DRUDGE REPORT - top righthand of page.

Chron.com ^ | 12-3-08 | By JAMES JANEGA

[onedoug]

...Or let it wait until whatever forces make it an issue, then he’s just out...disqualified. No impeachment. Nothing. Just out.

[tomnbeverly]

WASTING MONEY

A Depression looming, Americans soon to be starving in the streets, children dying from malnutrition in the schoolyards and he wants to...

WASTE MONEY...

Amazing.

[tomnbeverly]

Body alive... Obviously Brain Dead.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I’m thinking the Supremes had DAMN well better take the case and conduct a full investigation.

This shows the typical misunderstanding of the Supreme Court, how it functions and what powers it has. It's part of the reason this matter is getting such attention in this forum, and I have to tell you, with regret, it's an entire waste of time.

1. The Supreme Court articulates power precisely by refusing to hear certain cases. Numerous doctrines apply to restrict the controversies that the Supreme Court will hear (jurisdiction, standing, ripeness, mootness, etc.).
2. Certiorari is not a right - the vast majority of cases arrive at the Supreme Court by application, and then the justices vote to hear or not hear those that apply. They may comment when they turn down a case, they may not.
3. The Supreme Court has no apparatus for implementation or enforcement, no power and no authority to investigate anything. It decides cases and controversies, when they fit the conservative and limiting doctrines which define what they will hear.
4. The Constitution specifies a very limited set of qualifications for national offices - but does not fix the responsibility for evaluating the qualification for office of candidates (or the elected, but not yet seated or inaugurated) in any part of the government. The drafters couldn't anticipate every circumstance - this is one they couldn't foresee.
5. Some problems do not have legal solutions. This is likely to be one of them. Once in office, Impeachment is the only way to remove a President. With significant Democratic majorities in both bodies, that's a non-starter.
6. There is no precedential experience to look to in this kind of conundrum.

[library user]

There is no precedential experience to look to in this kind of conundrum.

Oh well. That should be irrelevant. Otherwise how would ANY precedents be set? Sometimes you have to set new precedents, especially when is warranted, as is the case here. The result of not doing so is half the country not recognizing Obama as a legitimate President, in a best case scenario, and a higher-than-ever potential for Civil War among the American people over the next four years, at worst.

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Well - it is what it is - a situation with no Constitutionally authorized handle to grab onto. Not very satisfactory, I would agree, but that's where it is. The rest is wheel spinning.

[wideminded]

There is no precedential experience to look to in this kind of conundrum.

I expect that we will find out that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii, which will reduce this whole controversy to the dual-citizenship issue and the definition of natural-born citizen. Then, since Obama helped sponsor a bill that made McCain a natural-born citizen by law, McCain will reciprocate.

[SerafinQ]

no, i saw it on drudge maybe two weeks ago for only a short while, but when I went back it was gone

[ComputerGuy]

I don’t think this case has anything to do with 0bama’s birth certificate. Donofrio has conceded that he was born in Hawaii. The point Donofrio is making seems to be based on the fact that 0bama’s father was a British subject.

[MainFrame65]

I am equally concerned that these OTHER supercilious b*st*rds sitting in judgment somehow believe that American CITIZENS - and in particular, present and former members of the armed services, law officers, officials at every level of government, and others who have taken an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution” - do not have standing to force this disclosure of Constitutional eligibility for the office. I NEVER WAS RELEASED FROM MY OATH, ADMINISTERED BY AN AUTHORIZED US GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL!

[Rippin]

Thanks.

[TLI]

This shows the typical misunderstanding of the Supreme Court, how it functions and what powers it has.

Here we go with my typical reply… :-)

I am commenting on the general public’s typical reaction(s), not the powers or procedures of the Supreme Court.

The general public typically does not know the powers or procedures of the Supreme Court and typically they probably don’t really care. Remember, half of them voted for His Vastness.

The typical general public, well about half of the general public, will go ape-sh1+ if they take the case and make a “certain” ruling. If the SC does not, the current run on guns in the u.S. by the other half of the typical public will be just the first wave of purchasing.

Please refer to the first sentence of your point number five.

[Hegemony Cricket]

"My blood pressure has come waaay down since I “got” that “the fix is in”."

Another happy graduate of the Bob Knight School of 'If Rape Is Inevitable, You Might As Well Lie Back And Enjoy It'...

[El Gato]

Have Hawaiian officials actually made a comment on whether he is a ‘natural-born’ citizen? I thought the validated the certificate of ‘live birth.

They have done neither. They can't by law. One official said the Certification of Live Birth(NOT Certificate) posted on line *appeared* authentic, and two others (or one may have been the same as the first) said they had seen that there is Certificate of Live Birth for Obama. However there are ways, both legal and illegal, that could be true, and he would still not have been born there. The certificate *should* have his place of birth, including the hospital if in Hawaii, date and time, parents names and places of birth. Then current residence address of the mother, name and signatures of the attending doctor, nurse, midwife or other person attending the birth, as well the "local registrar" (Hospital administrator for example) It should look pretty much like this:

That one is from '63, only two later than Obama's should be from. But if not born in a Hawaiian hospital, the date of birth and the dates of registration could be over a year apart. The place of birth might not even be in Hawaii. If either of the last two is true, then block 23 would have supporting information, as would a certificate issued upon adoption, where the parents names and information would that of the adoptive parents. Place and date of birth is supposed to remain correct in those cases though.

[El Gato]

Then, since Obama helped sponsor a bill that made McCain a natural-born citizen by law, McCain will reciprocate.

The Constitution cannot be modified, nor it's terms defined, by a mere law passed by Congress. Only an amendment can do those things. So the Supreme Court's job is to figure out what the Framer's meant by "Natural Born Citizen. There is some amount of evidence as to what they meant. If the court takes one or more of these cases, they will have to look at that evidence. Then decide. Deciding is what we pay them for.

[El Gato]

Donofrio has conceded that he was born in Hawaii.

I don't think so, he's stated that he believes Obama was born in Hawaii, but does not know, not that he takes it as a given.

[ComputerGuy]

That was a direct quote from this article as well as others:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/dec/05/court-to-weigh-question-about-obama-citizenship/

[gathersnomoss]

That’s a good one. Thanks, I needed that. Ha.