Murky Birth Certificate Issue Still Unresolved

This will surely ruffle some feathers. So be it.

Nagging and compelling questions regarding Obama's legal qualifications to become Commander-in-Chief continue to pop up on the internet--and not merely on the blogging fringes, but on what appear to be entirely credible and reputable sites as well. The media, of course, is, in typical fashion, entirely ignoring the story. At the considerable risk of being labelled a wild-eyed conspiracy theorist or poor Conservative loser, I thought the matter warranted at least a brief summary here.

FACT: Seventeen law suits in 12 states are underway to compel Obama to provide an "authentic & verifiable U.S. Birth Certificate" to prove he meets all constitutional eligibility rquirements to become President. So far, the Obama team has succcessfully rebuffed these attempts. Why? That's the really nagging question for me.

Currently spearheaded by the U.S. Justice Foundation (USJF), these suits don't appear to be ill-conceived, arbitrary, mean-spirited, myopically partisan efforts to merely disgrace the President-elect or to unfairly invalidate his election by over 60 million American voters. To me anyway, USJF's suit, among others, appears to be a straightforward, fact-based effort to force Obama to validate that he is a natural-born American citizen, one of 3 criteria mandated by Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution. Unfortunately, and quite mysteriously, a similar effort on the part of 17 petitioners around the country is still being rigorously resisted by the Obama legal team. Why?

To date, individual court actions, e.g. the more well-known Berg vs Obama/DNC suit in Pennsylvania, have failed owing to court rulings that the petitioners "lack standing"--NOT that the facts of the suits themselves are without merit or in dispute. And that's an important distinction to bear in mind as this matter unfolds.

If the courts rule that USJF, a well-established entity which one can readily assume possesses sufficient "standing" and stature to bring suit, also "lacks standing" to bring suit in this matter, then shouldn't we all be concerned that "we the people" likely "lack standing" as well? And if we "lack standing" to bring suit on such a seminal issue, then who does? Surely a sobering question.

Should it be discovered that President-elect Obama is not constitutionally qualified to be President well after he has assumed that role, would not all laws, treaties or executive orders he may have had a hand in be constitutionally invalid--in effect, null and void? Not at all a pleasant prospect.

Still at issue, then, is whether Obama is, in fact, and in accordance with the Constitution and prevailing Immigration & Naturalization Service rules and regulations, a natural-born citizen and, if he is, that he has not lost that citizenship when his biological mother married Lolo Soetoro, a citizen of Indonesia.

As of this writing, it should be further noted that the Certificate of Live Birth posted on the internet by the Obama team earlier this year does not--according to the Dept. of Hawaiian Home Lands--authenticate Obama's Hawaiian birth. Shouldn't that raise reasonable doubts as to Obama's eligibility? Of course it should. So, why is the Obama team still refusing to produce Obama's birth certificate? If it exists, produce it. If it doesn't exist, explain why.

If it is true that Obama is constitutionally ineligible to be President, much less a Senator from Illinois, the ensuing constitutional crisis will be like none other in our history. Not even the drama of Watergate and Nixon's resignation could compare. And the specter of a possible Biden presidency--if, in fact, that would be constitutionally allowed--with Nancy Pelosi next in line doesn't sit well with me at all.

Since USJF's suit and the others will take years to litigate, of special interest is a little known suit inititated on November 3rd by one Leo Donofrio, a retired lawyer, asking the New Jersey Secretary of State to prohibit Obama AND McCain AND the Socialist Worker Party candidate, Roger Calero, from appearing on the NJ Presidential Ballot on the grounds that none of them had met the natural-born citizenship test to run for President. On December 5th, just 10 days before the Electoral College votes, all U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS)Justices will have met privately to discuss Donofrio's case. (Keep your ear to the ground, folks, and let's honestly hope a constitutional crisis can be averted. Worse, of course, would be a cover-up. We can weather a constitutional crisis, but, in my opinion, a cover-up would be an unmitigated disaster for the Republic.)

Still, the lingering question is why won't the Obama team simply produce the Birth Certificate being requested? Why?

(UPDATE #1: Today, none other than the Washington Times reports that a spokesperson for SCOTUS said a decision on whether to hear Donofrio's case will likely be announced next week. A very interesting development. In other words, SCOTUS hasn't refused to consider the case; it has delayed its decision on the matter. Note: for SCOTUS to consider the case, at least 4 Justices must be on board. Will keep you posted. Again, for the good of the country, let's hope all is on the up-and-up.)

(Update #2: As I delve more deeply, the constitutional ramifications become increasingly fascinating. My cursory research suggests that if Obama is rendered ineligible, either the Electors--for whom we actually voted on Nov 4th--will elect a President, or the election of a President will be left to the House of Representatives. Whichever the case, again let's hope that the facts of the case will determine the electoral outcome, and not political machinations, intrigue and ideology. Let's hope that the Justices, both liberal and conservative, will uphold our Constitution to the letter.)

(Update #3: A new twist: while Donofrio's suit concedes OBH was born in Hawaii, he contends that since his Kenyan father was a British citizen at the time of OBH's birth in 1961 that OBH is a British citizen and not a "natural born U.S. citizen". Note: Kenya was ruled by Britain as British East Africa until its independence in 1963. Donofrio advises other petitioners that the Lolo Soetoro issue is but a distraction. Very interesting.)

(UPDATE #4: without comment, SCOTUS today (12/8) turned down Donofrio's appeal. Thus, a legally binding definition of the Constitution's "natural born citizen" provision as may have been intended by the Framers vs "born in the USA" remains in doubt and is conveniently left for another day, another suit and another Supreme Court. Good luck and Godspeed, President-elect Obama.)

(Update #5: Wow! This is becoming like that proverbial suspense novel one simply can't put down. Anyway this: fast on the heels of Donofrio's suit is the Wrotnowski vs Bysiewicz suit, an end-run to compel SCOTUS to render Obama ineligible for the Presidency. In short, this suit questions the validity of and urges SCOTUS to decide upon the merits of the suit's claim that Pres. Chester A. Arthur was ineligibile to be President on the grounds that his father was, under prevailing US law, a British citizen. Carbon copy of the Donofrio vs Wells claim. If SCOTUS decides against Arthur, then it must decide against Obama. Justice Scalia has reviewed this new suit and is distributing it to whole conference on December 12th, 3 days before the Electors meet. The plot thickens.)