Obama's Birth Certificate Photoshopped?

[Brainster]

I don't know but there is a quite a controversy brewing.

opendna posted on his Photobucket album two versions of a "Certification of Live Birth" document image, here and here. Both, as demonstrated in the respective blogs of analysts Polarik and JimJ, have a common visual signature (a dot that appears on all four images) with the images posted on the Daily Kos site image that the Obama campaign has endorsed as genuine on its "Fight the Smears" website and has distributed to news media as the "real" birth certificate of Barack Obama. The signature dot appears on that one, too, when magnified, albeit a bit ... smeared.

It is certainly odd (as the blogger notes) that the Obama campaign sent a copy of the birth certificate to Daily Kos. Kos claimed that the reason he got it was simple; he asked:

So Kos aka Moulitsas goes out and gets one. One impressed commenter on the site asks Kos where he got it. He answers: "I asked the campaign. This 'journamalism [sic] thing actually works sometimes."

That seems odd, because Jim Geraghty noted a few days earlier that reporters had asked the Obama campaign for the document and been declined.

There are, of course, several theories as to why Obama might not be able to come up with a legitimate birth certificate. First, was he really born in the USA? If not, he's ineligible for the presidency, because his mom was too young to confer automatic citizenship on him if he was born outside the US with a foreign father. The second (and I'll admit, even more unlikely) possibility is that he's hiding a middle name of Mohammed. Of course, you can imagine him changing his middle name to Hussein, thinking that would be less controversial.

I suspect this will turn out to be a big nothing burger, but it's at the top of Memeorandum at the moment.

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

Yeah, I heard about this before. Almost as big of a non-issue as people saying McCain isn't natural born either.

 

[Puppycow]

There are, of course, several theories as to why Obama might not be able to come up with a legitimate birth certificate. First, was he really born in the USA? If not, he's ineligible for the presidency, because his mom was too young to confer automatic citizenship on him if he was born outside the US with a foreign father.

How does his mother's age make a difference?

BTW, have past presidents submitted a copy of their birth certificates to some official authority who pronounces them elligible or inelligible?

 

[Texas]

How does his mother's age make a difference?

BTW, have past presidents submitted a copy of their birth certificates to some official authority who pronounces them eligible or ineligible?

I would assume so for both presidents and candidates as a part of the FBI background check for security clearances. That is why I don't place a lot of stock in this rumor. Obama has surely already been cleared by the FBI especially when it comes to eligibility to even run for POTUS.

 

[Puppycow]

I would assume so for both presidents and candidates as a part of the FBI background check for security clearances. That is why I don't place a lot of stock in this rumor. Obama has surely already been cleared by the FBI especially when it comes to eligibility to even run for POTUS.

OK, I wasn't aware the FBI did this. Do they make any sort of public report? Does the FBI actually pronounce each candidate eligible or ineligible?

 

[Texas]

OK, I wasn't aware the FBI did this. Do they make any sort of public report? Does the FBI actually pronounce each candidate eligible or ineligible?

I would really doubt that the FBI report would ever be made public. I don't know their procedure but I have had an FBI background check for a security clearance and all I knew about it was that I got the clearance.
I had to provide birth certificates of my entire family plus my parents and many other personal papers I could probably ask for a personal report but haven't done that. I do know that they make a colon exam look like an amusement park ride. I was shocked to hear so many of my friends and employer tell me of being interviewed.

 

[corplinx]

If some tard sent out a photoshopped certificate instead of a copy of the real one, my guess is they will "step down to pursue a job in the private sector".

Is there any evidence at all pointing to Obama being born outside the US? I didn't think so. Kthxbai.

 

[Texas]

If some tard sent out a photoshopped certificate instead of a copy of the real one, my guess is they will "step down to pursue a job in the private sector".

Is there any evidence at all pointing to Obama being born outside the US? I didn't think so. Kthxbai.

Common sense tells me that this has already been verified since the nominees of both parties are given high level security briefings on a regular basis and Obama already chairs a sub-committee that I am sure also reviews classified material. I guess a lot of people want to repeat the Dan Rather coup but this one appears to be a dry hole.

 

[Puppycow]

Someone (on the right) took the time to thoroughly debunk this. The birth certificate is legit.

 

[gdnp]

snopes has also weighed in on this issue.

 

[Rob Lister]

I would assume so for both presidents and candidates as a part of the FBI background check for security clearances. That is why I don't place a lot of stock in this rumor. Obama has surely already been cleared by the FBI especially when it comes to eligibility to even run for POTUS.

I don't place any stock in this silly rumor either but I think you assume wrong inasfar as security clearances go for congress, and probably for nominees as well. Turns out, they really are not subject to any scrutiny whatsoever.

Here's a snip from one legal brief I found.

Members of Congress, as constitutionally elected officers, do not receive security clearances as such, but are instead presumed to be trustworthy. See Information Security Oversight Office, Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement (Standard Form 312) Briefing Booklet ("ISOO Briefing Booklet"), at 66. "Members of Congress are not exempt, however, from fulfilling the 'need-to-know' requirement." Id. Thus, the issue presented by question (e) is whether, under the existing executive branch rules and practices, individual employees are free to make a disclosure to Members of Congress based on their own determination on the need-to-know question.

http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/nuccio.op.htm

 

[Texas]

I don't place any stock in this silly rumor either but I think you assume wrong inasfar as security clearances go for congress, and probably for nominees as well. Turns out, they really are not subject to any scrutiny whatsoever.

Here's a snip from one legal brief I found.



http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/nuccio.op.htm

That is actually a bit disturbing.

 

[MaGZ]

Here is another blog that has weighed in on the debate.

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/in-which-hospital-was-obama-born/

 

[corplinx]

Here is another blog that has weighed in on the debate.

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/in-which-hospital-was-obama-born/

All it says is that there is confusion about which hospital he was born in. So, like, dude, what's the big deal here?

Isn't there enough about Barack Obama not to like without worrying about which hospital he was born in?

 

[quixotecoyote]

All it says is that there is confusion about which hospital he was born in. So, like, dude, what's the big deal here?

Isn't there enough about Barack Obama not to like without worrying about which hospital he was born in?

Nope

 

[WildCat]

I would assume so for both presidents and candidates as a part of the FBI background check for security clearances. That is why I don't place a lot of stock in this rumor. Obama has surely already been cleared by the FBI especially when it comes to eligibility to even run for POTUS.

The only requirements to run for POTUS are spelled out in the Constitution, and the FBI sure as hell doesn't have veto power over who can run and who can't. And no, that's not nearly as disturbing as having unelected FBI officials able to declare who can run and who can't. If that's what you want, Iran is thataway -------->.

 

[quixotecoyote]

The only requirements to run for POTUS are spelled out in the Constitution, and the FBI sure as hell doesn't have veto power over who can run and who can't. And no, that's not nearly as disturbing as having unelected FBI officials able to declare who can run and who can't. If that's what you want, Iran is thataway -------->.

So you would you like to investigate if the canidate meets those requirements?

 

[WildCat]

So you would you like to investigate if the canidate meets those requirements?

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.

Natural born citizen of the US? Check.

At least 35 years old? Check.

Been living in the US for the last 14 years? Check.

Anything else is irrelevant.

 

[Zap]

I've heard some convincing arguments from both sides about this issue and I don't know what to think.

I do think that the ineligibility thing is just wishful thinking on the part of some people. I have a hard time believing Obama would run for president knowing that he's ineligible. You just can't keep that sort of thing secret forever.

 

[quixotecoyote]

Natural born citizen of the US? Check.

At least 35 years old? Check.

Been living in the US for the last 14 years? Check.

Anything else is irrelevant.

I completely agree. The question I ask is, "Who does the checking?"