However, this issue of Obama not being a citizen, also known as the "Birther" conspiracy, continues to live on to this very day.
But, what is so damn silly about this is that it could all be put to rest if Obama or his representatives would simply produce a photocopy of the original long-form Hawaiian birth certificate or advise the Hawaiian authorities to release that appropriate document. To date, Obama has only released a "short form" certificate of live birth which, in essence, is only a simple document that certifies that there is a birth certificate is on file. Yet, for some reason, that form isn't being used to have these "Birther" lawsuits expeditiously thrown out of court. It is because of this failure that this whole thing seems to shake my conclusion that Obama "is" a citizen.
Instead of simply providing a valid birth certificate, we get all kinds of "looking guilty as hell" legal maneuvering by the Justice Department who has been representing Obama in all the court cases over the "Birther" issues.
In two of the four "Birther" lawsuits, the Justice Department argued that the parties bringing the lawsuit against Obama's validity of being U.S. citizenship had no legal "standing" to do so. In other words, they weren't actually harmed by Obama not being a citizen and, therefore, their suits were thrown out of court. This seems to ignore the fact that they should have "standing" as both voters and as U.S. Citizens.
In another case, a soldier refused to go to Afghanistan on the basis that he was being ordered to do so by a person who was not a U.S. citizen and, therefore, not eligible to be either his President or his Commander-In-Chief. He then filed a Federal lawsuit to block his deployment on that basis.
Instead of court martialing the soldier because of his refusal to obey a direct order from his Commander-In-Chief, the Defense Department, without the slightest fight, uncharacteristically and remarkably revoked his orders to go to war (Click to See Full Story: "Soldier who says Obama isn't president doesn't have to deploy, Army says"). Ultimately, that soldier suffered no consequences for his disobedience.
I can't remember when that has ever happened outside of the context of conscientious objection and, only after having had a full blown court martial proceeding or some other Federal court hearing. But, think about it. If that lawsuit had been allowed to go forward, the whole Obama birth issue would have been opened up for all the world to see. However, by revoking the order to go to Afghanistan, the birth issue was, once again, buried and kept away from any potential exposure in our court system.
In the most current and still active case, a former presidential candidate and others have filed a Federal lawsuit in Orange County, California and have used what they believe to be a valid Kenyan birth certificate for Barack Obama as the basis of their lawsuit's claims (Click to See Full Story: "Panic in D.C.? Justice urges birth suit tossed Late motion filed by feds as case ready for hearing").
Going on since February, this particular lawsuit hasn't been thrown out by the typical Justice Department "standing" argument because one of the litigants was actually a candidate for President in 2008. Consequently, that litigant has the legal "standing" to file such a suit because they lost the election to a person who might not have been eligible to run for the Office of President. Thus fulfilling the "harmed requirement".
So, now, the Justice Department has taken a different tact and their argument is as follows:
"It is clear, from the text of the Constitution, and the relevant statutory law implementing the Constitution's textual commitments, that challenges to the qualifications of a candidate for president can, in the first instance, be presented to the voting public before the election, and, once the election is over, can be raised as objections as the electoral votes are counted in the Congress..."From that argument, you can clearly see that, once again, instead of simply presenting the birth certificate to stop all this supposed silliness, the Justice Department is saying that the issue is a "dead issue" because it should have been brought up "before" the votes were counted or during the time that the tally of the electoral votes was being processed by Congress.
So, if we are to believe that argument, I guess it's just too late! Citizen or not...Obama is the President! Sorry!
To me, this dancing around the issue is unbelievable and it tends to turn me into a "believer" that Obama may not be a citizen of this country and was never eligible to be President.
Who is really crazy here? The Birthers? Or, a President that fuels the controversy by refusing to simply provide a valid birth certificate?
Also, you have to ask yourself. If these lawsuits are so groundless, why not just allow one to go forward so the whole thing is settled; once and for all.
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6 comments:
Re: "But, what is so damn silly about this is that it could all be put to rest if Obama or his representatives would simply produce a photocopy of the original long-form Hawaiian birth certificate or advise the Hawaiian authorities to release that appropriate document. To date, Obama has only released a "short form" certificate of live birth which, in essence, is only a simple document that certifies that there is a birth certificate is on file. Yet, for some reason, that form isn't being used to have these "Birther" lawsuits expeditiously thrown out of court. It is because of this failure that this whole thing seems to shake my conclusion that Obama "is" a citizen."
Obama has posted the Certification of Live Birth, which is the official birth certificate of Hawaii, and it is the ONLT birth document that Hawaii sends out. (http://www.starbulletin.com/columnists/kokualine/20090606_kokua_line.html)
So, unless Obama has a copy of the original, the one that was sent to his parents after his birth, and not lost it as many of us do, the only document that he can show is the Certification of Live Birth.
Hawaii sends out only the Certification to everyone. If you ask for a copy of the original, you get the Certification. If you ask for the official document, you get the Certification. If you pay the $10 and fill in the form, you get the Certification. There is no form for anything else.
To be sure the Certification certifies that there is an original document on file, but Hawaii does not send out copies of the original. However, the Certification is the official document and the facts on it have been confirmed twice by the officials in Hawaii, and there is even a witness who recalls being told of the birth (http://www.buffalonews.com/494/story/554495.html)
But, supposing that it were possible for Obama to get Hawaii to release the original, should he? As the Wall Street Journal has commented, people who do not believe the facts on the official birth certificate are not likely to believe the original birth certificate either. It says:
"The release of the obsolete birth certificate [the original] would not “resolve the issue” to those for whom it is not already resolved. They claim without basis that today’s birth certificate is a fake; there is nothing to stop them from claiming without basis that yesterday’s is as well."http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204619004574320190095246658.html
and it points out that some Republicans have proposed legislation that would require future candidates for President to prove where they were born. They would do so by showing their birth certificates. Which birth certificate, the original or the official? The OFFICIAL.
As the WSJ said: "Further, if Congress were to pass the so-called birther bill, Obama would be able to comply easily. The bill would require presidential campaigns to submit “a copy of the candidate’s birth certificate” to the Federal Election Commission. The certificate Obama has released publicly would meet this requirement.'
Re: "If these lawsuits are so groundless, why not just allow one to go forward so the whole thing is settled; once and for all."
Because there is not one lawsuit against Obama (there was one against Hawaii in which Obama was not involved) that simply asks for the birth certificate to be show to the court. The vast amount of cases were before the election, and they asked to stop the election. Most of those after the election tried to block the certification of the election by Congress or the Inauguration.
The remaining cases have long, long lists of things that are alleged to make Obama not eligible. His alleged birth in Kenya (crazy), his alleged loss of citizenship (crazy and impossible) and the issue of whether he would be eligible to be president even if he were born in Hawaii because Obama's father was not a citizen.
Not one of these lawsuits is simply for Obama's birth certificate.
Update from Las Vegas Examiner:
"Birthers win a victory in court on Obama birth certificate issue"
http://www.examiner.com/x-16327-Clark-County-Liberal-Examiner~y2009m9d8-Birthers-win-a-victory-in-court-on-Obama-birth-certificate-issue
The case referenced in my blog will go forward with an initial trial date of January 11, 2010 based on its merits. Any arguments for dismissal will be heard on Oct 5th.
I do not worry. The evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii is overwhelming. There is no evidence that he was born anywhere else.
There has to be more to this than the obvious. Why else have all of Obama's other documentation been hidden, scrubbed?, etc.?? If it were only the birth certificate, that would be one thing. But the college records, the passport info, the draft card (which appears to be forged), the school records from Indonesia....all "mysteriously" unavailable? So, I have come to believe that Obama is not eligible by virtue of his obfuscation. You are so right when you say that this issue could have been resolved long ago, but Obama has something to hide...hence the million dollars plus he has been spending on keeping the truth out of the light of day. (actually I suspect that his donors, such as Soros, are paying the legal fees.)
Anyway, that's my take on it. I'm glad to see you weigh in again on this very important issue.
Absolutely right, Cheryl. Other than the books that were published by Obama about Obama, we hardly have any documentation regarding his pre-Community-Organizer life. It's almost as if he didn't exist. No writings! No records! Nothing! And, that is very troubling!
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