On the EDge: Trump’s contentious first year

Stock images, St. George News

OPINION — It has been a year since the coronation, since “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe,” as a long-gone, beleaguered White House flak proclaimed, gathered in front of their televisions or in person in Washington, D.C., to witness our transition of power in government.

It doesn’t matter whether you come from the left or the right, it has been, in mildest terms, a very contentious year.

We were promised action.

A lot of action.

Quick action.

Decisive action.

Big league action.

We were promised that, right out of the gate, the Affordable Care Act would be repealed and replaced with some grand scheme, whose details have yet to be shared, that would provide us with the best health care the world has ever seen. Instead, it took nearly a year to defund a portion of the ACA and there is still no replacement bill on the table.

We were promised that the North American Free Trade Agreement would be immediately torn up and renegotiated because it was such a bad deal for the United States. Arguments pro and con pushed aside, the agreement remains in place.

We were hammered with talk of tightening up the borders as part of the turnkey implementation of a new administration. What we got was some hastily cobbled executive orders and more bellicose rhetoric about a wall along the border with Mexico to keep out all of its druggies, rapists and “bad hombres,” as they were called. Mexico has also steadfastly refused to contribute a single peso to construction of that wall.

We also saw executive orders creating travel bans to protect us from foreign terrorism. The executive orders, however, were found to be unconstitutional.

There were promises to “drain the swamp” and replace the key players entrenched along The Beltway with a new breed of public servants devoted to making America great again. The reality is a revolving door of politicos, some of whom are facing serious criminal charges and some of whom have left amid barely disguised rancor for clashing with the president. What remains is an exercise in nepotism and yes men and women dedicated to stroking an ego that knows no limits.

If you are a “Dreamer,” you are waiting, frightfully, for a knock on your door from immigration officials.

If you are a state’s rights advocate, you are shaking your head in disbelief as the administration relights the once-doused reefer madness mentality. Never mind that the old-school thinking has been a burden on people of color who have been disproportionately jailed for cannabis infractions, a slap in the face of science and research and a political divining rod of angst between the federal government and states enjoying huge revenue boosts and public satisfaction with the relaxation of individual marijuana laws. Why? Because, well, “good people don’t smoke marijuana,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has said. Even though this is contradictory to campaign platform, the president has not asked Sessions to stand down.

The economy?

There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors going on here, too. The administration cannot make legitimate claim in the realm of unemployment which started trending down dramatically in 2011. That business about returning jobs to the United States? Well, the truth is that 93,000 jobs were outsourced from the U.S. during the last year – a slight increase in the 87,000 annual losses during the previous decade.

The spike in the Dow and S&P 500 is something that cannot be legitimately credited to this administration, either. The effects of the new tax bill have not had time to play out and the increases in the stock market can more accurately be explained by an uptick in the global economy.

We have seen the standing of the United States crumble in the eyes of the greater world as a result of the jingoistic “America first” policies of the administration that have alienated every nation from Great Britain to Germany to our neighbors on the continent of Africa.

And, we have seen the United States placed on the threshold of a nuclear war with North Korea as language and diplomacy have failed to keep the two leaders from spiteful, playground name calling and threats.

There have been “successes,” if you will.

The president, during his first year, has heightened the hatred of President Barack Obama among a certain group of electors with petty paybacks in the form of snarky politics, executive orders and continued vitriol heaped upon the first black man to occupy the White House. It is a good bet the president has no understanding of the legislation and decisions of his predecessor and the effects of the current ramshackle administration.

He has succeeded at creating the worst divisiveness in the United States since the Civil War. He has further demonized liberalism and progressive politics, going as far as to support an accused pedophile in a senatorial race against a moderate Democrat; has endangered the 1st Amendment by trying to use his bully pulpit to quash peaceful protests by athletes and others concerned with equality and civil rights; and, declared war on a media whose responsibility is to serve as the watchdog for the residents of this nation. His attacks on the media, which he once unabashedly courted as he tried to burnish his image as a rich, powerful player – in all connotations of the word – have been vicious, with rabid barks about fake news and failing newspapers that, in reality, are doing quite well.

When the pen turned sharp and reporters suddenly began to deal with him as a world leader instead of reporting on the exploits of a wildly eccentric playboy-cum-lord of the manor, it got real and it became obvious that the president’s greatest skill was self-aggrandizement.

This divisiveness is further evidenced by a fractious partisanship, spurred on by faux claims of obstructionism by the Democrats. However it is difficult to lay blame on the opposition party when the White House, Senate and House of Representatives are controlled by Republicans.

Hypocrisy has made substantial gains as more and more surfaces about the scandals – from so-called locker room talk to hush money payments for porn stars to hide extramarital dalliances – perpetrated by a man who claims a moral center and registers favorably with a dubious religious right.

Then, there’s the Mueller probe, which in most normal circumstances would dominate the headlines. Of course, current circumstances are anything but normal and Russian collusion, obstruction of justice, money laundering and other crimes and misdemeanors are still under investigation by the special counsel.

In its first year, this administration has proven itself to be anything but big league.

In fact, in keeping with the baseball terminology, it is, at best, a bush league operation chugging along with a cylinder that misfires badly and rolls dangerously on bald tires.

No bad days!

Ed Kociela is an opinion columnist for St. George News. The opinions stated in this article are his own and may not be representative of St. George News.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews, @EdKociela

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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72 Comments

  • John January 23, 2018 at 8:33 am

    Special eddy, The Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality and it looks like you are ignoring this ruling..
    Supreme Court allows full enforcement of Trump travel ban
    by PETE WILLIAMS

    WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court late Monday allowed complete enforcement of the latest version of President Donald Trump’s restriction on travel to the U.S., giving the White House a rare courtroom win over the travel ban issue.

    With just two noted dissents, the court lifted lower court rulings that had exempted certain family members of people in the United States from the travel limits — including grandparents, grandchildren, brothers-and-sisters-in-law, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews and cousins.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-allows-full-enforcement-trump-travel-ban-n826451

    Courts of Appeals DO NOT RULE ON CONSTITUTIONALITY, That is reserved from the SUPREME COURT
    http://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/court-role-and-structure

    • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 10:41 am

      Actually, as evidenced in your own link, “federal courts hear cases involving the constitutionality of a law”, district courts outside the SCOTUS can rule on constitutionality. The current SCOTUS ruling is solely an allowance of the Travel Ban to continue until the appeals process is finished. Right now multiple lower federal courts have ruled it unconstitutional but the administration is appealing.

      In short, multiple courts in the federal system can rule on constitutionality, not just SCOTUS. Your argument is fundamentally wrong.

      • John January 23, 2018 at 11:33 am

        THE SUPREME COURT HAS FINAL DECISION ON ALL CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES ..game , set Match… hahahaha! You are part of the reason there is so much confusion… You just can’t handle somebody who sees stuff for what it really is…that’s because you are a pompous blowhard ..

        • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 11:51 am

          You do love all caps, don’t you?

          Yes, the SCOTUS is the highest court in the federal system. But it only has the “final decision” if those involved in a case take it that far. As of right now, the lower district court ruling stands and the Travel Ban is deemed unconstitutional. Ed was right and your initial critique was wrong. Its great that you want to move the goal post to “final decision” but that wasn’t your initial claim. What you are doing is type a fallacy.

          There is confusion because of ill-informed comments like yours ignore nuance in favor of ideology. Ironically your own link proved you wrong.

          • John January 23, 2018 at 12:31 pm

            sorry.. you are wrong again.. THE SUPREME COURT HAS THE FINAL SAY… WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND.. IF THE LOWER COURTS COULD OVERRULE THE SUPREME COURT ABORTION WOULD HAVE BEEN GONE LONG AGO….SAME THING WITH THE DEATH PENALTY.. the SUPREME COURT HAS THE FINAL SAY… your TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME IS getting a silly and ineffective…You are just a whiny big mouth loser . AND THE CAPS ARE THERE BECAUSE TO GET BY ALL THE CRAP IN YOUR HEAD I WOULD HAVE TO SCREAM. YOU JUST DON’T GET IT .oh mighty banal and feckless one…or maybe we should call you queen of the colons…because the only things that come out of you are noisy and smell of manure

          • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 1:12 pm

            You are so divisive you can’t even see when we agree. Yes, the SCOTUS has final say (unless Congress changes the constitution) once a formal case makes it to there for judgement.

            But there is a process to that and right now the District Court’s rulings are what stands. It hasn’t been taken to the SCOTUS for a formal ruling. The one you cite is an allowance for the travel ban to continue until it makes its way through appeals. But it hasn’t ruled on Constitutionality yet, as it hasn’t worked its way through the appeals process to get there. The SCOTUS action is a simple stay order.

            And here is the thing. Most experts right now see the case against the policy wavering with the stay order and the current legal analysis. Its considered likely that the appeals courts may rule in Trump’s favor. Its likely that given the executive’s broad powers that First Amendment legal arguments that drove the “unconstitutional” District Court rulings will not hold up against that power. Either way, we are likely seeing legal precedent set in news ways.

            Time will tell.

  • Sapphire January 23, 2018 at 8:56 am

    I disagree. The divisiveness came to a peak in 2016 when Trump was elected, which is WHY he was elected. The voters did not like the Republicans or Democrats, both self-serving political parties. Trump was a businessman and people wanted jobs and to get back on their feet from the recession and get spending under control so they could have a real paycheck to live on. Voters wanted Social Security and Medicare protected and for us to start taking care of our own country instead of the rest of the world. Voters wanted our veterans taken care of. Voters want all the parasites off the government dole so there is money for those who truly need it. Congressmen from both parties have fought everything Trump platformed on. But there has been a lot of swamp draining. Never have I seen so many exit their office.

  • Utahguns January 23, 2018 at 9:05 am

    All I have to see is an “On the Edge” article on the STG News front page and I already know its going to be nothing but blather from a distraught limp-wristed liberal.
    These articles aren’t worth reading anymore.
    Kociela, you’re quickly becoming a “has been”.

    • mesaman January 23, 2018 at 9:19 pm

      He has been a “has been” for twenty years or so. I don’t have to read his articles(?). The name says it all, he and Rachel Madcow and the rest of the MSNBC puppets.

  • dons8120 January 23, 2018 at 9:26 am

    Very good article, it has been a wild year and we can only hope that the Trump administration falls apart sooner than later so we can begin the rebuilding process. I want our country to succeed, but not at the cost of what Trump and his people are doing to everyone except his rich friends. I have become embarrassed to say that I am an American these days because of what Trump has done to our reputation with other countries. This is not the country I fought for during my time in the military and it is definitely not the one I want to leave my children with when they become adults. I have confidence that the people will rise against his regime this fall and pave the way for a recovery from his childish twitter rants and collusion with not only the Russians, but with the people in his own circle taking more money from the people to line their own pockets with more. #resist #rebuild

    • John January 23, 2018 at 9:47 am

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! you gotta be kidding?

      • dons8120 January 23, 2018 at 11:13 am

        Just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it isn’t true. You think the president is looking out for you, but you are sadly mistaken. I won’t argue with you because your mind is already made up. I have had better conversations with a 2 year old than I have with you. So I’ll leave my comments and you can just piss off.

    • John January 23, 2018 at 11:29 am

      hahahaha! why do you have a problem with reality? No divisiveness in this administration.. making liberals cry is called winning ! when a liberal thinks they’re right, we call that imagination delusional donny! TDS there is a cure ! hahahaha

      • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 11:56 am

        Its like Bizarro World with you. But words do have definitions:

        divisiveness: noun: a tendency to cause disagreement or hostility between people.

        Divisiveness has been Trump’s MO since entering the political ring. There is nothing more divisive than claiming the POTUS wasn’t born in the US.

        But you know this since you thrive on divisiveness. Its also your MO. Your brand is hostility.

        • John January 23, 2018 at 12:36 pm

          Even obama couldn’t prove he was born in the US …so don’t make me laugh !

          • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 1:16 pm

            Hawaii provided his birth certificate. You are revealing your racism if you haven’t accepted that yet. Even Trump admitted “President Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period.” (September, 2016)

            Bizarro World indeed.

          • John January 23, 2018 at 2:00 pm

            I’d like to see proof of that, as of last January, no one has seen the real birth certificate and the one that was placed on whitehouse.gov in 2011 was a photo shopped phony. Again where’s the proof and how am I a racist just because i think his total presidency was a fraud. It has nothing to do with race and everything to do whit his incompetence..the only official law enforcement investigation ever done into the Obama birth certificate has concluded it is “not authentic.”

          • John January 23, 2018 at 2:28 pm

            And Trump played you and every other butt head that was making an issue out of it.. it was not an admission, it was a dismissal ..haha! I for one only question the fact that a real birth certificate was never produced.. lots of cover ups and smoke and mirrors, but no paper birth certificate.. I’ll bet you can’t produce proof either because you bought the lie.. post a link to prove to me that the real birth certificate has been seen and examined..this video is about the one posted on whitehouse.gov in 2011.. Proof that Obama’s birth certificate is a forgery – an impeachable felony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjvGcF1ZHXU

          • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 3:22 pm

            It just keeps getting better. Your proof of forgery is a ham fisted youtube video by one of Trump’s employees during his exploratory phases of his campaign? A do tell.

            Lets see. Josh Youseff: a divorcee who claims New Hampshire hates anyone with a penis standing up for themselves because he lost custody to his wife. He didn’t file tax returns for four years and had his wages garnished for $60k in back taxes. He was accussed of under reporting his income to reduce his child support burden.

            Yeah, he seems like a great source.

            If the evidence of fraud is so overwhelming why didn’t Congress impeach him? Why hasn’t there been a legal case? I mean we are talking about a POTUS the right loved to hate in every way imaginable.

            This is just too much fun. How far down this rabbit hole have you gone?

            And the birth certificate on the WhiteHouse page is a legal document with a signed affidavit by the relevant Hawaiin official. Claiming fraud requires significant evidence which a random youtube video doesn’t satisfy.

            Bizarro World. I haven’t run into a diehard birther in years. Most of them abandoned ship but maybe their new captain, Convict Arpaio has recruited another lackluster crew of misfits.

        • dons8120 January 23, 2018 at 1:48 pm

          There is no winning with John, I have grown tired of even responding to him. He will only believe what he thinks is truth and doesn’t care how much proof we provide him. I have lost track how many times I provided undeniable facts and he still thinks I am wrong. We have to deal with him like a child and just ignore him because he only wants attention.

          • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 2:11 pm

            Sadly, he is definitely beyond hope. He seems so enmeshed in the clogosphere as to be beyond hope. I mean the guy is now trying to justify his racist birtherism that even Trump abandoned. Its just pathetic.

            I mostly respond to him because unchallenged claims like he makes end up perpetuating the cycle of misinformation. Its my hope that lurkers will see the facts that contradict his outrageous claims and investigate for themselves.

          • John January 23, 2018 at 2:32 pm

            reality eludes you two.., liberals can never accept facts.. you guys cry so much you can’t see the forest through your tears.. waaah waah waaah! How much will you be crying after the memos get released?..hmmmm? long 7 years , That is a long time to suffer with Trump Derangement Syndome.. hope you have plenty of kleenex..Keep chasing those unicorns….

          • John January 23, 2018 at 3:07 pm

            you’ll never win with me, you can’t win a battle of wits with someone when you are so pitifully unarmed…just like the democrats and ed

        • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 2:17 pm

          Oh please do tell me you are referring to convict Joe Arapaio’s “investigation”. Nothing would bring more joy than you using his claims as justification.

          If you don’t consider the Long Form Birth Certificate as proof than that is on you and your conspiracy theory.

          And yes, race has everything to do with birther claims against our first black president. His “competency” has nothing to do with his place of birth so that is an outrageous defense.

          • John January 23, 2018 at 6:52 pm

            An actual birth certificate has never been produced.. NEVER…If you got it show it to me.. the only long form one out there is proven to be a a forgery and the only other one says he was born in Kenya produced by his own brother. If I’m a racist that makes you an idiot which just happens to be easier to prove than you proving I’m a racist. Provide a link to the real birth certificate then, and prove me wrong !

          • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 9:45 pm

            A long form birth certificate is an official, real birth certificate.

            I’ll give you a basic lesson:

            Certified legal document (that’s never been challenged in court) > disgraced youtuber’s video rant

            Pretty simple really.

            And yes….perpetuating birther conspiracies against our first black president is obvious racism. Its never been an issue before until a person of color with a middle name of Hussein was elected.

          • John January 24, 2018 at 9:51 am

            bikeandfish…Where is this supposed imaginary birth certificate? All the links lead to the forgery or his Kenyan birth Certificate. You have not proved anything because you have not provided any facts, just more banal and feckless nonsense… The 2011 version is a forgery..Why did Obama allow a fake birth certificate to be posted on whitehouse.gov? Fair is fair, The democrats forced John MCcain to prove his eligibility, Why the double standard?
            Long-Form Birth Certificate of Obama is a Forged Document

            https://www.science.co.il/Obama-birth-certificate.htm

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 10:18 am

            I’ll help you again:

            I’m fully aware that internet trolls like you believe the certified legal document is a fake. But belief doesn’t make it true.

            I’ll repeat:

            Internet conspiracy < certified legal document

            If the evidence is so overwhelming its s forgery then why hasn't there been a legal case? Until then, the certified long form birth certificate is rightfully considered legitimate, something non-racist accepted in this country years ago.

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 10:35 am

            John,

            Constitutional claims about candidate eligibility are not the same as “birther” conspiracies that claim a candidate forged documents. Its telling you don’t understand that difference.

            And here is thing, other than a handful of scholars and internet wingnuts, no one was worried about McCain or even Cruz. McCain’s citizenship was never in question; it was a technicality over “natural born” and the laws governing the territory/base he was born on. Most people didn’t care as he was an American citizen. Cruz’s case is a little different but still about legal interpretation of “natural-born” given his mother was American but he was born in Canada.

            No one claimed either of them forged birth certificates or orchestrated a massive plot for a foreign citizen like you perpetuate about Obama. Critical, glaring difference.

            Obama is a natural-born citizen with certified legal documents from Hawaii. Stop perpetuating racist propaganda simply because you hated Obama. Its pretty simple, once again.

          • John January 24, 2018 at 11:02 am

            https://www.science.co.il/Obama-birth-certificate.htm
            This is from 2017..
            HOW about some proof from your end instead of “this what you believe” crap ! PROVE YOUR POINT ! The only version available is the forgery which has the hospital name wrong. Show us your PROOF.. Name of the Hospital Obama was supposedly born at should have been Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital until 1978. Then they merged with the Kapi‘olani Maternity Home in 1978 and became Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

            See for yourself. Here is the link to the hospital website detailing their history…

            http://www.kapiolani.org/women-and-child…fault.aspx
            I presented my proof.. Where is yours ?

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 11:19 am

            John,

            You are being obtuse. Basic logic applies. Certified legal documents, ie the long form birth certificate you know the location of, is evidence. Proving its a forgery requires a legal challenge, not some internet conspiracy with YouTube videos. Until then, the authenticity of Obama’s citizenship is considered legitimate. You can keep claiming so high ground of truth but until you satisfy basic expectations that is a simple bastardization of the word.

            And I find it ironic that your link is a 404 error. Didn’t even verify it yourself before copy and pasting from one of your trollish websites?

            Every element of your claims, from hospital name to pdf layers, have been debunked:

            https://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthers/birthcertificate.asp

            I’m sure you will wail about the AP and Snoped with some MSM-esque insult but no one cares because the proof is in the pudding.

            Once again:

            Conspiracy theory < certified legal document

            Making a claim isn't proof. A birth certificate is evidence. Learn to cope with reality and stop engaging in racist nonsense.

          • dons8120 January 24, 2018 at 11:56 am

            Did John really use the Israel Science and Technology web site as his proof for the birth certificate. That picture doesn’t even look like the one that Hawaii produced. He must have got it from Alex Jones internet show.

          • John January 24, 2018 at 11:58 am

            snopes is not reliable..’Fact checking’ website Snopes on verge of collapse after founder is accused of fraud, lies, and putting prostitutes and his honeymoon on expenses (and it hasn’t told its readers THOSE facts)

          • John January 24, 2018 at 11:59 am

            And where is this Birth certificate?..SHOW ME!! you can’t and you are too dense to admit it..

          • John January 24, 2018 at 12:33 pm

            Your proof is snopes? hahahahaha! Snopes’ “fact-checking” looks more like playing defense for prominent Democrats like Hillary Clinton and it’s political “fact-checker” describes herself as a liberal and has called Republicans “regressive” and afraid of “female agency.”

            Snopes’ main political fact-checker is a writer named Kim Lacapria. Before writing for Snopes, Lacapria wrote for Inquisitr, a blog that — oddly enough — is known for publishing fake quotes and even downright hoaxes as much as anything else.
            WHERE IS THE REAL BIRTH CERTIFICATE?
            Hawaii never produced one..the name of the hospital is wrong on the one you you claim is real…
            You have to be very gullible to take anything from snopes as fact.. If that’s the best you got, you are a bigger fool than I give you credit for…………

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 1:48 pm

            John,

            You know where the birth certificate is located, but anyone still playing along:

            https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/04/27/president-obamas-long-form-birth-certificate

            Hospital name is correct and your regurgitated allegations have been debunked. Once again, your own link was a copy and paste to a 404 error.

            Every respected fact checking organization has debunked your claims so scream about Snopes all you want.

            https://www.factcheck.org/2008/08/born-in-the-usa/

            Even the National Review, a conservative leaning and highly respected outfit, has debunked your first video:

            http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/265767

            The obvious lesson is you don’t care about facts. For ten years Obama has faced such claims and yet there is no evidence strong enough to counter his birth certificates and other evidence (newspaper entry about birth, etc). The good news is fewer Americans buy into the garbage conspiracy theory as most Americans recognize the truth. I think birthers were down to single digits percentages after the 2011 release.

            Either admit you value the racism inherent in the birther movement or overcome the ignorance that constitutes the conspiracy theory. Everyone of your claims is debunked or irrelevant. They are all failed justifications for one of the most racist political smear campaigns in modern politics.

          • John January 24, 2018 at 2:11 pm

            Both those are the forgery… hahahahahaha! the real one does not exist.. Has nothing to do with layers..duh.. the name of the hospital on the certificate did not exist until 1978..you are fallling for a forgery

          • John January 24, 2018 at 2:12 pm

            Name of the Hospital Obama was supposedly born at should have been Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital until 1978. Then they merged with the Kapi‘olani Maternity Home in 1978 and became Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

            See for yourself. Here is the link to the hospital website detailing their history…

            http://www.kapiolani.org/women-and-child…fault.aspx

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 2:43 pm

            John,

            Error 404 Page Not Found

            Do some research for yourself before copy and pasting conspiracy theories.

            Since you don’t trust snopes for addressing the fallacious hospital claims, here is the wikipedia entry:

            “In 1931, its name was changed to the Kapiʻolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital.”
            “In 1971, its name was changed to Kapiʻolani Hospital.”

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapiolani_Medical_Center_for_Women_and_Children

            Or here:

            https://www.truthorfiction.com/obama-birth-certificate/

            Or how about this woman that gave birth at the same hospital within 24 hours of Obama’s delivery:

            ““I entered the Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital on early Friday afternoon, August 4, 1961. I was registered and my expected twins were given Hawaii State birth certificate numbers 10637 and 10638”

            http://www.womensmediacenter.com/news-features/for-birthers-honolulu-mom-an-inconvenient-truth

            But keep trusting a website that gives cites a 404 Error Page as evidence.

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 3:06 pm

            Ha, here is the actual website:

            https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/kapiolani/about-us/overview/

            Now lets dismantle your false claims. You said:

            “Name of the Hospital Obama was supposedly born at should have been Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital until 1978. Then they merged with the Kapi‘olani Maternity Home in 1978 and became Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.”

            Now, by your own claim, the Kapi’olani Maternity Home existed before 1978.

            The hospital states:

            “In 1890, in response to an unusually high infant mortality rate in Hawaii, Queen Kapiolani founded the Kapiolani Maternity Home to care for Hawaii’s mothers and babies. The hospital later merged with Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital in 1978 to become Kapiolani. ”

            So the hospital on Obama’s birth certificate existed according to the website you link. Not only that but we know it changes names in its history because they first cite “Maternity Home” and the say “the hospital later merged”.

            Lets look at history of Kapi’olani, once again from wikipedia, the most in depth source found:

            “In 1918, the home moved to a two-story house with 25 beds at 1538 S. Beretania Street, changed its name to the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home, and opened its doors to women of other than Hawaiian descent.”
            “In 1931, its name was changed to the Kapiʻolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital.”
            “In 1971, its name was changed to Kapiʻolani Hospital.”
            “In 1978, Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital moved into the new eleven-story (226-bed, 108-bassinet) Kapiʻolani/Children’s Medical Center tower located at 1319 Punahou Street on the southeast corner of Punahou and Bingham streets—initially with separate entrances for the pediatricians on Bingham Street and the obstetricians on Punahou Street.”

            We see your claim is false as Kapi’olani existed before your 1978 claim and it existed under the name on Obama’s birth certificate.

            But this has been proved for 7 years. In fact, we have known since 2008 that he was born in Hawaii when he released his “short form” certificate that was verified by the state and politifact.

            But I’m going to wager you’ll just dig deeper into your bunker.

        • John January 24, 2018 at 3:17 pm

          https://www.hawaiipacifichealth.org/kapiolani/about-us/legacy/
          from the hospital website….Concerned about the welfare of Hawaii’s mothers and babies, Queen Kapiolani founded the Kapiolani Maternity Home in 1890. She worked tirelessly traveling the islands holding bazaars, luau and other events and benefits to raise the $8,000 needed. Over the years, the home expanded its services from labor and delivery to providing other health care services for women.

          In 1909, Albert and Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox donated the funds to open Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital, a hospital for Hawaii’s children envisioned by Dr. James R. Judd and Sanford Dole. Concerned that two of every seven infants in Hawaii did not live to see their first birthday, the community rallied to match the Wilcox’s gift. In its first full year of operation, the hospital admitted 354 pediatric patients with an average length of stay of 19 days.

          In 1978, the Kapiolani Hospital and the Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital merged to become Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children.
          the birth cerificate is not real…

          • dons8120 January 24, 2018 at 3:51 pm

            As my other post states, you are leaving out some important details and dates. Just like a right wing nut, you only use the details that prove your point and leave out the entire story. You are missing 70 years of history John, how convenient that you left those details out of your post. You are really off your rocker today.

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 3:57 pm

            Nothing in your link is inconsistent with his birth certificate or the facts I have highlighted.

            Even WND has admitted the hospital is real:

            Or how about case law from 1936 in which the hospital goes by the very name , ie Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital v Wodehouse (1936)

            https://casetext.com/case/kapiolani-maternity-and-g-hosp-v-wodehouse

            “The Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital, which will be hereinafter referred to as the “Maternity Hospital” or as “the appellant,” is a corporation established under the laws of Hawaii”

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 3:58 pm

            Forgot WND link:

            http://www.wnd.com/2011/04/292577/

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 4:59 pm

            I did make a mistake, the case cited is from 1934, not 1936. That said there was also a case in 1932 involving m, Kapiʻolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital.

            Its almost like their is overwhelming evidence of its existence, kind of what we would expect from truth, fact and reality.

      • dons8120 January 24, 2018 at 3:22 pm

        Regarding your post i copied below, The hospital was named Kapiʻolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in 1931 and not changed to Kapiʻolani Hospital until 1971, that is 10 years after President Obama was born. In 1976, Kapiʻolani Hospital and Kauikenolani Children’s Hospital began a protracted, decade-long merger. There is your proof you can find it in public records in Honolulu. Your the Kapi‘olani Maternity Home name was from 1918 and as above changed in 1931. So in all fronts you are wrong, unless some all powerful force changed all the public records for the last 150 years just to cover up the presidents birth records. If you want more proof, fly to Hawaii and check the public records for yourself. Now sit down and shut up!

        John January 24, 2018 at 11:02 am
        https://www.science.co.il/Obama-birth-certificate.htm
        This is from 2017..
        HOW about some proof from your end instead of “this what you believe” crap ! PROVE YOUR POINT ! The only version available is the forgery which has the hospital name wrong. Show us your PROOF.. Name of the Hospital Obama was supposedly born at should have been Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital until 1978. Then they merged with the Kapi‘olani Maternity Home in 1978 and became Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.

  • Mr. W January 23, 2018 at 9:40 am

    Special Ed must need a really big pillow to cry into at night. I imagine Ed reads up as many associated press stories as he can every morning and then like a bad bout of diahrea from a Chinese buffet unloads another of his pointless mindless and ridiculous op pieces.

  • bikeandfish January 23, 2018 at 11:32 am

    I am someone who is rightfully called “anti-Trump” because of his behavior and actions before and during office. Ed highlights some of the egregious choices made by this administration that I think has been condemned by folks across the political spectrum.

    I do have concerns though. For two administrations now we have seen the economy strengthen and grow. That is a good thing, whether under Trump or Obama. We should celebrate greater employment, growing retirement accounts and expanding GDP. The concern comes in on how partisans inconsistently frame this reality. Either we give credit to the executive, or we don’t. I’m not sure which is the best or most accurate choice but this nation is being ripped apart by partisans who refuse to be consistent in their standards. We need to get away from this notion that _____ can do no wrong, while ______ can do no right. If we gave credit to Obama for strengthening the economy then we need to admit when Trump has done the same. If folks didn’t give Obama credit for strengthening the economy, then stop applauding Trump for numbers that are similar to the previous administration. Its pretty simple unless you value party allegiance over consistency. I would be remiss if I personally did not recognize the economic growth under Trump, as someone who applauded Obama and the Congress for helping us to recover from one of our nation’s worst recessions. Maybe for once we can all be happy that things continue to look up economically (for most, not all).

    Trump’s blatant and outright unAmerican attacks on journalist should be condemned. Our international ranking by non-partisan groups for press freedom continues to drop and we should be ashamed. The free press is a hallmark of a democracy and every American should work to protect it from attacks from the President. I wasn’t on this website before the previous summer so I can’t attest to Ed’s previous columns under Obama so I can only hope he applied the same criticisms and protections then. Obama and his administration suffered similar international rankings due to his own style of attacks on the free press. Don’t take that to mean they were the same in quality or quantity, they weren’t. Trump is unique as a modern President in the way he has done a direct attack on the fourth estate. Yet, Obama moved us in a dangerous direction as well and I did not see the same type of vigilance from left-leaning pundits then. Once again, we need greater consistency not more partisanship.

    I’m critique Trump because of his actions and I did the same for Obama. I am all for holding our executive accountable and their feet to the fire. But more people need to be willing to do the same with the candidates they voted for if we actually care about protecting American institutions we value.

    • John January 23, 2018 at 9:08 pm

      Actually, you are rightfully called something quite different, full of yourself is the nicest I can use here but most also know exactly what I mean.. clue: It falls out the the back end of a cow…Also rightfully called a pompous blowhard snowflake..

      • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 10:12 am

        I have never seen a snowflakes fall out of the back of a cow.

        • John January 24, 2018 at 11:25 am

          Look in the mirror..

        • dons8120 January 24, 2018 at 11:49 am

          That would be a site for sure, I am guessing it has to be a purely white cow.

          • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 2:02 pm

            Indeed.

            I haven’t run into a conspiracy nut like John in a while. Its always revealing how far they will go to justify their unsubstantiated belief. And to find a birther who still clings to that long debunked garbage is telling.

            Its rare but there are people who is lead me to believe they are beyond hope. This site has two which is more than any place I’ve seen on the internet in a while. Most places find a way to moderate the worst of these trolls but this place just struggles. A lot of thoughtful people in Southern Utah have rightfully chosen to walk away from here because of folks like John.

  • Kyle L. January 23, 2018 at 11:48 am

    Ed, it says a lot about the content of your article when all most people are interested in are the comments! You can almost always tell from the comments what you said in the article. I can sum it up for everyone else who didn’t read it: Trump is bad. Everything Trump does is bad. Everything bad that happens or has ever happened is Trump’s fault. Anyone would be better then Trump.
    Now for the rest of the sane world just keep laughing at the comments and think of how hard Ed has to work to come up with this stuff.

  • dodgers January 23, 2018 at 8:27 pm

    Well said Kyle. Trump has HUGE accomplishments in year #1. The left just can’t accept the great results, and either distorts them, ignores them or gives the credit to Obama. The Trump successes are huge; finally we are seeing the HOPE & CHANGE, thanks to a president who is getting it done, despite battling the entrenched establishment and do-nothing, no-plan Dems, led by shutdown Schumer. And soon many will start seeing increased take home pay, the result of tax cuts, putting a few more nails in the coffin of the Dems, who are chasing their tails and are two steps behind.

  • commonsense January 24, 2018 at 7:44 am

    Bikefish, AKA Ed, Obama was the master of divisiveness. Racism and protests were subsiding after the tumultuous hippy era so much so that America elected a black president who promptly played the race card over and over again. His Soros funded global socialist agenda soon destroyed business, law enforcement and military morale. For eight years we saw crime rise, illegals enter our country and deterioration of our military strength along with unemployment and jobs leaving our shores.

    Economic markets are driven by the emotion of hope and security. Trump has brought that. Even the anticipation of Obama leaving office began to show in all things economic and, unlike Obama, Trump hasn’t screwed up the economy with antibussiness regulation.

    • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 8:15 am

      People are really reaching for straws of you think I’m Ed. I think his ad hominem attacks against me undermine that idea.

      You lose all validity if you make economic claims against Obama. Wallstreet is doing better under Trump but the rest of the economy is comparable to the Obama years. The #s don’t lie. In fact, 2013-2014 saw better performance.

      Not interested in countering your construct of divisiveness and race. You are clearly allowed your opinion.

    • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 8:20 am

      Forgot about the immigration remark. You do realize Obama deported more illegal immigrants than any president before him, correct? We’ll have a better comparison to Trump after 2018 but from what I can tell he is way behind. Illegal immigration across the Mexican border was declining for years before Trump took office.

      Its amazing how misinformed citizens who scream “but Soros” are about facts.

  • chris keele January 24, 2018 at 11:42 am

    I think we all should remember to try and be civil in our discourse, and respectful of each others opinion’s, let’s not fall for the trap that a lot of people in this Country have by allowing our emotions and ego to force us to continue the trend of divisiveness and contention. That will lead us down a path that is not productive for anyone.

    • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 1:54 pm

      I agree that civility is a cornerstone of public dialog. I am curious if you have spent much time having comments trolled by John? Do you think the birther conspiracy qualifies as divisive, contentious and unproductive?

      If so, then I think employing different techniques is warranted. John’s contributions here are always insulting and fundamentally hateful. I have tried different techniques with him with varying success. But at the end of the day I am comfortable calling out racism that is inherent to such ignorance as the birther movement. Naming something honestly is a powerful tool for countering such despicable behavior, especially when the website refuses to moderate his constant trolling. After a decade of dealing with such folks I no longer have reason to believe that ignoring them works.

  • John January 24, 2018 at 4:35 pm

    If the birth certificate is real the name of the hospital on the document should be Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital…the Kapiolani Maternity and Gynocological Hospital did not exist before 1978.. THATS A FACT..This is from the hospital’s own website..Concerned about the welfare of Hawaii’s mothers and babies, Queen Kapiolani founded the Kapiolani Maternity Home in 1890. She worked tirelessly traveling the islands holding bazaars, luau and other events and benefits to raise the $8,000 needed. Over the years, the home expanded its services from labor and delivery to providing other health care services for women.

    In 1909, Albert and Emma Kauikeolani Wilcox donated the funds to open Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital, a hospital for Hawaii’s children envisioned by Dr. James R. Judd and Sanford Dole. Concerned that two of every seven infants in Hawaii did not live to see their first birthday, the community rallied to match the Wilcox’s gift. In its first full year of operation, the hospital admitted 354 pediatric patients with an average length of stay of 19 days.

    In 1978, the Kapiolani Hospital and the Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital merged to become Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. not wikipedia which anybody can change………….

    • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 4:55 pm

      You are beyond hope, John. We have cited almost every imaginable source and you ignore it. We have certified legal documents, case law with text with hospital name explicitly cited, fellow Hawaiians with birth certificates from hospital, etc. Its all up there and your website link is consistent with the fact we outlined. There are more sources online but its not worth expounding anymore; any rational person who follows the links we provided above knows the hospital and birth certificate are real. But you are neither rational or willing.

      Sorry you had to live through eight years of a candidate you disliked but that’s not enough reason to perpetuate a debunked racist conspiracy. Continuing to do so makes you an abject liar.

  • Lee Sanders January 24, 2018 at 5:57 pm

    John, it’s evident that you are an ardent Trump supporter. I’m curious to hear if you support his not releasing his tax returns. And, if you do support him not releasing them, why do you think he shouldn’t and what do you think he doesn’t want the world to see?

  • Lee Sanders January 24, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    John, as you know, the border wall has been one of Trump’s foundational campaign and post-campaign promises. I’m sure you also know that much of he border between the US and Mexico is along the Rio Grande. I’m curious about what your suggestions would be of where to place the wall along this stretch. Would you suggest putting it down the middle of the river? Yeah, right. Would you suggest putting it on the Mexican side? Even more ludicrous. Would you suggest putting it on the US side and locking out all the locals who depend upon access to the river for their livelihood? This, not to mention all the visitors to places like the Big Bend National Park who expect and enjoy access to the river. And also not to mention all the US landowners who would lose, often large portions, of their property to rights-of-way for the wall. Just how well thought out do you think this whole “Build a wall and make America great again” talking point is? The wall doesn’t even take into account all the terrestrial wildlife migration routes that would be destroyed by its presence. Wouldn’t it be more practical and realistic to put the money into surveillance? You go down into the Arizona desert at night and you will see numerous tethered blimps already monitoring the border. As far as stopping drug traffic, all it takes is an inexpensive drone to get the goodies over his wall, no matter how high it’s constructed. The WALL, all because of some ill-informed and impractical campaign promise.

    John, I wonder if you watched both party’s presidential debates in 2016? If so, I doubt you would have any question where the current divisiveness and the upsurge of groups like the neo-Nazis and other white supremacists comes from.

  • commonsense January 24, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Interesting that the Obama library will contain no birth certificates or visas or school records.
    Trump’s tax returns are private and protected. Birth records and passport visas are public domain which Obama paid dearly to seal. Why?

    I wonder how much the Muslim connection will be shared. His father and step father were Muslim.
    His mother, a white girl from Kansas, was an intellectual vagabond who liked Muslim men. Why doesn’t CNN talk about this stuff.

    • bikeandfish January 24, 2018 at 7:58 pm

      And watch the cockroaches scurry.

      Oh please do show me the court order that “sealed” Obama’s birth certificate and passport. Because it takes a judges orders to “seal” legal documents.

      And Obama has been a Christian since the late 80s. And he actually has a record of attendance unlike our current president. Its funny that the right wants to bash him for Reverend Wright while also claiming he’s a secret Muslim. Its too rich.

    • Lee Sanders January 25, 2018 at 9:34 am

      Yes, Trumps tax returns don’t legally have to be released, but you didn’t answer the question. WHY is he not releasing them? There’s lots of possible reasons why he won’t and only one excuse why he didn’t “Trump’s tax returns are private and protected”. I think if I was a Trump supporter, this would be one of many things I’d be concerned about the man and the administration.

      I still wish someone would intelligently answer my earlier question about where to locate the wall along the Rio Grande.

  • commonsense January 25, 2018 at 7:41 am

    Come on Ed, Obama is non-religious but cultural Islam was a huge part of his formative years when he lived as Barry Sotoro in Indonesia. Let’s just be honest about who the guy really is.

  • bikeandfish January 25, 2018 at 9:06 am

    Keep throwing darts to guess my identification. You’ll never find out as its not relevant to what I post.

    Per Obama….its laughable the lengths people go to defame him. Yep, he lived in Indonesia for four years. Yep, he informally took on his stepfather’s name for years. Yep, he attended a Muslim school when he lived there but also a Catholic one like he did in Hawaii. Yep, his birth father was raised Muslim but was atheist by the time Barack was born.

    I love that Obama had 20+ years of church attendance yet folks like you still prefer to focus on his four years as a child in Indonesia to perpetuate some myth. “Formative years” isn’t specific but I would imagine Obama considers much of his youth formative and influential on his since of international diplomacy. I think its clear Obama isn’t ashamed of his broad childhood influences but that is a far cry from the secret muslim slander folks like you posit.

    Conspiracies and rational thinking aren’t correlated it seems. If you survived ten years of illogical fear mongering I doubt you are interested in facts now.

  • commonsense January 25, 2018 at 5:54 pm

    The irony is Obama has no connection to African American culture and yet American blacks embrace him just because his skin is brown. That’s racism.

    • bikeandfish January 26, 2018 at 1:08 pm

      Ha!

      Keep moving the goal post buddy. It didn’t work the first time and it won’t work now.

      You are definitely exposing alot about your personal ignorance. Keep voluntarily showing us your weaknesses.

  • commonsense January 29, 2018 at 8:19 pm

    Insults are not an answer.

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