J. Neil Schulman
@ Agorist.com
Are the Birthers Right?
This article has been rewritten from one I posted yesterday then deleted. My conclusions on the grammar of a constitutional clause in that article were false, based on extra commas being added that weren’t in James Madison’s original notes from the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention on September 4, 1787. — JNS
Is Barack Obama qualified under the Constitution of the United States to be President of the United States?
President Barack Obama
![President Barack Obama](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e9/Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg/440px-Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg")
Last Thursday a writer friend forwarded me an email he’d received from a “birther” email list — people who argue that Barack Obama isn’t qualified to be President of the United States because he wasn’t born on United States soil and is therefore disqualified by the Constitution of the United States to serve as president. I guess these people want Obama disqualified from serving so Vice President Joe Biden can ascend to the presidency. Or maybe they never even thought that far.
My friend did not endorse the contents of the email, and just forwarded it to me as an “FYI,” so I’m not going to tangle him up in this controversy by mentioning his name.
I’ve never taken the birthers seriously. It always seemed ridiculous to me to suggest that some deep communist conspiracy existed half a century ago to take a Kenyan-born baby and raise him to be a Manchurian Candidate. But history is based on documents, and facts do matter, so I read the email.
The email contained jpegs of documents, and made an argument based on those jpegs, that I’d never heard before. They did not argue that Barack Obama did not have a birth certificate issued by the State of Hawaii, which is the only debate we’ve heard.
They argued that the birth certificate issued to Obama’s American mother by the State of Hawaii was a duplicate issued after Barack’s actual birth in Kenya four days earlier, and that a Kenyan birth certificate was also issued in the name of Barry Soweto.
Here are the jpegs that were forwarded to me in email along with the accompanying text (all text in
red is from the original email:
Here’s a close-up of the top of the document where you can plainly read his name and his parent’s names, etc….
A British history buff was asked if he could find out who the colonial registrar was for Mombasa in 1961. After only a few minutes of research, he called back and said “Sir Edward F. Lavender” Note the same name near the bottom of the photo above.
Source(s): “ Kenya Dominion Record 4667 Australian library.”
And here’s a close-up of the bottom of the document where you can read “Coast Providence of Kenya ” and the official signature of the Deputy Registrar…..
The above document is a “Certified Copy of Registration of Birth”, but below is a copy of the actual Certificate of Birth… the real-deal legal kind of certificate.
The Mombasa Registrar of Births has testified that Obama’s birth certificate from Coast Province General Hospital in Mombasa is genuine. This copy was obtained by Lucas Smith through the help of a Kenyan Colonel who recently got it directly from the Coast General Hospital in Mombasa , Kenya . Here it is…..
Note the footprint!!
The local Muslim Imam in Mombasa named Barack with his Muslim middle name Hussein so his official name on this certificate is Barack Hussein Obama II.
The grandmother of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. reveals the story of his birth in Mombasa , Kenya , a seaport, after his mother suffered labor pains while swimming at ocean beach in Mombasa ……
“On August 4, 1961 Obama’s mother, father and grandmother were attending a Muslim festival in Mombasa , Kenya . Mother had been refused entry to airplanes due to her nine month pregnancy. It was a hot August day at the festival so the Obama’s went to the beach to cool off. While swimming in the ocean his mother experienced labor pains so was rushed to the Coast Provincial General Hospital, Mombasa, Kenya, where Obama was born a few hours later at 7:21 pm on August 4, 1961. Four days later his mother flew to Hawaii and registered his birth in Honolulu as a certificate of live birth which omitted the place and hospital of birth.”
Letter from Kitau in Mombasa , Kenya ……
“I happen to be Kenyan. I was born 1 month before Obama at Mombasa medical center. I am a teacher here at the MM Shaw Primary School in Kenya . I compared my birth certificate to the one that has been put out by Taitz and mine is exactly the same. I even have the same registrar and format. The type is identical. I am by nature a skeptical person. I teach science here and challenge most things that cannot be proven. So I went to an official registrar today and pulled up the picture on the web. They magnified it and determined it to be authentic. There is even a plaque with Registrar Lavenders name on it as he was a Brit and was in charge of the Registrar office from 1959 until January of 1964. The reason the date on the certificate says republic of Kenya is that we were a republic when the “copy” of the original was ordered. I stress the word “copy”. My copy also has republic of Kenya . So what you say is true about Kenya not being a republic at the time of Obama’s birth, however it was a republic when the copy was ordered.
The birth certificate is genuine. I assure you it will be authenticated by a forensic auditor. We are very proud Obama was born here. We have a shrine for him and there are many people who remember his birth here as he had a white mother. They are being interviewed now by one of your media outlets.
Fortunately they even have pictures of his parents with him immediately after his birth at the Mombasa hospital with the hospital in the back ground.
It will be a proud day for us when it is proven that he was born here and a Kenyan became the most powerful man in the world.
I encourage anyone to come here and visit. I will be happy to take you and show you the pictures at the hospital myself as well as my document and many others that are identical to what Taitz posted. God Bless. Kitau”
So, how much more proof do we need?
WELL, HERE IT IS….
Lolo Soetoro, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, baby Maya Soetoro, and 9 year old Barry Soetoro.
This registration document, made available on Jan. 24, 2007, by the Fransiskus Assisi school inJakarta, Indonesia, shows the registration of Barack Obama under the name Barry Soetoro made by his step-father, Lolo Soetoro.
Name: Barry Soetoro
Religion: Islam
Nationality: Indonesian
How did this little INDONESIAN Muslim child – Barry Soetoro, (A.K.A. Barack Obama) get around the issue of nationality to become President of the United States of America ?
PART 2:
In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama’s qualifications for the presidency, the group “Americans for Freedom of Information” has released copies of President Obama’s college transcripts from Occidental College …The transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia while an undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California . The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program.
To qualify for this scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship.
This document provides the smoking gun that many of Obama’s detractors have been seeking – that he is NOT a natural-born citizen of the United States – necessary to be President of these United States. Along with the evidence that he was first born in Kenya, here we see that there is no record of him ever applying for US citizenship.
Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the results of their investigation of Obama’s campaign spending. This study estimates that Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign funds in the past year with eleven law firms in 12 states for legal resources to block disclosure of any of his personal records.
Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still on-going but that the final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused comment on this matter.
Now, just for a moment, let’s assume that these jpegs are not forgeries. I don’t have original documents; all I have is jpegs sent to me in email, from an original source I can’t even identify.
Let’s assume that Barack Obama was born in Kenya to an American mother who couldn’t get a flight home so her baby could be born in her native home, the fiftieth American State of Hawaii.
So what?
Here is what the Constitution of the United States says about the qualification for President of the United States:
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 thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
Nowhere does the Constitution say you have to be born on American soil to be a natural born citizen.
These jpegs, even if not forged, list Barack Obama’s mother as an American citizen. That makes Barack Obama a natural born citizen, not a naturalized citizen.
His mother filing a birth certificate for him in Hawaii four days later, when she returned home, shows her intent to preserve his American citizenship.
Any claims made for aid based on Barack Obama not being a U.S. citizen while he was under eighteen are not binding on him. His choice of citizenship between his two parents — an American mother and a Kenyan father — would only be made by him when he was eighteen. He would enjoy dual American and Kenyan citizenship until his eighteenth birthday when he would have to decide.
As an adult Barack Obama resided in the United States and did not return to reside in Kenya.
That’s that.
Even if the birthers are right about where Barack Obama was born, they’re wrong about his being disqualified to be President of the United States because he was born on foreign soil.
He’s a natural born citizen of the United States because one of his two parents, his mother, was a natural born citizen of the United States.
Tough thing when you actually read what the Constitution says, huh?
This article is Copyright © 2011 The J. Neil Schulman Living Trust. All rights reserved.
My comic thriller Lady Magdalene’s — a movie I wrote, produced, directed, and acted in it — is now available for sale or rental on Amazon.com Video On Demand. If you like the way I think, I think you’ll like this movie. Check it out!
February 18, 2011 - 2:20 am
But Congress has written laws detailing what “natural born means” and the Courts have upheld these restrictions.
I have gone through the details several times which restrict natural born to requiring the mother live in the USA for a certain number of the years leading up to the birth.
Obama’s mother did not meet the requirement!
February 19, 2011 - 11:14 am
The first birth certificate is known as ‘The Bomford Fake’, because it was based on the real BC of a man called David Bomford, an Australian.
http://ohforgoodnesssake.com/?p=8133
The second one was ‘obtained’ by Lucas Daniel Smith, who happens to be a self admitted convicted felon/forger who has never provided a shred of evidence that he travelled to Kenya, nor allowed any expert to examine the document he claims to have obtained there.
http://ohforgoodnesssake.com/?p=12333
February 19, 2011 - 11:15 am
“Obama’s mother did not meet the requirement!”
Obama was born in Hawaii, therefore that requirement is redundant.
February 20, 2011 - 3:00 pm
Thanks to the Rush Limbaugh wannabees this sort of talk is occasionally taken for granted.
February 20, 2011 - 3:00 pm
To the one who posted about the Tea Party agenda, as if everybody agreed it was a threat, please consider this viewpoint. And about 10 more from different angles.
March 12, 2011 - 12:44 pm
I’ve been saying precisely this for a long time.
I was born to American parents living abroad. They were Methodist missionaries in Africa at the time of my birth. They were both born and raised in Texas, and we returned to the United States when I was about 1 year old.
No one has ever questioned my citizenship. Of course, I have never run for president, either.
If I wanted to run for president, I could (not that I want to).
April 23, 2011 - 6:07 am
Maria, spare me your lies!
There are PICTURES OF OBAMA AS A LITTLE BOY IN INDONESIA !
The scool he attended has records of him and the people there still remember him.
He was an INDONEZIAN citizen which implies that he gave up his American citizenship. Therefore, he is not eligible for presidency.
One thing is to be born abroad of American parents and another thing is to be born of only ONE American parent who later in his life gave up his American citizenship.
Between 1952 and 1986 a parent needed to have lived 4 years in the US after turning fourteen in order to pass the US citizenship to his offsprings.
Obama’s mother was 18 when she gave birth. So her son isn’t a US citizen.
The best proof that Obama’s not a US citizen is the fact that he REFUSES TO SHOW HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
Obama’s fooled you into thinking that black people can’t be evil.
Well, here’s your wake-up call: black people too are human, and because they are human they can lie, steal, murder and so on and so forth.
Obama’s lied to you and you have to be a complete IMBECILE to take his side.
If you accept to be treated like an imbecile and not be told the truth about the people whom you’ve chosen to represent you, then you are an insufferable idiot who doesn’t deserve freedom. Period.
July 29, 2012 - 8:16 pm
The simple fact is that NOBODY really knows who the guy in the oval office is. You can say that the “birthers” are wrong, but you can’t prove that you are right. THAT is the problem.
The guy in the Whitehouse is incapable of telling the truth about anything regarding his identity. We’ve got “composites”, we got multiple names, multiple birth records.
Come on already. It’s insane NOT to question this guy. A lot of people are so caught up in having elected “the first black president” that NOTHING else matters to them. THAT is a problem. THEY are the racist because the color of his skin is blinding them.
The copy of the live birth certificate on the WH website is pathetically doctored. It’s so amateur that it’s embarrassing. Whoever created that “copy” was either extremely arrogant or extremely stupid. It’s that bad. Not only is the content full of obvious errors, but they didn’t attempt to cover their tracks with the “photoshopping” of the document. Just like the photo on the Facebook page that shows his white mother having a black hand…lol
The issue is simple. Nobody really knows the guy in the whitehouse and that guy has changed his story over time to fit his needs of the moment. That is the only TRUTH so far. With someone like that, I’ve lost interest in who he is and no longer care. I think he’s got too much baggage to be president and can’t be trusted to tell the truth.
October 22, 2015 - 8:03 pm
October 22, 2015 - 9:11 pm
THIS IS THE CORRECTED WRITTEN
I think your working a very deluded crude mental supposition to yourself, and as to how do you come up with what a ‘Natural Born’ citizen is. That you say because the U.S. Constitution does not say you have to be ‘born on American Soil’. Now isn’t that the adversarial Satan what is a man. Ultimately you’re unable to define what a ‘Natural Born’ citizen is and that it does in fact mean born on U.S. soil. This would include U.S. soil is also any soil within our military’s occupation and under the standard the flag of the United States of America, and then too includes any position occupied on the oceans under the standard U.S. flag and the military and is U.S. territory.. As far as your America thing goes don’t know what you’re talking about there that is – the Bahamas, or Puerto Rico. Probably you have been watching too many movies. There’s South America, Latin America, Middle America. By the way incidentally you’re living at a place called North America and better check with your atlas on that or your globe. It is not America but that it is the United States of America and if you read your U.S. Constitution. It’s the United States and also of people refer to it oversees and/or as the States. You’re not an American but that you are a North American if you want to use that phrase correctly. You’re not an American and it’s an insult to what America is and what the Americas are collectively. Furthermore you’re out of your own mind of which everybody has an opinion now a day usually is not based upon anything and facts or the law. That Obama’s mother Stanley Ann Dunham didn’t meet the statute requirement of five (5) years residency from her fourteenth (14th.) birthday BY LAW, and the IMMIGRATION STATUTES DURING THAT TIME. That it is in the immigration statutes that lead to citizenship and not some of the wall opinion and should have checked there first. So altogether your way off base what you’re saying.
The fact is; not only is Obama not a natural born citizen of the U.S. a requirement for President, but he’s neither a naturalized citizen of the U.S. and, Obama is not a citizen at all of the United States of America. The only citizenship Obama possesses is that he’s a natural born citizen of Kenya, with a hospital birth certificate from Kenya the only true record of birth with footprint and all supporting that.