Lawyer Berg

Back in November, Mr. Philip J. Berg, a real live “Philadelphia Lawyer”, filed a federal court case against President-elect Barrack Obama, in which he claims that Mr. Obama is not a natural born American citizen, and thus is not eligible to become the President of these United States according to the requirements of Article II Section 1 of our Constitution. Mr. Berg claims that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya, and is thus a Kenyan citizen. He further states that Mr. Obama is the adopted son of an Indonesian citizen, and thus is a citizen of Indonesia. Since Mr. Berg’s writ was filed, numerous other lawsuits (something like forty-four at last count) making similar claims have been filed hither and yon across the land, making this a rather confusing legal issue at best! While the circumstances of Mr. Obama’s parentage, birth, and childhood are somewhat unusual, they really wouldn’t cause so much as a raised eyebrow in this country today, much less become a case to be brought before the Supreme Court. However, the fact that Mr. Obama has been selected to become the next President of the United States raises this case to what I think would be national news headline status. Then too, given the vitriol of the recent campaign, and the apparent political division in this country, this entire legal mess really shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

The case arose when democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was asked to provide a certified copy of his birth certificate, which would be legal proof that he was indeed born in this country, and thus eligible to be elected president. Mr. Obama’s father was a Kenyan citizen and an official of the Kenyan government, with the family living in Kenya. It’s claimed that his mother traveled to Hawaii to be near her parents when he was born, and so that he would be born an American citizen. Here’s where things start getting sticky. The Obama political organization provided only a “Certificate of Live Birth” issued by the state of Hawaii. Under the laws of Hawaii in effect from 1911 until 1972, a person born overseas could be given a “Certificate of live birth”. I understand it’s quite common for children, and in some cases adults, to have had such a certificate issued them even though they were not born in Hawaii. The certificate however is a far cry from being a legal birth certificate. Effectively it gives the name and race of both parents, the child’s name and birth date, it names wherever he says he was born, and little else. It does not give the name of the hospital nor the name of the attending physician or any other evidence, so about all it really does is state that “Yeah, the guy was born… someplace or other”. Apparently Mr. Obama’s aides don’t have their facts straight either, as they say he was born in two separate Hawaiian hospitals, either Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children, and/or Queen's Medical Center in Honolulu, and nobody seems to know the name of the Doctor. Some document experts also claim that the certificate of live birth was altered, and that it was actually issued in the name of his half-sister. Adding to the problem is the fact that Mr. Obama’s Kenyan grandmother, Sarah Obama, during a taped interview at her home in Kenya, attested that "Barack, Jr. was born in Mombosa, Kenya and I was present during his birth." Reverend Kweli Shuhubia further attests that "Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., the United States Presidential candidate, was born in Mombosa Kenya". "Kenyan Officials with the Provincial Civil Registrar stated there were records of Ann Dunham giving birth to Barack Hussein Obama in Mombosa , Kenya on August 4, 1961." Making the issue even more convoluted are the arguments brought by one Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, New Jersey, who filed a case with the New Jersey Supreme Court claiming that Barrack Jr. is a British citizen, based on the idea that Barack Obama's father was a citizen of Kenya and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom at the time of Obama's birth, which would make Barack Jr. a British Citizen by birth, even if he had been born in the United States! Continuing with this exciting tale and confusing the issue even more, Barack Obama Jr.'s mother, Ann Dunham, divorced Barack Obama Sr. in 1963 when Barack Jr. was two years old. Some time later she moved to Indonesia where she married an Indonesian citizen, one Lolo Soetoro, who acknowledged Barack H. Obama, Jr. as his son by adopting him. Barack attended school in Indonesia where his first grade school records state that his name is (or was) Barry Soetoro, and his citizenship Indonesian!

So, the questions demanding answers are, where was Barack H. Obama Jr. born? And is Barack Obama, Jr. a/k/a Barry Soetoro a natural born American citizen, an Indonesian Citizen, a citizen of Kenya, or is he a British subject? For that matter what is his legal name?

Following all this, if it is determined that Barack Obama is not legally qualified to be our president, what happens next? Obviously George Bush can’t continue on in the White house, so does Joe Biden move into the job? Do we have another (probably somewhat rushed) election? Or does the DNC just “appoint” someone to the office? Will congress attempt to amend the Constitution to allow someone born in a foreign land becoming president? (I’ll bet Arnie Schwarzenegger would just love that idea!)

The election may be over, but certainly not the controversy. It seems that the Obama camp is trying their best to ignore the whole thing, or loudly denying that there is anything amiss, while the Hillary fans are probably waiting with baited breath. Those of us trying to ride the fence are watching with a raised eyebrow and waiting for the Supreme Court to do something. The radical right on the other hand is quite upset with what on the surface appears to be a clear violation of the provisions of our constitution. And of course our “fair and unbiased” national news media isn’t making any headlines of a story that might sully the spotless reputation of the anointed one.
Whenever there are controversial political issues, stories and rumors (either true or false) abound. There have been so many issues raised over the years that it’s hard to determine who or what to believe anymore, and this case is certainly no exception. For the time being the charges against Barack Obama have been brought before the highest court in our nation. Now the court is supposed to be deciding whether or not to even hear the case. They certainly should hear it I’d think, as the Supreme Court does have the responsibility to enforce the provisions of the U. S. Constitution, so who better to look at the evidence and determine what is true and what is not? If for some reason the court declines to hear the case and sweeps it under the rug, we will once again be awash in accusations and conspiracy theories. No matter how effective or ineffective the incoming administration proves to be, they’ll be left laboring under a dark cloud of disbelief and suspicion.

Stay tuned for the next exciting installment of the 2008 American Presidential Soap Opera!