Dec 05 2008

Will USSC Drive A Stake Through The Cult Of The COLB?

The US Supreme Court is considering one of many silly lawsuits questioning Obama’s US Citizenship – which I addressed for a while before boredom and good dose of bewilderment set in with the Cult of The COLB (aka, Certificate Of Live Birth). In the face of ever mounting evidence that Obama is a US Citizen, born to a US Citizen in the state of Hawaii, the COLB cultists keep stretching their credulity to the point of fantasy that there is still a chance Obama is not a US Citizen.

I hope the USSC takes up the case simply to drive a stake through this nonsense. It does not help the already busted image of the conservative movement to be associated with zealots of wild conspiracy theories. To be considered for serious leadership positions conservatives need a modicum of seriousness. The ones failing the test of readiness and credentials for office are those who fail the credibility requirements, not the person who has been elected and is about to take office as POTUS. It is topics like this one which make me happy to be unaffiliated with any party. We have the 9-11 conspiracy nuts on the left, and the COLB conspiracy nuts on the right.

With the sane and weary ‘moderates’ in the middle wondering when the hell politics will get out of the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Update: Michelle Malkin and I agree on something again!

32 responses so far

32 Responses to “Will USSC Drive A Stake Through The Cult Of The COLB?”

  1. One of the few times……

    I’ve ever wholly agreed with Michelle Malkin: Truthers to the left of me, truthers to the right: I believe Trig was born to Sarah Palin. I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on U.S. soil. I believe fire can……

  2. nar9350 says:

    AJ,

    I agree the CLOB issue has gone overboard. On the other hand the reaction of the Obama campaign is interesting. They could have put this whole issue to rest with just releasing the vault copy.

    I believe possibly this has more to do with who the actual birth father is and not that he wasn’t born in Hawaii or a birth elsewhere was registered in Hawaii. The Hawaii officials would have to be in on the conspiracy as they have attested that a vault copy does indeed exist.

    OK release the vault copy to disclose the attending physician and the hospital. This would put this to rest. If the father issue is at play here the fix was done at the time of birth and the mother didn’t disclose or concealed the true father. Interesting politically but not relevant to constitutional issue.

  3. Here is the problem I have with you AJ.
    You act so smart and then you equate the 9/11 truthers with the COLB.

    The Constitution has rules. HAS Obama adhered to them not as far as I can see.

    IS he secretive, Well is he.
    All Obama has to do is show it yet he spends a fortune fighting it.WHY?

    One is caused by doubt about the legality of his position,

    The other is caused by radicals wishing to harm America, it’s always America’s fault

    They may both be wrong but to put them in that same category shows faulty logic at best and complete ego at worst.

    They are not the same your bias keeps showing.

  4. AJStrata says:

    Bloody Spartan,

    Not only do I see them as exactly the same, I see them in the same group as the flat earthers, those who doubt the moon landings, Al Gore and the Global Warming nuts, and those who don’t think an embryo is a human being.

    Looks like a common thread runs through all this …

  5. Frogg says:

    I’m with Bloodyspartan on this one. There is no comparison between this issue and the ridiculous conspiracy theories of 9/11, Palin’s kid, etc). I think Obama surely is a natural born citizen….there is just no way he would have the audacity to run if he weren’t. But, I also think citizens have the right to see proof of such when it is in question. I hope the SCOTUS hears the case to put an end to it all also. This issue is a Democrat led complaint. And, to tell you the truth….I haven’t heard much of anything from the right on it (not from Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, etc). In fact, I think the head scratching on the right is because they know something isn’t on the up and up….or Obama would have just submitted his vault BC. I have no idea what he is hiding……but, he is hiding it well (hasn’t released any documents of any kind from anywhere about himself).

    Now if SCOTUS hears the case, settles it…..and, rumors are still flying…..then, that is when it becomes a “conspiracy theory”. Until then…..I don’t have a problem with citizens asking for proof that Obama is a natural born citizen. I wish Obama would just cough it up and save us all the trouble.

  6. MerlinOS2 says:

    Anybody want to give a good reason why Obama has spent over $500,000 bucks on legal fees just to keep his entire history sealed and locked down from birth to college years?

  7. Terrye says:

    I think the COLB thing is a weird conspiracy theory. I really do. As for why Obama did not deal with it by confronting the doubters….what difference would it have made? Nothing he said or did would have changed their minds. Bush could say over and over again that he had nothing to do with 9/11, but the Truthers would not believe him either.

    Will SCOTUS hear the case? I dunno, they only actually take up a fraction of the cases brought to them so I have my doubts.

    My actual birth certificate does not exist, it was destroyed in a fire. All I have is a copy and no one has ever doubted its authenticity.

    Rick Moran has an interesting piece up on this issue.

  8. kittymyers says:

    I dismissed this at first, too. But BO himself has kept this going.

    Why the urgency to lock up his bc?
    What justifies the $$ spent to keep it secret?
    Why not produce it?

    Personally, I hope this is settled in BO’s favor, because otherwise the repercussions would be catastrophic.

    I can understand why the talk radio bigwigs aren’t touching this. But the fact is that there ARE legitimate questions. BO can very easily and quickly settle this, but he chooses not to. I can only guess as to why.

    As Joe the Farmer remarked at The American Thinker:
    “The question not being asked by the holders of power, who dismiss this as a rightwing conspiracy, is what’s the downside of disclosing? This is a legitimate issue of inquiry because Barack Obama has turned it into one. The growing number of people who demand an answer in conformance with the Constitution are doing their work; the people’s watchdogs aren’t.”

  9. BarbaraS says:

    I read somewhere that Obama admitted on his web site that he was born a British citizen. At the time of his birth Kenya was a British territory and all its people were British citizens. His father’s mother said she was there in Kenya at his birth. No hospital in Hawaii has a record of his being born there. Hawaii issues birth certificates to children not born in Hawaii. If anyone thinks Obama doesn’t have the audacity to run for president knowing full well he is not eligible need to have their heads examined. He has the brass gall of ten men all democrats.

    I don’t know the full story. No one except Obama knows and probably the DNC. All I know is there is a question about it. And, AJ, I don’t appreciate your saying I am like one of the truthers when I question this matter. If he is not a natural born citizen this will set a precedent. How can John Roberts swear Obama in if there is a question about his eligibility? After all, Obama is swearing to uphold the Constitution. How can he uphold the Constitution when he is lying about being a natural born citizen? The Constitution is quite clear on this matter and the dims cannot parse it as they do so many other parts of the Constitution.

    Does anyone think the DNC would not perpetrate this hoax? They would if they thought they could get away with it. All I want is for him to show his birth certificate. One of the main reasons I was against his candidacy was I was not sure he would put America first. I am even more doubtful now that he won’t prove his birth. The man was a citizen of three countries at the same time. Who knows where his loyalty lies. This issue shold have been solved before the election and if the judge in PA had not declared Berg had no standing it might have been. After all, Obama refused to answer in the 30 day period. He has spent 800,000 fighting this matter. Something smells fishy.

  10. AJStrata says:

    BarbaraS,

    Sorry, but your feelings do not change facts. His mother was a US citizen – that is all that counts. No matter where she actually had him, he is a US citizen by that fact alone.

    You really think the US government would allow children of US mothers to be confiscated by other countries because they were not born inside the borders of the USA?

    Puleeaase. To assess a theory you need to look at ramifications of similar scenarios. The key is what nationality his mother was. Not where and whether any other country or spouse tried to lay claim to the child.

    Ugh.

  11. Redteam says:

    The question is not if he is a US citizen. The question is: is he a natural born US citizen? There are several contingencies that determine that issue. An example: If he was born in the US to foreign diplomats, he is not a US citizen. There are other instances also. If he were born in some countries, such as Kenya to a 17 yr old mother and a British Citizen, it seems as if he’s not a US citizen. there seem to be several, cans, can’t’s, if’s, and’s and but’s. I don’t know which he is or isn’t. I’m not even sure if BO himself knows if he’s eligible, I think that’s why he doesn’t want to release anything that he doesn’t absolutely have to. Standing? I think every US citizen has standing. Every US citizen would be adversely affected IF he’s not eligible.
    How will it be settled? Don’t know. Conspiracy? the answer will never be known, it won’t be adjudicated, it’ll be swept under the rug, is that a ‘conspiracy’, I don’t know. I believe 9/11 was a terrorist attack. I think the truth should be known about BO, but I don’t think it will, but I don’t think it’s a conspiracy. So I guess I agree with you, let the USSC decide, then we’ll all know.
    I personally think there is credible evidence that Malcolm X is his birth father, but EVEN if that’s true, he’d still be a natural born US citizen.

    Just declaring that because Factcheck says so, it’s legitimate, doesn’t make it so. I’ve seen several things that I know for a fact that both factcheck and snopes have been wrong on.
    And as I saw on someone’s site: No state in the USA in 1961 would have used the word “African” for a person’s race.
    that was even before the word ‘black’ was used for race.

    Terrye,
    you probably have never had an actual birth certificate, the state normally keeps those on file and issues ‘certified copies’ to the individuals. If you ever need your own birth certificate, you can get one from your state, usually dept of vital statistics, or State Health Dept. I know I was born in Georgia and I have my Original “Certificate of Birth”(it actually has a stamped seal on it). When I submitted a copy of that to get a passport, I was told for the first time in my life that it was not a ‘Birth Certificate”, so I had to get from the State of Georgia a “certified” Certificate of Live Birth. I later discovered that applied for my wife born in Fl, and for my two children, one born in Ga and one in Fla.

  12. AJStrata says:

    No Redteam, it is not a question at all. He was born to a US citizen woman, which makes him a natural born US citizen. You don’t get any more ‘naturally born’ than that. Location doesn’t mater. Foreign paperwork doesn’t matter. Foreign claims do not matter.

    If they did then foreigners could ‘seize’ Americans who were not “naturally born” because of location, etc.

    Barack is Constitutionally protected as a US citizen because he was born to one.

    This is ‘true conservatism’ on ‘really dumb’!

  13. Redteam says:

    AJ, I’m not a lawyer, but I’m pretty sure that being born to just one US citizen is not the only requirement for being a ‘natural born’ US citizen. I feel relatively confident if your father were a citizen of another country, then you would not be ‘natural born’
    an example, I have a nephew that is a US citizen, he married a woman Kosovo citizen in Kosovo and they had a child born in Kosovo. Is that child a ‘natural born’ US citizen. I think not, but I could be wrong. I read somewhere that being natural born means that the circumstance of your birth alone, not having to rely on ‘some law passed’ to make you a citizen. that seems right. As in the case of my nephew’s child, I think she is a citizen because of the law that says that his wife if married to a US citizen so she is also, even tho his wife is not a US citizen. Thereby the reliance on that ‘passed law’ means she is not a ‘natural born’ US citizen even tho she was born to a US citizen.
    “Barack is Constitutionally protected as a US citizen because he was born to one.” but you are also constitutionally protected as a US citizen if you are naturalized and both your parents are not US citizens..
    But I’m not arguing the case, let’s let the USSC decide.

  14. lurker9876 says:

    One interpretation of the US law that defines “natural born”, in Red Team’s scenario, the answer is no.

    I have also read recently that Obama’s paternal grandmother said that his half-sister has her COLB even though she was actually born in Indonesia.

    If I understand this correctly, the COLB is not the same as the birth certificate.

    For one thing, I think a birth certificate is normally notarized with a seal. Secondly, Obama was born in 1961. Was the font size available back then? Was this a computer-generated form? Were computers available back then?

    My copy of the birth certificate looks different from Obama’s. My brother was born in 1961 (in OK) so I wonder how his compares to Obama’s COLB….

  15. Redteam says:

    lurker
    COLB are issued daily and they are mostly, I’m sure, computer generated. They are supposed to be certified with a stamp, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be recently printed ‘copies of information of the birth”
    There are many, many problems that have been pointed out about that COLB on factcheck, (race: African, for example) I don’t think there remains much doubt that it’s not a true copy, but that COLB has nothing to do with whether BO is eligible to be president. Virtually anyone can fake a document, and it appears that whoever faked the one on factcheck did a really poor job and shouldn’t have been paid.

    But that’s a dead issue, only what the USSC says from this point on is important.

  16. UglyinLA says:

    You are a perfect example why the left wins and the right loses nowadays. The left is willing to fight for what they believe in, whether it be global warming, socialism, their hate for Bush, their hate for the war on terror, etc. You, however, in the mold of John McCain are unwilling to take the fight to the opposition. Republicans are soft and that’s why we keep losing. We don’t fight. We just bend over and take it.

    Obama could easily shut the door on this nonsense by simply producing his vaulted version of his birth certificate. Instead he has chosen to publish the green form as his proof. Not only is it as comical as a “National Guard Memo” with Times Roman, but the race of the father is “African?” How forward thinking were the Obama family since the term “negro” was the normal term. African is a race in 1961.

    Thankfully, there are true conservatives who are willing to stand up and fight. I applaud their efforts.

  17. lurker9876 says:

    It probably is a true copy but it still does not prove that obama was born in Hawaii.

    Yeah, part of the argument.

    It is not only what but when the USSC decides.

  18. AJStrata says:

    Redteam,

    Half my family our lawyers. Being born to a US citizens t is all that is required. Born to a US citizen you are a US citizen.

    Look at it in reverse. Can anyone take away the US citizen status of an individual born to a US Citizen based on where they were born, foreign government forms, the dictates of the non-US parent, etc?

    Nope. Obama is a naturally born US citizen. Anyone who thinks otherwise is demonstrating their ignorance, not Obama’s lack of citizenship.

  19. UglyinLA says:

    AJ,

    Okay, I think I understand. If the parents are US citizens, or in Obama’s case, just the mother, it doesn’t matter where the child is born, they are still considered naturaly born and are eligible to be president.

    So if a mother, who is a US Citizen, goes to Cuba, has a baby with a Cuban national named Fidel or Raul, brings the baby back to the US, the baby can grow up to be the president.

    Thanks for setting the record straight. I’m not going to argue with lawyers.