Barack Obama

Barack Obama is the President of the United States, first elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2012. Prior to his Presidency he was a Senator from the State of Illinois.

Despite many lies and distortion about Barack Obama's record as President, he has accomplished many things, including much of what he said he would do.

Obama Not American
See also: "Birthers"

Conspiracy theorists claim President Obama was born in Kenya, making him ineligible to serve as President. However, Obama was born in Hawaii, evidenced through both short and long form birth certificates and a local newspaper announcement of his birth. Numerous lawsuits seeking to remove Obama from office over this issue have been dismissed, and in some cases, courts have ordered people filing these lawsuits to pay fines for filing frivolous lawsuits. A full discussion of the birth certificate issue is available here.

Obama as Muslim
Conspiracy theorists claim President Obama is a Muslim. The first issue is that according to the United States Constitution, this doesn't matter. The second issue is that it isn't true in the first place, as Obama has repeatedly declared himself a Christian and has discussed his faith. Efforts tying him to Islam are based on idle speculation and quotes taken completely out of context.

Umbrellagate
During a press conference with the Turkish Prime Minister, President Obama asked two Marines to hold umbrellas for him and the Prime Minister. Conservatives have literally called for impeachment over this; they say the Marines' uniform code forbids male Marines in uniform from holding umbrellas. However, the President is the Commander in Chief and thus the highest ranking "member" of the military. The uniform code also says they can hold umbrellas if the Commandant of the Marine Corps approves it. The Commandant of the Marine Corps is nominated by the President and then confirmed by the Senate, so approval to hold umbrellas for the President comes from someone the President himself nominated.

It is a fake controversy; uniform codes for other branches have the same or similar provisions, but when they have held umbrellas for Republican presidents, conservatives always ignored it.

IRS and the Tea Party
In 2013 it was revealed the IRS was "targeting" Tea Party groups who were applying for tax-exempt status. The targeting occurred under an IRS administration nominated by President Bush. While some in Obama's administration were aware of this, nobody bothered telling Obama about it - he heard about it from news reports like the rest of the country did. A conservative Republican manager in the IRS has confirmed this scandal does not involve the White House. Further, it has come to light that the IRS was also targeting liberal groups, something the conservative media has not acknowledged.

Tea Party groups that were targeted were applying for social welfare, non-political tax exempt status. However, the Tea Party is an entirely political organization, and it's entire existence is based around the mantra of "taxed enough already." These latter two facts justify the IRS' actions. Further, during the Republican Bush administration, some liberal groups were targeted, and the Republicans in Congress did not care.

Importantly, of the 176 targeted groups that the IRS approved, 122 were conservative - compared to only 48 liberal groups and 6 others.

Benghazi
In Benghazi, Libya, a terrorist attack occurred on the U.S. Embassy and resulted in the deaths of Americans, including an ambassador.

This controversy is fake; numerous attacks occurred on embassies during Republican President Bush's administration with far more deaths, but Republicans ignored these. Congressional Republicans also voted against funding embassy security during Obama's administration, indirectly helping the terrorists with their attack. Republicans continue holding hearings on this incident, despite continually finding nothing new and finding no evidence of a cover-up or conspiracy.

Obamaphones
Conservatives claim Obama is gave away free cell phones to people who would vote for him. It is a lie; the program to provide phone service to extremely poor Americans began under Republican Ronald Reagan - which conservatives never mention while complaining about Obamaphones.

AP Press Scandal
In what may be the one and only actual scandal under the Obama administration, certain reporters were tracked and monitored. These reporters leaked or were suspected of leaking confidential or classified information and includes a reporter from FOX "News," which Obama is notoriously suspicious of. Attorney General Eric Holder is unaware of any effort to prosecute the press for disclosure of information, and has only been involved in investigated a conspiracy to release classified information FOX reporters were not cleared to receive.

Some of the controversy is fake however; Bush engaged in similar behavior and targeted the "liberal" New York Times, but conservatives actively encouraged that targeting.

ACORN
The poverty activist group ACORN disbanded in 2010, but House Republicans continue to ban any funding for into 2013 - even though it no longer existed at the time.