama Administration List of LGBT Commitments

The Obama Administration’s Commitment to Winning the Future for the LGBT Community

VERMONT: Democrats Enact Single-Payer Health Care!

Peter Shumlin is the Democratic Governor of Vermont

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, individual states have the opportunity to enact their own health care reform policies which suit each individual state. In Vermont, Democrats control the state legislature and the governorship for the first time in a long time. When Republicans gain legislative control they use their power for evil, in Minnesota (putting an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment on the 2012 ballot), in Wisconsin and Michigan (to eviscerate unions and disempower working families), in Ohio and Florida (disenfranchise elderly and minority voters) and in South Carolina and Tennessee (legislatively bully LGBT citizens and deny them equal access to constitutional rights).

Democrats, however, use their power for good, like in Vermont where they are ensuring that all state citizens will have access to health care.

Amy Goodman of TruthDig reports:

Vermont hired Harvard economist William Hsiao to come up with three alternatives to the current system. The single-payer system, Hsiao wrote, “will produce savings of 24.3 percent of total health expenditure between 2015 and 2024.” An analysis by Don McCanne, M.D., of Physicians for a National Health Program pointed out that “these plans would cover everyone without any increase in spending since the single payer efficiencies would be enough to pay for those currently uninsured or underinsured. So this is the really good news—single payer works.”

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin explained to me his intention to sign the bill into law: “Here’s our challenge. Our premiums go up 10, 15, 20 percent a year. This is true in the rest of the country as well. They are killing small business. They’re killing middle class Americans, who have been kicked in the teeth over the last several years. What our plan will do is create a single pool, get the insurance company profits, the pharmaceutical company profits, the other folks that are mining the system to make a lot of money on the backs of our illnesses, and ensure that we’re using those dollars to make Vermonters healthy.”

Governor Peter Shumlin did indeed sign the bill into law. 1 state down, 49 to go. California also has a single-payer health care bill pending in the legislature. MadProfessah has endorsed this legislation.

Obama's Job Approval Rating At 51%

Obama Approval Ratings Up Sharply

Barack Obama's approval ratings have recently moved up sharply, as indicated by the graphs shown here. Note the steep uptick starts around May 1st, which is the day that President Obama announced Osama Bin Laden was dead.

In fact, today the Washington Post is reporting that Obama's approval rating is the highest it has been in 2 years.

Overall, Obama’s approval rating is up slightly from 53 percent in March and a 47 percent low point following last fall’s midterm congressional elections, in which Republicans won control of the House and gained seats in the Senate. It was 64 percent in May 2009, just months after he was sworn into office. 

[...] 

In another finding, 53 percent in the latest poll say Obama deserves to be re-elected, while 43 percent say he should be fired, the first time in an AP-GfK poll that more people say he should get a second term than not.

Good news!

Hat/tip to Talking Points Memo.

Witt Wins! U.S. Settles Major DADT Case

Major Margaret Witt 

In a major victory for LGBT rights advocates, the federal government has declined to continue litigating the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" case of Witt v. Department of the Air Force, settling the case with Major Margaret Witt and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington state. Witt had won an important 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in 2008 where the judges said that laws impacting sexual orientation should receive "heightened scrutiny" and that it was unlikely that DADT would survive such judicial review.

Today, Witt announced that she would retire from the Air Force, receiving full benefits, and that the government had agreed to expunge her discharge from her military records, thus ending the lawsuit.

Servicemembers'' Legal Defense Network (SLDN) hailed the result:

(Washington, D.C.) Today, Army Veteran and SLDN Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis released the following statement regarding the announcement that  Major Margaret Witt will receive full retirement, the government will drop its appeal of the federal court ruling in her favor, and the unlawful 2003 discharge under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” will be removed from her military service record:  

“We congratulate Air Force Major Margaret Witt and her legal team on the stunning victory announced today.  Major Witt is a decorated veteran, discharged under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ after 18 years of sacrifice for our country as an operating room and flight nurse. Today’s events underscore once again the unjust nature of this discriminatory chapter in American history.  Her case established a new rule of law in the Ninth Circuit, and her voice and story were pivotal in building support for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ This is not just a victory for Major Witt – it’s a victory for justice and for service members everywhere.”

It should be interesting to see what impact setlling the Witt case has on the other major DADT case still pending in the 9th Circuit, Log Cabin Republicans v. United States which has as its focus the complete elimination of the DADT policy and establishment of non-discrimination procedures based on sexual orientation in the U.S. armed forces.

Majority Supports Path To Citizenship For Undocumented Immigrants

Matt Yglesisas posts this graphic demonstrating the results of a  poll which says that a majority of the public supports President Obama's position on immigration reform: we should include a path to citizenship for people who are living in the United States right now without the required legal documentation to work or immigrate. (This is what Republican conservatives like to call "amnesty.") Note that even staunch conservatives are split evenly on the question "Do you favor or oppose providing a way for illegal immigrants currently in the country to gain legal citizenship if they pass background checks, pay fines and have jobs?"

On a related note, Arizona is appealing it's illegal scheme to attempt to regulate immigration (better known as SB 1070) to the United States Supreme Court. Every federal court that has looked at SB 1070 has ruled it unconstitutional so far.

The Situation Finds Out About Bin Laden's Death First Hand

So there hasn't been a lot of news lately about my favorite automatons (those being, of course, the cast of Jersey Shore); in fact, I didn't even post the picture of their new crib in Tuscany when it was released last week because... well, I just didn't think it was that riveting.  But guess what?  It looks like Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino knew all about Bin Laden's death (and saw the picture of the terrorist's probably decapitated, mangled body the same time as Obama).  Well, not really.  This is just a meme... another confounded meme, but still HI-larious.  (via Neatorama).

I'm surprised they're not all looking at the Situation's awesome six pack (He's pretty surprised too).

WATCH: Obama Tells The World 'Osama Is Dead'

White House Releases Barack Obama's Birth Certificate

I'm not sure why they decided to do it today, instead of 1 year from now, but the White House has finally released the President's long-form birth certificate, confirming what all non-racist (and non-Republican) Americans have known for years, that Barack Obama was born August 4, 1961 in Hawaii.