# Now you're making stuff up. \[Obama's citizenship\] **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 31, 2009, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427 "2009-03-31T14:16:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/21 "2009-03-31T18:09:09Z")
You should just agree with his “facts”, tell him you don’t care and you looove having a Kenyan President, and furthermore there’s not a thing he can do about it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/22 "2009-03-31T18:12:30Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > The first part was made up by the conspiracy theorists. It is not a part of US law. > > At the time of John McCain’s birth, the Canal Zone was a US territory. Neither candidate’s citizenship is tainted in any way. The Panama Canal Zone was never officially sovereign territory of the United States. In fact, to make sure it was clear, a special law was passed \*denying American citizenship to persons born there \*unless they were the child of at least one American parent. That law (Title XIII, sec 1403) did not apply to McCain, who was born before it was passed. However by all precedent he was American by birth since both his parents were Americans. It wouldn’t matter if he was born in Japan or France or on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/23 "2009-03-31T18:46:36Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Wouldn’t Joe Biden become President? Yeah, but that’s not a big deal because he doesn’t have a birth certificate either, what with being a robot and all. ---
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/24 "2009-03-31T18:54:11Z")
I am with \*\*Jane Elliot \*\*about this one, it is my favorite consipracy. I love to hunt down whacko websites and see that they are still going on about this stuff. It is all very entertaining. The first of this year was just awesome–you could feel the whacko flowing from those sites as one after another Supreme Court case was gone. Any activity caused a flurry of whackiness on those websites. I still go occasionally and read some of them when I need a good laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/25 "2009-03-31T18:57:23Z")
The secondary debate, if you accept the Kenya crap, is whether ‘natural-born citizen’ means according to the rules at the time or the current rules. It’s never been tested in court whether new citizenship laws are retroactive for the phrase ‘natural-born’ in article II. If someone says I’m wrong, I’ll back down. I’m quoting from memory and don’t have a cite. I’m pretty close to the meat of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/26 "2009-03-31T19:04:01Z")
You could just say to these people that by trying to prove Obama was not a true US citizen, they were risking tearing America in two, and were therefore even a bigger enemy of the country’s prosperity than a bogus president; who at least seems to be trying to achieve some good. Bearing in mind your country was founded by immigrants, it seems a bit churlish to be denying ‘furriners’ the right to a stab at the top spot! ---
**Author:** ![Furious\_Marmot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@Furious\_Marmot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Furious_Marmot)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/27 "2009-03-31T19:07:34Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > You should just agree with his “facts”, tell him you don’t care and you looove having a Kenyan President, and furthermore there’s not a thing he can do about it. I should come in tomorrow dressed like a Maasai warrior. ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/28 "2009-03-31T19:10:44Z")
The most subtle aspect of Barack Obama’s conspiracy to become president as a Kenyan-born non-citizen is that, knowing that their mixed-race child of a Kenyan student and a Hawaiian woman of modest means would forty-some years hence be a U.S. Senator with a chance to compete for the presidency, Mr. & Mrs. Barack Obama Sr. decided to put an birth annoucement in the August 13, 1961 [Honolulu Advertiser](http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html) to provide additional credence to their plot to give their son (whom they somehow smuggled to Hawaii with no records after his secret birth in Kenya) a false Hawaiian birth certificate. You never can understimate the cleverness of those Obamas. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/29 "2009-03-31T19:12:59Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Bearing in mind your country was founded by immigrants, it seems a bit churlish to be denying ‘furriners’ the right to a stab at the top spot! Meh. Considering that they’d just finished fighting a war, both within and without, between those loyal to England and those loyal to the idea of independence, it’s hardly surprising that the Constitution included rules hoping to select leaders who were loyal to the new nation. The idea of some kind of “background check” as a test for government service was all the rage at the time. I seem to recall hearing about certain tests in 18th-century England, too, prohibiting certain groups — Jews, Scotsmen, Frenchmen, practicing Catholics — from holding office lest England fall again under the sway of foreign powers, particularly Rome. The Constitution clause about natural-born citizens was hardly a new idea. ---
**Author:** ![Black\_Sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ce73a5/32.png) [@Black\_Sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Black_Sunshine)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/30 "2009-03-31T19:26:13Z")
So, honestly, what _would_ happen if it were proven that Obama was not a US citizen? Would Biden really be president? That sounds like even more of a conspiracy theory - that Obama was only elected to get Biden in the door so he could make way for the Reptilians (or whomever). Or, would Obama’s election be void somehow? I mean, Biden is only VP because Obama won, right? Please note: There is 0% of me which believes this is a possibility - I’m just curious as to what the law would be. ---
**Author:** ![Jane\_Elliot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jane_elliot/32/6166_2.png) [@Jane\_Elliot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jane_Elliot)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/31 "2009-03-31T19:27:30Z")
> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#): > > I am with \*\*Jane Elliot \*\*about this one, it is my favorite consipracy. I love to hunt down whacko websites and see that they are still going on about this stuff. It is all very entertaining. The first of this year was just awesome–you could feel the whacko flowing from those sites as one after another Supreme Court case was gone. Any activity caused a flurry of whackiness on those websites. > > I still go occasionally and read some of them when I need a good laugh. I’m so glad I’m not alone. I use it as sort of an intelligence test for myself. I like to see if I can spot the logical and factual mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/32 "2009-03-31T19:33:10Z")
Show your friend [this,](http://www.slate.com/id/2206033/) it’s a good recap. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/33 "2009-03-31T19:33:42Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Yeah, but that’s not a big deal because he doesn’t have a birth certificate either, what with being a robot and all. Looks like we’ve got President Pelosi! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/34 "2009-03-31T19:35:26Z")
And as loony as this “Obama is not a citizen” idiocy is, wouldn’t you know it, but Clarence Thomas thinks there just might be something there. > **[Method to Thomas Madness on Obama Birth Certificate](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/method-to-thomas-madness_b_148626)** > > Method to Thomas Madness on Obama Birth Certificate Thomas is one pathetic, sad creature. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/35 "2009-03-31T19:46:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I haven’t seen him produce any documentation proving that he doesn’t kick puppies, you know. Maybe I can blackmail the President with made-up “facts” too! Please show the constitutional requirement that the President must have a doesn’t kick puppies certificate. _ **IF** _ Obama was not born in the US he is highly manipulable. That is a really big factor. Again ‘if’ We can talk about the doesn’t kick puppies aspect when you bring the constitutional cite. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/36 "2009-03-31T19:48:42Z")
> [@Black\_Sunshine](#): > > So, honestly, what _would_ happen if it were proven that Obama was not a US citizen? Would Biden really be president? I wish it were proven, out in the open, one way or another, in it’s current state it is a huge problem. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/37 "2009-03-31T19:49:26Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I wish it were proven, out in the open, one way or another, in it’s current state it is a huge problem. For who? ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/38 "2009-03-31T19:57:18Z")
> [@Black\_Sunshine](#): > > Or, would Obama’s election be void somehow? I mean, Biden is only VP because Obama won, right? It wasn’t just “Obama’s election.” We voted for both a president and vice president–Biden’s name was on the ballot too, remember? So if Obama were somehow removed from office, Biden would still be his legal successor. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/39 "2009-03-31T20:03:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > For who? For the people of this country. As I stated above _if_ he was not born in the country, he is easily manipulated unless he would be willing to come clean if pressed. In it’s current state he is a puppet, and that means the person running the country is not visible to the people. This sword over Obama’s head has to be removed, even to the point of allowing him to remain pres if he admits he was not born here. It is a very bad situation. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427/40 "2009-03-31T20:05:01Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > For the people of this country. As I stated above _if_ he was not born in the country, he is easily manipulated unless he would be willing to come clean if pressed. In it’s current state he is a puppet, and that means the person running the country is not visible to the people. So… are you saying that you think his birth certificate is faked? And the state of Hawaii is somehow complicit in a coverup? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-youre-making-stuff-up-obamas-citizenship/491427.md?page=3)