Ignoring evidence to the contrary, Wash. Times uncritically quoted claim that Obama's birth certificate has "clearly been altered"
SUMMARY: The Washington Times uncritically reported a claim by Pennsylvania attorney Philip J. Berg, as stated in an ad Berg placed in the newspaper, that the birth certificate released by Barack Obama's campaign has "clearly been altered." The Times did not note that FactCheck.org reported that it has "seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate," concluding that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship," nor did it note a statement by Health Department director Chiyome Fukino that "the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures."
In its December 5 article on the Supreme Court's decision to hear a lawsuit challenging Barack Obama's "right to be President based on his citizenship at birth," The Washington Times reported that Obama "tried to resolve questions over his citizenship during his campaign by circulating a copy of a 'Certification of Live Birth' from the state of Hawaii showing he was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu." The Times then wrote: " 'It's clearly been altered,' said Pennsylvania attorney Philip J. Berg in published ads that he sponsored nationwide, including in The Washington Times." However, the article's author, Tom Ramstack, did not note that, in fact, the Obama campaign reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff reported in an August 21 article that they "have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate" and wrote that it "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship." Nor did Ramstack note, as Media Matters for America has noted, that the Hawaii Department of Health released a statement on October 31 by Health Department director Chiyome Fukino, in which Fukino confirmed that "the Hawai'i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures." In addition, a Hawaii Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that the birth certificate Obama's campaign posted on the Fight the Smears website is valid, proving he was born in the state of Hawaii.
Media Matters has also noted that the right-wing website WorldNetDaily reported in an August 23 article that a "WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic." The WND article further stated that "at least part of Berg's lawsuit" claiming Obama is not a natural-born citizen and, therefore, is not eligible to be president "relies on discredited claims."
Further, Ramstack reported that "Mr. Berg claims there is a tape recording from Mr. Obama's paternal grandmother in Kenya saying she attended the birth of her grandson in Mombasa," referring to an unverified audio recording of a phone conversation purportedly between Anabaptist minister Ron McRae and Sarah Hussein Obama, Barack Obama's step-grandmother, who is communicating through two translators.
David Weigel reported in a December 4 article for the online magazine Slate that McRae gave the a portion of the transcript of the call to Berg and "opted not to include the rest of the call, in which he asks the question more directly -- 'Was he born in Mombassa?' -- and the translators, finally understanding him, tell him repeatedly that the president-elect was born in Hawaii." The Chicago Tribune reported December 3: "The translator said he was one of two interpreters conducting the interview in a crowded hut during a celebration, over a speaker phone that dropped the call three times."
From the December 5 Washington Times article:
Mr. Obama tried to resolve questions over his citizenship during his campaign by circulating a copy of a "Certification of Live Birth" from the state of Hawaii showing he was born Aug. 4, 1961, in Honolulu.
"It's clearly been altered," said Pennsylvania attorney Philip J. Berg in published ads that he sponsored nationwide, including in The Washington Times. He filed one of the lawsuits to block Mr. Obama's presidency.
Mr. Berg claims there is a tape recording from Mr. Obama's paternal grandmother in Kenya saying she attended the birth of her grandson in Mombasa.
Mr. Berg also says Mr. Obama later enrolled as a student at an Indonesian school at a time only Indonesians could attend it. Mr. Obama's stepfather was Indonesian.
In October, a federal judge dismissed Mr. Berg's lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, saying Mr. Berg lacked standing.
From the December 4 Slate article:
None of that stopped Berg from stoking the conspiracy theorists. On Oct. 16, an Anabaptist minister named Ron McRae called Sarah Hussein Obama, the president-elect's 86-year-old paternal step-grandmother, at her home in Kenya. Two translators were on the line when McRae asked if the elder Obama was "present" when the president-elect was born. One of the translators says "yes." McRae contacted Berg and gave him a partial transcript of the call with a signed affidavit. He opted not to include the rest of the call, in which he asks the question more directly-"Was he born in Mombassa?"-and the translators, finally understanding him, tell him repeatedly that the president-elect was born in Hawaii.
The Hawaiian documentation, the 1961 newspaper announcement, the phony evidence from Sarah Obama -- all of that aside, the idea that Obama wasn't born in Honolulu goes against everything we know about his rather well-documented life. Barack Obama Sr. came to America as part of a 1959 program for Kenyan students -- he did not return home until 1965, years after he left his wife and son. Ann Dunham was three months pregnant when she married Obama Sr. and 18 years old when she gave birth. There is no record of Dunham ever traveling to Kenya, much less the year after the Mau Mau rebellion ended, when she was pregnant and when she had no disposable income to speak of. "Ann's mother would have gone ballistic if her daughter had even mentioned traveling to Kenya in the final stages of pregnancy," says David Mendell, author of the biography Obama: From Promise to Power.
Reached by phone, Ron McRae doesn't claim to know when or how Dunham got to Kenya, only that she gave birth in a Third World country because "she didn't want to take a chance on that flight back" and that "everyone in Kenya" knows this. If so, they've kept it a pretty solid secret from the international reporters who've visited the country since Obama rose to prominence. But the story is good enough for Gary Kreep, the conservative head of the United States Justice Foundation, who filed suit against Obama on behalf of Alan Keyes, the unstoppable fringe candidate who was on the ballot in California on the American Independent Party ticket. "If he's got nothing to hide," says Kreep, "why not give us access?"
Here we go again.... Round 7!
7? More like, 7000...
GET OVER IT YOU CONSPIRACY THEORY NUT JOBS. HE'S AN AMERICAN CITIZEN!!! HE WON. GET OVER IT.
Kreep. What an apt name for someone to have.
Desperate people do desperate things.
I think MMFA should stop posting things on this subject. It draws out the worst commenters. And 3...2...1...
U libs should be raelly imberrassed. Teh Indaneesian scools sistem vets its students better then the democrat party vets its candadates...
You gave it away by misspelling imberryassed. ;0)
Now I luv that spelling ew ;-) A new word, joining hateyness.
nuttin like a little ewe fer lunch!
Used the eweferk I hope. The one with the bent tines?
Is Mr. Keyes so bitter about getting wax'd in his carpetbagger campaign for US Senator from Illinois that he is reduced to this silly effort?
Perhaps he would have been better served in using the filing fees to retire some more of his political campaign debts...
I wonder if he diagnoses medical problems from video tapes.
I applaud MMfA for keeping an eye on the nutjobs and miscreants, but seriously, The Washington Times lies every day that it comes out. At what point are they relegated to Enquirer status? But then, the Enquirer has a better record for accuracy.
I guess with litigation there's less votes to count...
Is the Wash. Times aimed at Fox viewers who have learned to read?
Perhaps. They also need lots of visuals:
Even the Supreme Court turned this case down. When will they let this thing go? 1/20/17?
Maybe there's hope, Dawuss. This item's been up a couple of hours, and nobody posting to dispute it yet.
Could they have possibly, finally tried some propaganda so lame that even the most brainwashed, stoopid & crazy aren't buying it ?
I guess all those "experts" who instantly spotted Dan Rather's "fake" national guard documents on the TV screen have come to a verdict on this one, too?
Alright let's test your facts.
1.)
"There is no record of Dunham ever traveling to Kenya, much less the year after the Mau Mau rebellion ended, when she was pregnant and when she had no disposable income to speak of.
Cite your source for this information. It's not likely the airlines keep
these records for 40+ Years. Not likely this was obtained thru Passport
records. So what is your proof of this?
2.)
"Ann's mother would have gone ballistic if her daughter had even mentioned traveling to Kenya in the final stages of pregnancy," says David Mendell, author of the biography Obama: From Promise to Power.
Nothing but conjecture from an author of a book.
3.)
In addition, a Hawaii Health Department official also reportedly confirmed to PolitiFact.com that the birth certificate Obama's campaign posted on the Fight the Smears website is valid, proving he was born in the state of Hawaii.
They confirmed that a record exists. They did not officially state on the
record anything further. Reportedly confirmed ??? Come on, your supposed
to be journalist. You accept hearsay as fact now.
Since when was politifact deemed to be the final arbiter of facts and truth?
Are you really saying that anything that they post is proof posiitive and can
not be questioned?
4.) Have you investigated the different types of certificates that the State of Hawaii
issues and the differences?
When the media begins to ask all the questions, and not just the ones that promote their specific brand of politics, I will begin to take them seriously. I don't have time to go thru the rest now. I'll check back later.
It's the tin-foil hat folks' job to make their case. They've failed.
I thought conservatives were opposed to frivolous lawsuits...
I look at this as simply one more opportunity to further discredit the already discredited right wing lunatics. It's laughable...
Anyway, what's new... Obama is a Muslim; Obama is anti-white; Obama sold drugs; Obama consorts with terrorists; Obama has a mistress? Or, as Sean Hannity, said the other day, Do we really know who Barack Obama is? No, Sean, I guess you don't know who Barack Obama is because everything you guys said he was has turned out to be untrue. Now you guys go try to figure it out while the adults move along with more serious business. What a freakin' joke...
Bravo (sarcastic golf clap).
Now l have to sit through YET MORE monkey cr*p when l go to the blog of Melanie Philips in The Spectator. If you haven't read her she makes Hannity's level of wongnuttery look like Chris Matthews. If you can stomach it, link to some of her commenatry and the response posts before and after the election.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3067781/ruling-by-a-radical.thtml
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3064406/from-the-horses-mouth.thtml
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2576106/freedom-now-stands-alone.thtml
http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/2562356/this-fateful-election.thtml
This one is the kicker. I was so annoyed l actually emailed her and had a bit of a set to because it was so bad:
http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?p=602
Okay, meant to say WINGNUTTERY!!
darn, I was looking forward to chinese porn tonight!
THAT IS DIS-GUST-ING!!!!
But also very, very funny!!
you got wongnutts in vise.
I was hoping that someone would read some of the stuff l linked to (Jeebus. When did I become the fun-killing adult in a conversation?!?!?!?)
I read velly much. Love you long time, joe, but I bang my knee!
American neocon as interpreted by an english woman? Don't you have some equivelent to the Daily Show?
The closest we have is "The Late Editon" hosted by Marcus Bridgestock on BBC 3.
The three best things on it were his continuing contempt of Anne Robinson (original UK host of "The Weakest Link", who he co-hosted a late night show with and who he totally despises), his description of a government minister's excuses as "weaker than a second album from Lilly Allen" and berating former Footballer (or soccer player as you will) Gary Lineker for being the face of Walkers Crisps ( the top brand of UK potato chips) and its agressive selling to kids (he called him "a corporate whore promoting salt covered fat pellets to obese gullibale morons"). The most amazing thing about it is that Robinson, Lineker, and Lilly Allen ALL HOST SHOWS ON THE BBC!!!!!!!
there is some hope then for the BBC then.
I joke, I enjoy a lot of BBC that shows up on PBS(not the Paranoid Broadcasting System). Does a thing called The Red Green Show ever show up in the Misty Isle? Its a Canadian product of wierdness and good humor.
Nah, never seen it. Just stuck with Little Britain.
While much nonsense is being made over the validity of Obama's birth certificate, there is corroborating evidence. On November 9 the Honolulu Advertiser ran an article about people visiting Obama's childhood homes in Honolulu. In a sidebar it showed a copy of the birth announcements as released by the Hawaii Department of Health and published on August 13, 1961 by both the Advertiser and the Star-Bulletin.
Here's the link. Scroll down to view the sidebar
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811090361
Since both newspapers routinely published the health department's birth announcements (as part of vital statistics reporting) in 1961, why is there any claim that Obama was not born in the U.S.?
Corroboration like this should put this nonsense to rest.
If there's a merely a millionmillionth of a chance of disproving Obama's legitimously, neocons and attendent wingnuts will expend incredible efforts.
America's problems are not their problems.
Yeah and this to: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii/
If this were a legitimate complaint why would Clinton and McCain accept that Obama is legitimate? Wouldn’t the two of them have pursued this oh, about 20 months ago, if this was a way to knock Obama out of contention?
Obviously, it isn't.
Curious why Clinton and McCain wouldn't expose Obama's illegitimacy? Everyone in the Congress and Senate are complicit in keeping background info on Obama locked up. Clinton, of course, had something to gain. McCain said hands off on Obama's past but was forced near the end of the campaign to raise some of the negative issues. It was too little too late.
Regardless of whether or not this is a valid violation of the Constitution, neither party running this country is committed to anything but the power of their office. They are not convicted in protecting our Constitution but act solely on how the political winds blow. They have spent us beyond recovery and have plans to continue to shape our government into a socialistic society. If all Americans don't wake up and stop these people, we will all be standing shoulder to shoulder in a rice field as they sit and rule from the thrones we provided them.
I believe in individual liberty, capitalism, and limited government. The Government has never produced anything and I don't want these congressmen and senators running my life. The vast majority of them have never even worked or owned a business. They are politicians - not businessmen and women. Business men and women built this country and these idiots are tearing it apart.
And, Mr. Obama, instead of hiring 3 legal firms to defend your birth certificate controversy, why don't you just produce it? How obvious are you?