Thursday, October 1, 2009

DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: "Is Obama Really a Natural-Born Citizen?"

lady-gaga.jpg

From spacers to truthers to birthers. Concluding our trilogy of special “conspiracy”-themed debates (which included extraterrestrials and 9/11), on Wednesday, Oct. 7 (at 8pm), we will ask:

“Is Obama Really a Natural-Born Citizen?”

The debaters:

Vijay Dewan, co-organizer of Young Lawyers for Obama and current associate at the law firm where the Obamas met, arguing yes.

Howard Yourow, legal educator and author and veteran of Democratic campaigns, arguing no.

Hosted by Todd Seavey and moderated by Michel Evanchik.

Free admission, cash bar. The debates, usually pitting two opponents against each other (in a civil and often humorous fashion), take place on the basement level of Lolita Bar at 266 Broome St. at the corner of Allen St. on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one block south and three west of the Delancey St. F, J, M, Z subway stop.

Much as I would love to broach the topic, mentioned in yesterday’s entry, of the subterranean reptile men who secretly rule the world (their shape-shifting members purportedly including Boxcar Willie and Kris Kristofferson), in November we will return to non-conspiratorial topics, starting with Latin American politics if all goes as planned.

Another conspiracy-like topic I’m sorry we didn’t get to is the question “Is singer Lady Gaga a man?” Gaga does appear to be packing a little something extra down there — and has a very campy, Cher-like act. Most likely, though, Gaga will prove not to be a hermaphrodite or transsexual but simply a being who is fifteen parts Britney Spears and one part Marilyn Manson — and despite her real name reportedly being the exotic-sounding Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, she is still eligible to run for president, remember.  (And I think she should consider doing a big, operatic cover of Queen’s “Radio Gaga.”)

Ah, America! Almost a utopia, the way it allows such strange and diverse people to rise to positions of prominence. And with that forced segue, we’re off and running with a month’s worth of utopia-themed blog entries. But up tomorrow, for contrast, a naysayer: one more look at my trip last week to the Lincoln Center premiere of Michael Moore’s documentary Capitalism: A Love Story.

2 comments:

Jason Bontrager said...

As I understand it, Obama still hasn’t released his birth certificate. He’s allowed two people to examine it and they’ve reported that it’s authentic, but why should we take their word for it? If he actually wanted to silence the Birthers, he’d just release the certificate to general examination and be done with it.

So either he’s got *something* (not necessarily his citizenship) to hide, or he wants the Birthers to stick around for his own cynical reasons (“look at those wacky Birthers! Aren’t they silly? And in the meantime pay no attention to my failing foreign policy initiatives or the economy or the unemployment rate. Boy, those Birthers sure are dumb!”).

Todd Seavey said...

[...] Tonight at Lolita Bar, a so-called “birther” will attempt to make the case that Obama isn’t really a natural-born citizen.  I, your host, will remain scrupulously neutral on the question during the proceedings — even while thinking Obama is something of a socialist.  But this much I can promise you: no one reading Edward Bellamy’s late-nineteenth-century socialist novel Looking Backward could possibly think that socialism itself is foreign to the American political tradition. [...]