Yes, there are many things that are a stretch. But then again . . . remember this was 1961. Let’s say these are the facts: Obama’s mother was 18 and may or may not have been married to a Kenyan. She apparently had traveled to Kenya and returned around the time Barack was born. Is this all something of a scandal to Ann’s parents’ upper-middle class friends? Do the Dunhams want to support Ann and their grandchild by making sure it’s known that he’s not illegitimate (thus, the birth announcement in the paper)? Do they (the grandparents or Ann) want him to be a U.S. citizen-—and if that was thwarted, say, by Ann not being able to return to the U.S. before his birth-—do they feel that was just a technicality, something that doesn’t really matter since it was their intent that he be born in Hawaii?
I’m not suggesting any of this is the reality. I’m simply suggesting that, standing in their shoes in 1961, a lot of things would look different to them than they do in retrospect, especially now that baby Barack grew up to be President-select.
Surely there are people who, at that time, might have considered it a little white lie to say he was born in Hawaii rather than have to go through what might appear to them to be a red-tape hassle to establish his citizenship. Or maybe Ann and BHO I weren’t actually married, or not married at the time of birth, or some other fact that made the family just want to “make” the record what they wanted it to be. Think about it: if they wanted him to be an American and at that time planned to raise him as an American, they might have thought it wasn’t a big deal to fudge on the birthplace.
The bottom line, however, is that the burden should be on Obama to prove that he is eligible to be President.
If Hawaiian law leaves open the possibility that a person can get a Hawaii birth certificate even if foreign born, then he must have other proof that he is eligible.
Moreover, it’s not clear that the law on “natural born citizen” focused solely on birthplace. That status may also be affected by descent (the citizenship of the mother, father or both). Plus Obama may have been subsequently adopted and made a citizen of Indonesia. It’s not clear if or how that, if raised, affects the “natural born citizen” status.
Is there ANY evidence at ALL that Stanley Ann went to Kenya (not talking about the Granny who witnessed the birth here)? I mean any record, does Obama state that she went there, is this a known fact that she went with her man back to his homeland?
The birth announcement in the paper has NOTHING to do with the parents or grandparents.
The State routinely supplied the list of birth registrations to the newspaper for publication.
You will note that they are all minimal information - no flowery congratulations or celebrations of a new family member - these were NOT placed by the family.
Therefore the announcement in the newspaper is of no importance whatsoever. It merely endorses the fact that his birth was registered in Hawaii, which we already know.
It doesn't say anything about WHERE he was born, and he could have been born outside the US and still be registered by his Hawaiian resident parent(s).
Good morning, just catching up on this 400+ post thread.
Your comment caught my eye. Well said.
Right now, Obama is getting about as much real scrutiny from the courts as a grower trying to get his lettuce picked before an oncoming freeze and hiring someone off the street.