Obama releases long form birth certificate to end debate

[News_Editor]

Obama releases long form birth certificate to end debate

2011-04-27 23:09:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday released his long form birth certificate in an attempt to stop ongoing conspiracy theories about his place of birth.

Conspiracy theories regarding Obama's citizenship first emerged in 2008 during his election campaign, alleging that he is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and therefore is not eligible to be President under Article Two of the United States Constitution. Some claim Obama was born in Kenya, not in Hawaii as is on his certification of live birth.

The issue again received widespread media coverage in the United States in recent weeks as Republican Donald Trump repeatedly called on Obama to release the documents. It led to a new debate over the issue.

But Obama's campaign team had already released a certificate of live birth in 2008 and posted it to their campaign website. Nonetheless, critics demanded to see the long form version of the document.

"When any citizen born in Hawaii requests their birth certificate, they receive exactly what the President received," Dan Pfeiffer, the White House Communications Director, said on Wednesday, referring to the certificate of live birth that was released in 2008. "In fact, the document posted on the campaign website is what Hawaiians use to get a driver's license from the state and the document recognized by the Federal Government and the courts for all legal purposes. That's because it is the birth certificate. This is not and should not be an open question."

Pfeiffer said Obama does not believe the distraction over his birthplace is good for the country, and therefore he decided to release it. "It may have been good politics and good TV, but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country," he said.

He added: "At a time of great consequence for this country - when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East, Washington, DC, was once again distracted by a fake issue. The President's hope is that with this step, we can move on to debating the bigger issues that matter to the American people and the future of the country."

Obama later commented on the issue during a White House news conference in which he said that he was "puzzled" as to why it remained an issue for so long. "We've had every official in Hawaii, Democrat and Republican, every news outlet that has investigated this, confirm that, yes, in fact, I was born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, in Kapiolani Hospital," he said.

The president said he was surprised to see earlier this month that the headlines were focused on his place of birth, rather than one of his speeches on his budget. "During that entire week the dominant news story wasn't about these huge, monumental choices that we're going to have to make as a nation. It was about my birth certificate."

In response to the release of Obama's long form birth certificate, Trump said he hoped the document is real and took credit for achieving the release of it. The White House nor Obama did not specifically name Trump, who is considering a run for the White House.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-04-27

[koheesti]

About time. Now we can move on to more important issues like the economy and Obama's college transcripts.

[Phil Conners]

OMG. How low can you go?

[Jingthing]

Not sure he should have released it. I think the birthers being associated with Obama's opposition was very good for Obama politically. Because of course, they were/are CRAZY. A poll in reaction to the release, 35 percent STILL don't believe Obama in an American.

[sbk]

In response to the release of Obama's long form birth certificate, Trump said he hoped the document is real and took credit for achieving the release of it.

Oh for heaven's sake.

[powderpuff]

American citizen = yes

Incompetent = yes

[sbk]

Flame deleted, everyone is entitled to their opinion without being insulted for it

[geriatrickid]

Will any of the people that accused President Obama of being a "foreigner" apologize?

Will any of these "birthers" admit that they were wrong, or is it just considered acceptable to make unsubstantiated and false allegations?

I note that several leading Republicans ( e.g. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus) had urged the party not to continue down the road of maliciousness, but they were dismissed by people like Limbaugh, Palin, Trump and Beck at th height of the delusional accusations. These people should be ashamed of themselves.

[H2oDunc]

Can any of you supporters please tell me just why somebody would spend around 3 million dollars keeping this and his school records hidden if there is nothing wrong ?

Why didn't / doesn't he just show them ?

I couldn't care less either way whether he is a naturtally born American or not just can't understand the reason he has spent so much money trying to stop people from seeing his records ?

Ithought him winning would have been a good thing for America but he seems to be like the rest of them

[geriatrickid]

Can any of you supporters please tell me just why somebody would spend around 3 million dollars keeping this and his school records hidden if there is nothing wrong ?

Why didn't / doesn't he just show them ?

I couldn't care less either way whether he is a naturtally born American or not just can't understand the reason he has spent so much money trying to stop people from seeing his records ?

Ithought him winning would have been a good thing for America but he seems to be like the rest of them

What business is it of yours or anyone elses to see someone's school records? I'd block nosey people from seeing my record too.

What's next a daily report on how many times he goes to the loo?

[Ulysses G.]

Will any of the people that accused President Obama of being a "foreigner" apologize?

Beck

I'm not sure that any of them said that Obama was a foreigner. They just asked to see his birth certificate to clear up the controversy. However, Beck kept making fun of Trump for asking and implying that he is silly, so he probably does not belong on the list at all.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[flying]

I thought him winning would have been a good thing for America but he seems to be like the rest of them

Tuu Tong !

[zzaa09]

In response to the release of Obama's long form birth certificate, Trump said he hoped the document is real and took credit for achieving the release of it.

Oh for heaven's sake.

Oh yes.....he is for real. A real nutters bargain.

[timekeeper]

for what my opinion is worth, i used to like Trump

the little i knew of him, showed him to be an entertaining clown not to be taken too seriously

obviously he was a successful businessman and ought to be respected for that

however since his announcement that he might run for president he has gone down in my estimation

i think his well publicized outbursts will not serve him well in any area of his life.

there's no way he will get any support to run, in a few weeks he will announce he is not running and likely say the US is not ready for a leader off his caliber

i think he will lose his TV show

i think any new business contacts and his current financiers will be re-thinking any association with him

i think this whole thing will be very bad for him in the long run

it won't be the last we hear of Trump but in my opinion , after this, his star is waning...........

[bonobo]

I am not one to pull out the race card willy-nilly, but I have read several articles which contend that race is at least a factor in the legs this issue has had. And I tend to agree with those statements.

John McCain had the issue raised as he was born on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone, but once the issue was resolved (and the Senate confirmed his eligibility to run) it became a non-issue. With Obama, the issue just won't be dropped, and some people still insist that he is a foreigner or a "secret" Muslim. (Why the Muslim issue, I am not sure as there is no prohibition for a Muslim to be president.)

If Obama was a white "Bart Oberman," then I don't think this would have ever been an issue.

[H2oDunc]

Can any of you supporters please tell me just why somebody would spend around 3 million dollars keeping this and his school records hidden if there is nothing wrong ?

Why didn't / doesn't he just show them ?

I couldn't care less either way whether he is a naturtally born American or not just can't understand the reason he has spent so much money trying to stop people from seeing his records ?

Ithought him winning would have been a good thing for America but he seems to be like the rest of them

What business is it of yours or anyone elses to see someone's school records? I'd block nosey people from seeing my record too.

What's next a daily report on how many times he goes to the loo?

Its no business of mine as I am

A not American

B couldn't give a toss

But for an American to ask to see these records as he is the POTUS and there is some question as to the legality of his position Then I would say they have every frigging right !

Also just like the rest of his disciples you cannot give me a justifiable reason why any right minded person with nothing to hide would spend millions of dollars keeping them hidden ?

[Ulysses G.]

If Obama was a white "Bart Oberman," then I don't think this would have ever been an issue.

I disagree. If he were Jimmy Carter pulling all the stuff that he is pulling and there was doubt about his eligibility, the same thing would have happened. I think that race has little to do with it.

Most Americans realize that someone born on an American military base to someone in the service is the same thing as being born in America. It only makes sense.

[Phil Conners]

Why does it matter where you are born as long as you're a citizen. Imagine someone is on holiday and happens to give birth, suddenly this child, who otherwise is no different than his sibling born a year earlier or later within the borders, isn't as much of an American?

[geriatrickid]

What business is it of yours or anyone elses to see someone's school records? I'd block nosey people from seeing my record too.

What's next a daily report on how many times he goes to the loo?

Its no business of mine as I am

A not American

B couldn't give a toss

But for an American to ask to see these records as he is the POTUS and there is some question as to the legality of his position Then I would say they have every frigging right !

Also just like the rest of his disciples you cannot give me a justifiable reason why any right minded person with nothing to hide would spend millions of dollars keeping them hidden ?

Let's review;

How does Mr. Obama's academic record have any bearing on his position as President? What exactly is the legality of his position as you term it in respect to his academic records? Where is there a law that states a President of the USA must make public his academic records? He has not applied for a job in the capacity of a specifically qualified candidate as the Surgeon General might do. Mr. Obama worked as a lawyer before he entered politics and he passed his state bar exam. His bar exam status was public knowledge. The state bar maintains a record of all those that are legally qualified to practice law.

How many U.S. Supreme court justices are compelled to submit their academic records? Yet, these are people that are ruling in the highest court of the USA. . Mr. Obama was considered sufficiently qualified to enrol at Harvard and I think the Harvard admissions office is better suited to decide who enrols at its university than some of the intellectually challenged people demanding access to his records.

Now, if we return to the subject of the academic records, what is the reason why the general public should be given access to personal information of that nature? What business is it of anyone's to know if he received an A in constituional law? I hope Obama keeps fighting the demands for his academic records because he's also acting to protect the right to privacy for millions of people. The fact of the matter is that this latest dispute comes from the same people claiming that he wasn't a natural born U.S. citizen. Now that they have lost the arguement over his origin, they are refocusing on an invasion of his privacy. it is just a roundabout way for some people to say that he graduated with a J.D. from Harvard magna laude because he was black and benefited from affirmative action. Sour grapes from losers. Jealous losers at that.

[Ulysses G.]

Why does it matter where you are born as long as you're a citizen.

I will pass on your suggestion to the founding fathers.

Edited April 28, 2011 by Ulysses G.

[Phil Conners]

Why does it matter where you are born as long as you're a citizen.

I will pass on your opinion to the founding fathers.

Maybe the law needs to be updated to reflect reality in the 21st century. Back when it was made people didn't fly on holidays several times a year, did they?

[Steely Dan]

.... and his religion is?

[wildoates]

What business is it of yours or anyone elses to see someone's school records? I'd block nosey people from seeing my record too.

What's next a daily report on how many times he goes to the loo?

Its no business of mine as I am

A not American

B couldn't give a toss

But for an American to ask to see these records as he is the POTUS and there is some question as to the legality of his position Then I would say they have every frigging right !

Also just like the rest of his disciples you cannot give me a justifiable reason why any right minded person with nothing to hide would spend millions of dollars keeping them hidden ?

Let's review;

How does Mr. Obama's academic record have any bearing on his position as President? What exactly is the legality of his position as you term it in respect to his academic records? Where is there a law that states a President of the USA must make public his academic records? He has not applied for a job in the capacity of a specifically qualified candidate as the Surgeon General might do. Mr. Obama worked as a lawyer before he entered politics and he passed his state bar exam. His bar exam status was public knowledge. The state bar maintains a record of all those that are legally qualified to practice law.

How many U.S. Supreme court justices are compelled to submit their academic records? Yet, these are people that are ruling in the highest court of the USA. . Mr. Obama was considered sufficiently qualified to enrol at Harvard and I think the Harvard admissions office is better suited to decide who enrols at its university than some of the intellectually challenged people demanding access to his records.

Now, if we return to the subject of the academic records, what is the reason why the general public should be given access to personal information of that nature? What business is it of anyone's to know if he received an A in constituional law? I hope Obama keeps fighting the demands for his academic records because he's also acting to protect the right to privacy for millions of people. The fact of the matter is that this latest dispute comes from the same people claiming that he wasn't a natural born U.S. citizen. Now that they have lost the arguement over his origin, they are refocusing on an invasion of his privacy. it is just a roundabout way for some people to say that he graduated with a J.D. from Harvard magna laude because he was black and benefited from affirmative action. Sour grapes from losers. Jealous losers at that.

I don't think the issues is his grades as much as how he registered, did he registar as a forgein student, I could be wrong, but what I have seen it more along these lines not his grades....

[wildoates]

Why does it matter where you are born as long as you're a citizen.

I will pass on your opinion to the founding fathers.

Maybe the law needs to be updated to reflect reality in the 21st century. Back when it was made people didn't fly on holidays several times a year, did they?

Would feel the same way about Kings and Queens....are they still needed in the 21st century.....

[jazzbo]

Here is the one certain thing about President B.H. Obama: He will be POTUS until Sunday January 20th, 2013 at 12 mid-nite .i.e. for the next 633 days until the next Presidential Inauguration ·... when either himself or someone else will be sworn in.

[flying]

Maybe the law needs to be updated to reflect reality in the 21st century. Back when it was made people didn't fly on holidays several times a year, did they?

[chuckd]

Why does it matter where you are born as long as you're a citizen. Imagine someone is on holiday and happens to give birth, suddenly this child, who otherwise is no different than his sibling born a year earlier or later within the borders, isn't as much of an American?

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1.

'No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.'

I am no birther and have always believed he was born in Hawaii. However, ever since the issue of his birth was brought up by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2008, he has had ample time to defuse it with the action he took today. Why he chose to fight it this long is a mystery to me.

I am more curious as to why he has not released his college records and previous medical history.

He is the President of the US and has promised transparency in his administration. He is the greatest mystery to ever hold the office and seems intent on retaining that mystery.

PS: Mr. geriatrickid: In response to your post about submitting school records.

Over the course of my working career I have interviewed and hired hundreds of US citizens for overseas work. During this hiring process I have requested and received college transcripts from virtually all of them. If they refused to do so, their application simply was placed in file 13 and they were so informed. Applicants for classified positions in Saudi Arabia must submit certified copies of their diplomas and transcripts to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in order to obtain work visas.

Bush, Gore and Kerry all released their college records. What makes this guy think he should be an exception?

[trisailer]

Nothing to do with birth, everything to do with TEA

I propose a new amendment to change the name from America to; Kochville, or maybe United collective of fat, dimwitted tea drinkers.

Listen; can you hear that sucking sound?

[Wallaby]

Why does it matter where you are born as long as you're a citizen. Imagine someone is on holiday and happens to give birth, suddenly this child, who otherwise is no different than his sibling born a year earlier or later within the borders, isn't as much of an American?

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1.

'No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.'

I am no birther and have always believed he was born in Hawaii. However, ever since the issue of his birth was brought up by the Hillary Clinton campaign in 2008, he has had ample time to defuse it with the action he took today. Why he chose to fight it this long is a mystery to me.

I am more curious as to why he has not released his college records and previous medical history.

He is the President of the US and has promised transparency in his administration. He is the greatest mystery to ever hold the office and seems intent on retaining that mystery.

PS: Mr. geriatrickid: In response to your post about submitting school records.

Over the course of my working career I have interviewed and hired hundreds of US citizens for overseas work. During this hiring process I have requested and received college transcripts from virtually all of them. If they refused to do so, their application simply was placed in file 13 and they were so informed. Applicants for classified positions in Saudi Arabia must submit certified copies of their diplomas and transcripts to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in order to obtain work visas.

Bush, Gore and Kerry all released their college records. What makes this guy think he should be an exception?

The difference is that you are hiring a person. Obama is not hired, he is elected. I agree totally with Geriatrikid. What's next, do you want to go way back to see if there is a report of him picking his nose whilst in preschool?

This is all just rubbish to try and dig up dirt on him. He was elected and sworn in, just move on to more important things.

[midas]

It is ironic that so many Americans remained quite nonchalant

about this issue all through this debate even as the Obama administration prepares to introduce

the most unbelievably tough set of new criteria for USA passport applications

" The U.S. Department of State is proposing a new Biographical Questionnaire for some passport applicants: The proposed new Form DS-5513 asks were you circumcised? Also asks for all addresses since birth; lifetime employment history including employers’ and supervisors names, addresses, and telephone numbers; personal details of all siblings; mother’s address one year prior to your birth; any “religious ceremony” around the time of birth; and a variety of other information. According to the proposed form, “failure to provide the information requested may result in … the denial of your U.S. passport application.”

http://www.papersplease.org/wp/2011/04/26/public-outrage-at-proposed-questionnaire-for-passport-applicants/