Now Obama's supporters are doing so. Governor Abercrombie of Hawaii was first saying that they know that there is an original long-form birth certificate in the state archives, although he seemed to admit that he had not actually
seen it. This news account in the January 20, 2011
Daily Mail has to be among the oddest ways to make a claim in a deniable way that I have seen in a while:
Abercrombie said on Tuesday that an investigation had unearthed papers proving Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961.
He told Honolulu's Star-Advertiser: 'It actually exists in the archives, written down,' he said.
But it became apparent that what had been discovered was an unspecified listing or notation of Obama's birth that someone had made in the state archives and not a birth certificate.
And in the same interview Abercrombie suggested that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Barack Obama may not exist within the vital records maintained by the Hawaii Department of Health.
He said efforts were still being made to track down definitive vital records that would prove Obama was born in Hawaii.
And here is the article in the
January 18, 2011 Honolulu Star-Advertiser, an interview with the governor
:
Q: You stirred up quite a controversy with your comments regarding birthers and your plans to release more information regarding President Barack Obama's birth certificate. How is that coming?
A: I got a letter from someone the other day who was genuinely concerned about it; it is not all just political agenda. They were talking on Olelo last night about this; it has a political implication for 2012 that we simply cannot have.
(Abercrombie said there is a recording of the birth in the State Archives and he wants to use that.)
It was actually written I am told, this is what our investigation is showing, it actually exists in the archives, written down ...
...What I can do, and all I have ever said, is that I am going to see to it as governor that I can verify to anyone who is honest about it that this is the case.
Then a friend of Abercrombie's claims that Abercrombie admits that there is no birth certificate--and then within
a few hours claims that he had never talked to the governor about this issue. This is getting stranger and stranger. Even hard left writers, such as
Sam Smith, who edits Progressive Review, admits that this is all rather odd:
The state has produced what might be called a certificate of the certificate, giving the basics of what the original document purportedly says. CNN has suggested that the original certificate no longer exists since all such records were discarded in 2001 but the state denies it. Hawaii is, in effect, denying the absence of something it can't or won't produce.
...
But why not just tell Hawaii to let a pool of reporters and lawyers view the actual document?
The problem remains odd and is getting odder.
If there is a long-form birth certificate, and Obama refuses to allow its release, there must be something
really embarrassing on it to justify all this effort to keep it invisible. Was his race listed as white, or East Indian?
Makes me wonder if the issue is that they can't find the actual certificate. Mind you, I'm not a birther... I would say if they've found a pointer to a record there's a strong likelihood it exist or existed somewhere.
ReplyDeleteHe was born close to the time Hawaii was just becoming a state. It stands to reason maybe they didn't have their act quite together in terms of formalities. I could see Obama not wanting to fan the flames if the issue is that they actually can't locate the original long form certificate.
"All this effort to keep it invisible"? What effort? Unsubstantiated claims from birthers that "millions of dollars" have been spent? President Obama doesn't release his birth certificate because it makes people like you who keep talking about it look foolish, and therefore reasonable people are less likely to believe said Birthers when they opine on other issues.
ReplyDeleteYou're falling into the trap. There is nothing there. The issue is designed to reduce the time you (and I and every other critic of Obama) spend on actual Obama weaknesses like his results holding the office of President.
ReplyDeleteThis sort of red herring is, unfortunately, unstoppable.
I think that the most likely reason that the long form has not been produced is simply that the State of Hawaii does not have a copy of it, as this former elections clerk maintains. And, yes, I know the article is from WND, and that Joseph Farah has an extreme fixation on the issue, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. I think Abercrombie went looking for it and found out it doesn't exist, and is now back-pedaling.
ReplyDeletePreviously, I had assumed that the long form may have simply contained some embarrassing information. I'm beginning to suspect that perhaps B.O. was not born in the U.S., although other possibilities include it simply having been lost.
Shortly after the 2008 election, in discussing this issue with a friend, I opined that if B.O. was shown not to be eligible at that point, major race riots might ensue. It still might happen, I suppose. But, the real culprit here is how the LSM willfully closed its eyes to the entire issue. A little early checking could have made a big difference which, I suppose, was a possibility that the LSM folks wanted to avoid.
I read an theory a few days ago, suggesting that what's on there is that his legal name is still Barry Soetoro. Recall that when he was adopted, his name was legally changed. This theory states that he thought that "Barack Obama, Jr." could get more out of the system than "Barry Soetoro" could, so he simply started calling himself by his original name to game the system. The centerpiece of this theory is that he never legally changed his name back, so legally he's still Barry Soetoro, and his birth certificate--which would have been altered or maybe re-issued when he was adopted with the Soetoro name--still shows that name. This would apparently expose him as a hypocrite and whatever else you can think of.
ReplyDeleteI dunno. It seems fairly unlikely, but I guess it's plausible (if it's true that Hawaii alters birth certificates when you get your name legally changed.)
I don't really care one way or another, because it's pretty obvious that a Federal government that would allow Hillary Clinton to unConstitutionally be Secretary of State is never going to remove the President from office even if his real, original birth certificate showed up tomorrow and said he was both Muslim and born in Kenya. I see the entire issue as a honeypot.
Some folks now seem to think the embarrassment lies in the fact that legally Barak Obama's name is Barry Soetoro. He was adopted at the age of 7 by his mother's Indonesian husband and his name was changed to Barry Soetoro, and it would have changed his birth certificate. But there is no record of him actually changing his name back to his birth name. It also explains why he won't release all the other documents, because they would list his legal name as Barry Soetoro as well.
ReplyDeleteThat destroys the narrative he's works so hard to create.
Interesting idea.
I am not a birther per se (thanks David Axelrod for that label), but the fact that there are so many documents he's hiding--it does make one wonder.
(Love the blog and your articles by the way and I am glad you were able to bring it back)
Nothing that goes through federal courts is cheap. How much have they spent on this? Maybe it isn't millions, but it isn't free, either.
ReplyDeleteMaybe there is nothing there at all. But it doesn't keep people from discussing other concerns about Obama's presidency--it does create a perception that he is hiding something, maybe something really important. The last thing that any public official should want is for a non-trivial fraction of the population to regard his actions as arguably unlawful.
obama's hiding something
ReplyDeletethere's something about that guy that isn't right
I agree with you, backoutwest: it makes it seem like there is something dishonest about Obama. It is likely something really trivial, not the "born in Kenya" claim that the Birthers are making. But it sure makes me suspicious of Obama's integrity.
ReplyDeleteIf, as some think, this is all just a scheme to distract people from other issues, that also doesn't say much for Obama's integrity.