Some issues refuse to die.

One of those is the Birthers who state that President Obama is not a U.S. citizen because he was not born in the United States. It is such a big deal that the Arizona governor currently has a bill on her desk requiring all candidates wanting to appear on the election ballot, including for President of the United States, to show proof they were born in the United States and, therefore, a citizen.

Picture by Anita Patterson

What passes for proof that you were born on American soil in case you do not have the proper type of live birth certificate according to the legislature of Arizona? How about a baptismal record, circumcisum record, census record or notorized affidavits from two or more people who witnessed the birth?

I might understand that need for reassurance despite the various rules of

citizenship that are currently on the books. Some say the rules were written to keep Alexander Hamilton, an illegitimate son of the fourth son of a Scottish Laird and one of the most brilliant of the founding fathers of our nation, from becoming president. That would be true if he was not the one who wrote that portion of the constitution in the first place. And his chances would not had been ruined if he could have learned to keep his pants shut. But that is a story for another day.

Image from Wikipedia

We all know that Hawaii was not an American state until 1959. Territories are not counted as American soil unless they are a U.S. military base. John McCain was born on one in Panama. Technically, he is a citizen despite not being born on U.S. soil.  

Wait, a minute. Hawaii was a state at the time of Obama’s birth in 1961. And the announcement of his birth was put in not one but two newspapers.

But those can be faked, right. I mean 50 years ago Obama’s parents knew he would be the first black president at a time when segregation was so bad in the US, blacks had separate water fountains from whites and had to sit at segregated spots at lunch counters and on the bus.

Yeah, that is. That is the ticket until you start reading the citizenship regulations. After all, both parents need to be American citizens for a child to an automatic citizen if the child is born on foreign soil. That is how the late Elizabeth Taylor was able to be a citizen despite being born and raised in England until her parents came back to California to escape the war.

But wait a minute, only Obama’s mother was an American citizen at the time of his birth. Surely that make him a non-citizen of the United States and therefore not legally our president. That is when you need to go back and read a little more. The laws state parent or parents.

So that means Barack Obama could have been born in Kenya or Indonesia or the backyard of his Hawaiian home and still be considered an American. His mother is an American who lived on American soil for

Trustworthy Americans? Donald Rumsfeld, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney - two of these guys are related to President Obama. Image from Wikipedia.

more than one year’s time. And if you start doing a little digging, you find out that Obama is as American as Dick Cheney and The Bush Family.

Truth of the matter is they are distant cousins.

If they are related to Obama, does that mean we have to check their birth certificates as well? After all, that Obama is a suspicious character. Anyone who is related to him might be suspicious too.

Advertisement