Posted on 12/07/2008 6:36:30 PM PST by Red Steel
Five weeks after the state of Hawaii vouched for the authenticity of President-elect Barack Obama's birth certificate, the controversy over allegations that Obama is not eligible to take office next month has reached the Supreme Court, which is expected to announce Monday whether it will consider the matter.
The fight is unusual because it thrives outside the so-called mainstream media, far beyond the oak-paneled offices of $700-an-hour lawyers and a world away from the 535 individuals whose surnames are preceded by Representative or Senator.
This is a different army at work, in an environment increasingly influenced by the Internet.
"It's only being mentioned by a relative few, by the real die-hard, anti-Obama crowd," said Michael Harrison, editor and publisher of Talkers magazine, the trade bible of the talk radio industry. "On mainstream talk radio, it's not a big deal right now. I think it's run its course."
"But," Harrison added, "we live in a time that, because of the Internet, all points of view can live forever."
Just as there is a split on the legitimacy of the legal claims, there is also a split within the media on the merits of the story. Is it the last gasp of opposition from fervent opponents of Obama who have a found community of like-minded believers on the Internet, or is there a legal question to be resolved? The court will answer the latter question thisweek.
The campaign challenging the legitimacy of Obama's 1961 birth certificate or the legality of his taking office is chronicled by WorldNetDaily, a popular, politically right-leaning site that was the 26th most-visited news and media Web site during November, according to Hitwise, which monitors Net traffic.
"If this [Obama taking office] happens, the question of eligibility for the highest office in the land will no longer even be a matter for concern," wrote Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WorldNetDaily.
"Precedent will have been established. Arnold Schwarzenegger will suddenly be eligible to run for the office in 2012," Farah wrote, referring to the Austrian-born California governor and film star.
An Obama spokesman declined to comment for this story.
The lawyers who, in at least six states, have argued Obama is not a natural-born citizen and cannot be president include one who supported Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, one who has thundered for decades against the legality of the federal government collecting income tax, and one who argues that Sen. John McCain, by virtue of his birth 72 years ago in the Panama Canal Zone, would be banned from moving into the Oval Office, had he won last month's election.
Leo Donofrio is a New Jersey lawyer who tried to get Obama and McCain stricken from the New Jersey ballot in November. Donofrio's case was presented Friday to justices of the Supreme Court. Another case challenging Obama's eligibility, this one from Pennsylvania, has not yet been presented to the full court for its consideration.
"My question is on a pure constitutional ground," said Donofrio. "He [Obama] is a citizen of the United States. I just don't believe he's a natural born citizen."
This is the thrust of the attack, picked up by people like Bob Schulz, an upstate New York lawyer who purchased two full-page ads in the Tribune this month that called Obama "a usurper" who "would be entitled to no allegiance, obedience or support from the People."
Schulz has challenged the federal government on issues including the Iraq War, the Patriot Act and the income tax. "I have a long history of petitioning the government for redress of grievances for violations of the constitution and the law," said Schulz, who said he and his wife live on Social Security checks. Schulz said the ads cost "tens of thousands of dollars" and were paid for with more than 500 private donations from individuals who support the effort. He said there were "no financial angels" behind it.
If the Supreme Court decides not to consider the case, Donofrio said there "won't be any beating on the drums saying there wasn't any justice."
But that will not be the end of the matter, Farah vowed.
"It'll plague Obama throughout his presidency. It'll be a nagging issue and a sore on his administration, much like Monica Lewinsky was on [President Bill] Clinton," Farah said. "It's not going to go away and it will drive a wedge in an already divided public."
That may underscore a landscape change in the media, where the Internet is playing a bigger role in setting the agenda. In 2004, the so-called swift boat campaign against John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, began on the Internet. In fact, the co-author of "Unfit for Command: Swift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry," Jerome Corsi, also wrote "Obama Nation," a book critical of Obama, published earlier this year.
Brendan Nyhan, a political scientist at Duke University, said the Internet's role in forming public opinion is gaining strength. WorldNetDaily, for instance, has one of the faster-growing audiences on the Internet, up 62 percent in the past year, according to Hitwise.
Nyhan co-authored a study this year that said journalists' attempts to correct misinformation is unlikely to sway public perceptions because many people want to believe the misperception.
"People often have a strong bias for believing the evidence they want to believe and disbelieving what they don't believe," Nyhan said. "There is less of a sense that we all have a common set of facts we can agree on. There's a polarization and we can't even agree on the basic factual assumptions to have a debate."
Oh, I guess everything is okay then...
They have a “voucher”
“I am beginning to suspect Obama is a natural-born citizen, and that his birth certificate will confirm this....but it will reveal something else Obama doesn’t want known.
That is the only possible explanation.”
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Why is that? Do you really think he would spend upwards of $800,000 to cover up a small embarrassment? There is absolutely no proof that he’s natural born.
I think you have a point. Here is one of the comments (out of 2) after the article:
Monty on December 7, 2008 8:44 PM
These idiots really need to get a life. They waste money and promote themselves as the saviors of what! We need a new leader and we now have one, thank God! These people just need to disappear from the face of the earth. Maybe they can be on the first manned flight to Mars. I think that is next week flight!!!!!
I suspect this is one of the "moronic lefties" you are talking about.
It is not an anonymous source. It is the spokeperson for the Dept.
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/11/obama_hawaaianborn_citizen_for.html
I agree with your assessment of the revelation by Janice.
We will assume for now that the Tribune is telling the truth.
Is Janice a Democrat. Has she seen the birth certificate?
She is putting words into the Director’s mouth.
Q: Does this mean Obama was born in Hawaii?
A: "Yes," said Hawaii Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo, in both email and telephone interviews with the Tribune. "That's what Dr. Fukino is saying."
Actually, it's not what Dr. Fukino is on the record as saying. But you are right, Janice Okubo is the official mentioned in Fukino's statement as the contact person.
It's very odd, though, that she phrases it in a misleading way, since that is NOT what Fukino said, and Okubo does not claim to be saying it from her own knowledge. But it's certainly a straw in the other direction.
This looks like the Tribune is playing games. "Yes" ; Okubo vouching for Fukino. And the Tribune put this out on their blog the Swamp?
It doesn't look like they have much confidence in this story.
This article came out before the election. I hadn’t heard of this article until “curiousity” posted it.
Obama is Not a natural born citizen because his father was a foreigner and his mother was under 19 years old when he was born, nNo Matter Where He Was Born. Case closed.
Now, the Supreme Court has to decide whether Biden or McCain will become president. I vote for McCain, with Palin as his VP.
The MSM is hoping the dumbed down general public is too stupid to figure it out. Thanks to the public fool system, that's still possible.
I couldn’t agree more.
In that case, both the Democratic and Republican tickets from 2008 would be invalidated which would also disqualify Joe Biden and Sarah Palin from being selected as President by Congress.
On Janurary 20th, when President Bush leaves office, the 25th Amendment goes into effect and the vacant office of President is taken over by his Vice President;
Dick Cheney.
There is actually evidence that he is not natural born, by his own admission of dual citizenship at birth!
Why don’t they ask Obama directly? He was on the news tonight talking to an audience.
The more I read about this, the more concerned I am becoming about what kind of precedent it will set if he is allowed to not show the B.C. One lawyer suggested that Arnold could simply say he is not foreign-born and refuse to show documentation. Now, that wouldn’t work for him, as he is so well known, but it might work for someone newer to the political scene.
I understand that we must respect the outcome of the election and preserve the electoral process, but this natural born citizen issue needs to be defined and enforced in all future elections. I had no idea that a foreign-born American was on the ballot in N.J. and likely other states. Incrementalism, folks!!!
WHO ARE THE WACKOS? I say it is those people who will not consider the wider, very serious implications of this issue. It is possible to respect the electoral results and be concerned about this at the same time.
Oh how I wish that man could be on record as being President, even if for only a month or two whiel the mess is sorted out! Dick Cheney is a man who loves this nation so much that he has given much of his life to Her.
Does this mean Obama was born in Hawaii?
“Yes,” said Hawaii Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo, in both email and telephone interviews with the Tribune. “That’s what Dr. Fukino is saying.”
I don’t believe it. If it means he was born in Hawaii, why didn’t Dr. Fukino say that? That is Not what Dr. Fukino said. I doubt I will believe an actual Obama birth certificate now if he produces one after his current visit to Hawaii.
It would be too easy for someone like Obama, with huge monetary resources, to have a fraudulent birth certificate forged. But this time, I am sure, he will do a better job than he did with the so-called certificate of live birth.
Whether his father's British citizenship precludes Obama from being a "natural born citizen" is a different question (I believe it does not - it seems unlikely that the framers of the Constitution would want one's eligibility for the presidency to depend, in any way, on a foreign country's law). I'm just pointing out that Obama's mother's age has nothing to do with his citizenship if he was born in the US.
IIRC Berg has now added an affidavit from the DR who delivered him, in Mombasa, Kenya.....Haven’t confirmed it myself. If you find confirmation please let me know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.