The Top 10 Everything of 2009

Nota bene: If you're planning to run for the White House, try not to spend any time living abroad or have a foreign-born parent, because someone might question your status as a native-born citizen and attempt to invalidate your eventual presidency. Despite having produced his Hawaii birth certificate, President Obama has been plagued this year by conspiracy theorists like Orly Taitz, a California dentist and lawyer, and her "birther" followers. Birthers claim that Obama was born in Kenya and thus does not meet the Constitution's eligibility requirements to serve as President. Taitz's lawsuit seeking to have him removed from office was thrown out on Oct. 29, but that has yet to stop her from her mission. On Nov. 11, she staged a protest outside the offices of Fox News Channel in New York City after host Bill O'Reilly slammed the birther's argument as "bogus" on his show.