Despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, some right wing conservatives are spreading the story that Barack Obama was not born on American soil and is, therefore, disqualified from being President of the United States.
They call themselves “birthers” and no matter how firm the denials or solid the documentary evidence, they cannot bring themselves to believe the truth.
Obama’s American Citizenship is Indisputable
Leonard Doyle in the Washington Bureau of The Daily Telegraph has been following this story. In a July 25, 2009 article he wrote: “The White House has published copies of Mr. Obama’s official birth certificate - a printed summary of his birth details, including the name of the medical centre in Honolulu, Hawaii, where he was born.”
Officials in Hawaii say the “Certificate of Live Birth” is authentic and records the date and place of Mr. Obama’s arrival into the world.
In addition, a birth announcement for Mr. Obama was placed by his family in The Honolulu Advertiser on August 13, 1961 – nine days after he was born.
Hawaii became the 50th state of the union on August 21, 1959, almost two years before Mr. Obama was born.
Evidence of Obama’s Citizenship Questioned
Despite the documentation the case is not closed as far as the “birthers” are concerned. Conservative talk show host Gordon Liddy claimed to have evidence that Barack Obama was born in Kenya. (Mr. Liddy is the same Gordon Liddy who led the Watergate burglary and spent more than four years in prison for the crime.)
The Telegraph’s Doyle writes that Liddy, “claims to have seen a deposition by the President’s Kenyan step-grandmother, 86-year-old Sarah Obama, stating that the city of his birth was Mombasa.” This “deposition” later turned out to be very questionable.
Another Conservative talk show host weighed in with an attack on Mr. Obama’s nationality. On June 10, 2009, Rush Limbaugh said, “God does not have a birth certificate, and neither does Obama…Not that we’ve seen.”
A video on the Internet shows a woman confronting Congressman Mike Castle at a town hall meeting in July, 2009. The woman harangues the congressman about President Obama not being an American: “He is not a citizen of the United States,” she yells, “He is a citizen of Kenya.” The woman adds, “I want my country back.” From the applause that greets her tirade, it appears the woman has plenty of support for her view.
Conspiracy Theory Gets into the Mainstream
The whole story would probably have died away and just circulated among a few right-wing bloggers and conspiracy theorists had it not been taken up by some otherwise respected mainstream media. Lou Dobbs, who hosts his own radio show and has a popular one-program on CNN in prime time has raised the issue.
Instead of ignoring the views of a few extremists, Mr. Dobbs legitimized the story by asking, “Why won’t the president produce his birth certificate?” This despite the fact that his own network has completely debunked the entire story. Dobbs is taken to task for his stand by mediamatters.com.
Another conservative talk show host, Michael Medved some time ago criticized those who keep the story alive. Back on March 2, 2009, Medved was quoted in Washington Monthly as describing the “birthers” as “ ‘crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy, conservative imposters’ who are ‘the worst enemy of the conservative movement.’ He added, ‘It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company.’ ”
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