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Louisville Write-In Presidential Candidate Files Birther Lawsuit

A Louisville doctor running for president as a write-in candidate is aligning with the so-called "birther" movement in a lawsuit questioning President Obama's citizenship.Anesthesiologist Todd House is running on a ticket with his wife, and according to The Courier-Journal's Joe Gerth, he filed a suit on August 10 alleging Mr. Obama is not a "natural born" citizen and is therefore unqualified to run for president.From The C-J: About 20 similar cases have been filed across the country. All of the cases that have come to a conclusion have been rejected by judges — both in federal and state courts — and most have failed on technical reasons. Courts have rejected several of the cases, ruling that those who filed the suits didn’t have “standing” to bring them. (SNIP) In seeking a temporary restraining order to keep Obama off the Kentucky ballot, House claims not only that the president was born in Kenya but that he is not eligible to be president because his father was not a U.S. citizen.Despite being thrown out of court and debunked on several occasions, public officials and candidates have flirted or outright embraced the conspiracy theory, which critics have said is based largely on racial prejudice of the country's first black president.In Louisville, Republican Metro Council candidate Marilyn Parker once suggested President Obama secretly practices Islam and made Facebook postings questioning his citizenship. She has since backpedaled on those views.And at the Tea Party rally in Frankfort this week, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer was confronted with the idea by raucous onlookers.From LEO Weekly: Thayer did his Obamacare routine, and then went down the Birther wormhole: “We need you to help send Barack Obama back to Chicago or Hawaii or wherever he wants to go,” yelled Thayer, which was followed by a literal chorus of screams behind me of “Kenya!!!” Thayer, clearly hearing this, smiled and laughed, replying, “I’m not going to say that, but I appreciate your sentiments. You know what we’re saying here, folks.”