The Faux Birth Certificate Controversy

By Roberta

Obama is an American citizen and has been from the first second of his birth.

Obama was born in Hawaii, a state in the United States, in 1981 to an American mother and a father who had dual Kenyan-British citizenship.

Any person born in the United States is automatically a citizen. The citizenship of children born in the United States is the first thing addressed in the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. It would take a constitutional amendment to change that.

Obama could have been born to two illegal aliens and he would still be an American citizen under the 14th Amendment, Section 1. I will cite it here again:

"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

tamerlane stated in one of his posts that Obama's eligibility to be President hinges on his actions between 18-21 as regards the possibility of dual citizenship. The fact of the matter is that the Kenyan Constitution prohibits dual citizenship in adulthood. If Obama was a dual citizen at birth he lost it at age 21.

As to the possibility of being an Indonesian citizen while living and going to school in Indonesia, American laws state that a minor cannot give up his American citizenship through the actions of his or her parents.

The COLB that Obama has produced meets all of the requirements of proof of citizenship of the State Department.

I have gone through all of the comments in tamerlane's first two posts on this subject. These are the reasons people gave for wanting Obama to produce the long form: I just want him to, a request, it is not logical to not show it, transparency, proof, he must do it.

Geez folks, can't we come up with something better than this? Transparency is good, but I know Obama is not transparent with or without the long form. Proof? The State Department felt they had enough proof with the COLB and so no court will question that.

Jeannie said it was not really up to debate but what was, "under the law." That sounds like a good idea. So let's talk about the law then.

I already cited Section 1 of the 14th Amendment above. I cited it in the comments section several times too. So evidently that is not enough. So what else is there?

Like many of our laws this one is vague and requires additional interpretation. So I went out and looked for more and found it.

Title Eight of the US Code, Section 1401 defines and interprets the wording in the 14th Amendment. I cite it below.

Those who qualify to be a natural born citizen must meet one of the following requirements:

1. Anyone born inside the United States

2. Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the US does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe

3. Anyone born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the US, as long as one parent has lived in the US

4. Anyone born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the US for at least one year, and the other parent is a US national

5. Anyone born in a US possession (Puerto Rico, etc), if one parent is a citizen and lived in the US for at least one year

6. Anyone found in the US under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is NOT provided by age twenty-one

7. Anyone born outside the US, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the US who lived in the US for a period totaling at least five years, two of those years must be after the parent is fourteen years old.

8. Any person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a US citizen mother who has lived in the US.

So even if Barack Obama was not born in Hawaii as claims, he would fall under number 7 above because his mother was a US citizen who met the requirements of living in the US for at least 5 years, two of which were after the age of fourteen.

I know these facts will not stop anyone from believing what they want, nor from still wanting to see his long form birth certificate. It's a free country.

Eligible to Serve?

Part 3-Too Close for Comfort?

-by 'tamerlane'


The ferocity of the Obot response to the eligibility questions is in itself telling. Does any doubt about the Messiah reap the foam-flecked attacks of Chris Mathews, or is this particular line of inquiry getting a little too close for comfort? The rabid reactions are so predictable:

It's racist! No, Article II applies to everybody, including Arnold and Madeleine Albright;

BO deserves privacy! If you want to be POTUS, you give up much of your privacy;

It's inappropriate! It apparently wasn't inappropriate to ask McCain about it, and he happily provided the proof;

It's the will of the people! It's the law of the land. And it's a good law, intended to ensure a president who will put America first.


More casual observers, lacking good info, tend to dismiss this as a crack-pot conspiracy theory. Their skepticism centers on:

Why didn't McCain or Hillary raise this issue? So they could be labeled "racist", "grasping at straws," or worse, with their political careers ruined? No thanks.

It's just too incredible. As are all Big Lies. The bigger and more audacious the lie, the easier it is to pass off.

Answer this: what's the harm in enforcing the eligibility requirements stipulated by our Constitution? We willingly produce ID for such trivial things as cashing a check or buying a drink, why not for POTUS?


Chimera
'Just trust me,' BO says. Why trust a man who has been caught lying about nearly every detail of his life story? Who refuses to release the documents all other candidates routinely do?

BO is clearly hiding something. Yet even the most skilled impostor leaves clues as to their true nature. We glimpse perhaps the quintessential Obama in this admission found in Dreams of My Father:

"As the words tumbled out of my mouth...a part of me really began to believe the story. But another part of me knew that what I was telling them was a lie, something I'd constructed from the scraps of information I had picked up from my mother...I had decided that I preferred ...an image I could alter on a whim-or ignore when convenient."


(c) 2009 by 'tamerlane.' All rights reserved.

Eligible to Serve?

Part 2 -- Indonesia

by 'tamerlane'


Largely overshadowed by the fracas over BO's place of birth are the ramifications of his time spent as a child in Indonesia. No one disputes that from ages 4 to 10, BO lived in Indonesia with his mother and her second husband, Lolo Soetoro. Yet this fact may well compromise BO's citizenship status and eligibility to serve as POTUS.


BO's Indonesian Citizenship

*As Indonesian law required, Lolo Soetoro formally adopted his stepson;

*Upon adoption at age 4, BO gained Indonesian citizenship and, by the laws of both nations at the time, relinquished his US citizenship;

*BO's name was officially changed to "Barry Soetoro";

*At age 10, BO traveled with his mother to Hawaii, where she left him in the care of his maternal grandmother.


US Citizenship Questions

* At age 4, BO would have traveled to Indonesia on his mother's US passport. Returning to America at age 10, "Barry Soetoro" would have traveled either on his mother's Indonesian passport, or his own Indonesian passport;

* If BO did lose US citizenship at age 4, and had to reapply sometime after age 10, then his status would be "naturalized" and not "natural-born";

* In 1980, when he was 19, BO took an extended trip to visit friends in Pakistan. In 1980, there was a State Dept. ban on travel by US citizens to Pakistan;

* In a TV interview, BO gave "1982 or '83" as the year he registered for Selective Service. BO was 21 in 1982; all male US citizens are required to register for Selective Service by their 18th birthday. Naturalized citizens over 18, however, must register at the time of their naturalization;

* No record exists of a change-of-name application for Barry Soetoro to resume the name "Barack Obama II";

* On BO's application to the Illinois State Bar, under "former given names or pseudonyms," he wrote, "none."


Lack of Proof
BO refuses to release his passport, college records, or Selective Service registration. He has, however, taken some odd steps:

* In 2007, BO cosponsored a bill to clarify McCain's POTUS eligibility. Notoriously uninterested in crafting or promoting legislation, BO nevertheless worked energetically for passage of this particular bill. He also pushed aggressively but unsuccessfully to add wording that would have allowed any foreign-born, naturalized citizen to be eligible for POTUS;

* On MyBarackObama.com, BO claimed eligibility for POTUS under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment confirmed voting rights for freed slaves, and states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States...are citizens of the United States...."


With Intent?

A person can lose US citizenship if they "perform certain acts voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. citizenship," including obtaining naturalization from a foreign state, or any act "accompanied by conduct which is so inconsistent with retention of U.S. citizenship that it compels a conclusion that the individual intended to relinquish U.S. citizenship." A four-year old dependent does not meet these criteria. But an adult, who retains his foreign passport to facilitate traveling abroad, dodge the draft, or apply to college, is clearly and intentionally acting "inconsistent with retention of US citizenship."

All questions could be put to rest if BO simply produced the documentation-passport, college applications, Selective Service registration-to show whether he retained, or when he regained, US citizenship. It would also be nice to know what his official name is. Yet BO refuses, instead floating trial balloons on the eligibility of naturalized citizens for POTUS.


(Tomorrow, Part III: Too Close for Comfort?)


(c) 2009 by 'tamerlane.' All rights reserved.

Eligible to Serve?

Part one - birth issues

by 'tamerlane'


The nagging questions surrounding Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as POTUS have finally hit the MSM. These questions are legitimate, have been around since early last year, and impact the underpinning of our Constitutional law and democratic institutions. But anyone raising them has been virulently attacked as a "right-wing paranoid." With the Obots fanning the flames of rhetoric with epithets like "Roswell" and "racist," a brief primer on the cogent points is in order.


POTUS Eligibility
Article II of the Constitution stipulates three criteria to serve as president. You must:
1) Be a "natural born citizen"; AND,
2) Be at least 35 years old; AND,
2) Have resided in the US for at least 14 years.

Congress, surprisingly, has never enacted legislation to enforce these requirements.


BO's Eligibility
Inconsistencies in BO's life story have led people of all political persuasions to question whether BO meets the "natural born citizen" ("NBC") criterion:
* Did BO gain NBC status at birth?
* Did BO lose US citizenship when adopted at age four?

Today, we'll look into BO's birth.


Birth Requirements
A "natural born citizen" has been defined by law as someone whose:
1) Birth is on US territory; OR,
2) Parents are both US citizens; OR,
3) One parent is a US citizen AND who meets certain age & residency requirements.

If BO was born in Hawaii, then he is a NBC per 1). If he was born abroad, he fails 2) and 3) (as Stanley Ann had not been an adult resident for long enough), and is thus ineligible for POTUS.


Birth Questions
* BO's grandmother and aunt claim they attended BO's birth in Mombassa;

* Official BO bios variably list one of two Honolulu hospitals as the birthplace. BO himself has named both hospitals on separate occasions;

* Published accounts of family friends place Stanley Ann with the infant Barry in the Seattle area no more than four weeks following 8/4/61. It has been noted that circa 1961, airlines banned pregnant mothers and newborns from flights. This points to a birthplace outside of Hawaii, and possibly before August 1961.


Lack of Proof
BO refuses to release his original birth certificate ("BC"), although he acknowledges it is in his possession. Last spring, his campaign did release a "Certificate of Live Birth" ("COLB"). A COLB merely confirms that a live birth was reported to the State by a parent. COLBs are routinely issued post facto in lieu of BC's, but lack much information:
* Length and weight of baby;
* Ink prints of baby's feet;
* Time of birth;
* Signature of delivering doctor, midwife and/or admitting nurse.

The veracity of a COLB rests solely on the word of the parent.

BO's COLB itself has a curious history:
* Originally posted on Kos, then appeared a week later on MyBarackObama.com;
* A JPG image, no hard copy has ever been produced;
* After it was noted that the Kos JPG lacked certain standard elements of a COLB, a new version, containing those elements, was posted on MyBarackObama.com;
* Shows issue date of 1990, but serial # (which appears to have been altered) indicates a 1980 issue.

Factcheck.org claims it has seen, touched and confirmed the validity of "Obama's birth certificate." The document they refer to is a 2007 printout of a COLB. (Note that Factcheck.org is funded by the Annenberg Foundation.)

A classified announcement of BO's birth appeared in the local Honolulu paper, but this was merely submitted by the Dunham family and printed verbatim.


The issue could be resolved once and for all by BO producing his BC, as John McCain unhesitatingly did when his eligibility was questioned. Yet BO refuses.

(Tomorrow, Part II: Indonesian Citizenship)

(c) 2009 by 'tamerlane.' All rights reserved.