# Whitehouse releases Obama long form birth-certificate **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 27, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889 "2011-04-27T13:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/161 "2011-05-01T19:36:52Z")
Or else they did it on purpose. Releasing the birth certificate at this time is a deliberate move to enhance the standing of Donald Trump. At the very least, it promotes divisiveness within the Republican Party, whose mainstream is horrified by the possibility of a Trump candidacy, and if the long shot comes in, the GOP will actually nominate him. The Democrats could not ask for a weaker opponent who can be easily painted as an unpresidential kook. Anything that keeps the birther issue alive at this point is a plus for the President, so keeping doubt alive makes it harder for Republican contenders who can’t bring themselves to support it. I think Obama is crazy like a fox. ---
**Author:** ![Ocardowin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ccd318/32.png) [@Ocardowin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocardowin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/162 "2011-05-01T19:37:30Z")
“Show me your papers, boy.” That’s all this was. Birthers are either in denial of the racial component, or ignorant of it. Additionally, and I’m not sure if it was brought up earlier in this thread, it would not matter one bit if Obama had been born in Kenya. USC 1401(g) > **[8 U.S. Code § 1401 - Nationals and citizens of United States at birth](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1401)** ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/163 "2011-05-01T20:11:00Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Or else they did it on purpose. Releasing the birth certificate at this time is a deliberate move to enhance the standing of Donald Trump. At the very least, it promotes divisiveness within the Republican Party, whose mainstream is horrified by the possibility of a Trump candidacy, and if the long shot comes in, the GOP will actually nominate him. The Democrats could not ask for a weaker opponent who can be easily painted as an unpresidential kook. > > Anything that keeps the birther issue alive at this point is a plus for the President, so keeping doubt alive makes it harder for Republican contenders who can’t bring themselves to support it. I think Obama is crazy like a fox. Trump is a force of one on a self-destructive path. As long as he isn’t using Republican resources he is out on a limb by himself making Obama (the person) a matter of conversation and not President Obama. Trump is easily dismissed by the party. ---
**Author:** ![Ocardowin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ccd318/32.png) [@Ocardowin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocardowin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/164 "2011-05-01T20:12:06Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Trump is a force of one on a self-destructive path. As long as he isn’t using Republican resources he is making Obama (the person) a matter of conversation and not President Obama. Trump is easily dismissed by the party. Those who attempt to dismiss a billionaire with a cause and a television show do so at their own peril. - Ocardowin, 2011. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/165 "2011-05-01T20:14:38Z")
> [@Ocardowin](#): > > Additionally, and I’m not sure if it was brought up earlier in this thread, it would not matter one bit if Obama had been born in Kenya. > > USC 1401(g) > > [8 U.S. Code § 1401 - Nationals and citizens of United States at birth | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/8/1401.html) Stanley Ann Dunham wasn’t yet 19 when Barack was born, or employed by an international organization, so she would not have been able to pass on citizenship alone. ---
**Author:** ![Ocardowin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ccd318/32.png) [@Ocardowin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ocardowin)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/166 "2011-05-01T20:35:29Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Stanley Ann Dunham wasn’t yet 19 when Barack was born, or employed by an international organization, so she would not have been able to pass on citizenship alone. Ah, you are correct w/r/t the statute. Didn’t realize it had been amended and not made retroactive to before 1986. However, that simply changes it from a “sure thing” that him being born in Kenya wouldn’t have mattered to “in all likelihood, it wouldn’t have mattered.” ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/167 "2011-05-01T20:35:37Z")
> [@Ocardowin](#): > > Those who attempt to dismiss a billionaire with a cause and a television show do so at their own peril. - Ocardowin, 2011. well I never understood how Jesse Ventura got elected. I mean seriously, WTH? I thought he’d get 5% of the vote. But then Fred Phelp’s got 31% of the Democratic Primary vote for US Senate in 1992. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/168 "2011-05-01T20:40:44Z")
> [@Ocardowin](#): > > Ah, you are correct w/r/t the statute. Didn’t realize it had been amended and not made retroactive to before 1986. > > However, that simply changes it from a “sure thing” that him being born in Kenya wouldn’t have mattered to “in all likelihood, it wouldn’t have mattered.” I never quite got the jist of the argument but I figured there was something on the full certificate about his father that he didn’t want made public. I suspected his father never married his mother which would have made the President a bastard. That doesn’t mean much anymore but it makes good soundbite fodder. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/169 "2011-05-01T21:43:38Z")
> [@Ocardowin](#): > > Ah, you are correct w/r/t the statute. Didn’t realize it had been amended and not made retroactive to before 1986. > > However, that simply changes it from a “sure thing” that him being born in Kenya wouldn’t have mattered to “in all likelihood, it wouldn’t have mattered.” True enough. Just keeping the nits picked. 🆒 > [@Magiver](#): > > well I never understood how Jesse Ventura got elected. I mean seriously, WTH? I thought he’d get 5% of the vote. But then Fred Phelp’s got 31% of the Democratic Primary vote for US Senate in 1992. At that point, he wasn’t really into his “god hates fags” role yet. He was still best known as (arguably) Kansas’ leading [civil rights litigator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps#Civil_rights_cases). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/170 "2011-05-01T22:40:51Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > At that point, he wasn’t really into his “god hates fags” role yet. He was still best known as (arguably) Kansas’ leading [civil rights litigator](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps#Civil_rights_cases). that makes sense for Phelps but Ventura’s election was bizarre. ---
**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:** [May 1, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/171 "2011-05-01T22:51:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Yes. Although not full-on Birthers, they were in the “teach the controversy” camp. Or, perhaps we call them soft on birtherism. Or Birthers-lite. Birthnostics? ---
**Author:** ![fumster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@fumster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fumster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/172 "2011-05-01T23:02:18Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’m not a birther but you addressed nothing about what I’ve said. They fucked up this image. A child could have done a better job. I think they used a physical mask to not show the rest of the birth information on that page, and that mask had the same background so someone wouldn’t just say that it was done by some else. It looks weird, but then there would be a nit with anything produced. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/173 "2011-05-01T23:07:28Z")
> [@Sri\_Theo](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mzJhvC-8E&feature=youtu.be](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9mzJhvC-8E&feature=youtu.be) > > Obama talks about the Birth certificate at the White house correspondents dinner. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWuv2txl\_5M](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWuv2txl_5M) > > A two minute clip of someone else at the dinner on the birth certificate and Donald trump. > > Both are hilarious. The really hilarious part about it is that Trump is sitting there stone-faced, utterly infuriated that people are making jokes at his expense. Hey, there, Donny. If you want to be a politician, this stuff is minor league criticism. This is NOTHING. Wait until it gets really vicious - when they start making up shit about your past, accusing you of being a war criminal, a Communist, a Nazi, whatever. If you have trouble taking THIS shit, professional pure humour in good taste, you are not cut out to run for public office. Aww, poor wittle Donny, his feewings are hurt. Can’t run with the big dogs? Stay the fuck on the porch, hairboy. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/174 "2011-05-01T23:20:11Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > I think they used a physical mask to not show the rest of the birth information on that page, and that mask had the same background so someone wouldn’t just say that it was done by some else. It looks weird, but then there would be a nit with anything produced. That does show that I was indeed correct in the pit thread, I mentioned to the stubborn Birthnostic there (Thanks for that term **Bryan Ekers**!) that sure, the president could order the certificate under the freedom of information act, but[just like a legion of examples should show](http://www.majesticdocuments.com/official.documents.foia.php) \*, lots of information will be omitted or blanked out for privacy or other legal reasons. \*Ignore the UFO conspiracy conclusions, the link is there only to show that freedom of information does not mean that you will get \*\*all \*\*the information. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/175 "2011-05-01T23:51:00Z")
> [@sh1bu1](#): > > I think they used a physical mask to not show the rest of the birth information on that page, and that mask had the same background so someone wouldn’t just say that it was done by some else. It looks weird, but then there would be a nit with anything produced. That’s what I thought but the edges are perfectly blended on 3 sides so it would have to be done electronically. I’d like to know how they did it. I’ve tried to do almost the exact same thing and ran into all kinds of problems even with merging software. I’m not sure how that matters but it adds to the “it was pasted together” meme which I was addressing. There will always be people who question the document but if they just followed the “keep-it-simple” rule they could eliminate 99% of it. * * * [:mad:🆒] getting your Charlie Sheen tickets for pennies on the dollar so you can openly mock him, priceless ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/176 "2011-05-02T00:20:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Stanley Ann Dunham wasn’t yet 19 when Barack was born, or employed by an international organization, so she would not have been able to pass on citizenship alone. I’ve never felt right about this interpretation of the law. It seems totally ridiculous to me. Granted, back then pregnant women whose mate wasn’t a citizen under the age of majority weren’t globetrotting in areas that weren’t considered U.S. soil, but still, it seems ridiculous to me that an American woman could basically have a Mexican child just by having a car breakdown in Tijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Baracus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/2bfe46/32.png) [@Baracus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baracus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/177 "2011-05-02T01:17:29Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That’s what I thought but the edges are perfectly blended on 3 sides so it would have to be done electronically. I’d like to know how they did it. I’ve tried to do almost the exact same thing and ran into all kinds of problems even with merging software. I’m not sure how that matters but it adds to the “it was pasted together” meme which I was addressing. There will always be people who question the document but if they just followed the “keep-it-simple” rule they could eliminate 99% of it. I don’t see any big mystery here. The original form was likely plain black and white and they either scanned or photocopied it with a white mask around Obama’s form (or it was cropped). The resulting scan/copy was then printed onto the patterned paper. That is why there are no interruptions, bends, etc, in the pattern. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/178 "2011-05-02T01:27:56Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I never quite got the jist of the argument but I figured there was something on the full certificate about his father that he didn’t want made public. I suspected his father never married his mother which would have made the President a bastard. That doesn’t mean much anymore but it makes good soundbite fodder. Of course you thought things like that. There was no reason for anyone who was fair about Obama to think that. But you rightys think like that. Obama gave his birth certificate out 3 years ago. That was more than you deserved, but he did. You should have had enough class to stop right there, because anything else was wrong and uncalled for. You guys had to conjure up some conspiracy theories to justify more,but you were up to it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/179 "2011-05-02T01:40:13Z")
**gonzomax** , knock it off. **Magiver** has made no comments indicating support for the birthers. His entire discussion has been a technical one regarding the appearnce of the currently released document, with no claims for any skulduggery. You are letting your own political prejudices create imagined slights and attacks where none exist. Since your attack on his person has no bearing on either his comments or the discussion, you will stop posting such attacks in this thread. If you have to behave in a silly fashion, take it to **The BBQ Pit**. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889/180 "2011-05-02T01:56:31Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That’s what I thought but the edges are perfectly blended on 3 sides so it would have to be done electronically. I’d like to know how they did it. I’ve tried to do almost the exact same thing and ran into all kinds of problems even with merging software. I’m not sure how that matters but it adds to the “it was pasted together” meme which I was addressing. There will always be people who question the document but if they just followed the “keep-it-simple” rule they could eliminate 99% of it. > > * * * > > [:mad:🆒] getting your Charlie Sheen tickets for pennies on the dollar so you can openly mock him, priceless You’re misinterpreting what you’re seeing. The black and white original was printed on paper that already had the green intermeshing lines on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whitehouse-releases-obama-long-form-birth-certificate/579889.md?page=10)