Was Obama Born Here?

[Jack_Dawson]

As in...the U.S.? Cuz for the past two days every time I turn on the radio, "democrat" Phil Byrd is appearing on Michael Savage or Rick Roberts and I'm sure more awful people to come, claiming he was born in Kenya and can prove it.

On edit: I understand and grasp the fact Hawaii is a state. But this "Democrat" lawyer claims the campaign isn't giving up some specific proof of citizenship he's asking for. He says he served the DNC with some notice regarding these papers on September 4th, and Howard Dean blew it off. And giving thse idiots ANY hope whatsoever always sucks, so why not just present what needs presenting?

Or - they are all kooks and it's best to ignore them. The problem with ignoring is it only fuels the fire, as pathetic a fire as it may be.

Someone talk me down.

[ogneopasno]

1. Yes...if you figure Hawaii is a state.

Otherwise, then no.

[rcrush]

2. You are listening to talk radio

So its probably bullshit.

[bookman]

3. Hawaii is a state, but...

... not the Canal Zone. :)

[Jack_Dawson]

7. I know HI is a state - but Kenya isn't

or is it just more republican desperation? In that case it's funny. But still...can't Barack make it all go away by producing whatever form they need?

[Connie_Corleone]

18. He already did. Where have you been?

Just go to factcheck.org or Obama's website where his birth certificate has been on there for months.

[John Q. Citizen]

19. Make what go away? His landslide lead in the polls or his high favorability ratings?

Only willing dupes believe this whopper, and they are too stupid to vote for Obama anyway.

I know you weren't fooled by Savage, Jack_Dawson, so why don't you make it all go away?

[Alter Ego]

33. Already did. They waved it aside, proclaiming it a fake.

They're not going to listen to anything but what they want to hear.

[Jamastiene]

40. That is Obama's secret.

Normally, the Democratic candidate for President will jump through hoops to try to please the Republicans. Obama is doing no such thing. He bows down for no Repub. It frustrates them and causes them to obsess about several things regarding Obama, not just where he was born. The more frustrated the Republicans get over petty shit, the less time they spend trying to win.

Obama stays on message and doesn't let nutty conspiracy theories sidetrack him. It marginalizes those wingnuts that our Democratic Congress should have had the collective backbone to marginalize YEARS ago.

Obama is winning because he's the first Democrat in a zillion years who doesn't brake for Republican nonsense and doesn't back down when they come up with convoluted bullshit.

That, in essence, is the answer to your question.

[Fleshdancer]

4. Unless Hawaii belonged to Kenya the year Obama was born...

then yes, he was born in the US. If he wasn't and there was proof that he wasn't, then it would be out by now. Besides, someone from factcheck.org went to Hawaii and looked at, touched, and took pics of the birth certificate...raised seal, certificate number, and signature included. I really don't know what else can be offered to prove this fact.

[LeftinOH]

5. If Michael Weiner (Savage) is anywhere near the story, its complete bullshit..n/t

[Overseas]

49. Michael Savage has ZERO credibility. //nt

[John Q. Citizen]

6. Obama was born on a saucer in inter-stellar flight between Alpha Centari and the

good ol' US of A!

And I can prove it, but no one will believe me.

Will you believe me?????

[Marrah_G]

8. Even if he was born in Kenya his Mother was a US citizen so it doesn't matter

But he was born in Hawaii. These people are just grasping for anything out of desperation.

If my kids were born in a distant galaxy they would STILL be citizens exactly as if they were born here in the US.

[Jack_Dawson]

17. But I think you have to be born in the country

to run for president, no?

[Blue Diadem]

26. McCain was born in Panama

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/how_can_panamanian-born_mccain_be_elected_president.html

[asksam]

29. And yet he's being allowed to run

Why hasn't anyone challanged this in court yet? (Or is it because the Repugs control all the courts and therefore not worth the expenditure of resources?)

[RB TexLa]

36. There has never been a challenge to those laws, the presidency and vice presidency are the only

two offices with the requirement of natural born citizen which the constitution does not define. Only when someone born apart of US soil is elected by the electoral college will it become defined by the Supreme Court.

[shraby]

34. No. If they are born a citizen, they can run.

[Caliman73]

52. No

You have to be a natural born citizen. You can be born in another country to Citizens and still be a citizen. That however is irrelevant since Barack was born in the United States, in Hawaii, to a natural born citizen.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

21. Marrah, clarification

in order to run for President one has to be born on US soil. If one or both of your parents is a US citizen and you are born off of US soil, it only qualifies you to be a US citizen, but not eligible to run for President.

Obama was born in Hawaii and qualifies. I have even posted his birth certificate several times but there are posters every now and then drinking the kool-aid and asking about it.

[Fleshdancer]

30. I don't think that's true

If your parents are US citizens and you are born abroad, you can still be President.

[Midlodemocrat]

35. No, I believe you must be born on US soil.

I remember when my nephew was born in the UK, we joked that at least we wouldn't have to worry about him running.

[Fleshdancer]

39. Title 8 of the US Code:

Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

- Anyone born inside the United States
- Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
- Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
- Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
- Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
- Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
- Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
- A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.

on edit: My husband and I had our daughter overseas so knowing that she could become President someday make us very happy. :)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

42. Has that code ever been challenged in the Supreme Court as

the term used in the Constitution, Natural Born Citizen was never defined by the framers.

[Fleshdancer]

44. no idea

I'm just regurgitating the info given to me by other DUers when I expressed concern about my own daughter's future eligibility. :shrug:

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

53. It looks like your daughter can become President! I looked and found that the term

stemmed from British Common Law in regard to Britain.

http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/jyinger/Citizenship/history.htm

The term "natural born" citizen has a long history in British common law.(38) In fact, a law passed in 1677 law says that "natural born" citizens include people born overseas to British citizens. This usage was undoubtedly known to John Jay, who had children born overseas while he was serving as a diplomat.(39) It also appears to have been employed by the members of the first Congress, who included many of the people who had participated in the Constitutional Convention. To be specific, The Naturalization Act of 1790, which was passed by this Congress, declared "And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens; Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident of the United States."(40)

I am sure that the last sentence is moot now. :)

[shraby]

31. Just what I was going to say!

If a child is born of a U.S. citizen (either parent), they are a natural born citizen, no matter what country the birth happens in. They are listed on their birth certificate as a U.S. citizen.

[klyon]

45. thanks

I was going to say exactly that. This more Rethug bullshit.

[rurallib]

9. In an address at the Alfred Smith dinner Obama revealed that he

was actually born on the planet Krypton and was sent here by his father Jor-el. Don't know how you missed it.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. Quit distorting the truth!

(see post #6)

Kypton and Jor-el had nothing to do with it! Kypton exploded long before Obama was born.

[bigtree]

10. Media Matters dealt with this today

Thu, Oct 23, 2008 10:13pm ET

Conservative media figures allege Obama's Hawaii trip is about discredited birth-certificate rumors, not his ailing grandmother

Summary: Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, and Jerome Corsi suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, in addition to FactCheck.org and a Hawaiian Health Department official, even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, has reportedly determined that the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign is authentic.

Conservative radio hosts Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh and Obama Nation author Jerome Corsi -- who appeared as a guest on G. Gordon Liddy's radio show -- suggested or asserted that the true purpose of Sen. Barack Obama's current trip to Hawaii is not to visit his ailing grandmother, as Obama claims, but rather to address rumors -- widely debunked -- that Obama has failed to produce a valid U.S. birth certificate. However, as Media Matters for America has documented, the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on its "Fight the Smears" website and reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21 post that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." A Hawaiian Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that Obama's birth certificate is valid, and even Corsi's employer, the right-wing website WorldNetDaily, reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic."

more: http://mediamatters.org/items/200810230020?f=h_popular


now, get off this bullshit

[plaintiff]

16. How do they explain why he would make a very public trip to Hawaii

to do something any of a thousand operatives could do in secret? And if it was actually something that -needed- doing, why wait
until 12 days before the election to "clean up"? ARRRGGHHH
:crazy: :silly:

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

11. FactCheck.org: birth certificate is authentic

Someone posted this yesterday (I wish I knew the poster's user ID) and I sent the link to a friend who was asking the same question just yesterday.

FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.


http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

[graywarrior]

14. Thank you!

[Connie_Corleone]

13. Jump already.

He was born in Hawaii. He has an Hawaiin birth certificate which is on his website.

[donheld]

15. See this

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp

[smoogatz]

20. Dude.

Is this all you've got? Really?

[LSK]

22. YES!!! He was born in Hawaii!!!!! READ HIS BOOK, ITS ALL IN THERE!!!!

His mother met his father at the University of Hawaii. His father was an exchange student. They lived in Hawaii for 2 years until his father went on to Harvard and they got a divorce.

This is all clearly spelled out in Dreams from my Father.

Why on earth is this being questioned here???

:wtf:

[Blue Diadem]

23. That's their last big push,

They flip between a couple things with his birth, claiming he was born in Kenya while his Mom was on a trip there and she didn't register his birth until she came back to Hawaii and in the next breath claiming he somehow lost his citizenship because his Mom married a man and lived in Indonesia.

Barack Obama has produced a legitimate birth certificate, Fact Check has the information.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

You're seeing and hearing extremely desperate Repubs.

[DevonRex]

24. I think the name is Berg, not Byrd. First, why are you listening to

Savage and believing anything he has to say?

On the off chance that your post is sincere, why don't you just go to Fightthesmears.com and find out for yourself? Or just try snopes. Or you could have read any one of hundreds of posts on this subject over the last 6 months.

And how on earth don't you know that his birth certificate was released long ago and is valid?

[bushisanidiot]

25. Born in Hawaii, though it doesn't matter. His mother was an american

so he is too.

[pnwmom]

27. Here's the birth certificate. I got the link through Snopes.

[DeschutesRiver]

28. Obama is a "natural born US citizen" as required for a president; John McCain may not be one.

You have to be a "natural" born citizen to be president. Not just a citizen. John McCain was born in 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone; in 1937, a law was passed making those born in the PC from 1904 on citizens.

So the argument goes: John McCain is a citizen by virtue of a law passed that retroactively made him one. But it is a valid law that created his citizenship. He can never be a natural born citizen however, which is the constitutional requirement.

There are arguments on both sides of the legal coin on this. But the point is that McCain is the one who has the cloud on his title, so to speak. Obama was born in Hawaii, and has the certificate to show it. Hawaii was a state; Obama is a natural born citizen of the U.S.A. Those who dislike Obama are only relying on false claims that his birth certificate is a fake, etc.

They also claim he is a pedophile, a muslim intent on taking the US to sharia law, that he is many many things that are also untrue. Toss the birth certificate nonsense into that category as well.

If they want to look at a potential citizenship issue with legs, they could toss the McCain issue to a court to decide. That would at least be much fun to watch, with a slight chance that he could lose.

[Minnesota_Lib]

32. I heard his mom was tricked into thinking she gave birth to him.

I read it on the internet (Free Republic, etc), got an email alert and a co-worker verified it through Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity so it must be true.

I have a call into Michelle Bachman to get the definitive answer. I'll get back to you on this.

[Historic NY]

37. this late in the game and they're still talking this shit..................

:silly:

[Jamastiene]

38. He was born in Hawaii AFTER it became a state.

Yes, he was born here.

[RaleighNCDUer]

41. You're Right! His Kenyan father gave birth to him in Kenya, then

sent him by parcel post to his mother in Hawaii.

So devious! Must be because he's a Muslim!

[Vickers]

43. I heard he was born in a hospital in the Panama Canal Zone

THAT HADN'T BEEN BUILT YET!!!

:crazy:

[noonwitch]

46. I looked this up-the BC on the website is a newer one....

I sent to Indiana for a birth certificate, because K-Mart never gave me back my original (from when I worked there). The ones you get now look different from the original that was printed in 1964. The certificate that the campaign posted on Obama's website looks like a new one, that was sent out via a request like mine. It's standard practice, nothing to get worked up over.

[bkkyosemite]

47. This good lil dem Berg says he has a recording of Barack's Kenyan Grandmother saying she was in the

delivery room when he was born in Kenya. What is Berg doing this for. Used to be Asst. Attorney General for PA hmmm. Is a Dem...hmmm and wonder if the woman they got on tape will have a good enough Kenyan accent...........who is paying him off.

[bkkyosemite]

48. The problem might be that 3 million have listened to this and I'm hoping they were all repubs and

not some undecided uneducated (about issues) independent's that are swayed by this garbage. But if they are it's too bad really because they will not be part of history in their decision.

[serrano2008]

50. I actually heard he was born 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem and doesn't have a "dad"

Just kidding. ha ha...ha...ha (crickets)

No, but it's so funny all the different stories here.

- his paternal G'ma and half bro and half sis say they saw him born in Kenya
- he has always claimed to be born in Hawaii but won't say which hospital
- his sister claims it was a different hospital in Hawaii than Barack says
- Barack Sr. isn't his Dad, now this other guy is
- released birth certificate is fake, though State of Hawaii even says it's real
- they even claim there is a Canadian birth certificate for a guy with the same name around the same time
- Even if he was born in Hawaii, he took up citizenship in Indonesia

Come on, they're making up the story as they go along.

Botton line, is true - even if it is proven he was born in Kenya cause his Mom was there on vacation and tried to get on the plane and come back home but wasn't able to and was only 18 so her kid wouldn't be an American citizen - no court is going to rule that he's not an American citizen, they'll give him the benefit of the doubt. This is their big push but may be the dumbest thing next to some whacko carving a "B" into the side of her face.

[Beer Snob-50]

51. I Love the FreePer site

regarding this. One moran posted about not believing factcheck.org because it is founded by annenberg a well known liberal, who just happened to be friendly with many promient conservatives.