Skip to comments.
Behind the Screwy Obama Birth Certificate Controversy
American Chronicle ^
| November 30, 2008
| Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Posted on 11/30/2008 9:56:49 PM PST by ckilmer
Behind the Screwy Obama Birth Certificate Controversy
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
November 30, 2008
At first glance it defied credulity that the staid, respected Chicago Tribune would do something as screwball as giving any credence to the issue of whether President-elect Barack Obama is really a U.S. citizen or not. But the Tribune will run not one but two big splashy ads paid for by a quasi libertarian outfit named www.wethepeoplefoundation.org based in Queensbury, New York. The group demands that Obama produce his original birth certificate with all the official markings and proper affixed signatures on it. The one that the Hawaii Department of Health officials made public last June was an electronic copy of the certificate.
Unfortunately, Hawaii officials left just enough room for the Obama birth certificate hounders to wiggle through when they correctly noted that privacy laws forbade them from releasing original documents without the authorization of the individual for which the documents are requested; in this case that individual being Obama.
Obama at the time and since then has also correctly declined to give any more ammunition to the birth certificate hounders. His campaign simply issued a statement that the document released by Hawaii officials is authentic. But that just emboldened the Obama hounders even more. Nearly a million have taken a gander at a You Tube clip on the controversy, dozens of websites fuel the rumor mill about his certificate, and a pile of articles have rehashed the issue of whether the birth certificate that Hawaii produced is legit. Nearly two dozen lawsuits or petitions have been filed in various state courts contesting Obama´s U.S. citizenship (one of them was filed by political gadfly Alan Keyes).
The Tribune ads won´t help matters. But it probably wouldn´t have made much difference if the paper had refused the ad. The online mill would still crank away about the certificate. Wagging tongues fan a controversy and that´s always good for website looks and business. As for We the People, it has used the controversy as a fund raising chip (gimmick).
But that´s less important for some than finding any issue no matter how farfetched to further stoke the paranoid suspicions of more than a few about Obama. Those suspicions were deeply implanted the moment that he declared his presidential candidacy in 2007. They rumbled above and underneath the surface throughout the campaign, and never stopped when he won.
He was not black enough. He was too black. He was not patriotic enough. He was too liberal, too effete, too untested. He was a Muslim, terrorist fellow traveler, and a closet black radical. The shock of an Obama in the White House is simply too much for many to bear. Obama defies the stereotypical textbook look and definition of what an American president is supposed to look like, and be like; namely a wooden image middle-aged, or older, white male.
Obama said as much during a campaign stop in late July when he quipped that he did not look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills. Obama got torched for saying the obvious and that is that his candidacy was different. Obama later admitted that it was a racial reference. The off the cuff remark simply reinforced the point that he and his candidacy marked a turning point in U.S. presidential politics and by extension race relations.
The Obama birth certificate hounders have kept the issue alive with some mainstream papers by crudely cloaking their motives. They depict themselves as public spirited citizens and legal experts with no personal, political, let alone racial, ax to grind. Their sole goal is to insure electoral truth and accuracy, to make sure that all the legal requirements for holding a presidential office are met, and to head off a constitutional crisis. They claim they want to put the matter to rest for good before his January 20 inauguration.
Their fantasy is that the U.S. Supreme Court will help them out and demand that Obama produce his supposed "real" birth certificate and if not declare the election null and void. The Supreme Court hasn´t made any demand on Obama to pony up his birth certificate, and likely won´t. Even if a justice or two had a stray thought about taking a peek at the issue, the memory of the fury over the court´s meddle in the 2000 election that ultimately tipped the White House to Bush is still too fresh in their and the public´s mind to butt in on such a wacky issue.
The bad thing about the controversy over Obama´s birth certificate is not that some print publications have dignified the issue by running paid hit ads on it, but that the ads were even conjured up in the first place. And even worse that so many millions are still willing to believe that it´s an issue at all.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His forthcoming book is How Obama Won (Middle Passage Press, January 2009).
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Foreign Affairs; Government; US: Hawaii
KEYWORDS: birthcertificate; certifigate; obama; obamabirth; stbc
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-84 next last
1
posted on
11/30/2008 9:56:49 PM PST
by
ckilmer
To: ckilmer
So, the media reports on it - inaccurately. A certificate of live birth is not a vault copy. Show the real (vault copy) certificate proving that he was born in the US and everyone will shut up.
2
posted on
11/30/2008 9:59:42 PM PST
by
Blogger
To: ckilmer
This is not a “wacky” issue.
And the Supreme Court can’t do anything until there is a case before the Court.
3
posted on
11/30/2008 10:01:30 PM PST
by
ConservativeMind
(Obama is bringing in every crook and bumbler he can to assure consistency in his message.)
To: ckilmer
Earl Ofari Hutchinson Let me guess....
4
posted on
11/30/2008 10:02:18 PM PST
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: Blogger
A certificate of live birth is not a vault copy.Yes it is, but not CERTIFICATION!!!
5
posted on
11/30/2008 10:02:18 PM PST
by
danamco
To: ckilmer
It would seem that Mr. Hutchinson has a dog in this fight. Imagine how sales of his book would tank if Obama is declared ineligible to serve as POTUS.
6
posted on
11/30/2008 10:03:25 PM PST
by
rmh47
(Go Kats! - Got Seven? [NRA Life Member])
To: Windflier
“Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Let me guess....”
Yeah, first thing I noticed, the “Ofari” middle name. Kind of like the “Hussein” middle name, isn’t it.
7
posted on
11/30/2008 10:04:12 PM PST
by
flaglady47
(Four years of captivity, no relief in sight)
To: danamco
My understanding is that the Certificate of Live birth is different from the vault copy Birth Certificate which is a longer form. There is absolutely no legitimate reason for Obama to withhold this document - unless there is something wrong on the certificate itself.
The COLB’s on the net were forged.
8
posted on
11/30/2008 10:04:25 PM PST
by
Blogger
To: ckilmer
“Community Organizer” in LA.
9
posted on
11/30/2008 10:05:03 PM PST
by
nufsed
(Privatize 2 prisons)
To: ckilmer
Demeaning the issue, and those that persue it. A typical Leftist strategy. Nothing to see here, just more of the same ol’ same ol’ from the Libs.
10
posted on
11/30/2008 10:06:04 PM PST
by
rockinqsranch
(Dems, Libs, Socialists, Call 'em what you will, they ALL have Fairies livin' in their Trees.)
To: Blogger
The Certificate of Hawaiian Birth is a portion of the Hawaiian birth certificate program that family members may have used to register a young Barack Obama as a US Citizen, during the era Hawaii was transitioning from being a US territory to statehood.
It should be noted that there are several different types of "birth certificates" that Hawaii uses to show proof of birth:
- CertificATION Live Birth
- CertificATE of Live Birth
- Certificate of Delayed Birth
- Certificate of Hawaiian Birth
To be distinct and precise in terminology, there is no official document called a birth certificate in Hawaii. The term is loosely used to describe a certificated proof of birth. (In fact, if you take a look at your birth certificate that you may have tucked away in a safe place, it probably says, CertificATE of Live Birth at the very top of the form.)
Since this summer, Obama has shown the CertificATION of Live Birth on his website.
(snip)
A very important point to note is that a CertificATION of Live Birth is an abbreviated version of the birth record on file with the Hawaiian Department of Health. The root document(s), could be: a) a true CertificATE of Live Birth; b) a Late Birth Certificate with or without modifications; or c) a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth.
A CertificATION of Live Birth may reflect data that had been changed over time, and does not provide corroborated testimony such as dates, locations, change in paternal identification, and witnesses. Any record that amendments had been submitted and information changed is not shown on the CertificATION of Live Birth, which is laser printed on special green stock paper, and lacks detailed information that would be expected from a true Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, or Certificate of Delayed Birth.
See more at:
11
posted on
11/30/2008 10:06:23 PM PST
by
BP2
(I think, therefore I'm a conservative)
To: ckilmer
This all goes away if Obambi produces a Birth Cert proving his American Birth.
Why is he spending mega bucks making this NOT happen?
12
posted on
11/30/2008 10:06:35 PM PST
by
hattend
(Sarah Palin has run a fishing business, a city, and a state. All Obama has done is run his mouth.)
To: ckilmer
“Even if a justice or two had a stray thought about taking a peek at the issue, the memory of the fury over the court´s meddle in the 2000 election that ultimately tipped the White House to Bush is still too fresh in their and the public´s mind to butt in on such a wacky issue.”
Wow. So the writer thinks that because there is “fury” over the “meddle in the 2000 election”, that SCOTUS won’t “butt in”.
Never mind any facts that might emerge, or the rule of law, or that pesky Constitution. The court will simply say, “yeah, we blew it last time, so we owe you one”.
What a Liberal wet dream this is.
13
posted on
11/30/2008 10:06:50 PM PST
by
Eccl 10:2
(Pray for the peace of Jerusalem - Ps 122:6)
To: flaglady47
Kind of like the Hussein middle name, isnt it. Ofari, Obot, what's the difference?
14
posted on
11/30/2008 10:08:45 PM PST
by
Windflier
(To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
To: Blogger
Expecting the incoming chief law-enforcement officer to have to submit to the Constitution is not wacky.
15
posted on
11/30/2008 10:09:30 PM PST
by
scott7278
(It's going to be a rough four years on the good ship Obamapop.)
To: ckilmer
This passes for journalism these days? Truly, the education system has struck bottom ... (I hope!).
16
posted on
11/30/2008 10:14:52 PM PST
by
so_real
To: ckilmer
I'm a "paranoid" who voted against Obama and I want him to release his birth certificate. He won the election and he has nothing to hide -- or does he?
I was "paranoid" about John Kerry's records too and we still haven't seen them. The liberal press vents the same kind of high-toned fictional swill about his "swiftboating." All he and Obama have to do to stop the furor is release their damned records! American voters have the right to know ALL the facts about their candidates for high public office.
To: ckilmer
To: ckilmer
This clown (O’Fari) apparently never considered that Hussein has resisted presenting anything but that forgery on the Net ; probably he doesn’t even know the Constitution. Sure, people are just picking on poor Barry, the racist scum. You know, this is astonishing: there was enough info out there in the past year for news people to ponder—Weather Underground Ayers & Dohrn; hate-preacher Wright; ACORN involvement, hardly doing his job in the Senate; reg. fraud & rampant fraud in the election; many Marxist type statements made by Hussein, etc. Then people wonder why we doubt the guy? He has invited it all along!
19
posted on
11/30/2008 10:21:32 PM PST
by
luvadavi
(Important old novel: The Moon Is Down, John Steinbeck, 1942)
To: Blogger
This is a CertifiCATION of Live Birth:
This is a CertifiCATE of Live Birth ( vault copy )
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-80, 81-84 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson