No So Fast! How about that citizenship “President-elect” Obama?

The Independent View ^ | November 15, 2008 | By Matthew Weaver

[library user]

A new challenge to Senator Barack Obama’s citizenship was filed November 12th in California demanding that the court stop certification of the election results until the state’s secretary of state can ascertain from Senator Obama his legal qualification to be a candidate for President.  This 18 page petition is a quick read.  It offers a good summary of what is at stake and the questions that surround Senator Obama’s citizenship.

A few points:

• Petitioners Ambassador Dr. Alan Keyes, Dr. Wiley S. Drake, Sr., and Markham Robinson, establish their standing to file the petition as members of the American Independent Party, for which Drs. Keyes and Drake were presidential and vice-presidential candidates on California’s ballot, respectfully.  (This is a technical point that doomed some other lawsuits.)
  
  
• Petitioners note that Senator Obama has not provided proof of his citizenship eligibility despite repeated requests during the primary and general election campaigns.
  
  
• Petitioners note that action in at least 10 states is underway challenging Senator Obama’s eligibility.
   
• Petitioners note that the 2007 birth certificate offered by Senator Obama is of questionable credibility for several reasons, including that it is a copy of suspect authenticity and that it does not detail actual birth location.
  
  
• Petitioners note that the only person claiming witness to Senator Obama’s birth is his own paternal grandmother who claims he was actually born in Kenya, then the British East African Protectorate of Zanzibar.  Other records and recollections of family members suggest either Queens Hospital or Kapiolani Hospital in Hawaii.  The disclosed Registry of Live Birth is a short-form of the birth certificate that does not state whether Obama was born in Hawaii or that his birth was subsequently registered there within the year following birth as then allowed by state law.
   
• Petitioners note that around 1967, Senator Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and new stepfather.  Records indicate that once in Indonesia he adopted his stepfather’s name and citizenship.  Since dual citizenship was not allowed by Indonesian law, and U.S. law and treaty obligations required respect of this, Mrs. Obama-Soetoro had to relinquish her minor son’s U.S. citizenship.  Elsewhere, they note that if he later recovered it, and no records apparently substantiate this, it would by law be as a “naturalized” citizen, not a “natural born” and, thus, ineligible for the office of President under the Constitution.
  
  
• Petitioners also note that in 1961 what is now known as Kenya was then the British Protectorate of Zanzibar which, if he was born there as his paternal grandmother claims, he would be a British citizen based on his father’s citizenship.
   
• Petitioners also note that in 1981 Senator Obama traveled to Pakistan, which was then banned by the U.S.  Since he could not legally travel with a U.S. passport, they question whether he used  one of his other passports:  Indonesian, Kenyan, or British.  (Interesting point is that the petitioners state affirmatively that he had other passports.)

I am curious to see how this case fares in the courts.  The question of Senator Obama’s citizenship and constitutional eligibility have never been settled.  In fact, Senator Obama has resisted at every step to release his birth certificate and other relevant records that would resolve this matter.  That he has fought this suggests the information is at least embarrassing, if not disqualifying.

On August 14, 2008, I wrote a detailed article, What is Obama’s Citizenship?, where I explored some of the questions about Senator Obama’s citizenship.  I asked eight questions (seven pertinent to this discussion) that are still substantially unanswered today:

1. Are you now a U.S. citizen?
    
2. Have you ever held as a youth or adult, citizenship in another country?
    
3. Did you ever possess or travel using, at least in part, the passport of another country?  (E.g., while in Indonesia, visiting Pakistan, Kenya)
   
   
4. Did you renounce any foreign citizenship, and when, and do you now hold solely U.S. citizenship today?
    
5. Can you confirm or deny your name change as a youth from Barack Hussein Obama II to Barry Soetoro when you were adopted by your step-father?
    
6. Did you legally reclaim your birth name?  When and how?
    
7. Why did you not list your adopted name Barry Soetoro on any forms associated with your legal profession or others that ask for any other names you have ever used?  Have you now or will you update these records?

In regards to questions 1-4, Senator Obama’s own Web site says he was, through his father, a British citizen and that this British/Kenya citizenship “automatically expired August 4, 1982.”  That it “expired” doesn’t explain if he had passports and used them, nor does it address his potential Indonesian citizenship or how these were reconciled with his U.S. citizenship, especially where laws and treaties prohibited dual citizenship.

So, when will we see proof that Senator Obama is or is not a constitutionally eligible citizen?  Before or after he takes office?  As Keyes et al note, the latter will cause “irreparable harm in that an usurper will be sitting as the President of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal.”

[TruthWillWin]

Wonder what legal redress donors to his campaign would be entitled to?

Logic says that would be fraud.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

[rjp2005]

Does anyone have a list of states currently filing suit? Is Florida one of them? If not, I’d like to help organize that effort.

[sionnsar]

The rats are such liars and Hippocrates.

Huh? They are a well-known ancient Greek?

[sionnsar]

Hmmmm.... is America too corrupt to care?...

Too corrupted, yes.

[Elvina]

Good for Alan Keyes. I hope that no matter what the future holds for our great nation, that eventually Keyes will earn a place in the history books for standing up for the Constitution at this time of crisis.

When I used to work with leftist teachers who would complain about No Child Left Behind, I would innocently mention to them that they might like Alan Keyes since he has called for the abolishment of the Department of Education. They usually had no coherent response or would say something like "Oh, that sound interesting!" Educated liberals are so uninformed.

[SERKIT]

It makes Republicans look like idiots.

Then why aren't the democrats and media using it?

In the Chicago talk radio market, possibly in fear of the impending "Fairness Doctrine", the radio hosts are actively poo-poo-ing this entire topic.

The other day, one of the WLS-AM hosts said "Can you believe that some people still think Obama is not a US citizen? LET IT GO!".

The fix is "in", I'm afraid. I'd like to see the 17 lawsuits in 12 states, plus the case at the SCOTUS come to some kind of logical and decisive conclusion based on constitutional law versus have this thing becoms a huge cloud (I hesitate to say 'black cloud') over the Presidency.

[avenir]

“Two words: President Biden.”

Yes, but if one of them is a backslidden patriot (who might have a pro-America revival) I’d bet on Biden. I don’t think there’s a patriot bone in Hussein’s body to begin with.

[bronxboy]

Maybe he wants to make Republicans look like idiots. I have no idea. However, I know that if this was the case, the Clinton’s would have found it out.

[Elvina]

"The rats are such liars and Hippocrates." Huh? They are a well-known ancient Greek?

No, the Rats hate Hippocrates because the Hippocratic Oath specifically prohibits abortion (not to mention the "do no harm" part). So let's call them liars, hypocrites, and anti-Hippocratists.

[Poser]

“The rats are such liars and Hippocrates.”

This is also hugh and series!

[moondoggie]

I'm not sure if his "stonewalling" proves he's not eligible or if there's just "something" on that COLB which is very embarrassing.

Either way, it seems we have a right to know the truth.

Who better to ask than a fellow Presidential candidate who had to prove his own citizenship in order to run?

Even if a lower liberal court dismisses it, this is one the USSC might take seriously on appeal.

[cripplecreek]

Obama himself should be held to the same high standards he demands of others.

"Let me also say that I remain distressed that the White House during this confirmation process, which overall went smoothly, failed to provide critical documents as part of the record that could have provided us with a better basis to make our judgment with respect to the nomination. This White House continues to stymie efforts on the part of the Senate to do its job. I hope with the next nominee who comes up for the Supreme Court that the White House recognizes that in fact it is its duty not just to the Senate but to the American people to make sure we can thoroughly and adequately evaluate the record of every single nominee who comes before us."

Remarks of Senator Barack Obama on the Confirmation of Judge John Roberts

[Fresh Wind]

Hippocrates.

Large boxes used for shipping hippopotami.

[SERKIT]

Barry also apparently falsified his application to the Illinois Bar Association regarding his aliases, aka’s, etc. Did the Bar ask for his COLB? If so, what is on record with them?

[mick]

I agree with you. I don't want to beat this bum with a constitutional technicality. I know I risk major flame with that statement but it is true.

I also think we risk exposing the Constitution to severe damage if, for some reason, it turns out BO can't produce the necessary documents and the courts let it slide.... which they will do, people....there is no way on God's green earth that the election is going to overturned by SCOTUS...... Keys is a fool....... Best for us to repudiate this immediately and get down to the business of fighting BO for every inch of our liberty the next two years. God has sent us this trial and we must rise to the challenge.......stop this damn stupidity.

[mdmathis6]

Well he could try that angle but the longer he delays in showing us the truth the less the hoped for “back lash boomerang” effect will occur. He looks stupid for attempting such a ploy!

[cripplecreek]

I’m guessing you were OK with Roger Calero an admitted non citizen on several states ballots?

[FlashBack]

Ping to ya LucyT...this birth certificate deal is like a 'whack-a-mole' with all the threads popping up about it! Let's see the real BC Mr. Obama!!!

[Poser]

“I agree with you. I don’t want to beat this bum with a constitutional technicality. I know I risk major flame with that statement but it is true.”

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately. While I disagree profoundly with his political stances, having Obama removed on a technicality may be an unmitigated disaster.