Posted on 04/03/2011 8:56:07 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Like most people, I had discarded the issue about President Obama's birth certificate long ago as without merit. Recently, though, possible Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has renewed public interest in the matter, and so I decided to take a second look.
While Trump is mistaken in some particulars, to my surprise, the matter turns out to be more complicated than I originally thought.
Obama defenders say that the he did release his birth certificate, making the entire argument moot. That is true ... sort of. In June 2008, the Obama campaign released of a "certification of live birth," which was examined and photographed by factcheck.org.
The document lists the birth of Barack Hussein Obama II on Aug. 4, 1961 in Honolulu, Hawaii. However, critical information often contained in an original birth certificate, including physician and hospital of delivery, is missing. Factcheck.org explains why:
"The document is a 'certification of birth,' also known as a short-form birth certificate. The long form is drawn up by the hospital and includes additional information such as birth weight and parents' hometowns. The short form is printed by the state and draws from a database with fewer details. ... We tried to ask the Hawaii DOH why they only offer the short form, among other questions, but they have not given a response."
This truncated document nevertheless seems acceptable to at least some government agencies as proof of birth and citizenship. Further, it seems inconceivable that this "short form" document could be generated if a corresponding original "long form" did not exist. Case closed, right?
Not so fast. Factcheck.org. bills itself as "a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania," with funding largely derived from "an endowment created in 1993 by the Annenberg Foundation ... and a 1995 grant by the Annenberg Foundation."
Obama was famously a founding board member of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, also a project of the Annenberg Foundation. The connection is strong enough, in my mind, to raise reasonable questions about the objectivity of factcheck.org in matters regarding Obama.
Then there is the stubborn issue of Hawaii's governor -- and Obama family friend -- Neil Abercrombie, who had vowed upon taking office to once and for all prove that Obama was indeed born in Hawaii, thereby neutralizing the issue in advance of the 2012 campaign.
Abercrombie claims to have found ... something. "It [the proof] was actually written I am told, this is what our investigation is showing, it actually exists in the archives, written down," he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Written down? What on earth does that mean? Did some anonymous government employee scribble on a napkin: "On this day, Barack Obama was born?" Either an original, hospital-generated, long-form birth certificate exists or it doesn't, and either the governor has found it or he hasn't.
It seems from his vague answer that what he has been told was found is not that original birth document. The governor certainly has not released any additional information or documentation, despite his repeated promises to do so. In fact, he seems to have conveniently forgotten the subject altogether.
What does all of this mean? I'm not sure. Probably nothing. Yet it is amazing that unanswered questions continue to swirl around Obama's birthplace. Even more mysterious is why the president doesn't clear up the matter unequivocally, as surely only he can. I really wish he would, if only to remove an unnecessary distraction from the public debate.
It is no wonder that some opponents of the president are fixated on this issue: If (and it is a very big if) it could be proved that Obama was born outside the United States, then the legitimacy of any legislation he has signed into law would be instantly questionable.
So long Obamacare?
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Matt Patterson is a columnist and commentator and a contributor to "Proud to Be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation" (HarperCollins, 2010).
Legs
It's not really about the place. It's about the father. Born to a British citizen, you can't be president.
obama is so arrogant he's sure the mainstreams will never investigate. It's up to the National Enquirer...
Can someone tell me why the arguement is not made on that point?
BTTT !
Patterson should have added that Obama has spent over a million dollars in lawyer fees to squash any court case that tries to require him to make public the birth certificate. With that sort of money spent, he certainly has something to hide.
It took Trump to convince this lazy hack to finally do his job? (which had already done by others months ago)
This narrow fixation on Obama's BC fails to address all the other personal records that have been suppressed by the muslim residing @ 1600 Penn. Ave.
Ok, so he starts out saying Trump is wrong on things but never once mentions what those might be. Then he lays out a very small part of the case (totally ignoring the NBC) but I will give him kudos for Factcheck and Annenberg Foundation. Then he ends with it means nothing. Nothing? He brings up questions and then suddenly chunks it all in File 13? So, what was the point? Why write it? Why waste his readers' time? That's 5 minutes I'll never get back.
Intelligent people know that the issue is deeper than "which hospital".
And that should be obvious given his book where he talks about his father.
I recently got mine in Fla. I was given a COLB. I asked about the original and was told I can get a certified copy for 25 bucks from Jacksonville.
Holy cow. The first ever accurate report from major media? I’m sitting in “stuned” amazement that the writer even brought up the connection between FactCheck.org and the Annenberg Foundation, much less apparently considered the possibility that FC has a motive to lie.
I jumped off the long-form BC train long ago, but this is getting interesting. As much as I pound birthers for perpetuating falsehoods and misinformation, I have to acknowledge that their persistence on one point has been successful ... “Why doesn’t he just release the long-form?”
No, I’m not getting back on that train, but I am intrigued by the sudden willingness of the media to discuss the issue and more so by those who are giving the issue a second look. Apparently, Trump has enough of a reputation as a shrewd man to make the media take a look ... either that or Obama’s base has turned on him and is ready to consider the possibility.
Hmmmmm. Very interesting indeed.
Very good point. And he very well may have been born in HI but because of his parents birth place the long form would be documented proof that he would not qualify.
I have a question for you. It's a real question. Not rhetorical.
Did you notice the birthplace of Trumps mom? It said Scotland, I believe.
What's the difference between Trumps situation and Obama's (assuming Obama was born in the US)?
0bama’s mother is an American citizen, so the Public isn’t going to dive into legal intricacies of whether it matters about the dad.
His LFBC is being hidden because of something else besides citizenship, such as a stated religion.
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