Now this is an interesting tidbit, given the longstanding questions and controversy over Barack Obama's citizenship.
While Barack Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii in 1961, given that his father was Kenyan, and that Kenya was part of the British Empire at that time, and Obama also spent a lot of time in various overseas countries during his youth, there have been a lot of questions about Obama's real citizenship.
It hasn't helped that the Obama campaign has been very tight-lipped over the while thing, and even when a copy of Obama's birth certificate was finally released a few months ago, there were many questions about it's authenticity because it doesn't look like the typical birth certificate of that period, and lacks some of the features one might expect on an official document.
Still, it has come to be accepted by most as genuine.
Now Newsbusters points out an interesting admission on Obama's question-fighting website called "Fight the Smears."
Along with a picture of the aforementioned birth certificate, this particular web page on Fight the Smears lists a couple of "mainstream" media sources (as if they had any special credibility anymore) which make definitive pronouncements that Barack Obama is indeed an American citizen.
What is interesting is that the citation from FactCheck.org says Obama once also had Kenyan citizenship:
“When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a British colony, still part of the United Kingdom’s dwindling empire. As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.‘s children.
Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4,1982.”
Here is a screen print of the citation on Fight the Smears (in case it mysteriously "disappears"):
Now, there's nothing particularly shocking in this, in and of itself. After all, the main issue is the American citizenship required by the U.S. Constitution for a U.S. president, and there remains no significant questioning that Obama does indeed meet this qualification.
Also, there are many Americans who have and have had dual citizenship; I knew quite a few when I was in the military. So again, there is nothing remarkable about that.
What is remarkable in this case is the tremendous amout of reticence and hostility the Obama camp has shown toward this entire issue, when questions about Obama's citizenship--given his father's foreign origin and his overseas travels as a youth--have been valid concerns.
Also, while not an obstacle to service as president, the fact that we could have a U.S. president who has held dual citizenship with another country is, at the very least, interesting and noteworthy.
Obama hasn't done himself any favors playing the bunker mentality for the past year or two, and this revelation may throw more kindling back on the fires of those who have doubts about him.
One also has to wonder, given that the "mainstream" media has totally thrown any pretense of objectivity out the window long ago during this election, what the reaction might be if such a fact came out about John McCain or Sarah Palin.
Would we hear the same crickets we now hear about Barack Obama, or would it be a chorus of howling timber wolves, as we have heard over earth-shattering revelations such as a 20+-year old DUI by Todd Palin or a pregnant daughter?
I think the answer is pretty obvious.
7 comments:
As you correctly noted, even if your speculation about Obama's "dual citizenship" were true, it would not be an obstacle to his serving as president, it would merely be "interesting and noteworthy".
John McCain, on the other hand, DOES have a potential obstacle to the office of president by virtue of having been born in Panama. There was also a very valid argument that Dick Cheney should have been ineligible to serve as vice president.
The dems never made a big deal about these issues that are very valid considerations.
The dems also haven't been "playing the bunker mentality" about Obama's citizenship. He was born in Hawaii. He's a US citizen. Case closed.
So, would you like to discuss REAL potential obstacle now?
Correction: the Dems tried to make a big deal of McCain's birth in Panama, but couldn't get any traction because there was absolutely nothing there.
What does make Obama's situation a bit more interesting is that, unlike McCain, Obama and his merry band of friends and associates seem very fond of bashing Obama's country at every opportunity.
Whether it be Obama's praise of enemies of America like the communist Chinese, or his efforts (dare I say hopes?) to see the U.S. defeated in Iraq, to his hostility for America's traditional form of government, to his loathing of traditional American values, to his rabid America-hating pastor, or his wife who only recently first found cause to be proud of her country, there is much reason to doubt Obama's heart-felt love and loyalty for the country he wants to lead.
I think THAT is the most important issue regarding the entire question of foreign connections.
The article is missing a very important point: Obama has not provided anyone with his birth certificate. What he has posted on his website is a Certificate of Live Birth, a distinction very few people are making. Philip Berg's lawsuit, however, does make the distinction. And it is stranger than strange that Obama has troubled himself to file a motion to dismiss, and now a motion to delay discovery, but refuses to just supply the judge with his birth certificate. Were he to do so, the judge would surely dismiss the suit and he could move on. It's hard to determine why he would take the difficult, suspicious approach to this problem...if he indeed does have a US birth certificate.
Did Indonesia require its own citizenship when Barak Husein Obama II attend an Indonesian school? Did Indonesia allow dual citizenship?
Regarding presidential requirements and citizenship, the Constitution reads like this:
"No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President"
Natural born citizen is the key.
If Obama was born in Hawaii, then no problem. He is a natural born citizen, eligible for the presidency.
However, if his certificate of live birth is not valid or a forgery, as the Berg case suggests, then he may be ineligible.
His birth mother was born in Kansas. His birth father was a citizen of Kenya. So, according to the 14th Amendment, if Obama was born outside of the US or its territories, he is not a natural born citizen.That would make him ineligible for the presidency.
If Obama is a citizen, why doesn't he just produce the documents? What does he have to hide?
Please sign this petition if you think Obama should give the American people confirmation tha he is a US citizen.
If Obama was indeed a US citizen and had a valid birth certificate he would have posted it as he would have had no reason not to. The "certification of live birth" that he did post means nothing as it is not good for a passport or any important purpose. Obama's grandmother says that he was born in Kenya and states that she was there at the time so she knows it for a fact.
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