Let's draw out the nut's.
An examination of rumors alleging that Barack Obama's birth certificate is either a forgery or an invalid 'short-form' computer print-out which fails to establish his status as a natural-born U.S. citizen.
THE SAGA OF Barack Obama's birth certificate is tortuous and ironic.
It began with the June 2008 release of a
scan of Obama's state-issued Certification of Live Birth to quell rumors suggesting that his religious affiliation and country of origin might be other than what he claimed. Partisan scuttlebutt speculated that Obama's middle name was really "Mohammed," for example — which, if true, would lend support to rumblings that he had grown up a Muslim — and that he was actually born in Kenya, not the United States — which of course would mean he's not a natural-born citizen and therefore ineligible for the presidency.
The Certification of Live Birth refuted both of those claims, yet somehow only managed to ignite further controversy.
First, it was labeled a forgery. Anonymous "experts" claimed they were able to detect anomalies in the scanned image that proved it couldn't possibly be authentic.
When that failed to fly, the document was assailed for being a "short-form" computer print-out as opposed to an original, hospital-issued birth record. A cry went up for the release of Obama's "real" birth certificate, which conspiracy theorists said was being "suppressed" by the state of Hawaii because of the potentially explosive information it could contain.
Six months into his presidency and fully a year after the Certification of Live Birth was first posted online, a small but increasingly vocal minority is still demanding to know why President Obama "refused" to show his birth certificate.
The proper response, of course, is that he has already done so. The document released in 2008
is a valid Hawaii birth certificate, vetted by multiple sources, proving that Barack Hussein Obama was born on U.S. soil on August 4, 1961.
Let's examine some of the allegations to the contrary.
CLAIM: The scanned Certification of Live Birth released by Obama is a forgery.
EXAMPLE: Personal message from a reader dated Dec. 10, 2008: I am part of a citizen action group against LIES, BIAS and DISCRIMINATION in the media reporting, We will be taking part in lawsuits against biased media or those who fail to report the truth and evidence on matters involving the FACT that Obama is NOT eligible for office based on the FACTS that he FORGED his birth record and was NOT born the the United States!
STATUS: FALSE. "It's a valid Hawaii state birth certificate," said Hawaii Department of Health spokesperson Janice Okubo when
queried by the
St. Petersburg Times' PolitiFact.com website in June 2008. To verify that, the actual physical document was scrutinized by researchers at FactCheck.org (see
hi-res images), who determined it had been duly signed, sealed, and certified by the state registrar, and "meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship."
Sources:
• Obama's Birth Certificate: Final Chapter. Politifact.com, July 2009
• Born in the U.S.A. FactCheck.org, 1 Nov 2008
CLAIM: As distinguished from a "long-form" Certificate of Live Birth, the "short-form" Certification of Live Birth issued by Hawaii and posted online by the Obama campaign isn't a "real" or "valid" birth certificate.
EXAMPLE: Personal message from a reader dated Oct. 28, 2008: [T]he Obama campaign did finally present a document which they claimed validated his eligibility (per the Constitution of the United States, Article II, Section I) as a "Natural born citizen" to have his name on the ballot in contention for the office of the President of the United States of America. However, contrary to what the few media outlets who are giving this outrageous claim any attention at all have concurred, what the Obama campaign supplied was not, in fact, a "birth certificate". What they supplied was actually a "Certificate of Live Birth." There is a major difference between a "birth certificate" and a "Certificate of Live Birth." Aside from the level of detail differentiating the documents (hospital of record, doctor, height, weight, etc) - in the state of Hawaii, one authenticates natural born citizenship, and the other doesn't.
STATUS: FALSE. According to both the Hawaii.gov website and a June 6, 2009 article in the
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the computer-generated Certification of Live Birth is the
only kind of birth record currently issued by the state (original records are stored electronically), so the distinction between "long-form" and "short-form" is moot. When a Hawaii citizen requests a certified copy of his or her birth certificate from the state, a Certification of Live Birth — what people are calling a "short-form" —
is what they get. It contains "all the information needed by all federal government agencies for transactions requiring a birth certificate," affirms Health Department spokesperson Janice Okubo.
Sources:
• Born Identity. Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 6 June 2009
• HI Officials Confirm Obama's Original Birth Certificate Still Exists. Honolulu Advertiser, 28 July 2009
• Applying for Hawaiian Home Lands. Hawaii.gov, 2009
CLAIM: Since Hawaii law allows residents to obtain birth certificates for children born outside the state, the released document still doesn't prove that Obama couldn't have been born in, say, Kenya.
EXAMPLE: Forwarded email received Dec. 2, 2008: Right Side News on Sunday so graciously pointed out that "Hawaii Revised Statute 338-17.8 allows registration of birth in Hawaii for a child that was born outside of Hawaii to parents who, for a year preceding the childs birth, claimed Hawaii as their place of residence. The parents would be issued a Certification of Live Birth. This is not proof of where the child was born. It only proves that the parents claimed Hawaii as their main place of residence for the prior year."
STATUS: FALSE. The Certification of Live Birth explicitly states that he was born in Honolulu; if he had been born elsewhere, the document would say so.
Janice Okubo explains: "If you were born in Bali, for example, you could get a certificate from the state of Hawaii saying you were born in Bali. You could not get a certificate saying you were born in Honolulu. The state has to verify a fact like that for it to appear on the certificate."
Moreover, the Hawaii Department of Health has verified and
publicly confirmed that the original birth records on file do, in fact, specify that Obama was born in Hawaii:
"I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a natural-born American citizen," wrote the head of the Health Department in a statement released July 27, 2009.
Unless one is willing to accuse Dr. Fukino and other state officials of lying, that puts the matter to rest.
Oh, and one more thing. Given all of the above,
birth announcements printed in both the
Honolulu Advertiser and
Honolulu Star-Bulletin in August 1961 eliminate all reasonable doubt as to where Barack Obama was really born (hint: neither of those papers is published in Kenya).
Sources:
• 'Birther' Movement Dogs Republicans. Washington Independent, 17 July 2009
• Statement by Health Director Chiyomi Fukino, M.D. Hawaii Department of Health, 27 July 2009
• HI Officials Confirm Obama's Original Birth Certificate Still Exists. Honolulu Advertiser, 28 July 2009
Update: 'Birther' Wackiness Continues with Release of Obama's 'Kenyan Birth Certificate'
Poll: Do you believe the certificate released by Obama is valid and sufficient proof of U.S. birth?
Take the Poll
Email This Article
Sources and further reading:
Barack Obama's Birth Certificate Revealed Here
LA Times "Top of the Ticket" blog, 17 June 2008
Statement by Health Director Chiyomi Fukino, M.D.
Hawaii Department of Health, 27 July 2009
'Birther' Movement Dogs Republicans
Washington Independent, 17 July 2009
Born Identity
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 6 June 2009
Hawaii Officials Confirm Obama's Original Birth Certificate Still Exists
Honolulu Advertiser, 28 July 2009
No Doubt About Obama's Birth
Editorial,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 29 July 2009
It's Certifiable
Wall Street Journal, 30 July 2009
Obama's Birth Certificate: Final Chapter
Politifact.com, updated July 2009
Obama's Certificate of Birth OK, State Says
Honolulu Advertiser, 1 November 2009
Born in the U.S.A.
FactCheck.org, 1 November 2008
Obama's Birth Announcements
WhatReallyHappened.com
