The Obama Citizenship Scandal

I admit immediately that I have no idea what is true yet, so please don't shoot the messenger. This whole mess is still in the early stages but I find it fascinating and there is a torrent of speculation. So, after a day of culling the interesting and verified facts, I wanted to share them with you.

Here's what we know so far:

Philip Berg

Attorney Philip J. Berg filed a lawsuit on Sept. 15, 2008, accusing Barack Obama of being born in the Coast Provincial General Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya. Berg also alleges that the DNC is guilty for not vetting Obama properly. Berg is, incidentally, a Democrat.

However, one needs to question why Berg filed the suit against Obama instead of demanding originals and evidence directly from the government of Hawaii. Not being an attorney, I really don't know. I suspect it was done this way because the publicity would be greater. This doesn't make the suit invalid, however, as documents and expert testimony will need to be brought into it.

The Documents

Included in the accusation are documents which back up Berg's assertion. Among the documents are Obama's alleged Kenyan birth certificate and testimonies of his Kenyan relatives who claim to have been present during his birth in Kenya.

The Admission

Due to the fact that the DNC and the Obama campaign didn't respond properly to the suit within 30 days of the filing, it is legally considered to be a tacit admission of guilt. Now Berg is demanding that Obama step down immediately and yesterday he filed a motion to expedite the resolution to force the DNC to replace Obama on the ticket.

Hawaiian Birth Certificate?

In response, the Obama campaign posted a supposed copy of his birth certificate from Hawaii. Experts seem to be divided as to whether it's a forgery or not. Here is a very convincing expert analysis of the document, including myriad pictures, with the conclusion that it is, indeed, a forgery.

Even if the birth certificate from Hawaii is genuine, Hawaii has a strange practice: They will issue Hawaiian birth certificates to people born outside of the USA. However, the Hawaiian birth certificate will name the birth country of origin and it does not make the person named a U.S. citizen.

In order to become a U.S. citizen under such circumstances, the candidate must publicly take an oath when he reaches the age of 18. There is no record of Obama doing so, nor would there be, since he claims he was born in Hawaii to begin with.

But this is a moot point, since the birth certificate that Obama displays claims his birth to be in Hawaii. Whether the birth certificate is genuine, altered, or completely forged is something that is still unknown. At least, unknown to the general public.


Kenyan Birth Certificate?

Three other experts have acquired copies of the Kenyan birth certificate, and all verify that it exists and it's genuine. It's extremely doubtful that another child of the same name, same parents, and same birthdate would be born in the Coast Provincial General Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya when one was being born in Hawaii. (Incidentally, Obama will not release the name of the hospital in which he was purportedly born in Hawaii.)

An Inconvenient Law

There is a funny U.S. law that says that if a woman is under 21 and gives birth in a foreign country, that child is not a U.S. citizen unless he is born on U.S. soil (such as a military base or embassy). Obama's mother was 18 at the time of his birth.

Obama's Dual Citizenship

Incidentally, Obama travelled on an Indonesian passport when he went to Pakistan in 1981 at the age of 20. In order to have an Indonesian passport, you must have citizenship. Oddly, under Indonesian law, you cannot be an Indonesian citizen and have dual citizenship, so Obama would have had to renounce his U.S. citizenship.

Obama did admit recently that he was born with dual citizenship(?) but claims that it isn't a big deal, as his Indonesian citizenship expired in 1982. That may not be a problem for most people, until you understand that this makes Obama ineligible under Article II of the Constitution.

You see, Article II requires that the President must be a “natural born citizen”, and in terms of the law as understood by the Founding Fathers, anyone with Dual Citizenship couldn't be “natural born”. It doesn't matter that they no longer hold that other country's citizenship. They fall into the same bracket as a “naturalized citizen” because they have / had divided allegiance.

Why Wasn't This Addressed When Obama Ran for the Senate?

Some people are arguing that this must have been covered already, as Obama has held office in the Senate. Here's why that argument is invalid:

1. Senators are far less important than the President of the United States. If someone is concealing something, it's much easier to hold a lower office and get away with it. Presidential candidates come under far more scrutiny.

2. Senators don't have to be natural born citizens. They can originate from other countries, and the only requirement is that they've been U.S. citizens for a minimum of nine years.

Why is Obama in Hawaii Right Now?

Many people feel that his convenient rush to a sickly grandmother's bedside is hardly the real purpose for his running to Hawaii. After all, he has disparagingly painted her as a bitter, racist old lady (even though she raised him). Interestingly, she was not there at the DNC nomination, either. It's as if they had arrived at an uneasy truce until now: You go your way, I'll go mine.

But now Obama suddenly jets off, with the claim that his grandmother is ailing fast and he must attend to her? Some pundits are wondering if he really may be attempting to shore up a cover-up which is coming apart. If so, he would certainly need grandma's help and greasing a few palms has always been the tried and true method of politicians for centuries. If this is the case, it won't be easy for Obama, as the press will be watching avidly.

If Obama is, in fact, a Kenyan-born citizen, the game is probably over. In that case, he may suddenly have a press conference announcing that he had always thought that he was a U.S. citizen but that over his grandma's sick bed, he just learned that he had been born in Kenya. He'll give a toothy grin, a "shucks, ya'll" apology. Whoops, my bad.

And Hillary will be back on the ticket.

Update on Obama Birth Certificate

From Daily Nation:

"A US federal judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit claiming Senator Barack Obama is ineligible to seek the presidency because he was either born in Kenya or is a citizen of Indonesia.

It is not clear whether the Supreme Court will review Mr Berg's plea for a hearing prior to the November 4 election."
This is not due to any facts presented, but because the judge says that individual citizens do not have the right to bring such a suit.

Would Obama "Pal Around With Terrorists"?

Recently Sarah Palin commented that Obama would "pal around with terrorists". Obama has had a fit over this statement and is loudly denouncing her. So, it would be wise to examine the facts to see if her comment was fair and true.

Although Palin might be basing this belief on Obama's repeated claim that he would happily meet with any world leaders (despotic or not), I believe that she sees the broader picture, just as Hillary Clinton did.

TONY REZKO

Back when Hillary was in play, she once referred to Obama's unholy alliance with Tony Rezko.

Because there have been so many reliable news sources that have reported on Obama's connection with Rezko, I won't detail the proofs of their coziness here. Suffice to say that Obama couldn't have bought his home without Rezko's financial help. When he did purchase it, he became Rezko's neighbor. But in addition to that, Rezko was one of his top campaign contributors and a major client of the law firm that Obama worked in for many years.

Now with a name like "Tony Rezko", I'd always assumed that Rezko was Italian. However, Rezko is Syrian (a country with state-sponsored terrorism). He came to the USA after highschool and has been here ever since.

Rezko is corrupt. You have probably heard the various charges and indictments. But there's one interesting fact that the press hasn't been reporting as widely: Rezko's money ties go back to an Islamic money mogul who was one of Saddam Hussein's right hand men.

Rezko is also allied with Jabir Herbert Muhammad, whose father (Elijah Muhammad) founded the Nation of Islam. And Rezko was named "Entrepreneur of the Decade" by the Arab-American Business and Professional Association.

RAILA ODINGA

Because of Obama's self-admitted longing for his African roots, he has repeatedly visited there and even inserted himself in local politics. One of the people he's supported and encouraged is Raila Odinga.

Odinga is currently Prime Minister of Kenya, in part thanks to Obama, who happily went with him to events and supported him in photo ops whenever possible in 2006 in order to give Odinga the credibility he so desperately desired as he was running against the incumbent President.

So who is Raila Odinga?

Odinga's the product of his father Odinga Odinga, a radical communist. Odinga himself is seen in Kenya as being part of the extreme left and is a member of ODM (a party which is just short of being openly communist).

On December 27, 2007, Odinga lost the Presidential election but claimed fraud. He pressed for a power-sharing arrangement with the current President and encouraged nationwide rebellion. He got it. His minions caused widespread fighting that killed multiple people and caused other atrocities such as the raping of women and children (even boys as young as 5 years old).

After Odinga won the concession, he made certain promises to the radical Muslim community there, including the promise that within 6 months he would "re-write the Constitution of Kenya to recognize Shari'a as the only true law sanctioned by the Holy Quran for Muslim declared regions."

If Odinga's not a terrorist, he's certainly despotic. But he's a successful despot, as his current title shows us.

Why haven't we heard much of Odinga until now? Well, we're Americans, aren't we? News beyond our borders is of little interest to us unless we're in a direct war with that nation or if a famous Hollywood celebrity is visiting there.

BILL AYERS & BERNARDINE DOHRN

Bill Ayers is a well-known self-admitted American terrorist who is not serving time (despite irrefutable evidence) because he got off on a technicality.

Ayers was a member of a radical terrorist organization in the 60s. He helped bomb the U.S. Capitol in 1971 and the Pentagon in 1972.

His wife, Bernardine Dohrn, was equally nasty. Following the murder of Sharon Tate and others on that day, Dohrn praised the Mansons for the slaughter. She has been quoted as saying "Dig it. First they killed those pigs, then they ate dinner in the same room with them, then they even shoved a fork into a victim's stomach! Wild!"

Dohrn and Ayers met during their terrorist activities in the 60s. Ironically, they are both now college professors.

So how does Obama tie in with this Disturbing Duo?

Dohrn and Ayers have been documented as introducing Obama to the radical Chicago elite in the mid-1990s, declaring him to be "the best thing since sliced bread." Obviously Ayers brought Obama into his political realm, as Obama and Ayers served together on the Woods Fund board beginning in 1999 and served together until 2002, when Obama left the board to pursue other opportunities.

It is likely that Obama initially met Ayers through Dohrn, who worked at the same law firm as Obama's wife, Michelle.

Dohrn and Ayers have not changed much since their initial terrorist activities. They have never openly repented for their actions. In fact, in 2007, Ayers gave a speech at the reunion of their terrorist organization. An audio clip features him saying that the U.S. government is "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world," and that living in America is living in "the belly of the beast" and "the heart of the monster."

THE ARAB AMERICAN ACTION NETWORK

While Obama and Ayers were serving on the Woods Fund board together, their foundation made a grant of $40,000 to the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) in 2001, and another grant of $35,000 in 2002. The co-founder of the AAAN is Rashid Khalidi, who avowedly hates Israel and is working to secure Palestinian rights.

The L.A. Times has said that Obama is a "friend and frequent dinner companion" of Khalidi.

Ali Abunimah, the Vice President of the AAAN, is favorably impressed with Obama. He says that Obama convinced him that Obama "was very aware of the issues and critical of U.S. bias toward Israel and lack of sensitivity to Arabs. He was very supportive of U.S. pressure on Israel."

Because it is not politically smart to continue to openly encourage these ties, Obama has distanced himself from AAAN now. Abunimah says he understands. "If disappointing, given his historically close relations to Palestinian Americans, Obama's about-face is not surprising," wrote Abunimuh. "He is merely doing what he thinks is necessary to get elected and he will continue doing it as long as it keeps him in power."

HAMAS

Ahmed Yousef, the chief political advisor to the prime minister of Hamas said in an interview on ABC radio that "We like Mr. Obama, and we hope that he will win the elections."

OBAMA WILL TALK TO TERRORISTS

Obama met with Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, and other leaders in Ramallah on July 23, 2008. According to the New York Times, this was because there was "some fence-mending to do with Mr. Abbas, who reacted angrily to comments on the status of Jerusalem that Mr. Obama made last month at a conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the pro-Israel lobby."

Additionally, Obama has stated repeatedly that he will meet with any world leaders, without preconditions or expectations. This includes terrorists and despots, of course. Obviously since Obama's standards are already so low, why would we believe that they will change once he takes office? I think we can take him at his word.

SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

The only thing that astonishes me is that Obama would take offense at Palin's statement. He is obviously proud of who is is, what he's done, and how he's arrived on the national scene. Since he's already chosen to pal around with terrorists, I fail to see how he finds Palin's declaration to be distasteful.