Acting White: Justice Thomas Considering Obama’s Claim To The White House

What is clear. The voting public selected Barack Obama and Joe Biden to become this country's leadership, come January 20, 2009. What is NOT clear. President-elect Obama’s meeting of the test of natural-born citizenship, thereby qualifying him, and providing uncontestable installation into the office as winner.

The US Supreme Court decided the 2000 election battle between Bush and Gore, and they may very well decide whether Obama ever moves into, or gets to stay in, the White House, not to mention the chaos this process would rain down on our already beleaguered country. Of note, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is considering the merits of one of the challenges, even as I write this. Then again, I am hard pressed to see officials from Hawaii, or the US State Department, standing up against the voters or Obama. I am also dubious of the US allowing officials or records of Pakistan or Indonesia to influence, through testimony, who sits in the Office of the President of the US.

The first issue is whether Obama’s original Hawaii birth certificate, as presented, is valid. While some argue that he was actually born in Kenya, rather than Hawaii, as his Kenyan grandmother testifies, this is not the substantive issue. Hawaii provides for its citizens to bear children outside of the country, within certain requirements. Upon return, the state will issue a birth certificate in exchange, resembling the one offered by the Obama camp on their website. The real issue would seem to be if his parent met the stated residency requirements for valid issuance. The discretion of the decision maker in this case, the Hawaii Director of Health, would seem to create significant latitude, making challenge very difficult, except if there was evidence that either of his parents had valid non-US passports at the time. This would evidence a problem with Hawaii’s issuance of Barack’s US certificate, which they claim as valid.

The Hawaii requirements are as follows… [§338-17.8] Certificates for children born out of State. (a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child. (b) Proof of legal residency shall be submitted to the director of health in any manner that the director shall deem appropriate. The director of health may also adopt any rules pursuant to chapter 91 that he or she may deem necessary or proper to prevent fraudulent applications for birth certificates and to require any further information or proof of events necessary for completion of a birth certificate.

The second issue is whether Obama’s mother later relinquished her son’s US citizenship, as it seems she did her own, when she married an Indonesian and moved to that country, with Barack in-tow. Indonesia does not allow dual-citizenship, so any evidence of Barack's activity as a citizen of that country is also evidence that his current US status could only be naturalized, not natural-born, thereby disqualifying his presidential bid (under Article Two of the US Constitution).

Following this logic, Obama’s self-described trip to Pakistan in 1981 begs the question of what passport he used. Only the US State Department, the Pakistan government, and/or Indonesia can definitively say what requirements he must have met to enter/return to each country. Which State Department staffers are going to put themselves in the line of fire testifying about what the Pakistani’s or Indonesian’s were requiring, at the time Obama visited? I say probably none.

So in the end we come back to where we started, where concerns and evidence together have yet to meet the test of formal inquiry. Despite negative connotations associated with his name, his mixed-race, and affiliations, the discretion of the voters was that Obama should lead. Voters believed his words more than Senator McCain’s, so we need to get out of his way and let him do the job. We will know soon enough if Justice Thomas thinks this dog will hunt. Thomas will probably kick this one back, but then again he may see this as a chance to show just how long he can hold a grudge.

James C. Collier

Hat Tip: The Field Negro

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