A Cone of Silence Surrounds Obama's Citizenship

How do we know a Presidential candidate is a natural-born citizen? What proof is required? Is the only qualifier a citizen parent? This may be the first time the U.S. has had a set of circumstances raising valid questions on a candidate's citizenship. Earlier this week, a Philadelphia attorney filed a lawsuit against Barack Obama, the DNC and the Federal Election Commission, seeking proof that Obama is a natural-born U.S. Citizen, as required by the U.S. Constitution. The issue: Among the somewhat shaded details of Senator Obama's childhood, including the possibility of his mother living in Kenya before his birth, and maybe after, and an eventual move to Indonesia to live with his step-father, does anyone affirm that a Presidential candidate is a natural-born citizen? If this is routinely done, why aren't the questions surrounding Senator Obama's citizenship addressed by someone...the Federal Election Commission, or the State of Hawaii or the MSM? It is not as simple as: his mother was a U.S. citizen, so he is also a U.S. citizen. It may be that simple...but then again, it may not be. This afternoon, I called the offices of Senator Jim Inhofe and Senator Tom Coburn. First, at Senator Inhofe's office I was referred to their Legislative Correspondent, who was out of the office. I was told that Senator Inhoff's office is confident that Senator Obama is a U.S. citizen [paraphrased]. I left a phone number and believe my call will be returned. Then I called Senator Tom Coburn's office. The receptionist was in the process of referring me to one of their Legislative Correspondents, but came back online to tell me that the L.C. was in the process of drafting a letter addressing the issue of eligibility for a Presidential candidate. I was told that the L.C. said that this was a "state's issue." The meaning was not clarified. I was promised an email copy of that letter when completed. Does "state's issue" means that the State of Birth (or not), in this case Hawaii, can verify a person's natural-born status, or choose not too, and if they choose not too, especially at the request of the candidate, is it intended that the voter never know the status of citizenship? I'll await the email. This is not a trivial matter. I've read various comments online stating that no candidates have had to produce proof of natural-born citizenship. If this is true, why not? John McCain was born in the Panama Canal to two U.S. citizens. His father was deployed there at the time of his birth. When questions arose about his natural-born status, the U.S. Senate "introduced a non-binding resolution expressing that McCain qualifies as a natural-born citizen. However, is that all that is needed...a Senate NON-BINDING resolution? There's a great void of silence from the MSM...possibly a "cone of silence." The LA Times reported on the FactCheck.org assertions but little else. Online is a different story. Bloggers have screamed the questions, but the questions are never raised in the media. I'm convinced that by not reporting, they hope it will go away. In the meantime, FactCheck.org declares that the birth certificate released by Obama '08 is the real deal:

FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.

So, should that be the end of it? What about other forensic reports that declare it a fake? Why should we believe FactCheck.org? Think about this: 1) FactCheck.org is also known as the "Annenberg Political Fact Check." This matters because Senator Obama was Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) for a number of years. In a separate matter surrounding Obama's connections to Weatherman terrorist, William Ayers, reporter Stephen Kurtz had to jump through hoops to view documents from the Chicago Annenberg Challenge pertaining to the Obama-Ayers relationship. Those documents, at least 132 boxes, were released today, according to Craig Wall reporting in Illinois for Fox News. The Annenberg Foundation is probably not an uninterested party in Obama's Presidential race. Is it reasonable to think that FactCheck.org might have a biased opinion about the validity of Obama's citizenship? In my opinion, this assumption is reasonable, even if not correct. 2) IF Barack Obama was not born in Hawaii, but instead in Kenya, and if Obama's mother did not make it back to the U.S. in time to give birth to her child, then it is possible that he is not a natural-born citizen. There is a distinct difference between "natural-born" citizen and "naturalized" citizen. The former is eligible to be a U.S. President and the latter is not, however, a "naturalized" citizen may hold the office of U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative. From the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services:

The Child Citizenship Act (CCA) declares that children who are younger than 18 years of age and have at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen whether by birth or naturalization will acquire automatic citizenship. Under the CCA, qualifying children who immigrate to the United States with a U.S. citizen parent automatically acquire U.S. citizenship upon entry; children who live abroad acquire citizenship on approval of an application and the taking of the oath of allegiance.

Must the child apply for their citizenship? According to the above quote from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, yes and application and an oath are necessary [what if the child is not old enough to give an oath?]. However, in the next paragraph there's this:

1. Does my child qualify for automatic citizenship under the CCA? Under the CCA, your child will automatically acquire U.S. citizenship on the date that all of the following requirements are satisfied: * At least one parent is a U.S. citizen, * The child is under 18 years of age, and * The child is admitted to the United States as an immigrant. 2. Do I have to apply to USCIS for my child’s citizenship? No. If your child satisfies the requirements listed above, he or she automatically acquires U.S. citizenship by operation of law on the day he or she is admitted to the United States as an immigrant. Your child’s citizenship status is no longer dependent on USCIS approving a naturalization application.

The above was my Civics lesson for the day. The bottom-line here is there is no need for these questions. Senator Obama should provide the proof. The State of Hawaii cannot make comments about the existence of such certificate, or at least that's what I heard a woman representing Hawaii's birth records say a few weeks ago. She stated that the online certificate, as she viewed it online, meets the general guidelines of a Hawaiian birth certificate issued in 1961, but she would not confirm or deny that Senator Obama has a birth certificate on file in Hawaii. So, Philip Berg filed his lawsuit and requested that Obama's nomination be held up until the matter was concluded. That motion was denied but the lawsuit continues and has not been dismissed at this point. Jeff Schrieber at America's Right has been on top of the lawsuit story, and filed this report about Philip Berg and 9/11. Additional questions revolve around Senator Obama's move to Indonesia as a child. Maybe Senator Obama is toying with us and will eventually release a proper document. I bow to the fact that this is a unique situation. Four years from now, eight years from now, twelve years from now...it can happen again - Democrat or Republican, but the people should know the truth.