Is he a Usurper

I was at a dinner recently, where the conversation was all about Obama’s great victory, and the evils of the Bush administration. This was a group of people who have hated George Bush since he became president, and never get tired of talking about how he stole the election from All Gore, so I generally ignore their political rhetoric. Then they began talking about throwing Bush out of the White House for violating the US Constitution, and installing Obama instead, so he can get to work on fixing all that is wrong with this country. I pointed out that, despite appearances to the contrary; Obama has not been elected president yet, because the Electoral College elects the president of the US. Besides, I told them, if it the Supreme Court decides Obama is not a natural born US citizen that may never happen. The comments shouted at me varied from “That is just something dreamed up by right-wing lunatics,” to “If the Supreme Court steals another election I will personally go to Washington and kill the whole bunch of them,” and “I don’t care if he was born on the moon.” The commotion created quite a stir in the restaurant.

There is little doubt that Obama is an American, just as there is little doubt he is hiding something about his birth that could make him ineligible to become president. Otherwise he would have settled the whole issue of his citizenship by releasing a copy of the long form of his birth certificate, which would show the name of the hospital where he was born, and have the signature of the doctor who delivered him. Instead he has engaged three high-powered law firms to keep the long form of his birth certificate hidden. The short form of his birth certificate is a document that would have been issued when his birth was registered in Hawaii, no matter where he was actually born. Obama’s African grandmother claims he was born in a hospital in Kenya, and that she was present at his birth. The US code at the time states that a child born in a foreign country, to an American mother, is a citizen of the US if the mother has lived for at least 10 years in the US, five of those years after the age of 14. Obama’s mother was 18 when he was born.

I actually don’t care that much about the details of Obama’s birth, but I do find the constitutional process related to this issue fascinating. The lower courts have dismissed the various suits challenging Obama’s qualification to be president, because the courts found the people who filed the suits didn’t have standing. None of the courts have ruled on the merits of the various lawsuits. How can a US citizen not have standing to file a lawsuit on a constitutional matter? What is the responsibility of the Electoral College if the standing of the president elect is in doubt? If Obama becomes president, and later is found to be a usurper, are any bills or laws he has signed valid? Why is it that no one seems to be responsible for assuring a presidential candidate has constitutional standing for the office he/she seeks? Why would a legitimate presidential candidate want doubt about his standing to cloud his presidency, if all he has to do to make the issue disappear is provide the vault copy of his birth certificate?

Gråulf.