PrintSeptember 9, 2009
Obama's 'Long Form' Shows Up
A purported copy of Barack Obama's original, "long form", birth certificate showed up. This one's not from Hawaii, though; it's from Kenya. Jerome Corsi covers the story at World Net Daily. 
I have no idea if this is a forgery or not. But if it's real, it would be, as they say, a pretty big deal.
Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs did some admirable work on Dan Rather's Memogate, primarily by duplicating Rather's "memo" in Microsoft Word. Since Charles Johnson is now critical of what he calls "Nirthers", he would be the perfect person to investigate the authenticity of this new document. Have at it, Charles! Please let us know what you find.
By the way, the location of Obama's birth is not the end of the story, either way. Some lawsuits contend that even if born on US soil, Obama is not "natural born" because his father was Kenyan and not a US citizen. Such cases so far have been dismissed by the courts, including the US Supreme Court, without hearing arguments or issuing opinions. It boils down to what is really meant by "natural born," which is not defined in the Constitution or US law.
On the other hand, even if born in Kenya, he could still be considered a "citizen at birth" since his mother was a US citizen at the time. It would depend on which law applies: the one on the books at the time of his birth, or current law if considered retroactive, since those two sets of laws put different thresholds on the mother's age. And Barack Obama's mother was too young for the original law, but old enough to satisfy current law. If "citizen at birth" is equated to "natural born," this becomes all about retroactivity, which, I think, remains legally muddy.
By the way, John McCain, a decorated war hero and POW, US Naval officer, 26-year congressman, son and grandson of US Navy Admirals, and son of parents who were both US citizens, had to go to court to prove his natural born status. The court heard arguments and issued an opinion.
No court has done that in Obama's case, yet. But Corsi says it could happen this coming January, depending on the outcome of hearings in October.
I doubt if I'll ever be considered for a czarship, so I will explain my Nirther status right now. I'm about 80% sure Obama is natural born. But that means I think there is a possibility, and not a negligible one, that he isn't. Since I think the US Constitution is pretty important, I would like to get this thing heard in court, with arguments and a written opinion, even if it would have no effect on Obama's legal status in particular. I simply think an issue like who is constitutionally qualified to be president deserves due process and due diligence. Call me crazy.
Hat tip: Nancy Morgan and RightBias.
Update: I apologize for not keeping up with the birther issue on WND before posting this blog. I thought this birth certificate was a recent find that had not yet been debunked (other than dismissed out of hand). Although I figured it was phony, I thought it at least worth the humor to AT readers. I'm also sorry for ever mentioning LGF. Let sleeping dogs lie, as they say.
But if you read the above blog, it never claims this birth certificate to be genuine, or that I believed that it is, or that I thought this earth-shaking news. Other than showing a picture of the certificate (which I had not seen or known of prior to Sept. 9), this blog was mostly about the legalities of the case if it were to turn out that Barack Obama was not born in the US. And I stand by all that.
