A lot of right-wingers like to think that conspiracy nuts exist only on the left. I myself have dipped my toe in tinfoil-hat land once or twice, so it very easy for me to see how a person can get swept away by the conspiracy tide. But the current far-right conspiracy theory: that Barack Obama is not a "natural born citizen" and is therefore ineligible for the Presidency.
Obama was born in Hawaii to a mother who was an American Citizen herself. That ought to be enough right there to prove Obama's citizenship, official birth certificate in evidence or not. But the conspiracy theory says that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. Of course, still having been born of a citizen, Obama is a citizen himself. But is he "natural born?" I'd assume that if Mrs. Obama had a child in Kenya, that it was probably natural childbirth, but that's not what they're talking about.
They're talking about a line from the Constitution, one that the founding fathers never adequately defined. It's that fuzziness about the word "natural" that has given these wingnuts the idea that Obama doesn't meet the requirement. Why they think he was born in Kenya with--as far as I can see--no evidence, just shows how nutty they are. And when their own candidate, John McCain, was born in Panama, they're really treading on thin ice.
[Excerpt]
Obama challenge rejected
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner will not have to prove that Barack Obama was born in the United States or take his name off the ballot, a Warren County magistrate decided this morning. . .
Read more at: Cincinnati.com
The conspiracy theory about Obama being born in Kenya was thoroughly disproved today:
ReplyDeleteState declares Barack Obama's Hawaii birth certificate is genuine
By Associated Press
6:43 PM EDT, October 31, 2008
HONOLULU (AP) _ State officials say there's no doubt Barack Obama was born in Hawaii.
Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said Friday she and the registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate.
Fukino says that no state official, including Republican Gov. Linda Lingle, ever instructed that Obama's certificate be handled differently.
She says state law bars release of a certified birth certificate to anyone who does not have a tangible interest.
===
(and this slightly different account:)
Friday, October 31, 2008 - 11:51 AM HAST (That means Hawaii/Aleutian Standard Time)
Obama’s Hawaii birth certificate confirmed
Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
The director of Hawaii’s Department of Health confirmed on Friday what Barack Obama has been saying all along: the presidential candidate was born in Honolulu.
“There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s official birth certificate,” said Chiyome Fukino. “State law prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.”
Citing her statutory authority to oversee and maintain Hawaii’s vital records, Fukino said she has “personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.
“No state official, including Gov. Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawaii,” Fukino added.
Lingle, a Republican, has been campaigning on the Mainland for Obama’s opponent, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Obama, a Democratic senator from Illinois, was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu. He graduated high school at Punahou School in 1979.
End quote:
These two versions of the same report seem clear enough. The birth certificate is on file in Hawaii and it is valid.
However, the opponents of Obama simply will not give up. I have seen one Web comment that went along these lines: "It could have been a valid Kenyan birth certificate on file in Hawaii that the Hawaii official was talking about."
Laughable, of course, why would a Kenyan birth certificate be filed in Hawaii?
Re: Why they think he was born in Kenya with--as far as I can see--no evidence, just shows how nutty they are.
I quite agree. Wonder what they will do now?
Thanks for that. Not that I was worried that the whole story was going to turn out to be true or anything. But, when has that stopped them? They're still holding out "Joe the Plumber" as a working class hero, even though his entire story was a fraud.
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