A Kenyan in the White House?

The Battle Over Obama's Birth

Circulating the Internet for months have been the claims Barack Obama was not born in the United States, is not a natural born U.S. citizen, and, in fact, was born in Kenya. Of course, if Obama were not a U.S. citizen, he could not have been a U.S. Senator and he could not be selected President of the United States. In fact, he could not have qualified as a Primary Election candidate when he announced his candidacy.

The Obama campaign fought these rumors by providing a copy of his actual birth certificate, but they persist even today as Obama is about to ascend to office with nonbelievers arguing the birth certificate was adulterated. Even when the State of Hawaii Health Department confirmed its authenticity, those wishing to not believe close their eyes and ignore the facts (or, more importantly, the reality any court will defer to the appropriate Hawaiian legal authority to validate the 1961 birth of Barack Hussein Obama in Hawaii).

Independent Investigations

Despite numerous investigations which confirmed the validity of the Hawaiian birth certificate, the nonbelievers have continued their campaign --- even going as far as to launch lawsuits seeking a definitive judgment regarding Barack Obama's status as a U.S. citizen. Can one imagine a similar vendetta against any other president-elect?

An investigation by Snopes.com -- the urban legend-busting Website -- definitively concluded Obama's Hawaiian birth certificate was genuine and Obama, indeed, always was a U.S. citizen.

Nonbelievers point to an audio tape of a tanslated interview allegedly with 86 year-old Sarah Onyango Obama in which she confirms she was "present" in Kenya when Barack Obama was born. With nine or more Obama children at which she may have been present, it is difficult to know what the 86 year-old paternal step-grandmother was thinking when she was asked whether or not she was "present" at Barack Obama's birth.

And could her translated affirmative answer have been referring to Barack Obama's half-siblings or even to Barack Obama, Sr.? And was that even Sarah Onyango Obama on the poor quality recording?

Risking It All

It seems absurd to believe anyone who is not a U.S. citizen would embark on the journey launched by Senator Obama two years ago. Even most schoolchildren know a person must be a U.S. citizen, born in this country, to qualify for the office of President. The accusation Barack Obama does not qualify is absurd in several respects. For anyone to put his or her family and him or herself through the ordeal of a presidential election with the foreknowledge winning could result in the forfeiture of the presidency is beyond rationality. Given the spotlight on candidates today, how could anyone imagine succeeding in a plot to change one's birthplace by almost 11,000 miles -- nearly half the distance around the world?

And to possibly take office knowing your "secret" could be revealed at any time -- humiliating your family, your friends, and your longtime supporters and colleagues as well as setting back the progress made by the generations upon whose shoulders you stand -- is a ludicrous concept.

Nevertheless, despite the extraordinary nature of such a gamble -- a gamble which risks the dedication of millions of Obama supporters, which risks basic tenets of honesty, which risks the progress made by minorities in the United States as represented by Barack Obama's candidacy and election, and which risks what many believe is the future of the nation -- millions of Americans today sincerely believe Obama is not a U.S. citizen.

Don't Forget the Clintons

The conspiracists who believe Obama is not a U.S. citizen include many of the same people who wildly accused Bill and Hillary Clinton of having stopped at nothing to gain power. They actually believe the Clintons have had dozens of people murdered in order to gain and stay in power.

The problem these conspiracists have is their own zealotry proves their case against Obama to be false. If you are one of those people who believe the Clintons would do absolutely anything to win and keep the presidency, then it becomes obvious they would have had someone file suit alleging Barack Obama did not qualify to be on the ballot -- with a request for a timely decision during the Primary Election campaign.

This could have been done in any number of Primary Election states at little expense. A state could have been selected early in the process -- well before anyone took Obama's campaign seriously. Because he initially was such an underdog at the time, Obama was an easy target. And trying the case in a state not likely to look warmheartedly upon an Obama candidacy would have made victory for the Clintons even more likely. But no such case ever was filed by Clinton supporters.

So why would Hillary Clinton not attempt such an easy knockout punch? After all, keeping your opponent off the ballot is the most inexpensive and efficacious way to win an election. And if Obama were knocked off the ballot in just one state for not having a valid birth certificate, it would have doomed his candidacy in every other state.

The reasons this was not done were twofold. First, although they are tough fighters, the Clintons' protocol is not to murder their political enemies. Second, the evidence has proven Barack Obama is an American citizen who was born in the United States.

The Real Conspirator

The wild accusation that Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen not only is belied by the birth certificate validated by the State of Hawaii but is supported by the publication of a birth announcement shortly after Obama's birth. How and why would anyone make such an announcement at that time in 1961 unless the birth of Obama actually occurred? Such a conspiracy -- which might also require time travel -- is beyond far-fetched.

In the ultimate twist, conspiracists may next allege the person behind all of the accusations against Obama is none other than Senator and Vice-President-elect Joseph Biden. After all, they will opine, "Who has the most to gain from Obama's demise?"

If Obama forfeits the Presidency after being sworn in, one assumes Biden would take his place, although there could be a constitutional crisis because the legitimacy of Biden's own Vice Presidency would be called into question.

With Biden being accused of having sponsored legislation which helped credit card companies and other financial institutions at the expense of the American consumer, the conspiracists will come full circle and once again argue it is the pursuit of money by those in control of the nation's purse strings which was the ultimate motivation for the dethroning of Barack Obama.

Poor Losers

The truth is Barack Obama is a natural-born U.S. citizen who is going to serve the country as its 44th President. Part of the rampant anti-Obama conspiracy phenomenon may be a reflection of how we have become a nation of Bad Losers -- with so many Americans refusing to accept the election of a black man to the nation's highest office.

While Phil Gramm's "nation of whiners" comment was the death knell for him politically, the truth is many of our fellow citizens forgot the importance of being a gracious loser on occasion. Good sportsmanship in politics, sports, and life in general -- despite the consummate example set by John McCain in his concession speech -- remains a rare commodity in America. With so many Americans unwilling to admit their candidate lost fair-and-square, they reach for the absurd -- with this presidential election being the ultimate case in point.

McCain should be recognized and thanked for setting such a high standard for graciousness and unity. He not only congratulated Obama but sincerely encouraged his followers to join ranks and support the incoming Administration. Those who voted for the Republican nominee or who otherwise opposed Obama should follow McCain's entreaty.

It truly is time for those against Obama -- for whatever reason -- simply to face reality and admit they lost. They can accept Obama as their new President and still be the Loyal Opposition. Given the crises the nation faces today, it will be more productive to spend time and energy addressing the nation's terribly serious problems than coming up with bogus accusations.

Aaron Harber hosts The Aaron Harber Show, seen Tuesdays at 8:00 pm and Wednesdays at 5:00 pm on PBS Station KBDI-TV Channel 12. Please go to www.HarberTV.com for more information. Send your comments and topic suggestions to [e-mail]. You also may view programs on a 24/7 basis via the "Broadcast Videos" section of the Website. (C) Copyright 2008 by Aaron Harber and USA Talk Network, Inc. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Georgee]

Aaron,

I am sooo glad you wrote this article. The Obama Kenyan birth story is completely false in a few counts:
1) I cannot imagine any white woman opted to go to Kenya during the 60's to deliver a baby. It's insane. My friend delivered a baby in Guatemalan village during 80 and her baby contracted meningitis because of the filth. The sanitary situation was horrible.
2) Obama's father was a student on US sponcered scholarship. How could he afford airfare for him and his wife to go back to Kenya
3) In fact there was no need at all for Obama's mother to go to Kenya to obtain Kenyan citizenship. In Citizenships are passed by land or blood or both. In US, it is the "Land" where you are born determines your citizenship while it is the "blood" of your parents makes you British, Japanese or Kenyan. Young Obama might have had duel citizenship while he was young but these citizenship are taken away if you don't make any action to obtain the citizenship when you reach 18 years old. Both Kenya and Japan do not allow dual citizenship once you reach adult (18 years of age). American citizenship stays unless Obama makes action to remove it.

Conclusion. Obama is a US citizen. There is no proof he removed his American citizenship or applied for Kenyan citizenship.

[JimF01]

HairyR has one error in his post, what factcheck.org produced is NOT a Certificate Of Live Birth, not a Birth Certificate, it is a CERTIFICATION of live birth. There is a difference. The statement provided by the Hawaii Dept of Health director, as quoted by factcheck.org, Chiyome Fukino said she has "personally seen and verified that the Hawaii State Department of Health has Sen. Obama"s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures."
Note, she did not say that the "original birth certificate" was from the USA. She did not say that Obama was born in the USA, as factcheck proclaims in the fallacious headline of their story. In fact, it would be a violation of HIPA regs to make such a statment.

[MaeScott]

Quit splittin non-existing hairs..... It's a valid BC, for frying out loud....

[HairyRead]

Your comments are flawed on many fronts:

First - What Obama has posted on his Fight The Smears website and what FactCheck and Snoops based their findings on is NOT a Birth Certificate, and wouldn't even be accepted as proof of U.S. citizenship to obtain a passport or drivers license. It is a Certificate Of Live Birth, not a Birth Certificate.

Second - Your claim that anyone who questions Obama's status is simply a sore loser or worse, a racist is a tactic that will not work in this case. The root of the question is whether we as a country are willing to ignore the Constitution and one of the three simple requirements for holding the office of the presidency.

There are many more points which I"m sure you"re aware of but are choosing to ignore " further:

Why would Mr. Obama spend close to $750,000 in legal fees fending off questions about his birth certificate when he could simply spend $12.00 to order a copy of the original from the state of HI?

You ask why Mr. Obama is the only President Elect to be asked these questions yet ignore the fact that he is the only one to not provide this proof up front.

This issue is not going to go quietly into the night, and the quicker you and Mr. Obama realize that, the better off we'll all be. Simply dismissing those whith questions and ignoring the problem will not make it go away.

[GAdyva]

"...with so many Americans refusing to accept the election of a black man to the nation's highest office..."

That's it in a nutshell!...Some white Americans hate black people so much that they can't put aside their feelings when it's to better their own country...They accepted McCain's citizenship even though he had to prove he was a "natural born citizen" too but because Barack Obama has an African father they can't believe he was born in the United States...He must have been born in Kenya, there's no way he was born in Hawaii...How backwoods, 'Deliverance' backwards does that sound?...

Conservatives talk about God, they don't know God when their hearts are filled with so much hate!...McCain/Palin accomplished what they set out to do by planting the seed of doubt in the minds of those who give over their minds to others because they're too trusting to think for themselves...They don't know anything but what they know and that is hate!

NOTE: For those of you that saw the movie Deliverance (the uncut version), you know what I mean!

[GoodwithWood]

"Squeal like a pig" (with lipstick)

[lynnn]

Yep. Nothing I would add.