Is Obama a 'natural born' US citizen ?

[Bill]

Bloggers are raising questions about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's qualifications to be U.S. president, because of the secrecy over his birth certificate and the requirement presidents be "natural-born" U.S. citizens.

Jim Geraghty, reporting on the Campaign Spot, a National Review blog, cited the "unlikely" but still circulating rumor that Obama was born not within the United States, but elsewhere, possibly Kenya.

Geraghty defined the concerns most clearly, stating: "If Obama were born outside the United States, one could argue that he would not meet the legal definition of natural-born citizen … because U.S. law at the time of his birth required his natural-born parent (his mother) to have resided in the United States for '10 years, at least [f]ive of which had to be after the age of 16.'"

He then points out Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, was 18 when Obama was born "so she wouldn't have met the requirement of five years after the age of 16."

Geraghty continues: " (Interestingly, apparently there isn't much paperwork on Obama's parents' marriage. 'Obama: From Promise to Power,' page. 27: 'Obama later confessed that he never searched for the government documents on the marriage, although Madelyn (Obama's maternal grandmother) insisted they were legally married.' Also note that Obama's father apparently was not legally divorced from his first wife back in Kenya at the time, a point of contention that ultimately led to their separation.)"

The reports released to date show Obama was born in Honolulu to Barack Hussein Obama Sr., of Nyangoma-Kogelo, Kenya, and Ann Dunham, of Wichita, Kan.

According to FindLaw.com, which is cited by Geraghty, the requirements that were in force from Dec. 24, 1952 to Nov. 13, 1986, encompassing the time of Obama's birth, state, "If only one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least 10 years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16."

Obama's father, a student sent to the United States from Africa, lived several places in the United States while attending class. He then returned to his homeland. Obama's mother later married another man and moved to Indonesia.

Geraghty said the Obama campaign could "debunk" the rumors about his birth simply by releasing a copy of his birth certificate, but the campaign has so far chosen not to do that.

"The campaign cited the birth certificate in their 'Fact Check' on William Ayers, so presumably, someone in the campaign has access to it," he said.

Hawaii doesn't make public information from birth certificates.

"If the concern of the Obama campaign is that the certificate includes his Social Security number or some other data that could be useful to identity thieves, that information could easily be blocked out and the rest released. (Although I wonder if identity thieves would find Obama a tougher than usual target, since using the name on purchases would almost inevitably bring closer scrutiny.)," Geraghty said.

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If it's not one thing it's another.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

Man.

People are just desperately trying to hate on the guy for whatever reason.
Idiots. It's racism and it's alive and well apparently.

racists are idiots as well as narrow minded, stupid and intellectually challenged.

[Darthwing Teorist]

It may also be the Republicans' propaganda machine getting into 1st gear.

[Steve James]

Fwiw, I don't think it's racism. It's not that there aren't racists (bigots); it's that, in this case, they're not attacking him because of his "race." That may come: but this isn't it.

[TaoJoannes]

And this is what passes for politics in this country...

[MikeC]

Yeah, Obama's a racist and he wasn't born here...but so what, this is AMERICA!!! ALL FIRED UP! READY TO GO!
;P

[DeusTrismegistus]

If he is not a natural born citizen he doesn't legally meet the requirements to run for president. I think it is more than fair for that information to be verified.

[TaoJoannes]

He was born in Hawaii.

This is just part of the "He's a Muslim!" type smear tactics.

As the quoted author states in his article:

Rumor one: Obama was born in Kenya. Rather unlikely, as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene.

It's a tempest in a tea pot.

[Steve James]

Somehow, this all makes me think about "The Omen." Dunno why.

[TaoJoannes]

Somehow, this all makes me think about "The Omen." Dunno why.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

it's obfuscation and fuckin nonsense.

Where he was born is a matter of record, for cripes sake the guy just went through having to disassociate from his pastor.
There are NO pastors in islam.

this kind of propoganda defines the gullibility if not the outright stupidity and or malice , hatred and racist attitudes of those who perpetuate it.

[DeusTrismegistus]

He was born in Hawaii.

This is just part of the "He's a Muslim!" type smear tactics.

As the quoted author states in his article:

Rumor one: Obama was born in Kenya. Rather unlikely, as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene.

It's a tempest in a tea pot.

According to FindLaw.com, which is cited by Geraghty, the requirements that were in force from Dec. 24, 1952 to Nov. 13, 1986, encompassing the time of Obama's birth, state, "If only one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least 10 years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16."

If this law is taken strictly as it appears here then that would mean regardless of the location of his birth he would not meet the requirement to be a natural born citizen because his mother would not have lives in the US for more than 5 years after the age of 16. Of course the law needs viewed in its entirety to make sure that it is not being misconstrued. I had assumed that all presidential candidates would of had their citizenship verified before making it this far, silly me.

[TaoJoannes]

He was born in Hawaii.

This is just part of the "He's a Muslim!" type smear tactics.

As the quoted author states in his article:

Rumor one: Obama was born in Kenya. Rather unlikely, as it would require everyone in his family to lie about this in every interview and discussion with those outside the family since young Obama appeared on the scene.

It's a tempest in a tea pot.

According to FindLaw.com, which is cited by Geraghty, the requirements that were in force from Dec. 24, 1952 to Nov. 13, 1986, encompassing the time of Obama's birth, state, "If only one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least 10 years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16."

If this law is taken strictly as it appears here then that would mean regardless of the location of his birth he would not meet the requirement to be a natural born citizen because his mother would not have lives in the US for more than 5 years after the age of 16. Of course the law needs viewed in its entirety to make sure that it is not being misconstrued. I had assumed that all presidential candidates would of had their citizenship verified before making it this far, silly me.

It's a non-issue. Merely a weak attempt to get something negative to stick.

Talk about issues, talk about the record, talk about the problems actually facing the country.

Oh, wait, those aren't nearly as exciting, NVM.

[DeusTrismegistus]

It's a non-issue. Merely a weak attempt to get something negative to stick.

Talk about issues, talk about the record, talk about the problems actually facing the country.

Oh, wait, those aren't nearly as exciting, NVM.

If its true, then it IS an issue.

[TaoJoannes]

It's a non-issue. Merely a weak attempt to get something negative to stick.

Talk about issues, talk about the record, talk about the problems actually facing the country.

Oh, wait, those aren't nearly as exciting, NVM.

If its true, then it IS an issue.

Well, sure, and if it's true that John McCain has an illegitimate Black Daughter, maybe that is an issue, too.

If it's true that Gee-Dub was doing lines of coke off of a male stripper's penis in the Lincoln Bedroom, that would be an issue, too.

I highly doubt that anyone would have the cojones to attempt to fraudulently claim natural born citizenship when it's a relatively simple matter to investigate. Considering the frequency with which a child's birth certificate is examined, and his relatively young age, it wouldn't be hard to dig up an official of some capacity who would be willing to come forward and say "yeah, he was actually born in Kenya".

He has a social security number, he's a sitting senator, if he had naturalization paperwork in his permanent file, it would be common knowledge by now, and those documents are easier to get ahold of.

It's a catch 22, politically, don't produce the BC and you can keep this ridiculous "question" alive and nagging at him, do produce the BC and you're just a puppet being jerked back and forth by the whim of the brainless mob. Either way, you're in a position of weakness. This is the type of "campaigning" that the right wing machine excels at, and it's utterly without substance.

They can't attack him on actual relevant issues, so just undermine the image with nonsense. When the truth is determined once and for all, the only thing that 20% will remember is "Obama is not a citizen".