Obama Born in Kenya?

There are several pending cases in various states, trying to hold up the Electoral College completion of the election of President-elect Obama. There is one case in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. All are based on nebulous, undocumented information presented by those, who, for various reasons can't accept the fact that Obama, a mixed race man, was elected by the voters of this country.


One complainant is Phillip Berg, a Democrat (This is supposed to mean something.) and former Attorney General of PA. Mr. Berg claims to have a recording of Obama's paternal grandmother, stating her claim that Obama was born in Kenya. She isn't his biological grandmother. Apparently, his grandfather had more than one wife. According to Berg, the grandmother in this supposed tape, taken from a phone call, says that she was present in the "delivery room" in Kenya, when Obama was born. One has to wonder how many children were born in delivery rooms in Kenya in 1961, especially in this family, given its current status. On October 23, Berg said he would be releasing the "tape" in a few days. So far, that hasn't happened. He has a website, where he presents his argument and has a forum for comments. So far, there are just over 20 comments. There is video on the website of Berg addressing a "rally" held in front of the Supreme Court after his delivery of a Writ of Certiorari to the Court. Interestingly, the 30 minute video only shows Berg addressing someone without amplification. When the "crowd" responds with applause, there are at least three or four people clapping. Questions posed come from one or two different voices. A groundswell of support.


Another complainant is Alan Keyes, a former opponent of Obama's in Illinois, and a former presidential candidate. Keyes is a right-wing Christian fundamentalist and former member of the Reagan Administration. He and his VP Candidate from the American Independent Party have filed suit in California to invalidate the election there and prohibit the casting of the Electoral Votes from that state.


Yet another suit has been filed in New Jersey by a gentleman named, Leo C. Donofrio. Donofrio also includes McCain and Roger Calero, the VP candidate from the Socialist Workers Party. McCain's birth in Panama is questioned along with Obama's. Donofrio uses Berg's arguments against the Obama birth. His suit has been placed on the U.S. Supreme Court's conference list for December 5, having already been turned down once by Justice Souter.


There is even a book on this subject by a fellow named Jerome Corsi. It sells these days on Worldnet Daily for an "amazing" 4.95, down from its original price of 27.95. It appears that you can find this one at your local book sale benefit, if anyone has actually purchased it. Corsi claims to have visited Kenya and interviewed all concerned. He claims that Obama's mother visited Kenya shortly before his birth, and because her time was so short, she wasn't allowed to travel back to Hawaii until after the birth. According to Corsi, the birth was registered in Hawaii after her return as the law at that time allowed. Corsi also notes that Obama's sister has identified a different hospital of birth than that given by Obama. I might note here that someone researched the Hawaii newspapers and found a birth announcement about Obama's birth.


Then there is the fact that Obama's mother took him to Indonesia, when she remarried. The claim here is that he enrolled in school, which. it is claimed, was difficult at that time for non-citizens. The inferral is that he became an Indonesian citizen, and, therefore, relinquished his American citizenship. As a result, these people say that Obama is no longer a "natural born" American. Actually, under U.S. law he would still be an American citizen. Then there is his school record, which someone found, which lists him as a "hated" Muslim. He was enrolled by his stepfather under the name of Barry Soetoro. Obama was probably six or seven years old at that time. At the age of 10 he returned to Hawaii to be raised by his grandparents. According to some, his Muslim ties would affect his loyalty today. Exactly how being enrolled as a Muslim in a school at six years old would affect his loyalty forty years later isn't explained by these people.


Much of this seemingly contrived controversy appears to be a result of the fact that today's privacy laws do not allow the release of personal medical information. The privacy laws have allowed these people to develop a sense of mystery surrounding the refusal of the State of Hawaii and the local hospital there to release Obama's birth information. Since the records haven't been released, it follows that there is a cover-up being undertaken by the Obama group. Comedian Rush Limbaugh stated his opinion that Obama went to Hawaii, not to see his dying grandmother, but to work on the cover-up. Some have even suggested that the grandmother died "conveniently" before she could be called to testify. This brings to mind accused "assassins" Bill and Hillary Clinton, whom some of these same people were involved in slandering over the suicide of an associate.

In response to these questions the Obama campaign posted a copy of Obama's birth certificate on line. Since it is only a certified copy, confirming the birth and not a copy of the hospital certificate of live birth, it has been used to fuel the mystery. The mystery writers claim that the hospital certificate should be posted. Since that didn't happen, they claim there isn't one. One investigator claimed he was turned away from the hospital by armed guards. Of course he wouldn't have gotten any information had there been no guards, but that wouldn't add to the mystery. My guess is that hospital security asked him to leave after he became a problem, while insisting upon the release of private information.

When Al Gore was "beaten" by Katherine Harris and the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, the Republicans laughed and made remarks about the Democrats "getting over it." Now, in 2008, the extreme right wing of the party can't seem to accept that Obama has won. They continue to try to manufacture excuses to discredit him. It appears to be the fundamentalist Christian and extremist racist wings of the party, who are pushing this birth issue. They raise red flags about the impending Constitutional crisis that the U.S. faces as soon as the courts rule in their favor.


Since I am not a lawyer I won't pretend to address legal issues. However, I can't believe the U.S. Supreme Court or any other court will allow these suits to progress very much further. I haven't seen a shred of admissible evidence to support their claims. A telephone recorded tape of someone claiming to be a grandmother isn't viable. The fact that the State of Hawaii won't release Obama's hospital birth certificate to the public due to privacy laws isn't a viable reason to hear a case.

Obama's mother was an American citizen. No matter where he was born, he would still be an American citizen. If he had been born in Kenya, he would have held dual citizenship, but his British, Kenyan citizenship would have eventually expired. As far as I am concerned, this issue died several months ago, but it is the only hope that these fringe elements have to hold onto. They tried to drag the American people into the mud with them, but they didn't succeed. Now, they hope to use the courts and waste taxpayers money to try to stay in the public eye. In truth the fact that Obama doesn't portray himself as a fundamentalist Christian and is part African-American is eating away at them. The hate continues to fester and will not dry up.


American politics have changed, and abortion, gay marriage, and race suddenly have taken a far back seat to ethics, economics, diplomacy, and the Constitution. The far right has found itself marginalized by the American voter. When a mad dog is cornered, he lashes out. The right is lashing out in the only way it knows, by manufacturing issues, and pushing a hateful agenda. Fortunately, the American voter has seen through it all.