Where's the birth certificate? An interview with Joseph Farah

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WorldNetDaily and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. He is the author of Taking America Back: A Radical Plan to Revive Freedom, Morality and Justice. He is also the editor of the online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. He has been at the forefront of the campaign to compel President Obama to release more detailed evidence of the circumstances surrounding his birth and citizenship status. Various other well-known figures, including Alan Keyes and Jerome Corsi have questioned the sufficiency of the evidence released so far. Last week, Mr. Farah was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions concerning the controversy over Mr. Obama’s qualifications to be President. My questions and his responses were as follows:

1- How did you first get involved with the effort to verify the legitimacy of Barack Obama’s claim that he is a natural born citizen of the United States?

This issue was first raised to me in a serious way by our senior staff writer Jerome Corsi, author of The Obama Nation. My first major involvement came when Corsi and an aide went to Kenya to investigate Obama's ties there – including the possibility that it was the place of his birth. As you know, Corsi and company were taken into custody by government thugs armed with AK-47s and held for 24 hours. I was Corsi's only link with the outside world during that time. It was a very dangerous day. Corsi was very ill and we were concerned about his health before the trip. He did come home with a sworn affidavit from the translator of the interview with Sarah Obama, Barack's grandmother, who said she was at his birth in Mobassa. Because the major news media showed little curiosity about this possibility, it became more and more intriguing to me.

The oddities are that no hospital in Honolulu will even confirm his birth there. That is highly suspicious given the historic nature of Obama's presidency. Hawaii has never before been able to boast a presidential birth – let alone the first black president. Why would a hospital not make a claim? Why would one not be renaming a wing after its most famous patient? Why would it not be sending out press releases? Why all the mystery? I also consider it strange that the only living person in the world who claims to have been present for his birth is his Kenyan grandmother. No doctor, no nurse, no relative, no family friend has come forward to say they can confirm his birth in Honolulu. And, of course, the biggest question of all is: Why won't he release the one document that can confirm this – his long-form birth certificate?

3- Could you explain why the ‘Certification of Live Birth’ displayed in Mr. Obama’s website is insufficient proof that he is a natural born citizen of the United States? Can such a document be obtained on behalf of someone not born in the U.S.?

I don't believe this document can be obtained by someone born outside the country today, but it most definitely could have been obtained in 1961. All that was needed was an affidavit from one parent. Many people born in foreign countries can boast a Hawaiian certification of live birth. That's why that document is not even accepted by the state of Hawaii as proof of being a native born Hawaiian for its home lands program, as we have documented in WND.

4- What kind of documentation would you like President Obama to make public in order to show conclusively that he is qualified to be President under the Constitution?

The most important document is the long-form birth certificate. The computer-generated certification he posted on his website proves nothing. But, personally, I believe if a birth certificate confirms his life story, that he is indeed the son of Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham, that his "natural born citizenship" is still very much in doubt. His father, in that case, was a citizen of Kenya and a subject of the British crown. The purpose of the "natural born citizen" clause in the Constitution was to avoid "dual allegiances." He may have also given up his citizenship when he lived in Indonesia. There is much about Barack Obama's life that remains a mystery beyond what he has told us in his autobiography. Nothing has been verified by any controlling legal authorities in the United States. It's really quite amazing.

5- I understand that you have made substantial efforts to obtain additional information concerning Mr. Obama’s birth. Have these included specific requests to the White House for documents? If so, what response, if any, have you received?

As you probably know, we have made repeated requests privately and even publicly at a White House briefing. But our primary focus has been for the personal rather than the public. Beside the birth certificate issue and the passport issue, Obama steadfastly has refused to release his college records. I believe his college records would reveal much about who he was, who funded his college education, whether he was a "foreign" student, what he wrote, who he claimed to be back then.

6- Could you summarize your additional efforts, if any, to obtain pertinent information from other sources? What have you been able to find out from sources other than the President and his staff?

Most of what we have found about Obama's early years can be found in our reports in WND and in Corsi's No. 1 New York Times bestseller from last year. Aaron Klein, our Jerusalem bureau chief, has also come up with quite a few scoops – including the Bill Ayers' connection.

7- In his books Dreams of my Father and The Audacity of Hope, President Obama discussed various aspects of his early life. Do you know whether his birth certificate would contain any confidential information that has not already been made public in his books or through other sources? If not, have you been given any reason for Obama’s decision to keep the document sealed?

Well, he revealed what he chose to reveal. What I don't understand is: Since when do we as Americans accept at face value what politicians say about their lives? Why isn't there a mechanism in place to demand proof? For a guy who wants all of our most personal health and financial information to be the business of government, he seems overly concerned with his own privacy.

8- What pertinent information do you think could be obtained from Mr. Obama’s college and law school records?

As I said, I'd like to see how he registered, who paid for his education, what he wrote, how he got into Harvard and so on. John Kennedy and other presidents release transcripts even when some of them were quite embarrassing. What is it that Obama is hiding? The answer seems to be – everything.

9- Is it unusual for a presidential candidate or a sitting President to conceal birth, marriage and school attendance records?

As far as I can determine, it is unprecedented. You can't take a sworn oath to honor and obey the Constitution and then refuse to prove you are constitutionally eligible to serve. It's a contradiction in terms. I don’t like to see the Constitution subverted like this. That's why I am so concerned.

10- Recently, you began a campaign to press Mr. Obama to allow release of his actual birth certificate by renting billboards with the message “WHERE’S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?” I understand that several large advertising media companies, such as CBS and Clear Channel have refused to rent you billboard space for your campaign. What reasons have these companies given you? Do you believe pressure has been exerted on these companies to silence your message?

The companies gave no reason. But these companies are heavily regulated by government and I believe they are hyper-sensitive about offending this administration. I don’t even think they needed to hear from the White House to make this business decision. But that's tragic given that these are large media conglomerates – CBS and Clear Channel among them. The purpose of a free press is to challenge government, to serve as a watchdog on government, not to cower in fear of it.

11- How’s that campaign going? How many billboards do you currently have? Have you selected any additional future locations?

After two months, we have seven billboards scattered around the country with plans for many more. We have raised about $100,000 and we plan to continue this campaign until we get an answer to the question: "Where's the birth certificate?"

12- How are you raising the funds to pay for the billboards? Where can interested persons send contributions to?

We're raising money exclusively online at WND.com. If people go to the site, they will see a little button – an image of a billboard. If they click on it, it will take them to the donation site.

13- If it was determined that Barack Obama was not a natural born citizen of the United States, what effect do you believe that would have with respect to the acts he has already performed in his capacity as President?

Legally, everything he has done should be null and void. Do I expect that to happen? Not today in this America, in this political climate. This, I believe, is the biggest fear people have of this issue. All elected officials – Republicans and Democrats – are genuinely fearful about that remote possibility. They are afraid of race riots. They are afraid of political chaos. But, at least he would not be a contender in 2012. That, I think, would be assured.

14- What mechanism should be followed to determine who would become President of the United States?

15- On more than one recent occasion, Keith Olbermann of MSNBC, in his program ‘Countdown’, has named you one of the worst people in the world, a distinction you have shared with other well-known media personalities, such as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Michelle Malkin and Bernard Goldberg. Do you see this as a sign that your efforts are paying off? Do you think you’re making some folks nervous?

When people have to lie about what you do and say repeatedly to mock and criticize you, then you know you must be doing all right. Olbermann obsesses over the fact that one WND news report seemed to challenge the idea that the certification of live birth was fraudulent. But this has never been an issue for me or WND. I have never challenged the certification of live birth as a forgery. The problem is that the real thing is meaningless to the issue of whether he is constitutionally qualified.

16- Finally, do you have any theories, or suspicions as to where the truth lies in connection with Mr. Obama’s citizenship? What do you think is the most likely scenario? Was he born abroad? Did he assume Indonesian citizenship? What was his legal status when he resided in Indonesia? Does anyone know?

I think there is a lot we don't know about Obama and much that would surprise, even shock, the American people. I believe it will all come out in the fullness of time. I'm not even sure we know who his real parents are. And, without a legitimate birth certificate, we'll never know.

You said — We will keep the heat on! With proof of the COLB being a forgery, how can they not subpoena the original birth certificate?

—

Well, I tend to agree with that other poster, since what has happened, all along since before the election, shows that no court is going to do anything about it. Now, others say that this is because there’s some collusion going on, or a conspiracy among the “officials” (any level of government) in order to block this from happening.

However, I think it’s because of a loophole being in the Constitution, in that there is no particular “mechanism” specified for “proving” that one is complying with that particular Constitutional requirement.

THUS, that means that a simple signed statement by the campaign and the candidate suffices for the “legality” of being qualified. That’s what is turned into the Secretaries of State of the various states.

What needs to be done, in order to close up that loophole, is to have the various states enact laws that *require* a candidate to provide the specified kind of proof — or else — they cannot be placed on the ballot and they cannot have any votes recorded for them, and/or they cannot have any Electoral College votes from that state.

That’s what is needed to close up this loophole. And it’s been around for quite a while, as another president in the past, got away with this very same thing and wasn’t qualified, either. So, it’s *not* a new thing... that just now came from Obama...

Okay, following up on the pterodactyls comment...

You were saying — No, once a person claims that there are pterodactyls flying over our heads, I discount everything they say afterwords

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I searched and found an article from Joseph Farah in the Commentary section of his news site, explaining why he personally believed in “Creation” as opposed to “Evolution”.

Since that is the only place I could find a single comment in the entire archive of years of articles, I assume it *must be* — this one article that you’re referring to, that has caused you to dismiss everything else written over the years...

Why I believe in Creation
Commentary by Joseph Farah
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=28069

And the *one line* that speaks of it, is the following — “There are also countless contemporary sightings of what appear to be pterodactyls in Asia and Africa.”

I see that he’s stating that there are reports of these sightings in Asia and Africa. I have to thank you for referring me to this, because I had not been aware of those “contemporary sightings”... that’s something *new* to me, and I would certainly like to follow up on that one.

HOWEVER, that being said (in that apparently some sightings do exist) — it *seems* to me that your objection is probably related to Farah’s enthusiastic support for CREATION as opposed to Evolution. And therefore, you think you must dismiss all the years and years of archived material and all the conservative issues on the basis of this one article, which mentions “pterodactyls” in one sentence.

Now, *that* (that kind of “dismissal* just by itself) is quite amazing. I would imagine that by now, you’ve completely eliminated all other news sources that exist in the world, using this kind of criteria. In fact, I’m wondering why you’re still reading Free Republic... LOL...

You were saying — I thought that Farah was going to interview him and then cover it soon (???????).

—

Ummm..., well, it didn’t exactly turn out that way. Right off the bat, I could see that this eBay seller of “Obama’s birth certificate” for an online auction was something that was *extremely prone* to *fraud*. And they guy (actually a girl, I believe) wouldn’t give enough information about it, wouldn’t present even a low resolution scan of it and wouldn’t let anyone examine it *prior* to bidding on it, only saying that the winning bidder could view it, outdoors, in a public place, on some steps of a government building (and have an “expert” with the buyer, if they wanted) — and decide *on the spot* whether to “pay off” or not.

Well..., the whole thing *screamed* of *fraud* right off the bat, and even the bids themselves seemed to be fraud.

To make a long story, short, the eBay seller was found to be somewhat “insane” (by what was reported by some FReepers in what they discovered, somewhat dangerous (criminal record) and by association with those fact, must be perpetrating a fraud.

BUT..., the clincher (at least for me) was when the hoaxster said that they were giving up on auctioning it off, and they were going to send it to WorldNetDaily for them to examine.

WELL..., that was *excellent news* to me, because that meant we would find out, in short order, whether this was a fraud or not — simply (at the first step of the process) as to whether the eBay seller *actually* did send it.

He never sent it... and so his hoax was exposed.

—

This was almost like chief editor Korir, over at API (African Press International) who said, before the election that he had Michelle Obama on tape (on the phone) admitting that her husband was born in Kenya. And he was going to send this to Fox News to expose Obama to the world before the election.

Well, he never sent it either — but — Korir dragged this thing on and on and on, for so long, with all his “stories” that he managed to keep the fraud going until Obama’s inauguration... LOL... just because people *continued to be gullible* and continued believing his lies and fraudulent statements.

And we still see this in operation today, as many here on Free Republic were believing that this eBay scammer “must be for real” (being gullible...) and so, those people are apparently *wide-open* for more of these frauds and scams on this issue. They *want it* so badly that they will accept virtually anything.

In fact, I remember reading one poster saying that it probably took an *insane person* to be able to get this Obama birth certificate, since others had failed. They figured that being insane helped this person in getting it... :-)

And so it goes on...

OMG!! I want to puke my guts out! I can't stand his self-aggrandizing anymore. Farah did jacksh*t to dissuade people from voting for McCain as he wanted Obama to win.

Yes, that is correct. He WANTED OBAMA TO WIN so that the GOP could reorganize and take gain control of Congress.

Then, instead of listening to people tell him just how bad was Obama, me included, he wrote this long, detailed article called, “Just how bad is John McCain?” on which he bashed the living Hell out of him.

THEN, back in August of last year, Farah starts a new campaign called, “NONE OF THE ABOVE,” when he urged his readers to not vote for anyone for President.

Meanwhile, he, personally, did absolutely nothing about the birth certificate issue. WND carried the Jay McKinnon fiasco back in July of last year ONLY because WND reprints stories from Israel Insider (which they no longer do) the Insider carried the two stories about McKinnon. They also carried the TechDude debacle as well.

Meanwhile, did all I could to get Farah interested in the birth certificate issue. but he told me that he was not going to carry any more stories about it because Jersome Corsi had gone to Kenya and came back with nothing to show for his troubles.

Now, however, he's revised history by claiming that he was involved in the BC issue from the time Corsi went to Kenya. Not true. Bob Unruh had to convinced Farah to let him write an article about Phil Berg's lawsuit. At that time, however, Farah was convinced that Berg was off on another 9/11 conspiracy witch hunt, and wasn't interested.

Farah was convinced that the Certification of Live Birth posted online was legit — and, even today, he still thinks it's legit:

“I have never challenged the certification of live birth as a forgery.”

It was only after Keyes brought his lawsuit that Farah showed any real interest in featuring the storyline.

However, he now gives the impression that he's been there all along. He's gone completely bonkers with it, now, taking credit that doesn't belong to him wherever he can.

Way to go, Joe!

A detroit radio station called the Kenyan embassy after the election of Obama. After a a few minutes they get through to the ambassador of Kenya.

The ambassador of Kenya says that obama was born in Kenya and that his birth place has become a national shrine.

Listen to the recording here

The quote is around 12:35, so if you don’t have time to listen to the whole thing, you can jump ahead.
The transcript reads:

Radio Jockey: President elect Obama's birth place over in Kenya -- is that going to be a national spot where he was born

Ambassador Peter Ogego: its already an attraction. his paternal grandmother is still alive

Radio Jockey:But his birth place...they'll put up a marker there

Ambassdor Peter Ogego: It would depend on the government. Its already well known.

Here is an abridged Utube version of the the radio interview. So you can hear just the relevant parts.

It can be reasonably pointed out that the DJ was trying to entrap the Ambassador and that the Ambassador fell into his trap.
However, if you listen to the long version of the radio interview --you’ll notice he used the same strategy on two different occasions and the ambassador gently brushed him off.

First, he tried to force the ambassador to sing the Kenyan national anthem. The ambassador referred him to the kenyan website.

Second he tried to push the ambassador into saying something about maybe Kenya becoming the 51st state. Again the ambassador said that Kenya was a sovereign country. ie No.

He used the same technique on the question of Obama’s birth place. This time the ambassador did not brush him off. Rather in answer to the question as to whether Obama was born in Kenya --he says "It is well known."

Because the ambassador answered no in the two previous examples -- you can't say that the ambassdor was either a fool or ill advised.

Finally, you might ask well doesn't he know that saying Obama is born in Kenya would make trouble for Obama? The answer there is why should he be concerned? He has heard no suggestion in the mainstream media that there might be a problem there. So to say what is already well known--as he says--would be no problem.

Here is a utube video of Ambassador Peter Ogego speaking at a conference. Ambassador of Kenya H.E. Peter Ogego To verify that the voice on the radio is Ambassador Ogego-- compare the radio voice with the DJ to the voice on the Utube that goes with Ambassador Ogego. Ambassador Peter Ogego is introduced a bit after minute 18..

They are the same.

Subsequently, the Kenyan ambassador said that he meant Obama's father was born in Kenya. However, when pressed about Obama's birth place:

"I don't know," he said with a tone of irritation. "You should ask your government. I know his father is Kenyan."

However, that's not what the original transcript suggests. clear="all" /> Finally, there is a Affidavit of Bishop Ron McRae which is part of the Berg case. The Bishop says pretty much the same thing as the Ambassador.

"Additionally, it is common knowledge throughout both the Christian and Muslim communities in Kenya, that contrary to news media propaganda here in the United States, US Senator Barack Obama is a Muslim and not a Christian, and that he was born in Mombasa, Kenya and not in the State of Hawaii as falsely purported by the Obama campaign for presidency of the United States."

While you cannot impeach the ambassador's character, you can impeach McCrae's character. After all, he's just an itinerant preacher. But McCrae has been to Kenya. Still that makes two people who say that it is common knowledge in Kenya that Obama was born in Kenya.
Then of course there is a video of Obama's grandmother saying that Obama is born in Kenya
There is a case to be made that Obama mother didn't mean Obama was born in Kenya but rather that he is a "son of this village". However, witnesses insist that she said she was present at obama's birth in Kenya. If taken alone, perhaps she could well be ignored. However, her take is in keeping with others both high and low.

Again here is a pdf transcript of Kenyan National Assembly on Nov 5, 2008, the day after Obama was elected. Over and over again there are references to Obama being a "son of the soil" of Kenya and a Kenyan. On page page 3275 there is this passage:

HOUSE SHOULD ADJOURN TO DISCUSS ELECTION OF MR. BARRACK OBAMA

Ms. Odhiambo: On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. It is not on this issue. I stand on a point of order under Standing Order No.20 to seek leave for adjournment of the House to discuss the American presidential election results.

(Applause)

Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the President-elect, Mr. Obama, is a son of the soil of this country. Every other country in this continent is celebrating the Obama win. It is only proper and fitting that the country which he originates from should show the same excitement, pomp and colour.

Again. It is not the one thing. Rather it is the tide.

The American Thinker explains here why the short form that Obama released is not sufficient for Hawaii. There is evidence to suggest that the home named in the newspaper archived article as the place where Obama was born -- was lived in by a couple not Obama's parents. Even the Honalulu Advertiser has a different address of record for Obama's father than the one listed newspaper birth listing.

Again. It is not the one thing. Rather it is the tide.

The Obama administration could put this to rest by releasing his long form birth certificate. But he doesn't. Instead of just releasing his long form birth certificate he has paid his lawyers over 1 million dollars from campaign contributions since Sept 08 to squash the suits brought on the issue. Why bother. The Arnold would have run for president long ago and likely won if he were a "natural born" american. He's not. He's naturalized. So he can't run. And he knows it. (though there were some trial balloons sent up a couple years back about changing the law--that went nowhere.)

Like the Arnold, Obama looks to be a naturalized citizen--but maybe he's not even that. Here's a footnoted timeline of obama's life 1961-2008. Its especially helpful to look at 1961 and 2008. Of interest is this: Interesting timeline with footnotes of obama's life.

of note

On April 10, 2008 Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) introduces Senate Resolution S. Res. 511 to “recognize that John Sidney McCain is a natural born citizen.” The resolution is allegedly meant to clarify that McCain is eligible to be President even though he was born in Panama. Because McCain’s parents were both Americans and he was born in Panama because his father was stationed there while in the military, existing law already covers McCain and he is eligible to be President. McCaskill’s resolution thus serves no purpose – except that language is included to try and provide a “blanket cover” for other foreign born candidates without military backgrounds, in order to enable Obama to be eligible to be President. This is the language that Obama inserted “Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President;” This Clause has no particular relevance to McCain [The language is inserted by Obama.][301,303]

301# http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/obama-born-in-kenya-new-information/#more-3844

303 # http://watchdog.net/b/us/110/sr511

Obama's Senate efforts to airbrush his past were augmented by his top Intelligence Advisor in March 2008. Obama's Intelligence Adviser Involved in Security Breach. Obama’s top terrorism and intelligence adviser, John O. Brennan, heads a firm that was cited in March [2008] for breaching sensitive files in the State Department’s passport office, according to a State Department Inspector General’s report released this past July. The security breach, first reported by the Washington Times and later confirmed by State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, involved a contract employee of Brennan’s firm, The Analysis Corp., which has earned millions of dollars providing intelligence-related consulting services to federal agencies and private companies. During a State Department briefing on March 21, 2008, McCormack confirmed that the contractor had accessed the passport files of presidential candidates Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and John McCain, and that the inspector general had launched an investigation. Sources who tracked the investigation tell Newsmax that the main target of the breach was the Obama passport file, and that the contractor accessed the file in order to “cauterize” the records of potentially embarrassing information.

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