# Would producing a birth certificate do any good? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 12, 2011, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117 "2011-02-12T09:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/241 "2011-02-14T07:02:02Z")
So, I heard about this guy who’s name I can’t remember who knows a guy he can’t remember, but this guy has a picture he took on his cell phone in 1981 of **CoT** blowing a dead goat. Actually, he blew the goat to death in the first place, but his cell phone only had 10G of storage, so he couldn’t record the whole “blowing to death” part. A lengthy process, you might well imagine. Now, I’m only mentioning this as an example of something that I don’t believe. But I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it were true! ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/242 "2011-02-14T07:04:42Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > :rolleyes: > > You \*\*are \*\*gullible SA, that has been demonstrated many times before. Seeing how you quoted the most seemingly questionable parts of an article that in reality was fair to all sides was misleading in context. I quoted the parts that substantiated points I was making last night which you ridiculed me for. But, having said that, I’m not gonna play this game all night. You obviously lack the integrity and personal character it takes to admit you were wrong and to apologize. End of story. ---
**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:** [February 14, 2011, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/243 "2011-02-14T07:13:21Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I quoted the parts that substantiated points I was making last night which you ridiculed me for. Lets be clear, the evidence is already there to dismiss what you remarked upon. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > But, having said that, I’m not gonna play this game all night. You obviously lack the integrity and personal character it takes to admit you were wrong and to apologize. End of story. I already said that I was wrong, but it was an honest misunderstanding, and even then it was clear that even Diogenes got confused by your selective quotes that by chance looked like what the hoaxers did. What everyone else can see as the end of this history is that you are willfully ignoring that I admitted already that I was wrong, and for that you will never apologize. But then again, as in previous cases we already knew who is dishonest in the discussions. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/244 "2011-02-14T07:23:20Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Lets be clear, the evidence is already there to dismiss what you remarked upon. > I already said that I was wrong, but it was an honest misunderstanding, and even then it was clear that even Diogenes got confused by your selective quotes that by chance looked like what the hoaxers did. > > What everyone else can see as the end of this history is that you are willfully ignoring that I admitted already that I was wrong, and for that you will never apologize. But then again, as in previous cases we already knew who is dishonest in the discussions. You admitted you were wrong about a hoax that you posted tonight, right? Or are you saying that you thought you were responding to someone and something else having to do with the hoax last night? ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/245 "2011-02-14T07:23:56Z")
> [@Champion-of-Truth](#): > > The very idea of a black man ever becoming president in 1961 was unthinkable. No one would ever have thought it possible. No, she probably just wanted what all illegals want…to have her son enjoy the fruits and benefits of being an American citizen. No more, no less. Stupid liberals and their bizarre conspiracy theories. :rolleyes: > [@Champion-of-Truth](#): > > Obama’s father could not pass citizenship to Obama, since he was a British citizen. Obama’s mother could not pass citizenship since at the time, if only one parent was a citizen, that parent must have lived in the USA for at least 10 years, at least 5 of which had to have been after the age of 16, meaning she had to have been 21 to have passed citizenship to him. Could you at least decide which crazy conspiracy you’d like to stick with? Either go with the ‘he was born in Kenya’ angle or go with the ‘he was born in Hawaii but still isn’t an American’ angle. You can’t have it both ways. So, do you think he was born in Kenya and both his COLB and birth announcements in the newspaper were faked (an idea which you just called a ‘bizarre conspiracy theory’)? Do you think that Obama’s mom couldn’t confer citizenship even though she gave birth in Hawaii (which would require us to believe that anyone born to a mother under age 21 and an unknown father would be a citizen of what? Absolutely nowhere?)? Or do you believe that Hawaiian birth certificates are just handed out like candy to any mope that asks for one, and somehow his mom somehow got one issued all the way from Kenya, in the 60s, quickly enough that the birth showed up in the paper a week later? Or do you think that she travelled from Kenya to Hawaii in that week, toting a newborn infant and leaving no evidence? Just pick one thing and stick to it! You’re all over the damn map! ---
**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:** [February 14, 2011, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/246 "2011-02-14T07:37:44Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You admitted you were wrong about a hoax that you posted tonight, right? I was not wrong, it was a hoax, birthers have claimed that Abercrombie admitted that there was no birth certificate, that was not true. What I have seen, is that right after the hoax appeared, many birthers came out of the woods. ABC reporting on the controversy is a response to that hoax as it involves also the efforts of Abercrombie in Hawaii. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Or are you saying that you thought you were responding to someone and something else having to do with the hoax last night? Yep, I was wrong on this one, and this is about the 4th time I mention that. Unfortunately ABC is just reporting on the controversy (Like for creationists, having the controversy in the media \*\*is \*\*the point for many birthers), and Chris Matthews has been caught before propping up the controversy just to get more eyeballs IMHO. > **[Chris Matthews: A Deeply Closeted Birther?](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chris-matthews-a-deeply-c_b_243327)** > > Chris Matthews: A Deeply Closeted Birther? > [@](#): > > Here, Matthews’ browbeats a hapless GOP congressman and waives around what he terms to be Obama’s birth certificate, and the next night giggles with some commentators about it here, but the net effect of these tirades is to pour gasoline on the nascent birther movement and give it more credibility. > > Why? Because the birthers aren’t after what Matthews held up for the camera, the certificate of live birth, they’re after the real thing, the actual birth certificate which is issued at the time of a person’s birth, which in Obama’s case is supposed to exist in some vault in Hawaii under lock and key and which, according to Hawaiian law, can only be released if the President requests it. Matthews surely knows this, but constructs and destroys his straw man certificate argument anyway. > > … > > By working himself into a straw-man frenzy over a document that nobody contests and ignoring the one the conspiracy theorists are after, Matthews is giving their movement credibility and raising the suspicions of the rest of us who don’t have a strong opinion one way or the other but are always up for a good conspiracy theory. > > But maybe that’s his goal. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/247 "2011-02-14T07:42:50Z")
The only thing I know for sure about Chris “Tweety Bird” Matthews is that he cannot stand to listen to anyone else talk for more than ten seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/248 "2011-02-14T07:50:52Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Yep, I was wrong on this one, and this is about the 4th time I mention that. Okay, fair enough. I thought you were apologizing for posting the hoax link tonight, thinking I was citing it instead of ABC News. Thanks, and I’ll apologize as well for the misunderstanding. > [@GIGObuster](#): > > Unfortunately ABC is just reporting on the controversy (Like for creationists, having the controversy in the media \*\*is \*\*the point for many birthers), and Chris Matthews has been caught before propping up the controversy just to get more eyeballs IMHO. Yes, they are reporting the controversy, as they should. The key thing though as it pertains to me is that the report references long form birth certificates, Hawaii’s governor as stating that the issues surrounding Omaba’s certificate are important enough to verify that it exists, and that Chris Matthews thought Obama should have the long form released to the public. These are all things I was ridiculed for last night but which turn out to have been either factual enough or reasonable enough for serious reportage on ABC News. > [@elucidator](#): > > The only thing I know for sure about Chris “Tweety Bird” Matthews is that he cannot stand to listen to anyone else talk for more than ten seconds. On this we can agree. ---
**Author:** ![Champion-of-Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Champion-of-Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Champion-of-Truth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/249 "2011-02-14T07:51:56Z")
Meyer 6 wrote some drivel which forces me to enact new rules for communicating with me. He writes: > [@](#): > > Could you at least decide which crazy conspiracy you’d like to stick with? Either go with the ‘he was born in Kenya’ angle or go with the ‘he was born in Hawaii but still isn’t an American’ angle. You can’t have it both ways. Dumbass, try listening closely, and I promise to type slowly and clearly. I. NEVER. CLAIMED. OBAMA. WAS. BORN. IN. KENYA. I. NEVER. CLAIMED. OBAMA. WAS. BORN. IN. HAWAII. Do you understand that or do I need to draw you a fucking diagram? What is it with liberals that they cannot comprehend a single thing told to them until you pound it into their heads with a hammer? I have only ever said that: WE. DO. NOT. KNOW. WHERE. OBAMA. WAS. ACTUALLY. BORN. Despite the shit coming from the liberals, there are HUGE problems with the Obama birth narrative, and so it needs to be resolved. NO ONE has ever seen his actual CERTIFICATE of Birth, ie his long form birth certificate (not that crap on Factcheck) that shows the hospital, attending physician, etc. And investigations reveal all sorts of anomalies with his background. Including, perhaps most troubling, his use of a social security number belonging to a man born in 1890 in Connecticut. Do you comprehend this? > [@](#): > > So, do you think he was born in Kenya and both his COLB and birth announcements in the newspaper were faked (an idea which you just called a ‘bizarre conspiracy theory’)? Again, you fucking libtard, I DID NOT EVER SAY that his birth announcements in the newspaper were fake. I said they were auto-generated and prove nothing since they could easily have been generated by the worthless COLB document. And I DID NOT EVER call that a “bizarre conspiracy theory”. I swear, with almighty God as my witness, I am going to win a fucking Nobel Prize in Medicine for proving that liberalism is a condition of non-comprehension! > [@](#): > > Do you think that Obama’s mom couldn’t confer citizenship even though she gave birth in Hawaii (which would require us to believe that anyone born to a mother under age 21 and an unknown father would be a citizen of what? Absolutely nowhere?)? If Obama’s mother did indeed give birth to Obama in Hawaii in 1961 when she was 18 years old, then she was not old enough to confer citizenship on Obama. She needed to have resided in America for 5 years after the age of 16, meaning she would have needed to have been 21 years old to confer citizenship. She was only 18 when Obama was born. Therefore, with his mother unable to legally confer citizenship on him, Obama would be a British citizen through his father. When he was adopted (although there is some question whether he was) by Lolo Soetoro and changed his name to Barry Soetoro, he would have gained Indonesian citizenship. In either case, he would not be a natural born American citizen. In fact, he might not be an American citizen at all! > [@](#): > > Or do you believe that Hawaiian birth certificates are just handed out like candy to any mope that asks for one, and somehow his mom somehow got one issued all the way from Kenya, in the 60s, quickly enough that the birth showed up in the paper a week later? Maybe you should do a little investigation before bothering us with stupid questions. Yes, it was easy to get a fake COLB in 1961 in Hawaii. Basically all it took was one parent swearing their child was born there. > [@](#): > > Just pick one thing and stick to it! You’re all over the damn map! No, you stupid liberals are the ones all over the map because you keep inventing things in your bizarro heads that I have not been saying. Seriously, try a reading comprehension course. I mean that literally. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/250 "2011-02-14T07:52:31Z")
> [@Champion-of-Truth](#): > > Obama’s father could not pass citizenship to Obama, since he was a British citizen. Obama’s mother could not pass citizenship since at the time, if only one parent was a citizen, that parent must have lived in the USA for at least 10 years, at least 5 of which had to have been after the age of 16, meaning she had to have been 21 to have passed citizenship to him. I have heard this before and am curious what it is based on. What law says this? I know it isn’t in the Constitution. I find it hard to believe a child born on U.S. soil has ever been denied citizenship because the only parent who was a citizen was less than 21 years old. I would love to see a cite showing any case where this has happened. Of course, the above assumes Dunham gave birth on U.S. soil. If you think she didn’t the question **Diogenes** asked here is relevant: > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > One thing I don’t understand about the Birther theory is why Anne Dunham flew to Kenya when she was nine months pregnant (somehow without a passport) to have the baby when she could have just as easily stayed in Hawaii… Yes, I realize he went on to sarcastically insinuate it was a devious plot stretching back 50 years to get little baby Barak in the White House. You realize this was sarcasm, right? Finally, there is more evidence in the public record about where Obama was born than I, or the vast majority of people, have ever seen proving where Reagan, Clinton, Bush and Bush2 were born. Can you provide any evidence or testimony proving the four Presidents preceding Obama were natural born citizens? I ask this because prior to the election of Obama nobody (and I feel confident when I say **nobody** ) had questioned documentation for them equivalent to what has been produced regarding the birth of this President. ---
**Author:** ![Champion-of-Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Champion-of-Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Champion-of-Truth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/251 "2011-02-14T07:53:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I was not wrong, it was a hoax, birthers have claimed that Abercrombie admitted that there was no birth certificate, that was not true. Abercrombie said there was a “notation” somewhere. And I would trust a used car salesman before I trust a politician. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/252 "2011-02-14T08:02:29Z")
> [@Champion-of-Truth](#): > > …If Obama’s mother did indeed give birth to Obama in Hawaii in 1961 when she was 18 years old, then she was not old enough to confer citizenship on Obama. She needed to have resided in America for 5 years after the age of 16, meaning she would have needed to have been 21 years old to confer citizenship. She was only 18 when Obama was born… Show us where this is written. Its very important, because it might be used to wipe out that whole “anchor baby” stuff about the children of illegal immigrants not being American citizens simply because the Constitution says so. And she wasn’t even an illegal immigrant. Wait. I’m assuming your not going to tell us his mom wasn’t a citizen? But show us where it says that. Not a transcription of the voices in your head, but an actual piece of legal stuff. A “cite”. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/253 "2011-02-14T08:03:03Z")
> [@Doctor](#): > > Then why do you bother to post here? You are not going to win any friends with your vitrol. Nobody is going to “see the light” as it were. I have no dog in this fight, but I really can’t see any advantage to you posting in this fashion unless it is simply to stir shit up. That, in my opinion, is being a jerk. If you do so, people are going to be jerks right back. So, I am honestly curious, what do you get out of this? Because he is a troll, obviously, and has nothing better to do with his time. Why people continue to engage him at all is a bit of a mystery to me. ---
**Author:** ![Champion-of-Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecccb3/32.png) [@Champion-of-Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Champion-of-Truth)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/254 "2011-02-14T08:03:15Z")
Oh, and I forgot to add the new rules. From now on, when one of you stupid libtards misquote, partially quote out of context, mis-attribute or flat out lie about me concerning something you believe I said, quoted, cited, or claimed, I will ignore you until you correct your mistake. I know you people like to make up crazy shit in your head and pretend that someone else actually said it when in reality nobody else ever did. It’s part of the mental illness called liberalism. But it’s not my fault you were born defective and further damaged by your idiot parents and socialist school teachers. I have no time to constantly correct you. So from now on, when one of you does that, I will simply post something along the lines of “Stupid libtard, that is a lie/misquote/fallacy - now go read what I actually said and quote me correctly”. Until you do, I will not respond to your questions, demands, or requests. Class dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/255 "2011-02-14T08:05:25Z")
I woke up with a cold this morning and have felt like shit all day. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/256 "2011-02-14T08:07:07Z")
Well, if you’re quite finished with your little diva tirade, could you get to the question of supporting this crapola about his mom? Forgot already? No problem, You said: > [@](#): > > …Obama’s mother did indeed give birth to Obama in Hawaii in 1961 when she was 18 years old, then she was not old enough to confer citizenship on Obama. She needed to have resided in America for 5 years after the age of 16, meaning she would have needed to have been 21 years old to confer citizenship. She was only 18 when Obama was born… Prove it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/257 "2011-02-14T08:07:41Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > I have heard this before and am curious what it is based on. What law says this? I know it isn’t in the Constitution. I find it hard to believe a child born on U.S. soil has ever been denied citizenship because the only parent who was a citizen was less than 21 years old. I would love to see a cite showing any case where this has happened. It doesn’t have anything to do with children born in the US like Barack Obama. It was a loophole in the laws for children born _overseas_ to a single US citizen. However, this oversight was corrected later and made retroactive to 1952 (whether or not Congress can make someone a natural born citizen retroactively is debatable, but ultimately not relevant to Obama’s situation; it could possibly be relevant for John McCain’s citizenship, however, since there is a possibility that the nationality laws in effect in 1936 didn’t cover children born in the Panama Canal Zone, a problem which was also fixed retroactively by Congress). ---
**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:** [February 14, 2011, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/258 "2011-02-14T08:08:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Yes, they are reporting the controversy, as they should. The key thing though as it pertains to me is that the report references long form birth certificates, Hawaii’s governor as stating that the issues surrounding Omaba’s certificate are important enough to verify that it exists, and that Chris Matthews thought Obama should have the long form released to the public. These are all things I was ridiculed for last night but which turn out to have been either factual enough or reasonable enough for serious reportage on ABC News. But here you are still missing the point, reporting on the controversy does not mean that they are saying that point A or B are facts. Once again they are reporting on what politicians and American blobiators are saying. And seeing that **Chris is/was also being ridiculed** , I still do not see why you think the article helps you, it was clear already for years that birthers and people that just ask questions were going into tinfoil hat territory. [http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born\_in\_the\_usa.html](http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html) > [@](#): > > The document is a “certification of birth,” also known as a short-form birth certificate. The long form is drawn up by the hospital and includes additional information such as birth weight and parents’ hometowns. The short form is printed by the state and draws from a database with fewer details. The Hawaii Department of Health’s birth record request form does not give the option to request a photocopy of your long-form birth certificate, but their short form has enough information to be acceptable to the State Department. We tried to ask the Hawaii DOH why they only offer the short form, among other questions, but they have not given a response. > [@](#): > > We think our colleagues at [PolitiFact.com](http://PolitiFact.com), who also dug into some of these loopy theories put it pretty well: “It is possible that Obama conspired his way to the precipice of the world’s biggest job, involving a vast network of people and government agencies over decades of lies. Anything’s possible. But step back and look at the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and your sense of what’s reasonable has to take over.” > > In fact, the conspiracy would need to be even deeper than our colleagues realized. In late July, a researcher looking to dig up dirt on Obama instead found a birth announcement that had been published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Sunday, Aug. 13, 1961: > > The announcement was posted by a pro-Hillary Clinton blogger who grudgingly concluded that Obama “likely” was born Aug. 4, 1961 in Honolulu. > Of course, it’s distantly possible that Obama’s grandparents may have planted the announcement just in case their grandson needed to prove his U.S. citizenship in order to run for president someday. **We suggest that those who choose to go down that path should first equip themselves with a high-quality tinfoil hat. The evidence is clear: Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A.** > > \*Update, August 26: We received responses to some of our questions from the Hawaii Department of Health. They couldn’t tell us anything about their security paper, but they did answer another frequently-raised question: why is Obama’s father’s race listed as “African”? Kurt Tsue at the DOH told us that father’s race and mother’s race are supplied by the parents, and that “we accept what the parents self identify themselves to be.” We consider it reasonable to believe that Barack Obama, Sr., would have thought of and reported himself as “African.” It’s certainly not the slam dunk some readers have made it out to be. > > When we asked about the security borders, which look different from some other examples of Hawaii certifications of live birth, Kurt said “The borders are generated each time a certified copy is printed. A citation located on the bottom left hand corner of the certificate indicates which date the form was revised.” He also confirmed that the information in the short form birth certificate is sufficient to prove citizenship for “all reasonable purposes.”\* ---
**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:** [February 14, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/259 "2011-02-14T08:14:35Z")
> [@Champion-of-Truth](#): > > Oh, and I forgot to add the new rules. From now on, when one of you stupid libtards misquote, partially quote out of context, mis-attribute or flat out lie about me concerning something you believe I said, quoted, cited, or claimed, I will ignore you until you correct your mistake. Well, we already know that you did attempt to mislead others about what the actual chances and the status of the birther cases were. Just pointing to others who the liar really is here. Unfortunately, as even the moderators demonstrated, you are really an idiot for demanding that we follow your rules in the pit. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2011, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117/260 "2011-02-14T08:14:37Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > It doesn’t have anything to do with children born in the US like Barack Obama. It was a loophole in the laws for children born _overseas_ to a single US citizen. However, this oversight was corrected later and made retroactive to 1952 (whether or not Congress can make someone a natural born citizen retroactively is debatable, but ultimately not relevant to Obama’s situation; it could possibly be relevant for John McCain’s citizenship, however, since there is a possibility that the nationality laws in effect in 1936 didn’t cover children born in the Panama Canal Zone, a problem which was also fixed retroactively by Congress). Possibly you missed what I said in the next part of that post: > [@](#): > > Of course, the above assumes Dunham gave birth on U.S. soil. If you think she didn’t the question **Diogenes** asked here is relevant: > > > [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > > > One thing I don’t understand about the Birther theory is why Anne Dunham flew to Kenya when she was nine months pregnant (somehow without a passport) to have the baby when she could have just as easily stayed in Hawaii… Either Dunham gave birth on U.S. soil and as you point out the legal issues mentioned were irrelavant _OR_ she went to the trouble of traveling to foreign soil while nine months pregnant and lacking a passport…to what purpose? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-producing-a-birth-certificate-do-any-good/571117.md?page=14)