Republican state Representative Carl Seel and Senator Judy Burges are still trying to keep Americans they somehow believe are Kenyans -- well, at least one -- from being on the state's ballot in presidential elections.
Last year, a "birther" bill was approved by the Legislature and passed on to Governor Jan Brewer, who vetoed it -- probably because it called for a description of a candidate's penis as an option to get on the ballot.
Seel's at it again this year, as we told you about the watered-down, penis-free edition of the "birther" bill he submitted in January.
That bill apparently never even received committee assignments, but with the "birthers," if there's a will, there's a way.
Another one of Seel's bills, relating to the state's health care program, passed out of the House pretty easily last week.
Thanks to the glory of the strike-everything amendment -- and Seel's "birther" buddy on the Senate side, Burges -- Seel's "birther" bill lives on, and was approved yesterday by a Senate committee.
It still has another committee to clear, but the continuously debunked conspiracy theory that President Obama's not eligible to be president clearly lives on -- Seel actually made an appearance at Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "birther" press conference, making it clear he was intent on getting this type of legislation passed.
This attempt at "birther"-ism forces candidates to sign a sworn affidavit -- under penalties of perjury -- that they're eligible. The chair of the national political party for each candidate has to do the same (as if Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz wouldn't sign this affidavit on behalf of the president).
The bill also allows any qualified elector to challenge the affidavits in court, and it comes with an emergency clause -- just to be sure someone could create yet another statewide embarrassment by November if the governor were to sign this thing.
The bill still has several steps to go through before coming close to being law, but it's on the move.
Click here to read Burges' amendment -- the same as Seel's bill -- passed yesterday by the committee.
