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

[tacman]

I am dissapointed and suspicious of both candidates "valid us citizenship" McCain has yet to produce one and Obama's is not valid because it is missing the all important "State Registar Of Vital Statistics"
Seal and Signature. I checked my own and it is present. That document is not even valid for a state ID. So show me the proof! McCain/Obama... Prove to us that you meet the requirements to be The President Of The United States Of America. Then we debate who is the better candidate.

[Brian Randall]

What a non-story. Tortured Vietnam veteran John McCain, born rich and privileged, slacked off in college, graduating 5th from the bottom of his class. Using his expert knowledge of history, he was one of the first to call Ron Paul an anti-American "fascist", however, and we all know where fascists come from, right Andrew?

Your posting seems like an overt attempt to drag Ron Paul's name through the mud after he has stopped campaigning and doesn't have as much of the media or airwaves available to defend himself. Actually, if Ron Paul himself didn't question the authenticity of the birth certificate (which he did not) then who cares? Really, who cares?

George Bush is the fascist in my opinion. I would bet my life on it if I had to. Give him a lie detector test and find out. Check his credentials against Ron Paul the past 8 years. Do you really feel King George cares more about you than Ron Paul? Barack Obama is great on civil liberties and Ron Paul himself commended him for standing up for American rights and freedoms. C'mon man. Ron Paul is not the bad guy. You know that. Every candidate has a few kooky supporters. Why not let it be instead of singling them out here to make a statement?

(What's your problem? You got your space to make your case.)

[Polarik]

This "certificate" is a forgery.

Here's the evidence:

http://polarik.blogtownhall.com/2008/06/20/obamas_certificate_of_birth_is_a_forgery.thtml

[Michelle M]

Continuing to present that which is not the best evidence but rather, a poor contrivance, is unconvincing, and does nothing to quell suspicion. Indeed, it only increases suspicion. How can anyone continue to think otherwise?

[Charls]

Dose anybody have a real Birth Certificatel from Hoholulu in 1961 they can post? So we can see the format of a real one. Charls

[Brian Randall]

Thanks for allowing me to speak my mind. You guys at the LA Times have been the fairest journalists towards Ron Paul and I appreciate that. Maybe I overreacted.

You see, I arrived at your blog after reading another person say Ron Paul supporters were planning a "little rump convention" (talk about a nasty insinuation) and it got me in a bad mood. For the record, I know you didn't mention it here. but reading this reminded me that I am not proud of the newsletter controversy. I am not a racist and I really don't believe Ron is. It may be politically foolish but I would probably take money from anybody if I were running for office too because I would know in my heart that I would put it to good use.

[Mike]

Do your research Andrew. Click on my link. According to the laws on the books at the time, Obama may be ineligible to run. Or even be a senator.

I mean - junior - senator.

[jericho4119]

In a world, where even birth certificates can be forged . . .

So, the case the Republicans are making now is that through all of his state elections, his election to US Senator and now for his presidential campaign, Barack Obama has concealed the fact that he was not born in the US? Obviously, this conspiracy did not start on the day of his birth - who could have known that the new child would seek the highest office in the land? - so this theory relies upon some unspecified date in the interim, whereupon Obama - realizing the tainted nature of his birth - sought to conceal the only document that could proves his invalidity to be a candidate for President of the United States of America: his original birth certificate. He then did the only logical thing he could do: hired a team of sophisticated cat burglars to infiltrate the Hawaiian State Office of Records to pilfer the real birth certificate and substitute a plausible facsimile. This team had to get in and out undetected and leave no trace of their presence.

This sounds like a movie plotline - and not a general release but more a basic cable production. Anyone have any ideas on who will play Barack Obama?

I think it should be Brad Pitt.

[Andrea Gibson]

You know, not every US citizen has access to their original birth certificate. Obama was born in Hawaii, but then his mother moved to Indonesia for a while, and then she died when he was very young and he went to live with his grandparents.

Do you not think it's plausible that his birth certificate was lost in the interim? Mine was. I have a reproduction from the US government, not unlike the one Obama produced.

It's all a non-issue anyway. There's plenty of evidence that Obama was born in Hawaii.

[OBGYN]

OBAMA IS NOT A NATURAL BORN AMERICAN...

He was a born by caesarian section

muaahhhahahahahahaha

[Peter]

For the people on this list who over-celebrated their graduation from the 8th grade, this certificate was obviously printed recently, not in 1961. Does that mean the info is false? No. If any of you have ever been to your county offices and asked for an official certificate of marriage or birth or other state recorded event, the certificate you get is not a xerox of the original certificate, but rather a laser printed certificate generated from data the county stores. But take heart, fellow 8th grade celebrators! All is not lost. Did you hear the new rumor? Turns out Obama is in a secret gay relationship with the radical Muslim chief record keeper of Honolulu county, thus explaining this obviously false document.

[Fran Taylor]

I am roughly the same age as Obama, I was born in NYC, and my birth certificate looks remarkably similar to Obama's. I have had to produce it numerous times and nobody has ever questioned its authenticity.

[Ideal Skeptic]

As to the font issues, if you enlarge it and look closely at the bottom it clearly says "(Rev. 11/01) LASER" which might clear a few things up.

It also says at the very bottom that "This copy serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding."

Read everything, people.

But I do have a question...

If Obama's campaign only just supplied this, why is there a (what looks to be) date stamp of June 6, 2007 on the paper?

[tacman]

According to my local post office. If it does not have the proper Seal & Signature, it is not valid, PERIOD!!! They even have an online lookup for all seals and some signatures. This is fairly new and complements of Homeland Security. It,s main use is to verify documents when a passport is requested. As I attempted to ask another question, it was like ___ read my mine.... No I will not attempt to look it up because I have to have a valid reason to do it and I don't...Keeps them in line...I guess

[Skeptisch]

The number on the Obama Birth Certificate is "out of sync" with his age (date of birth?). Can he not produce a valid certificate?

[Concerned Citizen]

Re This: "(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.")"

And we're supposed to take Ben LaBolt an Obama mouthpiece's word for the "veracity" of the document because... why?

How about some state of Hawaii official with appropriate documentation to stand up and deliver proof.

Seriously, just too many things are unknown about this BH Obama..

[Texas Longhorn]

If Obama couldn't legally run for President, Hillary would have been all over it.

[Randall McCoy]

Notice the lower left corner of the document.
Rev 11/01...
What was the revision? Clearly not an original.

[LSmith]

Original Hawaiian birth certificates from 1961 were black with white print.

[Bill]

1. This is not an original birth certificate. Obviously.

2. This is a replacement birth certificate that the Department of Health would issue upon a person requesting one.

3. It's likely that Obama does not have the "original" birth certificate. If it does exist, it may be buried in some file somewhere and/or may be unreadable as it was likely printed (typed) on paper that, unlike today's high tech papers, was not able to stand the ravages of time and would likely be faded or otherwise unreadable, falling apart along any folds, etc.

If you really think this is a fake and you have your original certificate (and are a similar age to Obama), I suggest you order a new copy of your birth certificate from your local state or county, or simply call them and ask them what you'll receive. What you will get, in all or most states (I believe) is something very similar to the actual certificate shown above.

This will assure you that there is no conspirace at hand on this topic. Unless you're insane (and if you've given this a moment's thought, you may well be).

Articles and blogs and commentaries that are shown on this page are the worst examples of what happens here on the Internet and you should all be embarrassed.

-Bill

John McCain in 2008!

[Alec]

"Illinois senator's official birth certificate,"???

It is not embossed with a seal, no signiture... NOT REAL!

Here's a like to a copy of a REAL Hawaii Birth Certificate:

http://www.valeehill.net/genealogy/showmedia.php?mediaID=169

See the embossed seal on the REAL certificatee???

[BA]

Mr. Obama's representative - or Mr. Obama for this matter - cannot vouch for the authenticiity of this document.

[Joe]

According to the Hawaii State Department of Health (HSDH):

1. Certified copies of birth certificates are NEVER sent electronically. Copies can be requested by qualified individuals in person, by mail, or on line; and the Vital Records (VR) office will MAIL the Certification of Live Birth within 4 to 6 weeks.

2. Certifications of Live Birth will ALWAYS include an embossed seal.

3. The Vital Records office will NEVER black out the certification number.

This copy provided by the Obama campaign is fake. LA Times, please do your job and be investigative journalists for once instead of recycling Kool Aid from the Obama campaign.

[T.J.]

McCain is a citizen because he was born to parents with U. S. citizenship on U. S. soil. He was born in a military hospital in that portion of a country considered U. S. land; just like an Embassy is. If it were not so, there are millions of children of parents who occupied both Japan and Germany since the war ended who are not U. S. citizens.

You wouldn't get anyone to serve in the military IF their children lost their citizenship by being born at a duty station in a foreign country. YOU would be one if your parents were members of the Diplomatic corps, the military, or government employees stationed abroad.

And our birth certificates do not just "wear out"; I have real copies of my grandparents birth certificates that can be read just fine. I even have some older belonging to my great grandparents. This information doesn't "get lost" in the system; it's how they keep track of you. Besides, in the 1960s there was a huge effort to copy all that paper onto files called "microfiche"; you can find them at any local library if you want to know what they look like.

[Mitch]

The Obama "birth certificate" is bogus. Where is the seal? Why are we being scammed by Barack H. Obama.

See this updated authentic birth certificate.

http://inlinethumb01.webshots.com/6912/2226148690103381328S600x600Q85.jpg