He's at it again.
Trump Releases Birth CertificateI'm glad Trump is opening this up. He's turned me into a Birther. But what's the end-game here?
I hope this doesn't drown out what he is saying about China & trade. That's the important part of his message AFAIC.
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Here is what I know about the law on this subject.
1. The short-form certificate refers to another document in the records.
2. If the record the short-form refers to is not there - then the short form has no legal basis. It's only an
extract or a summary of something else in the records.
3. If Obama were born outside the US and his grandmother managed to obtain a short-form birth certificate anyway,
(which is very plausible), Obama would basically be an undocumented immigrant. Some people wrongly use the term,
"illegal alien". (I won't address issues of document fraud here.)
4. The Federal agencies which handle this sort of thing, USCIS (formerly INS) & DOS (Department of State),
all accept short-form birth certificates as evidence of citizenship. They do not require more. And this is important -
if a state certifies the birth on a short-form - the Federal Government will not question the state's certification.5. Think about that. Is Hawaii going to backtrack and declare the short-form birth certificate is invalid?
Their Governor was a friend of Obama's parents!
And unless the state de-certifies his birth, there is no
cause for a Federal agency to question it.6. Also, Birth can also be proven under US law by affidavit, two persons with personal knowledge of the event
swear they were alive, and had knowledge of the birth at the time it occurred. So a legal loophole may exist,
that the short-form refers to other evidence, not a hospital-generated long form.
7. If the GOP got some courage, a House committee could subpoena the Hawaii archive on material on Obama.
Don't expect that to happen any time soon.
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Add it all up. Trump and the Birthers are still a long, long way from proving their case.
Even IF they show there is no long form, what then?
You'll have a gaggle of witnesses, all claiming they had personal knowledge of Obama's birth in Hawaii.
No doubt, they'll be lying.
The most plausible hypothesis I've heard is that he was born elsewhere. His Mom flew back with the baby
and wasn't questioned. His grandmother & Mom wanted to avoid paperwork hassles for school or with immigration.
So they were able to obtain a short-form birth certificate. There is no long-form in the record.
He wasn't born at either hospital on the island.
Trump's a bull dog on this. That's great. But I hope it doesn't become a side-show.
What Trump is saying about China & US trade policy is too important. Our kids get out of college
and they can't find jobs. Something has to change. And he's the only candidate with a plan to save this country.
That's what attracted me to his message - not the birth certificate issue. This controversy gets him some votes
and media attention. But I hope it doesn't drown out his real message.
