As amazing (appalling?) as it sounds, it really has been an entire year since this Barack-Obama-is-not-a-natural-born-citizen-and-so-can't-be-president nonsense began. (For the record, Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961.) The birthers have not only managed to push themselves onto the national stage, but actually pose a real threat of taking over the Republican Party.
A poll released July 31 on the DailyKos website revealed that an astounding 58% of Republicans either believe that President Obama was not born in the United States or don't know for sure. Some GOP politicians visiting their districts face crowds of constituents jeering their assurances that Obama is a natural-born citizen, while others prefer not to confront a growing segment of their party rather than admit the simple truth. As the rest of the country watches in a sort of horrified train-wreck fascination, the GOP is fast spiraling down the hole of birtherism, and may not be able to climb out.
So in (dubious) honor of the one-year anniversary of Birther Madness, here is a list of the birthers' arguments (so far) and why they don't hold water. In no particular order:
1. The image of Obama's birth certificate is a fake.
No, it's real. It was verified as both genuine and accurate by the Hawaii Department of Health.
2. The "Certification of Live Birth" presented by the Obama campaign is not the same as a birth certificate and is not accepted when applying for a passport.
Sure it is. It's the exact same document anyone receives from the state when requesting a copy of their birth certificate, and is the standard form issued by Hawaii (and, indeed, many other states) for all births. It is perfectly acceptable at all levels of government as proof of citizenship, including for passport applications. The "certification" vs. "certificate" business is a matter of semantics and nothing more.
3. Why doesn't Obama release his original "long form" certificate?
Why should he? He already proved his citizenship status by releasing his birth certificate, and the Hawaii state government has confirmed its authenticity multiple times. It's not his job to cater to the birthers' paranoia - or anyone else's paranoia, for that matter - and surrendering will only keep this farce going ad infinitum.
4. Hawaii allows children born in other locations to receive Hawaii birth certificates.
Hold on to your hats, people - all states allow this. Children who were adopted from out of state or who were born while their parents were traveling receive birth certificates from the state of their parents' residence. It happens all the time. The birthers' argument fails because (a) Hawaii did not allow this until Obama was in his twenties and (b) all birth certificates include the place of birth regardless of where the child was born. If the child was born in New York City, it gives the place of birth as New York City. If the child was born in China, it gives the place of birth as China. No exceptions.
5. Anyone can contact the Hawaii state government, say his or her child was born in-state, and get a Hawaii birth certificate and thus American citizenship.
No evidence for this claim has been presented. This one apparently represents the next round of birther (il)logic. As long as the long-form certificate is unavailable, the birthers can claim Obama's hiding something. But if he gives in and releases it, they can then claim the document is meaningless because it could possibly be fake. Such is birther doublethink: the long-form document is both crucial and useless, relevant and irrelevant.
6. Sun Yat-Sen, who was born in China, fraudulently obtained a birth certificate saying he was born in Hawaii.
He did indeed - in 1904. Hawaii was an American territory at the time and so he did not become an American citizen. Both Hawaii and the United States had very different citizenship laws than they had after statehood in 1959.
7. Obama has dual citizenship because his father was a Kenyan citizen.
Not any more. Kenyan law allows dual citizenship in children, but terminates it on the child's 21st birthday unless he renounces his other citizenship and swears an oath of allegiance to Kenya. Since Obama did neither, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on August 4, 1982.
Besides, if dual citizens cannot be president, then any country in the world - Iran, for example - has the power to remove an elected American president simply by declaring him to be a citizen of their own country as well as the US. Is that really what the birthers want? I didn't think so.
8. Both parents must be American citizens in order to be a natural-born citizen.
Wrong again. American law recognizes only two types of citizen: natural-born and naturalized. All that is required for natural-born status is for a person to be born either (a) in the United States or (b) outside the United States to at least one citizen parent. The first requirement covers Obama, who was born in Hawaii, while the second covers John McCain, who was born in Panama when his father was stationed there as a naval officer. (Somehow, I doubt all this would now be happening had a white man with an Anglo-Saxon name been elected.)
Not only that, three other presidents have been born in the U.S. to one non-citizen parent: Chester Arthur's father was Irish, Woodrow Wilson's mother was Scottish, and Herbert Hoover's father was Canadian. Were they illegitimate presidents as well?
9. Obama's stepfather listed him as an Indonesian citizen on his school registration form.
Since no evidence of Obama's alleged Indonesian citizenship has ever been presented, it seems Lolo Soetoro simply lied so his six-year-old stepson could go to school. Oh yes, and the very same form clearly gives Obama's place of birth as Honolulu.
10. American citizens were not allowed to enter Pakistan when Obama went there in 1981.
Not true. The State Department's 1981 travel advisory does not bar Americans from visiting Pakistan and even gives instructions on how to obtain a visa.
11. Obama's grandmother said she was there when he was born in Kenya.
The cropped recording of Ron McRae's interview with Sarah Obama (conducted via translator over a bad phone connection) ends abruptly after her statement, even cutting off McRae mid-word. In the complete recording, Sarah Obama and her translator immediately realize the error and tell McRae over and over that Barack Obama was in fact born in America.
12. The certificate provided by the Obama campaign was printed on a laser printer, which had not yet been invented in 1961.
No one said the released certificate is from 1961. It was issued by the Hawaii Department of Health in 2007.
13. The short-form certificate Obama released is not recognized as valid by the Hawaii state government.
Barely true once upon a time and for the wrong reasons. The state Home Lands program leases state land to people with at least 50% indigenous Hawaiian ancestry. Because eligibility for this one program concerns ethnicity rather than place of birth, it used to require long-form certificates when applying but now accepts short-form certificates as well. Since Obama never claimed to be of indigenous Hawaiian descent nor applied for the program, it has nothing to do with him anyway.
14. Obama's birth announcements, sent to Honolulu newspapers by the state Department of Health, could have been falsely placed there by Obama's parents or anyone else.
No evidence for this claim has been presented.
15. A Kenyan birth certificate for Obama has been discovered.
A photo of the supposed document was announced by Orly Taitz and trumpeted by WorldNetDaily, but was exposed as a hoax within hours.
There will be other arguments, I'm sure. As long as the sky remains blue and Barack Obama remains president, Lord knows there will be others.
A poll released July 31 on the DailyKos website revealed that an astounding 58% of Republicans either believe that President Obama was not born in the United States or don't know for sure. Some GOP politicians visiting their districts face crowds of constituents jeering their assurances that Obama is a natural-born citizen, while others prefer not to confront a growing segment of their party rather than admit the simple truth. As the rest of the country watches in a sort of horrified train-wreck fascination, the GOP is fast spiraling down the hole of birtherism, and may not be able to climb out.
So in (dubious) honor of the one-year anniversary of Birther Madness, here is a list of the birthers' arguments (so far) and why they don't hold water. In no particular order:
1. The image of Obama's birth certificate is a fake.
No, it's real. It was verified as both genuine and accurate by the Hawaii Department of Health.
2. The "Certification of Live Birth" presented by the Obama campaign is not the same as a birth certificate and is not accepted when applying for a passport.
Sure it is. It's the exact same document anyone receives from the state when requesting a copy of their birth certificate, and is the standard form issued by Hawaii (and, indeed, many other states) for all births. It is perfectly acceptable at all levels of government as proof of citizenship, including for passport applications. The "certification" vs. "certificate" business is a matter of semantics and nothing more.
3. Why doesn't Obama release his original "long form" certificate?
Why should he? He already proved his citizenship status by releasing his birth certificate, and the Hawaii state government has confirmed its authenticity multiple times. It's not his job to cater to the birthers' paranoia - or anyone else's paranoia, for that matter - and surrendering will only keep this farce going ad infinitum.
4. Hawaii allows children born in other locations to receive Hawaii birth certificates.
Hold on to your hats, people - all states allow this. Children who were adopted from out of state or who were born while their parents were traveling receive birth certificates from the state of their parents' residence. It happens all the time. The birthers' argument fails because (a) Hawaii did not allow this until Obama was in his twenties and (b) all birth certificates include the place of birth regardless of where the child was born. If the child was born in New York City, it gives the place of birth as New York City. If the child was born in China, it gives the place of birth as China. No exceptions.
5. Anyone can contact the Hawaii state government, say his or her child was born in-state, and get a Hawaii birth certificate and thus American citizenship.
No evidence for this claim has been presented. This one apparently represents the next round of birther (il)logic. As long as the long-form certificate is unavailable, the birthers can claim Obama's hiding something. But if he gives in and releases it, they can then claim the document is meaningless because it could possibly be fake. Such is birther doublethink: the long-form document is both crucial and useless, relevant and irrelevant.
6. Sun Yat-Sen, who was born in China, fraudulently obtained a birth certificate saying he was born in Hawaii.
He did indeed - in 1904. Hawaii was an American territory at the time and so he did not become an American citizen. Both Hawaii and the United States had very different citizenship laws than they had after statehood in 1959.
7. Obama has dual citizenship because his father was a Kenyan citizen.
Not any more. Kenyan law allows dual citizenship in children, but terminates it on the child's 21st birthday unless he renounces his other citizenship and swears an oath of allegiance to Kenya. Since Obama did neither, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on August 4, 1982.
Besides, if dual citizens cannot be president, then any country in the world - Iran, for example - has the power to remove an elected American president simply by declaring him to be a citizen of their own country as well as the US. Is that really what the birthers want? I didn't think so.
8. Both parents must be American citizens in order to be a natural-born citizen.
Wrong again. American law recognizes only two types of citizen: natural-born and naturalized. All that is required for natural-born status is for a person to be born either (a) in the United States or (b) outside the United States to at least one citizen parent. The first requirement covers Obama, who was born in Hawaii, while the second covers John McCain, who was born in Panama when his father was stationed there as a naval officer. (Somehow, I doubt all this would now be happening had a white man with an Anglo-Saxon name been elected.)
Not only that, three other presidents have been born in the U.S. to one non-citizen parent: Chester Arthur's father was Irish, Woodrow Wilson's mother was Scottish, and Herbert Hoover's father was Canadian. Were they illegitimate presidents as well?
9. Obama's stepfather listed him as an Indonesian citizen on his school registration form.
Since no evidence of Obama's alleged Indonesian citizenship has ever been presented, it seems Lolo Soetoro simply lied so his six-year-old stepson could go to school. Oh yes, and the very same form clearly gives Obama's place of birth as Honolulu.
10. American citizens were not allowed to enter Pakistan when Obama went there in 1981.
Not true. The State Department's 1981 travel advisory does not bar Americans from visiting Pakistan and even gives instructions on how to obtain a visa.
11. Obama's grandmother said she was there when he was born in Kenya.
The cropped recording of Ron McRae's interview with Sarah Obama (conducted via translator over a bad phone connection) ends abruptly after her statement, even cutting off McRae mid-word. In the complete recording, Sarah Obama and her translator immediately realize the error and tell McRae over and over that Barack Obama was in fact born in America.
12. The certificate provided by the Obama campaign was printed on a laser printer, which had not yet been invented in 1961.
No one said the released certificate is from 1961. It was issued by the Hawaii Department of Health in 2007.
13. The short-form certificate Obama released is not recognized as valid by the Hawaii state government.
Barely true once upon a time and for the wrong reasons. The state Home Lands program leases state land to people with at least 50% indigenous Hawaiian ancestry. Because eligibility for this one program concerns ethnicity rather than place of birth, it used to require long-form certificates when applying but now accepts short-form certificates as well. Since Obama never claimed to be of indigenous Hawaiian descent nor applied for the program, it has nothing to do with him anyway.
14. Obama's birth announcements, sent to Honolulu newspapers by the state Department of Health, could have been falsely placed there by Obama's parents or anyone else.
No evidence for this claim has been presented.
15. A Kenyan birth certificate for Obama has been discovered.
A photo of the supposed document was announced by Orly Taitz and trumpeted by WorldNetDaily, but was exposed as a hoax within hours.
There will be other arguments, I'm sure. As long as the sky remains blue and Barack Obama remains president, Lord knows there will be others.
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