Obama birth certificate controversy
The Obama birth certificate controversy concerns the birth certificate and place of birth of President Barack Obama.[1] A 1991 publisher's biography used to promote the memoir Dreams From My Father states that Obama was born in Kenya.[2] The bio was not corrected until 2007.[3] During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sidney Blumenthal, an advisor to U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton, visited various media offices and asked them to investigate the Kenyan birth story.[4]
Obama was born in Honolulu on Aug. 4, 1961, according to his birth certificate. A low-resolution image of Obama's short-form certificate was released in June 2008, but met with great skepticism. The skeptics soon developed into a "birther movement." Although a higher-resolution image was released on November 1,[5] the movement remained active, demanding that Obama release his long-form certificate. The White House finally released this document on April 27, 2011.[6]
The birther movement contended that documentary evidence indicated that he may have been born in Kenya, Obama is ineligible to serve as president according to Article II of the United States Constitution. Others maintained otherwise.
Birth certificate release
With the news of Jerome Corsi's World Net Daily published book Where's the Birth Certificate? scheduled to be released on May 18, 2011 and with Donald Trump calling for Obama to release his long form birth certificate, it was finally released on April 27, 2011. Within days on its release it was being called a forgery.
Despite efforts by people to downplay the reports of Adobe Illustrator layering and to explain them away, the anomalies on the birth certificate increased daily. The flawed forgery techniques were examined and re-examined by novices and experts alike. It would be hard for someone to explain the many multiple errors in the purported "authentic" birth certificate.
Jerome Corsi said that he was alerted by a mole in the department of records in Hawaii, three weeks before the birth certificate was to be released, that a forged certificate suddenly appeared in the record book. Corsi and Farah of World Net Daily held back releasing the information because they wanted Obama to release a forgery and then prove that it was a fake which would be a crime.
Despite the overwhelming bizarre and inaccurate information contained on the supposed birth certificate, the mainstream media and even some Conservative news outlets refuse to question the document's authenticity.
Corsi stated during a radio interview on May 24, 2011 that a scanning expert is going to file a criminal complaint with the FBI that the birth certificate released by Obama is a bad forgery.
United States Constitutional requirements
The Constitution states explicitly who is to be eligible for the office of President. The physical requirements are found in Article II, Section 1:
- No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
What is "Natural Born"
In the Naturalization Act of 1790, the first Congress explained phase "natural born citizen" as follows:
| “ | The children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered natural born citizens: Provided, That the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States[7] | ” |
Although the 1790 law has been repealed, it remains the only place in federal statute where the term "natural-born citizen" is defined.
See also
- Birthplace of Barack Obama
- Barack Obama birthplace controversy
- Obama birth certificate lawsuits
- Essay:Born Outside the U.S.A.!
External links
- NPR Archive describes Obama as 'Kenyan-born' Also includes clips from newspapers from various African countries claiming Obama to be born in Kenya. Via WorldNetDaily.
- Democrat: Obama's grandma confirms Kenyan birth.
References
- ↑ Obama's African grandmother Sarah Hussein Obama says Barack was born in her presence in Kenya. Obama Born In Kenya? His Grandmother Says Yes, Israeli News, October 12, 2008
Democrat: Obama's grandma confirms Kenyan birth, WND, October 23, 2008
Audio Conversation Link - ↑ The bio says he was, "Born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii”. Here is an image.
Literary agent Miriam Goderich took responsibility for the "mistake," but such bios are normally written by the author himself.[1] - ↑ Joondeph, Brian, "Obama Was the Original Birther", American Thinker, September 18, 2016.
- ↑ "2 Clinton supporters in ’08 reportedly shared Obama ‘birther’ story"
- ↑ Large, high-resolution picture of his birth certificate.
- ↑ Obama's long form birth certificate.
- ↑ see Naturalization Act of 1790
