Barack Obama's birth certificate revealed here

(UPDATE: Alan Keyes stoked the Obama birth certificate controversy anew in February 2009. See Ticket coverage here.)

[See August update here.]

First, last fall, there were all kinds of people, a number of them Ron Paul supporters, dashing from Internet site to Internet site suggesting that John McCain could not serve as president of the United States.

That was because he was born outside the United States and, therefore, not native-born, as presidents must be constitutionally.

McCain was, in fact, born in a U.S. military hospital in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was serving in the Navy. That was, in fact, American-controlled territory at the time.

More importantly, his parents were both American citizens, so he could have been born on Mars and still been an American at birth. And a sense of the Senate resolution took care of any lingering doubts.

Now come the rumors about Barack Obama's birthplace, that he was really born in his father's native Kenya, so like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was born in Austria, he can't become a U.S. president.

Same rule would apply as for McCain. Obama's mother was an American. So is her son.

The Obama campaign has provided at The Ticket's request what it says is a copy of the Illinois senator's official birth certificate, reproduced here, showing he was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, at 7:24 p.m., which means he was late for dinner, just like a politician. Click on the photo to enlarge for reading.

Now, about the citizenship of all those people planting these rumors.

(UPDATE: In reaction to some of the comments left below challenging the veracity of the document, Ben LaBolt, an Obama campaign spokesman, sent the following reaction to The Ticket: "I can confirm that that is Sen. Obama's birth certificate.")

--Andrew Malcolm

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Comments

[Hollywood Mark]

Uh, The Ticket has merely posted a copy of a brand new document, not an Original birth certificate that for whatever reason (and many are discussed at link below) he refuses to produce.

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/15/is-barack-eligible-to-be-president/#more-3094

[Get bent]

Hard hitting journalism. What a country.

[First Arab-American president]

Here's another "rumor" for you, Andrew.

Barack Obama is not even legally a black American. He only has one black great-great-grandmother on his father's side while the other 7 were Arab.

That makes him 50% white, 43.75% Arab, and 6.25% black. 12.5% is the minimum required to legally claim any racial status in America.

Obama would quallify as the first Arab-American president, NOT the first black president. That is why they keep saying "African-American" and NOT black because they know he is African Arab and not African black.

Of course the little black-lie will be told over, and over, and over again and he will rely on those eigth-grade educations he recently reffered to his black supporters as having to get them to buy it.

Prove that wrong, Drew.

[pechmerle]

A majority of the peope who circulate the 'born in Kenya' falsehood don't believe it themselves. They are just trolls with a partisan ax to grind.

[RomanceWritR]

That is not his Birth Certificate. It is a substitute. Also, in 1961 they would have described the father's race as "African?" We have to produce our Birth Certs. for school, driver's licenses and passports, but Barak does not have to produce it to run for President?

The writer should have to produce his.

[swtpc]

What a FAKE! Typeface is obviously from a modern computer. Would have been typwritten in 1961.

[spinnikerca]

I think that every policy consideration there is says McCain should be considered native born, given his father's stationing in Panama was due to being in the military. The fact is, the Constitution doesn't just say you have to be a citizen, it says a 'natural born' citizen, and Congress maybe shouldn't have passed that act 'naturalizing' kids of US citizens where the kids were born in Panama, if it didn't want to create confusion. Also the Senate recently passed a nonbinding resolution stating that in their opinion McCain was natural born. If they felt the whole charge was totally silly, it might have been better to let it go.

However, as I say, if the kids of our military born on bases overseas can't run for president, what exactly are we saying? (Regardless of what I think of McCain, which isn't much.)

As for Obama, if he says he was born in Hawaii on X date, I don't know that we've ever spent too much time investigating any candidate on lies about their birth. I don't see evidence why we should start with him.

However, you know I'm here because you mentioned Ron Paul, so you came up on a news search. Did you see that he already has over half the ready-to-work members of his new Campign for Liberty that he was aiming for by September 2?

Join us?

http://www.campaignforliberty.org/

[KV Pulikeel]

There are those who were born UNAMERICAN in America. They disqualify themselves to be Americans because they discard AMERICAN values, that recognize, equality , freedom opportunity and hardwork.
Evaluate one on the values he/she cherishes. Real Americans do not judge a person by his/her birth or race. To do so is a sin against man and God

[Wendy]

This is not true. It doesn't matter if your parents are American. You have to be born in the United States (or what is officially considered the United States, like the US military hospital) to become President of the United States.

[james]

This is not a birth certificate..............

You could not even leave the country with this piece of paper.

Where is the hospitial birth certificate.

Show us the the birth certificate......................

[Nolan]

Did they have Laser Printers in 1961? Why is everything in all caps except the date. Seems odd.

[Wm Tate]

Thanks for posting this. it should help stop another internet rumor and, hopefully, get us back to the issue of which candidate is more capable of handling the issues--both the known ones and the unexpected ones that we can not possibly anticipate today.
-Wm Tate,
http://www.atimelikethis.us/

[george]

Andrew, it's disappointing that a journalist your age would push a fake birth certificate as real.

I'll give you credit for being gullible, if you remove this nonsense ASAP.

There is no signature, official stamp, and the font wasn't around in 1961.

[Phil Shaw]

The issue regarding McCain's birth is not whether he is a US citizen but whether he is a "natural born Citizen," as required by Section 1, Article II of the US constitution. Congress passed a law that allegedly makes persons born outside of the US to parents who are US citizens "natural born Citizens." The fact that he was born on a US military base is irrelevant. He was still outside the US. See a discussion of this at:
http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/how_can_panamanian-born_mccain_be_elected_president.html

However, it would seem to me to be open to a constitutional challenge whether Congress had the power, simply by passing a law interpreting (I would argue misinterpreting) the rather clearly worded phrase "natural born Citizen" to mean something else, i.e., a citizen born outside of the US, to frustrate an important clause in the constitution to allow foreign born US citizens to become president.

[robinia]

I just read the article "Obama scolds wayward fathers!" He was addressing a predominantly African-American audience. Good for him! However, the proof would be in the pudding if some of those fathers would apply the attributes to be a non-absent fathers. Hell, it's probably as ridiculous as trying to teach a white-man do dance to hip-hop.

[mk5112 TX]

the problem was not where he was born, but if his mother was a citizen or not. According to WND: Geraghty defined the concerns most clearly, stating: "If Obama were born outside the United States, one could argue that he would not meet the legal definition of natural-born citizen … because U.S. law at the time of his birth required his natural-born parent (his mother) to have resided in the United States for '10 years, at least [f]ive of which had to be after the age of 16.'" He then points out Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, was 18 when Obama was born "so she wouldn't have met the requirement of five years after the age of 16."
(Interestingly, apparently there isn't much paperwork on Obama's parents' marriage. 'Obama: From Promise to Power,' page. 27: 'Obama later confessed that he never searched for the government documents on the marriage, although Madelyn (Obama's maternal grandmother) insisted they were legally married.' Also note that Obama's father apparently was not legally divorced from his first wife back in Kenya at the time, a point of contention that ultimately led to their separation.)"
Even then one of my friends said this recently :When I needed a passport in 1999, I couldn't find my birth certificate. So I contacted the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Missouri for a copy. They sent me a "BIRTH CERTIFICATION". It shows my name at birth, date of birth, sex, city of birth, mother's maiden name, age and state of birth and father's name, age and state of birth. It also shows an original date filed and the actual date of issue, March 26, 1999. It has a note at the bottom that says "The reproduction of this document is prohibited by law. Any alteration or erasure voids this certification. So, when I saw the copy of Obama's certificate, it looked OK. Then, I noticed the big blank space on the bottom right side. So, I got out the one I received and there are no voids. What seems to be missing on Obama's copy is the signature of the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and the raised state seal. Even if you can't see the seal is raised in a photocopy, the state seal should be there. I was a claims rep at Social Security for seven years. The copy of Obama's certificate wouldn't be acceptable as proof of age or citizenship if he was filing a claim for benefits because of the missing signature and seal. No state office issues an official birth record or death record without a signature and seal authenticating the document. So, where did this thing come from? In this age of technology, the document could easily be a computer creation. Again, without the registrar's signature and state seal, this is worth about as much as several pieces of toilet paper.

[kat]

This is way off topic but I have to comment on last weekend's disgusting contest among media personalities to out grief one another on the death of Tim Russert. I have to say that compared to the rest, the L.A. Times has been down right subdued. They should get some sort of medal. I'm glad the hosts here didn't dredge up some Russert encounter to wow us with.

But the vast majority of media outlets have gone to great lengths to me-me-me-, this thing into an opportunity to portray not just Russert, but themselves as truly relevant in the whole scheme of things. The media bends over backwards to be as self congratulatory, arrogant, self important and pompous as possible but this Russert mania was one for the books. Do they really think the public is buying this?

The family hasn't wasted any time either. I see Jr. wasn't too grief stricken to take to the airwaves and give MSNBC a get that must have made the talking heads at NBC quiver until they had some sort of physical event.

I understand the Russert family is already planning some pukey, gushy, Kennedy Center tribute. I wonder what the clamour will be among the media elite and politicos to be able to claim their Russert love before the world. Who will cry the hardest I wonder?

It's vomitous.

[mpur]

Wow, I hate to tell you vaunted journalists how to do your job, but why haven't you guys asked Obama for his BIRTH CERTIFICATE as officially filed in the state of Hawaii and not just a scanned copy of a reprinted CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH which is typically not an acceptable document to replace a BIRTH CERTIFICATE?

Most of us have already figured out that Obama was born alive.

[california bob]

of course there is no question as to the authenticity of the document. it was provided by the obama campaign!! at the ticket's request!!

"And, anyway, the Obama campaign has provided at The Ticket's request a copy of the Illinois senator's birth certificate, reproduced here, showing he was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, at 7:24 p.m"

end of debate!!!!

[mitchell Aboulafia]

The challenge to McCain was not a serious one. And neither is the one to Obama. However, I believe that with regard to Obama the challenge is meant to cut deeper. It has to do with whether he is really American enough, patriotic enough (flag pins, anyone?). His opponents have tried to suggest in various ways that he might not be fully American, just too exotic. Some of this has racist overtones. However, one should not forgot that in spite of the role that his name has played in helping some to label him as "exotic," thereby undermining his chances, there is a tremendous upside to electing someone with a name like Obama.

"Obama: It's the Name Stupid"
http://msa4.wordpress.com/

[Tannim]

Sorry, Andrew, but you're just wrong when it comes to McCain. This has been stated before, and your position has been refuted before. so why restate it again and again? Do you think that those of us who have actually done the research forget?

I sugegst you go re-read my blog at http://muddythoughts.blogspot.com/2008/02/panmanchurian-candidate-mccain.html for the facts, not some garbage Senate resolution that has no basis in law, even if it had any basis in facts (which it doesn't!).

As for challenges, the two lawsuits over the McCain eligibility are still pending (one in Riverside, and the other in New Hampshire), so the claim that the dispute has been resolved is patently false. You should know better.

The PCZ was always Panamaniam sovereign territory by treaty, never U.S. territory. Go re-read the blog as I list all the cited details. To claim otherwise is to call Theodore Roosevelt the victim of the biggest land sucker deal since the Natives sold Manhattan Island.

As for Obama, his citizenship was never in doubt as he was born in Hawaii. Old news.

Note McCain will not release his birth certificate, but Obama did. WHAT IS MCCAIN HIDING???

Ask THAT question instead of making bogus statements.

I've got my facts cited. DO YOU???

[dave]

as to obama, some things have been said in the comments above.
as to mccain, whether born on saturn or in some canal zone temporarily rented by the american government, comments to earlier blog articles remain valid, as the facts have not changed since.
e.g. this one:

'Leahy and Chertoff are so wrong it's hilarious. Bloodline is not any grounds for natural-born status.

McCain hired Ted Olson to do two things: 1) Argue the case before the Supreme Court once the Aames lawsuit gets there, and 2) to bury the truth.

All McCain has to do is release his birth certificate once and for all, but he won't, and it is concerning that he doesn't even know his own legal status.

That and the McCaskill-Obama legislation on the issue is troubling, since if hewas natural born that legislation would not even be necessary.

But here's the truth, researched by me, documented, cited, and organized so even the Ted Olsons and Pat Leahys of the world can understand it.

This link gves the details.

http://muddythoughts.blogspot.com/2008/02/panmanchurian-candidate-mccain.html

Here's the short form.

1. The 14th Amendment and matching policy limit citizenship to either natural born or naturalized, but not both.
2. John McCain was born in 1936 in the Canal Zone to citizen parents.
3. 8 USC 1403(a) declares naturalized citizenship in 1952 on persons born in the Canal Zone to citizen parents.
4. Therefore, 8 USC 1403(a) applies to John McCain at age 16.
5. Therefore, John McCain is a naturalized citizen.
6. By treaty, the Canal Zone was not part of the United States.
7. Therefore, John McCain was not born in the United States.
8. Therefore, John McCain is a citizen not born in the United States.
9. Therefore, John McCain is not a natural born citizen.
10. Article II of the Constitution states to be President a person must be a natural born citizen.
11. THEREFORE, John McCain is not eligible to be President of the United States under Article II of the Constitution; he should be decertified and removed from all present and future Presidential ballots; and his past results should be disallowed, including unbinding all of his committed delegates.

It's really that simple. If anyone doubts me I suggest they check out the link and read for themselves.'

obviously the cynical game played with the american people is: see if they will forfeit and scorn their own birthright, and agree to be ruled by power obsessed, greedy mobsters, and their artfully installed puppet regime headed by a puppet president, as unqualified and constitutionally unvalid as possible.

and then, there's candidate for PRESIDENT, RON PAUL.

[Abe]

If McCain doesn't produce the stone tablets that his original birth certificate was chiseled on, he does not deserve to be president!!!

[steppenRazor]

Wow, this is really scary!!! Obama not a citizen? Fake birth certificate? Wow, like, this is probably scarier than high gas
prices, the housing market collapse, the decaying U.S. economy and the worthless dollar all rolled up into one!
Oh, man! This makes me shake and quiver with fear and, like, run out and vote for a Bush Replicant like John McCain!
I've got to have four more years of fear, loathing and abject
misery! ............NOT!!!!!!!!!!

[james amadio]

OBAMA: Let's have the actual birth certificate with the state embossed seal and the proper signature, Please!!!!