President-elect Barack Hussein Obama has until today to verify that he is in fact a natural-born citizen, according to www.obamacrimes.com, a Web site owned by Philip J. Berg.
It is clearly stated in Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. constitution that “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; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of 35 years, and been 14 years a resident within the United States.”
Berg has a substantial amount of evidence for his claim that Obama was not born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but rather that he was born in Momboso, Kenya. Berg’s site paid for a full-page ad in the Washington Times on Nov. 17 to lay out the accusation and the grounds for it.
First, Berg claims to have a tape of Obama’s paternal grandmother, Sarah Obama, saying “I was in the delivery room in Kenya when he was born Aug. 4, 1961.”
The article goes on to say experts have called the scanned copy of Obama’s birth certificate that he presented forged. Berg was quoted as saying, “It’s clearly been altered,” which would invalidate the document. Also, at the time he was born, Hawaiian law allowed for people to register for the non-hospital short form certificate up to one year after the date of birth.
Thirdly, if Barack Obama did indeed attend school in Indonesia under the name of Barry Soetoro, he would have been required to be a citizen of Indonesia. During this time his citizenship was listed as Indonesian, his religion was listed as Islam, and his father was supposedly Lolo Soetoro. At this time no dual citizenship was available, and if he had been adopted by his stepfather he would have forfeited his American citizenship.
Ultimately the issue at hand is the U.S. Constitution, that single document that truly makes this country great. Without it, we as a nation are nothing, but when it is upheld as it should be and as our framers intended it to be, our country is truly great. There are very few requirements for becoming the president of these United States.
Supreme Court docket No. 08-570, viewable at origin.www.supremecourtus.gov, shows that a petition for a writ of certiorari before judgment filed was filed Oct. 30, and the response is due today.
It is beyond comprehension why Obama has continued to fight these allegations, rather than simply producing the document for the whole world to see. Something must be fishy, as just getting it out in the open would have completely done away with the issue months ago.
If in fact Obama is found to not be a natural-born citizen, the Supreme Court will be forced to invalidate the election and another election will be held.
Mark Erbacher is a senior in political science. Please send comments to opinion@spub.ksu.edu.
Obama's citizenship question can easily be solved
Published: Monday, December 1, 2008
Updated: Monday, December 1, 2008
44 comments
Johnny T For KSU
Mark Erbacher, please tell me that KState isn't graduating people this stupid these days. Did you do ANY research on this or did you just want draft up something where you can throw in his middle name. Berg is a crackpot and the only thing he's proved is that anyone can sue anyone at any time in our great legal system. There is no way this piece should have been printed. It's the ignorant blathering of a fool at best. With such deep lines of thinking that the author showed in this piece he'll have no trouble at all putting together our orders at McDonald's.
KSU Alum
Too bad we are arguing over the citizenship of such an intelligent man. I wish we could have yanked the citizenship of the home-grown idiot we have had in office for the past 8 years.
please
The point is that you have no evidence. Nobody owes you any proof that Hawaiian officials weren't bribed just because you have imagined a scenario where it could have happened. It is a fallacious and meaningless argument. The problem is in your mind: you have convinced yourself for no good reason that Obama was not born in the US, and you now require unreasonable and extraordinary evidence to change your mind. Fortunately, that's not how the legal system works in this country.
Your name
to rick, I could BRIBE anyone with a few thousand and they would say WHATEVER i told them to say. The fact is, Obama really messed with the American people during this election. What about far-right wing reps that found out one day that they had suddenly made a $3 grand contribution to the Obama cause? It happened, and not just to a dozen or two. They suddenly found out one day that $3,000 dollars got donated tot he Obama Campaign and whats worse, is that the Obama campaign did not even try to deny it! they replied in the affirmative and thanked the people and, when asked if they could have the money back, blatantly refused. If you dont believe me, check it out.This article approaches a very vital point. If Obama can't even produce enough evidence to convince a left-wing life-long Dem that he is a natural-born citizen, He should be removed from office NOW and another election take place. Contrary to belief, the constitution does not say that only one election can take place every four years, only that Congress "may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States." Taken directly from a2s1 of the US Constitution
At least care enough to look
The legal aspect was completely misrepresented by this article. It is implied that Obama was required to respond to the accusations in Philip Berg's appeal to the Supreme Court last week and that he was somehow actively fighting that requirement. In reality, case 08-570 is Berg's last-ditch appeal to the Supreme Court after he lost in both US District Court and the US Court of Appeals. A petition for writ of certiorari is a plea to the Supreme Court to hear a case that lower courts already decided. The writ of certiorari would have been the (overwhelmingly conservative) Supreme Court's response had it decided to hear the case, which it apparently did not (and thank goodness).
At least care enough to look
It is unbelievable that this article, whether it was intended to be a report or a persuasive piece, could present this story without even a passing mention of the fact that this entire battle is a fringe movement that faces overwhelming evidence and that has been thoroughly dismissed by the courts and by mainstream conservatives. Hilariously, according to Slate, "Berg's last big lawsuits were filed in 2003 and 2004 on behalf of 9/11 skeptics that sought to uncover the Bush administration's complicity in the attacks." I'm sure such sacrilegious thinking would be appalling to the author.
At least care enough to look
This article leaves out a lot. For one, the state of Hawaii released a statement 6 weeks ago saying that officials had "personally verified" the state holds Obama's original birth certificate.
rick
Obama produced his birth certificate, the Health department confirmed he is registered & on file and the 1961 Honolulu Advertiser lists his birth. This is a silly conspiracy theory. Berg and his cronies all drink the same kool-aid, unfortunately they like it.
Alumni
I remember the Collegian being an excellent student paper back in 2000-2001. It has become a complete rag since then, slowly getting worse each year. It seems there are way too many right-wing amateur writers that take their inspiration from Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. Two people that never actually speak about facts, only right-wing Republican talking points. Please Collegian, could you get more liberal, or at least competent writers? This is plain embarrassing. Why don't you guys go ahead and write about rapture, or how the world is actually only 5000 years old? Or how that the Earth is flat? From the perspective of the editorial staff I assume these are all valid and debatable viewpoints.
Thomas Botzler
I have to admit, I made a mistake in my previous post. the "Concerned American" made a comment on Obama's name. to be exact," is named after a man who killed thousands of innocent americans (I wouldn't be suprised if he was related)" And I said that it would be Osama's killing of Americans did not happen prior to Obama's birth. My mistake, and his is this. Obama is a completely different name than Osama, therefore "concerned American" must be talking about the Hussain part of his name. And if that is the case, Saddam Hussain killed many innocent people, although not Americans. So I again apologize for my mistake. I would hope that "concerned American" would do the same...or would he be to ashamed to do so.
My name is Thomas Botzler, I am a concerned American
This is getting old "Concerned American" Should be ignorant American. You say he is Muslim, but then you say he is a member of a church with a radical preacher. Make up you small mind, is he Muslim or is he Christian? You say he was named after a terrorist, um I believe that Hussain is a fairly popular name in certain areas of the world, and more importantly I don't recall Osama bombing us prior to Obama's birth, so how exactly was he named for a terrorist. Oh, and I believe that we are fighting terrorists not Muslim's. If you know anything about the Muslim faith you'd know that like all religions the main tenent is peace and love. If you think all Muslims are terrorists you may want to open a history book and see what religions, and spiritual people have done in the name of god. For example, Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, the IRA (which reminds me McCain is an Irish name right? So is he a member of the IRA?) um lets see, the crusades, KKK members that use the bible to justify their beliefs? "Concerned America" try to use facts against the next president, instead of unfounded, idiotic and baseless attacks. If you don't like his tax plan, health plan or foreign strategy so be it. But your arguments are weak and uneducated. One final thing, if you are so ashamed of America, move.
A Concerned American
I really hope that this is an alligation made public to the people because I believe that if we keep us as president then we will no longer be a nation in 4 years we will all be slaves to this "wonderful"(sarcastic note) man. I still can not figure out how our country can be so IGNORANT and elect a MUSLIM(I thought we were fighting them) that is named after a man who killed thousands of innocent americans (I wouldn't be suprised if he was related). And also a man whou didn't care that his preacher said "God Bless America, No God F**K America" until he said it on national TV. If Our Country remains ignorant to these points and keep electing people like him then I will be VERY ashamed to call myself an American. I urge everyone who is reading this to think about the events of the election and see the HUGE sack of LIES that Barack HUSSEIN Obama has fed you. I really feel sorry for this country because no other country would elect a president that has the same religion as one they are fighting.
Tyler
I want to apologize to all the people from outside of K-State who have read this and think we're all this ignorant. I assure you, we're not.To the people who think this 'opinion piece' holds the slightest bit of weight... try educating yourself, or even just use some common sense. If you go look at Docket No. 08-570, all it says is that Obama had until December 1st to 'prove' he was a natural born citizen TO THE CRACKPOT WHO FILED A PETITION. Of course he didn't respond and was never going to. There's your education, now how about some common sense: you REALLY think someone who not only ran for President but was elected hasn't been checked out by the appropriate authorities? Really? And if this evidence Berg has is so damning, were exactly is it? A video of Obama's grandmother saying he was born in Kenya? Really? I'd love to see that. (And don't link me to one of the YouTube videos of his grandmother saying he's a 'son of this village' because if you're trying to twist that to mean he was born there... well, you know how hard you're stretching just as well as I do).Sad. Quite sad.
Cal
I applaud Mr. Erbacher and The Collegian for showing "freedom of speech" still alive and well in the U.S. of A. when larger main stream entities cower in their boots. MSM could take a lesson here. Thank you.
Al
Hey Joe Friday, if people in Kansas are so stupid, why did you post the same comment twice. You're the stupid one.
Joe Friday
I never realized how stupid people from Kansas could be.... until now of course.
Joe Friday
I never realized how stupid people from Kansas could be.... until now of course.
Derek
So you're telling me that the most powerful country in the world has been fooled by a faked up birth certificate? Something tells me that the US government has people who have gone and figured this out a long time ago. Like when he was running for Senate. Just a thought.
Your name
Angela, no I don't get how you have been a Republican, nor do I get imaginary men in the sky, or the free market - the friendly ghost. All I know is - PALIN 2012!!!!! Yoo-hoo
Alum
You Republicans supported a complete moron for eight years that completely wrecked this country and another. But I'm sure you're wise and that this is not just some partisan hack that just says, "Oh, I think his birth certificate is false." The state of Hawaii validated his birth certificate. Get over it. Obama won huge, unlike Bush who did not actually have the popular vote in 2000.
