A Closer Look At The Birth Certificate

The Bulletin ^ | 10/21/08 | John Connely

[pissant]

One of the most intense allegations of the ongoing lawsuit against Sen. Barack Obama alleging ineligibility for the presidency is whether or not Mr. Obama can produce his birth certificate.

If Mr. Obama were to produce his birth certificate, it would lay the entire question to rest. It would prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the U.S. government officially recognizes Mr. Obama's citizenship. The Obama campaign says that it has already produced this document, a scanned copy of which is available at the campaign's "Fight the Smears" Web site.

One point critics of Mr. Obama have made is the fact that the document posted is not, in fact, a birth certificate. It is a birth certification, which is a computer-generated printout of a birth record. A certification is a cheap print-off for people who have lost their original birth certificates. For most people, there is little practical difference between a certificate of live birth and a certification of live birth, although the certification requires extra verification when being used like a birth certificate.

Because of the tenuous nature of identifying a certification of birth as genuine, it requires an embossed seal and authoritative signature. The low-resolution scan available on the Obama campaign Web site appears to have neither of those. The ink from a date stamp, "June 6, 2007," is visible clearly, but it appears that the document does not have a seal or signature. The campaign only scanned the front of the document.

Without the seal and signature, the document on the Obama Web site lacks legal weight, and does not count as representing the official birth record of Mr. Obama.

Philip Berg, a former deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania, has filed suit against Mr. Obama, alleging that he is not legally qualified to serve as president. He has indicated that if Mr. Obama were to produce certified documents proving that he is a natural born citizen, he will withdraw his case.

Mr. Berg maintains that Mr. Obama is not a natural born U.S. citizen, but others wonder if there are more reasons why Mr. Obama and the Democratic National

Committee have not laid the question to rest by releasing the documents. Some think that there may be embarrassing information about Mr. Obama that could be inferred from the papers.

The original birth certificate would normally have an entry for religion, and many suppose he would have been listed as Muslim, an image Mr. Obama has worked hard to distance himself from. Others think it might have shown that his parents were not legally married, even though Mr. Obama contends that his parents were married in good faith before separating upon discovering his father had never divorced his last wife.

The Obama campaign says that the idea that Mr. Obama is not natural born is preposterous and cites the certification of birth as an example. But until a physical and verifiable document is produced for their critics, the lawsuit is expected to continue.

[Go Gordon]

Other people have tried to make the argument that because Obama was, at one point, a dual citizen of the US and Kenya, he does not meet the Constitutional requirements for the Presidency (even though dual citizenship is perfectly legal under US law and the Constitution does not mention it as a bar to the Presidency).

Wrong. They argue that if he was a citizen of Indonesia, which many believe he was at one point, he had to have relinguished his US citizenship because INDONESIA didn't recognize dual citizenship at that time.

[Citizen Blade]

If Obama was born in a hospital in Hawaii, there should be records at the hospital, right?

I don't know. do hospitals keep their records from 45+ years ago? I would be kind of surprised if that was the case. In any event, those records are not accesible to the public, due to various privacy laws.

[Kackikat]

The reason they are not hitting this is that elected officials are the peoples choice, and no security clearance is needed. That goes against everything we consider sacred, but it’s part of the way we do elections. So Obama will not need a security clearance if selected by the people. And those who say he is qualified are those who are supposed to check it out. If a court cannot force him to produce a birth certificate BEFORE th election the PEOPLE WILL HAVE SPOKENT, and it will be a matter of a new amendment to the Constitution by democrats signed by New President stating no need to be Naturalized citizen...that’s why they are fighting to wait after the election. No security clearance needed if people vote him.

[Waco]

Add to all this, the fed/guv,FBI etc. just LOVE to be snookered and made a party to a crime and possibly TREASON!!!

[Reaganwuzthebest]

The only logical explanation is that the issue is a dead-end — and thus a waste of limited campaign and conservative-media resources that need to be devoted to ACTUAL problems with the Obama candidacy.

Well that could be but why the stonewalling on Obama's part? If there's incontrovertible evidence he was born in Hawaii, which none of us has seen yet then at least hit on that since it goes to the heart of his character.

[teacherbarbie]

I agree-Hillary didn’t have time or was afraid to touch it in the primaries.
In Berg’s first proceeding this birth certificate was found to be a forgery.
Now in 1961 why would his father be listed as African?

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

Who said that they registered the birth with baby in hand. Could granny and gramps have done so. I’m not even convinced he was registered properly. It could have been done after the fact.

What happens in the case of births at home, the baby still has to be registered. The certificate at "check the facts" doesn't give the mode or local address of birth.

WOULD HAWAII HAVE A COPY (MICROFILMED OR OTHERWISE) OF THE REGISTRATION REQUEST FORM ITSELF?

[TankerKC]

I have no interest in protecting Obama, but I am a fan of facts and the truth, regardless of whether they help my political cause.

We need more here with that attitude.

[BuffaloJack]

If O says he was born in Kenya and registered in Hawaii, then why does the certificate say HONOLULU, OAHU, HONOLULU?
Isn’t that contradictory and doesn’t that invalidate the document?

[sball]

I agree with you on that. Just like Kerry and his military records you would think somebody over there would realize they are costing themselves by not doing such a simple thing.

[Philo-Junius]

It’s these little loose threads, which no one in the media seems willing to pursue, which keep this issue alive and demonstrate that, if he were indeed Raymond Shaw from the Manchurian Candidate, the media would be the last ones to let us know.

[Two Kids' Dad]

I don’t care about photographs at all, low-res or high-res. I want 0bama to produce a hard copy in court for the judge and Berg’s people to be able to examine. And an actual birth certificate with all the pertinent information, not just a COLB.

[Miss Behave]

I agree, Brian. Why is this so hard to follow? I don't see how the factual understanding and import of his birthplace does not go to the very core of our Constitutional requirements.

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

The PUMAs did a lot of looking into this already.

See: http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/07/23/obama-was-likely-born-in-hawaii/

They found the birth announcement in the Honolulu newspaper at the time:

Here is information from the posts of the woman who found that birth announcement:

18 Lori: Hi, I’ve talked to the Department of Vital Records and the Honolulu Advertiser.In 1961, the hospitals would take their new birth certificates to Vital Records. At the end of the week, Vital Records would post a sheet that for the news paper to pick up that contained births, deaths, marriages and divorces. The Advertiser routinely printed this information in their Sunday edition. This is not a paid announcement that his grandmother could arrange. This is information that comes from Vital Records - we know this because this particular section reflects those records. They didn’t have a provision for paid, one sentence announcement that would be included in the Vital Records. At the time, if a child was born outside a hospital, the family would have 30 days to apply for a birth certificate and Vital Records would expect to see prenatal care records, or pediatrician records of the first check up, etc. They’d also want the notarized statement from the mid-wife. Of course, they can apply later but that would noted as a different kind of birth certificate. I think TD has already addressed that. This information was received by Vital Records the first week of his birth = that suggests the hospital.

Next, the announcement is from Sunday, August 13th and Obama was born on Friday, August 4th. Hospitals usually don’t take birth certificate information the first couple days to avoid changes. So it was likely filled out on the 4th or so, as hospital stays were usually 3 - 5 days at the time. Lastly, having worked in a newborn nursery in college, hospitals don’t ask for documentation. If mom says she’s married, that’s what they write. They have no authority to question her statement.

In Honolulu at the time, paid birth announcements weren’t in vogue. Frequently families would post one year announcements that included pictures from the party, etc. I haven’t checked to see if that exists.

25 Lori: katana, As I just said, the birth announcement comes from the Department of Vital Records - not from the family. On Fridays, Vital Records would post a list of births, deaths, marriages and divorces that the papers would pick up and publish. That’s what this is. The information in there is the information Vital Records provided to the newspapers for public record. That’s all this is. The marital status only reflects what Ann Dunham told the nurse about her marital status - the hospital has no authority to question the mother’s word.

The family played no role whatsoever in this being published and we know this from where it is placed in the paper.

[dalereed]

Go kiss the Kenyan’s backside somewhere else ambulance chasing scumb bag!

[ctdonath2]

First I’ve seen of it. Finally, good convincing pics. To his/their credit, that’s pretty hard to refute save for obscure technicalities that will be hard to prosecute.

[teacherbarbie]

It looks like the campaign asked the state of Hawaii for a birth certificate and “they” came up with this one. There are no signatures. This 2007 date is that the issue date?Both his parents are dead so who knows. I don't think Obama knows. They are saying he was born at home now? It's a great mystery. I've said if he told the truth in his autobiographies it would have been more entertaining.

[pissant]

Some facts:

Obama released the COLB scan to Daily Kos FIRST.

Obama then put it up on their webiste Fight the Smears (FTS).

After Polarik started critiquing it, FTS substituted their original scan with a poor quality scan.

FTS claimed and STILL claim it is a “Birth Certificate”, which it is NOT.

Obama says in his 1995 book that he had his “birth certificate”.

After repeated requests they finally in June coughed up the COLB. Unlike Mccain, who posted his birth certificate.

The Factcheck photos are dated March 8, months before Obama posted them anywhere. And Factcheck does not tell anyone WHEN they had access. Now why would Factcheck have been invited by Obama to photograph it in the first place.

Look at the funky angles of some of the photos they posted. Note that none have a full shot of the back of the document.

For further PROOF of Factcheck’s malfeasance read some of their other dishonest defenses of Obama. Start with guns, and you’ll get the idea.

[MainFrame65]

I have a full brother, who is 5 1/2 years younger than I am. I was born in London, England in 1939, and my brother was born in California in 1945. Our father died when I was 7, and our mother re-married 2 1/2 years later. Our step-father adopted us - in California - about 2 years later.

With the adoption, both of us were issued new “California delayed certification of birth” certificates with our new last name. Also, my brother’s original California birth record was sealed, and no longer accessible to him. But I could still order both my English and Consular birth certificates, since California could not order them sealed.

Years later - age 18 - I took a formal oath of citizenship and was issued a (derivative) certificate of citizenship, that indicated my date of citizenship as the date of my birth.

Hey, Barry! I’m qualified... how ‘bout you?

[Sioux-san]

Good catch- you are absolutely right. The form asks for ‘Race’ and ‘African’ is neither a race nor a nationality. Obama’s daddy is from the Continent of Africa, but the country of Kenya. It just gets crazier and crazier.