UPDATE: Romney makes outrageous, 'dog whistle' birth certificate joke

Hey baby I want that birth certificate!

Romney birth certificate joke blasted as ‘racism’ and ‘gutterball politics’

From Muriel Kane – The Raw Story

republished by Paddy Ryan

Obama spokesperson Jen Psaki issued a scathing criticism, telling MSNBC, “This is the kind of gutterball politics that will and should turn the American people off. This is a pattern. Mitt Romney has questioned repeatedly over the last several months whether the president understands America, whether he understands freedom — he’s wrapped his arms around Donald Trump, one of the originators of the birther movement, so we’ve seen a pattern here.”

Rachel Maddow made a similar observation, pointing out on Twitter, “Today’s remarks follow 5 straight Romney ads about Obama being the president of lazy welfare recipients taking your $. Not subtle.”

However, the harshest words may have come from Andrew Rosenthal at the New York Times editorial page.

“Politicians sometimes think they can get away with saying something profoundly offensive or just plain stupid by acting like it was a joke,” Rosenthal wrote. “It never works, just like it didn’t work today when Mr. Romney shamelessly played the birther card in what seems like an increasingly desperate campaign against President Obama.”

“Today’s crack was way over the line,” he continued. “His audience laughed and applauded, probably not because they thought Mr. Romney was doing hilarious stand-up comedy, but because they knew exactly what he was up to. … It’s racism, pure and simple.”

Romney makes outrageous, 'dog whistle' birth certificate joke

By Paddy Ryan

Today, Mitt Romney made an outrageous, off-color joke regarding President Obama's birth certificate;

Ginger Gibson reports from the joint Romney-Ryan rally in Commerce, Mich.:

Starting his speech with a reflection on his love for Michigan, Romney explained that he and Ann Romney are proud natives and named the hospitals where they were born.

"Now I love being home in this place where Ann and I were raised, where both of us were born. Ann was born in Henry Ford Hospital. I was born in Harper Hospital," Romney said, continuing: "No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate. They know that this is the place that we were born and raised."

The crowd cheered in response.