There once was a time when the refusal of a politician to release a document would provoke editorials demanding that the document be made public.  Journalists were suspicious of politicians who kept secrets.  Journalists were concerned that  politicians who kept secrets might be covering up scandalous behavior.

So why  no editorials about President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to release a copy of his  original  birth certificate or at least allow a representative group of journalists examine it?

Would journalists be as trusting of a Republican politician?  Have they forgotten William "I never had sexual relations with that woman"  Clinton?

Obama is from Illinois, a state with bipartisan corruption.  The current governor, a Democrat, seems destined to join his Republican predecessor in jail for selling favors. 

Real journalists should be naturally suspicious of all politicians,  because con artists can sometimes sound more convincing than those who are telling the truth.  
  
Ordinary citizens have to provide copies of birth certificates  to apply for Social Security or  even renew drivers'  licenses they have had for decades.  Why is it unreasonable to require someone wanting to be president to provide something more than a vague Hawaiian "Certification of Live Birth" to prove he is a citizen?  No one is going to use the information to steal his identity.

Hawaiin officials will only confirm that he has a birth certificate on file, but not that it indicates he was born in Hawaii.  Hawaii allows parents who are Hawaiian residents to register the births of children   born elsewhere.

Real journalists would be asking what Obama is covering up instead of supporting his secrecy.  Real journalists wouldn't be surprised that many suspect Obama is covering up a major problem such as the possibility he wasn't born in the U.S..  

After all why else would he want to keep the document secret?  He's already been elected and any embarassing information contained in it cannot change  the election results. Releasing the document won't compromise national security -- the reason often given for wanting to keep foreign policy related documents, such as the Pentagon Papers, secret.

I don't know if Obama was born in the U.S.  or not,  but  I know he could easily have  eliminated doubts by  allowing Hannity and Colmes or some other journalists to examine his original birth certificate. 

By allowing Obama to keep his birth records secret, the media may  cause Obama to think he can get away with refusing to release other documents that might contain damaging information.

Are those who call themselves journalists refusing to challenge Obama because they are afraid if they look behind the curtain that  they will discover  their "wonderful wizard of oz" isn't a wonderful wizard after all. 

 

Was Richard Nixon right?  Are presidents above the law?  Congress seems to think so.  It has no plans to require  Barack Obama to produce evidence that he is a "natural born citizen" of the United States  in order to take the office of President.

If  Congress isn't going to require Obama to prove he is a citizen, it should do the next best thing and enact legislation that insures he qualifies regardess  of where he was born or any subsequent actions that could have compromised his citizenship under existing legislation.  

Failure to insure Obama is a citizen  could create a constitutional crisis if the  courts eventually recognize that they have to  consider  whether or not  Obama is qualified to sign acts of Congress into law and  enforce them.  If an unqualified president can sign bills into law than  it is no longer important whether or not the bills themselves comply with the Consitution.

The courts have thus far rejected lawsuits questioning the "standing" of the plaintiffs to raise the issue.  A person being prosecuted for violating a law would have "standing" to question if the law were properly signed into law.

Failure to insure that  Obama is a citizen could allow nations that have evidence he may not be a citizen to use that evidence to blackmail him into doing what they want.  

Congess wants states to require us to provide proof of citizenship to renew drivers' licenses we have had for decades.  Shouldn't it impose the same requirements on those who want to be  president, or isn't it important whether or not a president complies with the Constitution?

So far Obama has only produced a vague "Certification of Live Birth" that Hawaii issues for babies that might have been born outside of Hawaii, including outside the U.S., to Hawaiian parents.  According to Hawaiian statues:

"[§338-17.8] Certificates for children born out of State. (a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child."

Barack Obama's mother certainly would have taken advantage of this option if her baby had been born in Kenya as some have alleged but not proved.  Pregnant Mexican have been known to cross the border into the U.S. for the sole purpose of allowing their children to be born as U.S. citizens.  Obama's mother would have wanted the same for her baby if she had miscalcuated and been in Kenya at the wrong time.

Dr Chiyome Fukino has stated:  "Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawaii, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures." 

However, she has not said that the document states Obama was born in Hawaii.

Hawaii's "policies and procedures" even allow "Amended certificates of birth [to] be prepared and filed with the Department of Health, as provided by law, for 1) a person born in Hawaii who already has a birth certificate filed with the Department of Health or 2) a person born in a foreign country."

Based on past political controversies,  the refusal to state that Obama was born in the U.S. indicates that he probably was not born in the U.S.  Those who blindly accept Obama's claim that he is a citizen have forgotten President William "I never had sexual relations with that woman" Clinton.

 If  I wanted to be president, I would be willing to let the Washington Post publish a copy of my  birth certificate on its front page.  After all who is going to attempt to steal the identity of the President of the United States. Obama's refusal to make his complete birth certificate public indicates he is hiding something.  What else would he be afraid of than that the document shows he was born outside the U.S.?

It is generally accepted that Obama's mother was a U.S. citizen, but some question whether he was born in Hawaii or Kenya.  Congress could eliminate this problem by making provisions in 1986 legislation retroactive to some time prior to Obama's birth.  Any child born to an American parent, or at least an American citizen mother, would automatically be a U.S. citizen.  Congress could require DNA evidence for those who claim an American citizen father.  There is legal precedent for basing a child's legal status  on the mother's legal status.  During the period of slavery a child was considered free or slave based on whether the mother was free or slave.

Other questions about Obama's citizenship involve him becoming an  through adoption by his stepfather Lolo Soetoro.   They cite  a school document indicating he is an Indonesian citizen.  If Obama failed to follow the proper legal actions to negate that citizenship, Congress could change the law so that his failure isn't important.   Another set of allegations involve a suggestion he traveled under a non-U.S. passport after becoming an adult.   This allegation would involve legal restrictions that Congress could easily change so that they don't affect Obama's citizenship

If any of the allegations about Obama.not being a U.S. citizen are correct, there are likely documents possessed by foreign documents that would confirm the allegations.  If Kenya has a document indicating Obama was born there, Kenya could use the document get financial support from the Obama administration or even military assistance in the event of a civil war.  If Indonesia  has documents showing Obama as an Indonesian citizen such as an Indonesian passport, it could use documents to coerce Obama into helping the Indonesian government.  If Obama traveled to another country using a non-U.S. passport the countries he visited might blackmail him.

If Obama isn't a citizen and the courts don't remove him,  or if the fact isn't discovered until after he leaves office,  a precedent would exist for naturalized citizens such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to become president.

I don't know if Obama is an American citizen or not, but if he is he can easily eliminate any doubt by making his birth certificate public.   His failure to do so indicates he is covering up something. The something he is most likely covering up is that he was not born a U.S. citizen and the only way he can constitutionally serve as president is if Congress changes the law so that he does qualify as a citizen.

If Congress doesn't insure Obama is a citizen and the courts remove him because he isn't a citizen, Congress would have to repass every piece of legislation passed between the time Obama took office and the courts ruled he was not constitutionally qualified to sign legislation into law.   If the Democratic Congress allowed a non-citizen Democrat to become president, the public might react by refusing to ever again vote for a Democrat for any office.

We average citizens have to prove to government we are citizens  just to renew an old  driver's license.  Shouldn't those who want to run our government have to prove to us  that they are citizens before they take office?  Or are elitist politicians above the law.

Many people don't understand the issue dealing with  Barack Obama's birth certificate.  If Barack Obama doesn't  meet the limited constitutional qualifications for president he cannot legally exercise the powers of the office.  The fact that his claim about being born in Hawaii have been accepted in the past  doesn't mean the claim is valid. 

If Obama was actually born in Hawaii all he has to do is authorize  Hawaiian officials to show his original birth certificate to the media, possibly with the restriction that journalists not make a copy of it or show the document on television.  The computer generated  document Obama  has on his website   to prove he qualifies as a "natural born citizen"  isn't adequate because it would be too easy to forge as  Israel Insider has suggested in a series of articles.   

I had to obtain a copy of my birth certificate last year when I retired to apply for my state pension.  It's an actual copy of the original which was handwritten on a printed form and included the doctor's signature.  I don't know if the state stores the original documents or maintains copies on microfilm.

The document Obama is using includes only a limited amount of information that could easily have been placed on the computer by a hacker.   If Hawaii actually provides such documents, I suspect that those wishing to establish fake citizenship  choose Hawaii as the state they were supposedly born in.

If  Obama is running for president even though he knows he isn't qualified, he probably wouldn't feel bound by constitutional limits on the president's powers.  We've had enough problems with presidents wanting to expand their powers in recent decades.  We don't need a president who runs for office in violation of the Constitution.

Failure to present evidence that he is qualified to be president could create a constitutional crisis.

Republicans could challenge his election in Congress when the electoral colleges ballots are counted.  If anyone on the Republican side has information that Obama isn't qualified to be president, they would likely not release that information until after he is nominated to discredit the Democratic Party.  

Any government agency that can prove Obama isn't a citizen might use that information to blackmail him rather than make the information public as J Edgar Hoover is believed to have done.

An unqualified president cannot sign legislation into law.  Someone charged with violating new laws could challenge the constitutionality of the laws and request the government to prove that Obama is a "natural born" citizen of the United States. 
  
After 9/11 we learned that many government officials had been lax about issuing government documents.  Obama may not have had to have a birth certificate when he moved in with his grandparents in 1971.  He would have obtained a passport when he was very young because his mother moved across national boundaries.  In the 1960's he probably would not have needed a birth certificate if his mother provided a statement about his birth.

Continued questions about Barack Obama's birth certificate demonstrate that the major parties  need  to  institute a requirement  that  those who want  a party's nomination should first have to undergo a full scale FBI background check before seeking the nomination.  Such a requirement would insure party members had all necessary information before choosing candidates. 

Israel Insider, a major online newspaper in Israel, is claiming that the birth certificate Barack Obama is using to claim  to have been born in Hawaii is a forgery.   Analysis indicates   it might be  a modified version of his half-sister Maya Kassandra Soetoro's birth certificate.  You may recall that online experts exposed a forged document Dan Rather attempted to use to discredit George W. Bush four years ago.

If the claim is correct, it would not necessarily mean Obama wasn't born in Hawaii.  He could have simply have used her birth certificate instead of obtaining a copy of his own.  I don't know why he would do so, but it is a possibility.  Perhaps there is some type of adverse information on his birth certificate.

Obama's citizenship is potentially questionable because his parents were not both U.S. citizens as was the case with John McCain's parents.  Being born to a mother who was a U.S. citizenship would not automatically have conferred  U.S. citizenship because his father was not  a U.S. citizen.  Being born  in  the United States or  their possessions would have eliminated  any question.  The laws in effect at the time were complex and his mother's extended residence outside the U.S. would have worked against him.  

The citizenship question is important because the Constitution requires presidents to be a "natural born citizen"  but does not define the qualification.

The Democratic Party should request  Hawaiian authorities and/or the FBI to investigate to determine if there is a valid birth certificate on file for him.    Past elections indicate that the truth will eventually come out.  Democrats need to find out the truth before they nominate someone who might be using an invalid document to claim eligibility to run for president.  Nominating an ineligible presidential candidate would  probably  give the election to Sen. John McCain, regardless of whom Democrats chose to replace Obama.
 
Democrats had to replace vice presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton in 1972 after it was belatedly discovered he had been treated for depression.

Presidential and vice presidential candidates have no secrets.  Anything questionable in the their past will likely come out  like  George W,. Bush's DUI arrest when he was young.   A background check would insure that party members would know about such problems before choosing a nominee.
 
The issue in this case can be resolved easily if Obama will authorize Hawaii to show a copy of his birth certificate to the media.   For the future, the parties need to have background checks.