Signed up today to tell us this issue is now laid to rest because "FactCheck" says so? LOL.
Do a wiki on factcheck and anyone can see Obama was funded by the Annenberg Foundation (sponsor of FC.org) for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.......the old lady running the foundation can say she voted for McQueeg all she wants, but we don’t really know for sure, do we? This could be just political cover for a supposedly ‘nonpartisan’ seal of approval. If there is a ‘real’ birth certificate, show it to me.
Let’s just replace the judiciary and other constitutional systems with factcheck.org.
You can trust ‘em. There’re here to help.
Not.
Look, I am not in any way, shape or form convinced that there is a problem with Obama’s qualification for the presidency. That said, I don’t know that he is qualified and there doesn’t seem to be any legal mechanism-—short of a lawsuit on grounds very difficult to raise and have heard-—that officially vets presidential candidates, or at least the President-elect.
(And, yes, I have participated in highly interesting legal discussions on this case. That is different from concluding Obama is not qualified.)
Obama was willing to release his BC once. That obviously did not answer the questions, simply because there apparently are two types of BC in Obama’s case.
So if he was willing to release the short form, what is the problem for him in releasing the long form? THAT and ONLY THAT is what has continued to fuel this controversy.
Regardless of the ultimate conclusion, we have all learned that NO ONE apparently verifies that a candidate is, in fact, eligible for the presidency and no one, as yet, has figured out a way inside the constitutional system to challenge (verify) a candidate’s, or a President-elect’s, eligibility.
That is not too much to ask. The law is not settled in this area, there are many factual permutations that could arise, and there is no mechanism to vet the citizenship of those placed on presidential ballots.
Sure, there is (maybe) a procedure for the electors to object to a candidate’s qualifications, but nowhere does there appear to be a responsibility to do so or to affirmatively verify the candidate’s qualifications.
Many SOS’s have taken the position that it is “not my job” to verify eligibility for office of those placed on their state’s presidential ballots. They say their job is ministerial only. Okay, that may be true in the absence of specific statutory requirements, but if so, maybe that needs to be changed. Maybe the Supreme Court needs to weigh in on whether that needs to be changed.
In short, even if you don’t think there is any there “there” re Obama’s qualifications, it’s appropriate to support having the Donofrio case heard by the Supreme Court. They could address these matters and especially point out where the law is deficient in procedures and safeguards to ensure that our President is eligible under the Constitution. Moreover, they could give us some idea of how it would be appropriate (on what grounds, how would standing arise) to challenge (verify) the qualification of a President-elect under the Constitution.
These are good things.
Never mind any particular candidate, we cannot remain in this “do loop” where, essentially, no one without a court order can force the production of a BC of a President-elect, but no one without a BC showing a deficiency in qualifications has standing to force verification of the PE’s qualifications. There is not even an explicit official duty given to an public official upon which a citizen could file a Writ of Mandamus to force the official to verify a PE’s qualification. This is untenable.
The SCOTUS should address:
1. The effect, if any, of the citizenship of Obama’s father (which may have made Obama a British subject by birth) on his “natural born citizen” status. (This assumes Obama was born in Hawaii and there are not factual ambiguities there.)
2. The effect, if any, of the fact that McCain was born outside the U.S. to parents who were U.S. citizens on his “natural born citizen” status.
3. The need, if any, for additional procedures to vouchsafe the constitutional requirement that the President be a “natural born citizen,” and, if needed, when in the process such vetting should occur.
4. The grounds upon which standing is achieved in such extraordinary circumstances.