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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