Facts are stubborn things: Obama is a natural-born citizen

Renew America ^ | 2009-12-23 | Jamie Freeze

[rabscuttle385]

I never will forget meeting former North Carolina State Senator Hugh Webster my senior year of high school. He came to my school and had lunch with the seniors. As he sat down beside me, I asked him to tell me what he most loved and hated about being in Raleigh. I don't remember what he most loved, but I'll never forget what he most hated. In the words of Mr. Webster, "I don't deal well with incompetent people."

At that point, I knew Mr. Webster and I were kindred spirits. I too don't deal well with incompetent people. As a matter of fact, I go out of my way to avoid them, but when dealing with them is inevitable, I can't help but point out their incompetencies. As a law student, I am being trained to be meticulous, well-reasoned, and intelligent. After my final exam grades come back, we'll see how well I'm doing. But that aside, I feel that I have been too longsuffering in letting the Birther Movement receive simply a few caustic remarks and jabs from me. It's time for me to call a spade a spade. Here goes: If you believe that President Obama is NOT a natural-born citizen, then you are an incompetent idiot who is probably watching Glenn Beck while wearing a tin-foil hat. You probably think Obama's a Muslim too.

If you are still reading (and not firing off angry emails), then allow me to offer you factual proof that Obama is a natural-born citizen who satisfies the constitutional requirements for Commander-in-Chief. My argument is two-fold: 1. Obama was born in Hawaii (a U.S. state for my incompetent readers). 2. Obama satisfies the requirements found in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which defines natural-born citizens.

1. Obama was born in Hawaii. Hawaii joined the Union in 1959. Barack Obama was born in 1961. Do the math. It works. Ok, so perhaps that argument is a bit over-simplified, but that is because I find the birth certificate question so ridiculous. The President released his birth certificate (which was verified by the Hawaii Health Department) yet conspiracy theorists refuse to see logic. "Big bad Obama must be hiding something. That certificate isn't the long form. What's he hiding?" What the naysayers fail to realize is that in 1961 the standard Hawaiian birth certificate was...wait for it...exactly the same length as Obama's! The Hawaiian Health Department has said this, but as conspiracy theorists point out, they must be covering for Obama. Despite the facts, folks say that even if he was born in Hawaii, he is not a natural born citizen because his father was Kenyan. However, even if Obama was born on the moon, he would still be a natural born citizen under the Immigration and Nationality Act.

2. Obama is a natural born citizen. In Scales v. INS, 232 F.3d 1159 (2000), we have a clear definition of what natural born citizenship is. Scales' father was an American serviceman stationed in the Philippines where he met Scales' mother. They married despite the fact that Scales' mother was pregnant with him at the time. In all probability, the court said, Scales was a product of his mother's previous relationship. However, he was born after Mr. Scales married his mother, and he was treated as Scales' son. Later, Scales was facing deportation because of an aggravated felony involving drugs. He challenged his deportation saying he was a natural born citizen. The court determined that natural born citizenship depends on the statute in effect at the time of the child's birth. Since Scales was born in 1977, he was a natural born citizen because a "person shall be a national and citizen of the United States at birth who is born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than ten years, at least five of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years." Id. at 1169; see 8 U.S.C. §1401(a)(7) (1976). Therefore, Scales was a natural born citizen despite the following: having been born in a foreign country, having been born to a non-citizen, having his American father later deny paternity (and prove non-paternity), and having claimed to be a citizen of the Philippines. Sounds like it is difficult to get rid of natural born citizenship. Let's examine Barack Obama's citizenship.

Obama's citizenship will be determined under the 1952 version of the Immigration and Nationality Act since he was born in 1961 and the Act wasn't updated again until 1966. According to § 301(a)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (66 Stat. 235), "a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents one of whom is a citizen of the United States who has been physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year at any time prior to the birth of such person [is a natural born citizen]." According to § 305 of the same statute, any person born in Hawaii on or after April 30, 1900 was to be considered a natural born citizen. Obama's mother was a citizen of the United States, and his father was a citizen of Kenya. They were married six months before Obama was born. There is no doubt that Obama's mother resided in the United States or its possessions for at least one year prior to Obama's birth. Therefore, Obama can't be anything other than a natural born citizen. Combine this detail with his birth in an American State, you have a certified natural born citizen.

Facts are stubborn things. They refuse to go away just because people disagree with them or wish they'd go away. The Birther Movement is a stubborn thing too. It refuses to go away even when proven wrong. It is appalling that the myth of Obama's non-citizenship is allowed to flourish given that a simple search in LexisNexis of "natural born citizen" pulled up all of the relevant case law and statutes. You don't even have to be a lawyer to understand it! However, I learned a long time ago that most people are sheep — they'd rather regurgitate something they've heard rather than doing their own research. And the old adage is true: if you say something often enough, people will believe it. For once let's say the truth often enough and hope people believe it. Let's forget about conspiracy theories and focus on the real issue: Obama's policies. After all, I don't deal well with incompetent people.

© Jamie Freeze

[usmcobra]

It still is not legal proof.

[justiceseeker93]

Open memo to Jamie Freeze:

"Facts are stubborn things." Yes, that's a cliche that's been around in legal circles and elsewhere since well before you were born. But in the case of your essay, you unfortunately don't have your facts straight.

(1)Your claim that "the President released his birth certificate" is false. I believe you are mistakenly referring to an image of a Hawaii "Certification of Live Birth," as distinguished from the (long form) "Certificate of Live Birth." BTW, the image of that "Certification of Live Birth" that we have seen on a pro-Obama web site has been documented to be a forgery via an extensive forensic analysis by Polarik, a man who has extensive professional qualifications in that area.

(2)Your statement that "in 1961, the standard Hawaiian birth certificate was exactly the same length as Obama's" (assuming you are referring the same "Certification of Live Birth" as cited above) is equally preposterous. We have seen images of long form Hawaii birth certificates for two twin sisters born the day before Obama's birth in 1961 (the Nordyke twins) and they are totally different in all respects from the "Certification of Live Birth" produced by the pro-Obama web site. Plus, it is patently clear that the latter document could not have been created back in 1961 because the technology to do so was not available until decades later.

(3)The 2001 Supreme Court case which you cite is off point. The Court there had no occasion to discuss the phrase "natural born citizen" as it occurs in Article II of the Constitution, as the issue of constitutional qualifications for president or vice president was not relevant. The Court, rather, arrived at the conclusion that the litigant was an American citizen at birth. Citizenship at birth and natural born citizenship are not quite the same thing.

(4) You misstate the relevant section of the Nationality and Immigration Act applicable at the time of Obama's birth in 1961. It has been established that, pursuant to that statute as on the books at that time, if Obama was born abroad to a non-citizen father and citizen mother, his mother was too young (less than 19) to convey citizenship at birth to her newborn. That would mean that if Obama was born abroad, he was not a citizen at birth. And if one is not a citizen at birth, he is not a natural born citizen and is therefore unqualified constitutionally to serve as President of the United States.

Nice try, Jamie babes. You are obviously an intelligent young lady and you have a scholarly writing style, but the content of your essay leaves much to be desired. Of course, your conclusion is not supported by the real "stubborn" facts.

[STE=Q]

December 24, 2009

http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/alan/091224

Breaking news: Obama a natural born citizen — birth certificate and presidential eligibility issue solved
By Russ J. Alan

RenewAmerica’s own Investigative Journalist Jamie Freeze, who, according to her credentials page on the RenewAmerica website, “...received battlefield experience in the war of ideology while attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro ((aka UNC-Gomorrah) (quote)). While earning a bachelor’s degree in political science and history, she served as Vice President of the College Republicans and was the lone conservative opinion columnist for The Carolinian, UNCG’s student newspaper. After surviving college without becoming a liberal, she graduated in 2009 and is currently working toward a law degree at Regent University.”

Freeze gained notoriety earlier in her career. At some point she was personally granted an exclusive interview from her deep throat source, “...a Bolivian political analyst with a “...law degree who had worked in the Bolivian Media and government who [at the time was] currently seeking political asylum from the US...and [who had] two assassination attempts on his life [by the corrupt President Morales of Bolivia] ..”. . The scoop was that Hugo “...Chavez has over thirty nuclear weapons that can hit all of the major US cities.” SOURCES: Email dated Sept 30th, 2009 and her RenewAmerica article on the same date “The Ticking Time Bomb in Our Back Yard” , third paragraph).

Freeze: “He validated his story by refering me to other contacts (who I cannot not name due to concerns for their safety). In the interest of journalistic integrity, I wish I could reveal all of my sources, but I cannot compromise their safety...”

Jamie Freeze’s career as an Investigative Journalist is certainly taking off. Again using her “journalistic integrity” and crack investigative and in-depth research skills, has single handedly solved the mystery of Barry Soetoro, a.k.a. Barack Hussein Obama, and has proven once and for all, the “...Stubborn fact...”: “Obama IS a natural born citizen.”

This matter, thanks to Jamie Freeze, can now be put to rest.

In her article, “Facts are Stubborn Things” , posted on the conservative website, she fondly recalls a private conversation she had with North Carolina State Senator Hugh Webster: “In the words of Mr. Webster, “I don’t deal well with incompetent people.” — “At that point, I knew Mr. Webster and I were kindred spirits. I too don’t deal well with incompetent people. As a matter of fact, I go out of my way to avoid them, but when dealing with them is inevitable, I can’t help but point out their incompetencies. As a law student, I am being trained to be meticulous, well-reasoned, and intelligent.”

She goes on to write of her gracious benevolence: “I have been too longsuffering in letting the Birther Movement receive simply a few caustic remarks and jabs from me. It’s time for me to call a spade a spade. Here goes: If you believe that President Obama is NOT a natural-born citizen, then you are an incompetent idiot who is probably watching Glenn Beck while wearing a tin-foil hat. You probably think Obama’s a Muslim too.”

She describes her readers as incompetent: “Obama was born in Hawaii (a U.S. state for my incompetent readers).” [And as for Orly Taitz, Alan Keyes and the rest of us] Freeze continues, “I learned a long time ago that most people are sheep — they’d rather regurgitate something they’ve heard rather than doing their own research.”

“RenewAmerica began in January 2002 as a grassroots support for [1992, 1996, 2000, 2008 presidential candidate] Alan Keyes’ MSNBC TV show “Alan Keyes Is Making Sense...” (RenewAmerica’s “About [us]” page).

“The views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.” This position seems to hold true even against the reason RenewAmerica was orignally founded.

It is sad that Alan Keyes didn’t have the brilliant Jamie Freeze to advise him so he wouldn’t have displayed his apparent ignorance of the law when he brought Berg v. Obama et al., Martin v. Lingle, Donofrio v. Wells, Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz, Keyes v. Bowen, Hollister v. Soetoro, Cook v. Obama, Barnett v. Obama, and Ankeny v. Gov. State of Indiana, all for the purpose of producing an original U.S. birth certificate and all surely taking thousands of hours of legal research. I am sure if he has read Ms Freeze’s article, he must be in anguish that he hadn’t merely solicited her brilliant baccalaureat legal expertise in the first place.

Orly Taitz has been contacted with the news, so that she can rush out and withdraw her pending lawsuits.

© Russ J. Alan

[ExTexasRedhead]

The fact that there is still no proof positive of Zero’s birth location is proof enough that there is a sinister and rotten lie being perpetrated upon the American people. There is treason in the air in DC everywhere one sniffs.

[jamese777]

And nobody can place him at Columbia, nobody.

---

Obama’s Columbia roommate can place him there and he did so in an article for the Columbia alumni magazine.
http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/jan_feb09/alumni_corner

[jamese777]

It still is not legal proof.

---

Yes it is.
The short form, computer generated COLB is accepted as legal proof of birth in every state in the union. It is used for all legal purposes including getting a US Passport. At the bottom of every state of Hawaii short form COLB it states: “This copy serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding.”
Obama’s COLB says that he was born in the City of Honolulu, in the County of Honolulu, on the Island of Oahu, in the state of Hawaii at 7:24pm on August 4, 1961 and that his birth was officially registered by the state of Hawaii on August 8, 1961. Two birth notices for Barack Hussein Obama appeared in the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspapers on Sunday, August 13, 1961.

[smokingfrog]

I'm inclined to believe that 0bama does not have a “long form” birth certificate. This might happen if 0bama was not born in a hospital. Perhaps a midwife delivered 0bama, or maybe even his granny. Maybe Stanley didn't quite make it to the hospital on time and 0bama was delivered in the back seat of a Chevy. Hey, we just don't know for sure. But even if he was not born in a hospital, there should be some other documentation to show that he was born in Hawaii, which we have not seen. (A newspaper announcement does not qualify, since it is not an official state document.)

We must also address the issue of citizenship. If 0bama was born in Hawaii, he would certainly be a citizen. You might even say he is native born. But are native born and natural born the same thing? Perhaps not. We have to go back to the time that the constitution was written to understand what the founding fathers might have meant when they were talking about a natural born citizen. By the meaning of the words “natural born citizen” at the time the constitution was written, I don't believe 0bama qualifies. Does the immigration and naturalization act of 1952 change that? Well, maybe that's something we can argue about.

[UCANSEE2]

but the question remains: is he, as a matter of fact, incorrect in asserting that the certificate we have seen is complete and accurate?

I would bet he hasn't even bothered to look at the BC that was available on the internet, and has no idea whether it is fake or real.

[justiceseeker93]

...there is a sinister and rotten lie being perpetrated upon the American people.

Not just regarding the facts of O's birth and the details of his curriculum vitae, but lies and fraud have become the cornerstone of all 'Rat Party operations. The health care debate is just the latest example. Lies and fraud were the hallmark of the most vicious regimes throughout history - e. g., Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union - and the 'Rats are picking up where they left off.

[GregNH]

This guy can only place him in an apartment for the first semester. Nobody can place him at Columbia, nobody! People who have taken the same courses, as BHO claims to have, never saw the guy.

[6amgelsmama]

Did anyone else notice this: “Since Scales was born in 1977...” Obama was born in 1961, how is it that his father was born after him? Just me, but if his information has a crack this big in it, I wonder how much of the rest of his information is bogus? Just my two cents.

[DaveTesla]

"Not everybody. There's plenty of us on this forum who
believe that the definition of NBC that requires both
parents to be U.S. citizens is pure bunk, a fictional
definition created by birthers to be a standard of
eligibility that Obama could not possibly meet."

If it is pure bunk why is it written in the constitution?
Center column 3rd paragraph down:

Source:
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llcg&fileName=071/llcg071.db&recNum=2
>! you have to turn to page 1291 !>

According to the the principal framer (John Armor Bingham )of the 14th amendment, particularly
the Citizenship and the Citizenship Clause (Defining who was a citizen of the United States) and by Mr. Obama’s
own admission he is not a Natural Born citizen.

“Bingham states: I find no fault with the introductory clause [S 61 Bill],
which is simply declaratory of what is written in the Constitution, that every human being born within the
jurisdiction of the United States of parents not owing allegiance to any foreign sovereignty is, in the language
of your Constitution itself, a natural born citizen… . . – John Bingham in the United States House on March 9, 1866”

[AuntB]

Bookmarking your post.

Another quote:
“Every Person born within the limits of the United States, and subject to their jurisdiction, is by virtue of natural law and national law a citizen of the United States. This will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of persons.”

Senator Jacob Howard,
co-author of the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment, 1866.

[Drew68]

If it is pure bunk why is it written in the constitution?

Because it's not written in the Constitution. The Congressional Globe where Bingham's quote resides is not part of the 14th Amendment. What made it into the actual Constitution is as follows:

Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The Congressional Globe is not the Constitution but rather the congressional debates of the 23rd through 42nd Congresses (1833-73).

[DaveTesla]

Incorrect.

"Bingham states: I find no fault with the introductory clause [S 61 Bill],
which is simply declaratory of what is written in the Constitution",

Bingham clearly stated it was written in the constitution. Are you saying Bingham was wrong?

[DaveTesla]

Because it's not written in the Constitution. The Congressional Globe where Bingham’s quote resides is not part of the 14th Amendment. What made it into the actual Constitution is as follows:

“Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

You failed to notice Bingham called them Citizens of the United States, NOT Natural Born Citizens.

Read it again.

[Drew68]

Bingham clearly stated it was written in the constitution. Are you saying Bingham was wrong?

It matter little what Bingham claims was clearly stated in the Constitution if it isn't actually in the Constitution. The Constitution is written in English. You can read it yourself. Bingham's quote isn't part of the 14th Amendment, not part of the Constitution and not the Law of the Land.

Again, you can defer to the man facing the camera. He knows more about the Constitution that I do.

[DaveTesla]

“The Congressional Globe is not the Constitution but rather the congressional debates of the 23rd through 42nd Congresses (1833-73).”

And the Federalist papers are not the Constitution either.
But the do explicitly explain what the framers meant when
they wrote the Constitution.

[Drew68]

You failed to notice Bingham called them Citizens of the United States, NOT Natural Born Citizens.

And Ankeny citing Wong didn't differentiate between the two. Ankeny is, so far, the only court case to render an opinion on Obama's eligibility as far as the "2 citizen parents" is concerned.

Do you see Ankeny overturned anytime soon? I don't.

[wintertime]

This is mere circuitous speculation regarding the actions or non-actions of Hawaiian officials.

All Obama had to do to fully clear this mess up is to give a nod to his secretary and a few signatures. Total cost for all documents related to his natural born status: Hm?...About $75.

The American people are NOT idiots. The last I read was 51% of Republicans and 30% of the total voting population do not even believe that Obama was born in the U.S. Those percentages would be even higher if those who have doubts or questions about his natural born status were added.

This isn't going away. There is NO WAY for Obama to tip toe around this dead elephant in the living room.