Alan Keyes stokes Obama birth certificate controversy

The controversy over the validity of Barack Obama's birth certificate is back on a burner with firebrand conservative Alan Keyes making serious new charges.

In a video (see below) released Friday, Keyes, who lost to Obama in the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois that launched the new president's national political career, calls Obama a communist and usurper and says he refuses to acknowledge the validity of Obama's inauguration over lingering questions in the minds of many conspiracists about the 44th president's birthplace.

The U.S. Constitution requires any president be born an American citizen.

In June, the Obama campaign released to The Ticket a copy of the then-senator's Hawaiian birth certificate (see the jump below and also here). But stubbornly persistent critics demand to see the original, which the state has refused to provide, citing personal privacy reasons.

And the critics, including Keyes explaining here, cite Obama relatives in Kenya as saying he was actually born there in his father's native land when his American mother was too young to pass on her U.S. citizenship.

In December, as The Ticket reported here, the Supreme Court dismissed without comment a New Jersey lawsuit seeking to bar Obama's inauguration due to questions over his actual citizenship. The Obama camp has proceeded normally as if there was no controversy.

Obviously, the inauguration proceeded, although on the advice of White House counsel as a precaution against a verbal muff during the noontime Jan. 20 public ceremony, Obama did take the presidential oath again that night in private with Chief Justice John Roberts. His White House lawyer feared igniting another simmering legal controversy if there was any doubt about the oath's validity, although the Constitution stipulates the new president takes office at noon no matter what.

However, the dispute over his birthplace continues. Listen here to Keyes' rather strong language.

This simmering dispute, occurring online and in e-mails coursing daily across the Internet, seems unlikely to evaporate any time soon.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Click on the Obama birth certificate image to enlarge.

Comments

[JimBob]

Seriously. Has it come to this? I know it's only a blog, but it's the LA Times. What next, a searing investigation into the Globe's claims that Bush is suicidal?
Alan Keyes is NOBODY!!

[dirk]

There is no "simmering dispute" here ! Only the ravings of Keyes -- a right wing lunatic if there ever was one.

Please concentrate on providing us with real news and comment -- benchmark off the BCC in case you forgot.

[mjs]

"However, the dispute over his birth place continues."

To what "dispute" do you refer? A crank like Keyes making a risible statement does not a dispute make.

And nice way to slide the inauguration non-dispute in there too.

Slow Saturday, eh, dude?

Pathetic.

[abc244]

Yes you see this on Right Wing blogs everyday but for a major newspaper to publish this is very shocking!! The only reason would be I guess getting attention! I see none comment on your blogs...:)

[Mnemosyne]

Wow. I'm guessing that Andrew Malcolm also believes that thousands of people are abducted by aliens every year because, after all, if people claim it happened, it must be true!

[chuck dc]

Keyes is a loser, an idiot, and a publicity hound -- and you are helping him with this seriously non story.

Pathetic much??

[Paul Smith]

Now let me ask a couple more questions:

1. It's a fact that Obama's father was a Kenyan national with British citizenship (loyalty) who was VISITING in Hawaii. Does that not automatically provide dual citizenship thus making him ineligible to be POTUS?

2. It's a fact that Obama moved to Indonesia when he was a child. It's also a fact that his name was officially changed to Barry Soetoro. It's also a fact that he attended school and was listed as an Indonesian citizen. That produces dual citizenship at best but also Indonesia did not recognize dual citizenships at that time - Obama's mother would have had to surrender Obama's passport and Obama would have had to be adopted by his step-father in order for his step-father to apply for Indonesian citizenship. doesn't either of those (dual or Indonesian citizenship) make Obama ineligible to be POTUS?

3.) Both Obama's grandmother and the Kenyan Ambassador indicated that Obama was born in Kenya. Does that not raise enough of a question to result in an official investigation?

4.) At age 19, Barry? visited Pakistan. At that time, it was illegal for American citizens to visit Pakistan. So how did he do that; on his Indonesian passport?

5.) Barry Soetoro became Barack Hussein Obama after returning to the United States. There is no known documentation of that name change beyond what we see on the COLB above. Was he using an illegal alias at age 19 (see #4 and the COLB above) Is he using an illegal alias today?

6.) Obama has hired three law firms and spent hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars (I include donated money) to hide something from us. Why would he do that when the production of a $12.50 certified birth certificate and his two passports to the proper authorities would put all this to bed?

There is no opinion there - it's all fact. This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue - it's an American issue. Why are the two political sides arguing over this? EVERY American should be concerned that it is HIGHLY likely we have a usurper commanding our armed forces and making life-changing decisions.

[brady]

Obama won. Get over it, wingnuts...

[Dave Dial]

I knew before I even got to the end that this was posted by Andrew Malcolm, who is almost as much of a raving lunatic as Alan Keyes.

There is no "controversy", people are laughing at Keyes, Hannity, Andrew Malcolm and now the LA Times.

Shame on the Times for allowing Andrew Malcolm to continue these incitements to commit hate crimes. Just like that lunatic in Tennessee went to that "liberal" church to kill as many liberals as possible, was motivated by Bernie Goldbergs lunatic rantings, so too will something eventually happen because of the rantings of Alan Keyes and the rest of the people who are making these absolute insane claims the credibility they do not deserve.

Shame.

[plankbob]

"This simmering dispute, occurring online and in e-mails coursing daily across the Internet, seems unlikely to evaporate any time soon."

Especially with fools like Keyes and Malcolm keeping it alive. It must be a REALLY slow news day at the LAT.

[Joyce H]

How irresponsible of the Times to slant this story as about the so-called 'controversy' of Obama's birth, instead of the real gist of the story, which is that Alan Keyes has gone from being amusingly insane to being dangerously insane.

The lunatic ALSO said that Obama is 'a radical communist', that 'everyone' can see that now, and that he'll destroy America unless he's stopped. That's coming pretty darn close to a call for violent insurrection.

It was also irresponsible to cite the 'relatives in Kenya' canard without giving the backstory. What happened there was that a far right conspiracy theorist was interviewing Obama's step-grandmother by telephone, with translators on the line, and asked if she was present at Obama's birth. One of the translators said "Yes," and when the crackpot asked if the birth had taken place in Nairobi, in other words, when the people in Kenya UNDERSTOOD THE QUESTION, they replied that no, no, Obama had been born in Hawaii.

This birth nonsense is only a 'controversy' among the most diseased minds of the far right, and the LA Times should be ashamed of itself for giving it even this much credence.

[DrToketee]

I had already see Keyes complete interview.

So, I ask the LA Times why they are even bothering to cover a man who has lost three times in running for office and is a raving lunatic?

As long as newspapers continue to operate such ridiculous standards for news coverage, they will also continue to lose customers to the Internet where the discerning reader can go where the real news matters.

[Katharine]

It seems the only thing continuing this "controversy" is giving kooks like Alan Keyes print space- and not acknowledging the marginal position and some might say sanity of Alan Keyes. The most disturbing aspect of Keye's comments were his advice to "stop" Obama for the sake of the country and his encouragement of military persons to refuse to take orders from this commander in chief. Are the comments of someone who calls President Obama a "radical Communist" really worthy of this paper?

[Juliet MacCannell]

How could a mother be too young to pass on citizenship? For pete's sake, why give this moron and this ridiculous concoction any wider publicity??? Ignore the idiot, please, it adds absolutely nothing to knowledge or actual debate. Give it a rest.

[Rick]

Alan Keyes is mentally ill, & truly needs professional help....Perhaps he never got over losing the 2004 IL. senate race to Obama by OVER 50%, but he is a disturbing & frightening individual....Alan Keyes is also an embarassment to this country...

[tiea dublin]

alan keyes is a burnt out old man who should go somewhere and lay down and die, he will never be anything other then what he truly is a washed up loser. please do us all a favor stop printing his garbage remarks. and let the loser fade away

[mk3872]

And you don't find yourself just a little bit guilty of lunacy as well by pushing this whack job? Has Keys not yet proven himself to be enough of a loon for the LA Times to ignore? Oh, right, the press is NEVER complicit in airing such rantings, right?

This is incredibly irresponsible and pathetic. Where is the journalistic integrity at this rag?

[TC Woods]

This simmering dispute seems unlikely to evaporate soon because the supposedly "legitimate" press keeps giving these people voice. Stop putting conspiracy theorists on the front page of respected national newspaper, and maybe they'll get bored and go away.

[Joyce H]

Adding to my last - it's downright journalistic malpractice to call Keyes' rant 'serious new charges'. The nonsense that he spewed was not new, and it's certainly not serious.

[Bullet Bob]

Is this not the craziest man in America? Keyes, get a friggin' life!!!!

[yerbrojoe]

SunYat Sen, father of modern china also has a Hawaiian certificate of live birth showing his birthplace to be in Hawaii. http://www.scribd.com/doc/9830547/Sun-Yatsen-Certification-of-Live-Birth-in-Hawaii
However, he was born in China and came to Hawaii at the age of 14. This kind of document is worthless.

[eric72]

I don't get it. Why did you post this?

[T]

There aren't any "new" allegations here.

And Keyes is a loon. I doubt he could prove he's from planet earth.

[Dan Conley]

Here we go again ... every time we get a Democratic President, the right wing nut jobs are given wide latitude to say insane things and the media eagerly report it as if it had an ounce of credibility. It's especially rich coming from Alan Keyes who ran for the U.S. Senate in Illinois even though he wasn't a citizen of this state.

[La Verdad]

cookooo coookooo

[Faye Fellows]

Do you not screen for mental competency ? have you lisented to Alan keyes? He belongs in a mental instution! I would probably be annoyed if my candiency had NEVER been taken seriously and was roundly beaten by a man who beat me by over 40% and then within two yaers ascended to the Presidency within two years. Speaks so well for a dillusional man!

[attaturk]

Malcolm you really are a pathetic right-wing hack.

Why don't you just leave journalism all together and read 'Protocols from the Elders of Zion', you boob?

[fred]

Where was this cretin to question the validity of Bush's election in 2000 when he stole florida and lost the popular vote? And why does this loser merit space on your Web site?

[fred]

i think dick cheney is a nazi. why dont you post a video of me?

[christinek]

There is a difference between a certificate of birth and a certification of birth. In 1961 Hawaii allowed parents to register birth even if the child was born elsewhere. The original long form vault copy BC is locked up in Hawaii. Officials have only said that they have it. They have NEVER said what is says. There is also very compelling evidence that he was adopted by his stepfather in Indonesia. There is no evidence that can be found that he changed his name back to Barack Obama. He was still going by the name of Barry Soretoro while at college. There is only one question that you need to ask yourself- WHY WOULD OBAMA HIRE 3 LEGAL TEAMS TO FIGHT THE RELEASE OF HIS BIRTH CERTICATE IN HAWAII? All this would go away if he would just release it. What is he hiding?

[luther blissett]

Shame on you, Andew Malcolm.

[baldheadeddork]

If this is the top of the ticket, I'd hate to see the crap you passed over.

Aren't you embarrassed to put garbage like this under your name? Alan Keyes says something stupid that has no factual basis, and you give it the same play as a RAND report. This is only a "simmering dispute" because of lazy hack reporting.

[Jason Stevens]

That image you posted is not a birth certificate. Read the header of the document: "Certificate of Live Birth." A certificate of live birth (COLB) is not a birth certificate and in Hawaii the state law says that any parent may request a COLB for their child even if that child was not born in Hawaii but posses a valid birth certificate from another government (state or national). Most birth certificates have a lot more information than what appears on Obama's COLB - such as delivering doctor, hospital, etc.

[Michael udesky]

I believe the headline should read Andrew Malcolm Stokes Obama Birth Certificate Story.

Such a non-story. Can't believe Mr. Malcolm couldn't find some real news out there. There's QUITE A BIT happening in the nation (and world!) right now.

[kirkc]

why are you wasting everyone's time with this nonsense, when you could still be pursuing JFK conspiracy theories? no wonder newspapers are going out of business.

[AndyB]

Obama is an American citizen. That's what I believe. I also believe the media are the most corrupt, and diabolical organization in the world. Yes even more dangerous than al qaeda.

So instead of the LA Times demanding or at least getting on their ever calloused knees and begging their cult leader, Obama to just release the damn original so this whole thing will go away. They decide it isn't their job to investigate.

And until Obama puts this to rest you are going to have skeptical people out there.

By the way, I really do hate the media. Yes even more than al qaeda. At least al qaeda admits they are our enemy. The media is the voice for Satan.

[Joe]

There is major problem in this story. The reporter obviously does not understand the difference between a Birth Certificate, and a Certificate of Live Birth.
A Birth Certificate lists the location of birth, the date, and attending physician. A Certificate of Live Birth merely records a birth, but gives no information other than the date and parents name. It does NOT say the child was born in Hawaii. Hawaii was famous for issuing COLBs, for children born outside of the US. Obama's sister has such a certificate --- by his and her own admission--- though she was born in Indonesia. Only a Birth Certificate will prove that Obama was born in Hawaii. Or elsewhere.

[BOB2]

The LA Times jumps head first into the septic tack again? The courts dismissed this for a reason. Maybe, if this is all the Times has to cover, it explains dying circluation. Maybe the Times doesn't know how to find real stories of today's hardship, corruption, and economic fraud, because of too many years of prostituting themselves for "access" during the Bush years, rather than doing good journalism?

[gizmo]

Since this phony issue has already been dealt with by the Supreme Court (the highest ajudicatory body in the land) any further mention of it does nothing but help rightwing nut cases like Alan Keyes in his attempt to poison the well.

The LA Times should be ashamed of itself for printing trash like this.

[Bernie Latham]

Keye's language as "rather strong"?

There's an appropriate descriptor. I suppose one might also say Mussolini's speeches were "somewhat forceful" or Joe McCarthy's as "leaning toward the resolute".

[Ben]

Why is the Los Angeles Times dignifying this tripe with coverage? This is not a "controversy".

[Joe D.]

Why are we still talking about this?!? Obama was born to an American citizen, so therefore he was born an American citizen, regardless of where he was born. If Alan Keyes really loved his country he'd stop wasting his times and ours and move on to the substantive issues we face.

Or maybe he still holds a grudge from getting absolutely whomped by Obama in the Illinois Senate race.

[Jason]

"This simmering dispute, occurring online and in e-mails coursing daily across the Internet, seems unlikely to evaporate any time soon."

Really?

I had forgotten about this until I saw it on TPM. Alan Keyes is a loser and everyone knows it. These guys are the same ones who say 9/11 was planned by Jews.

Idiots. All of them. Total idiots.

[DT]

Keyes is a loon.

[RuthAlice]

Why is it that any nutcase idiot can get their conspiracy theories aired if they are rightwing nutcase idiots? Your publicizing this demented man's fantasies just gives him gravitas that should never have been granted to someone as blatantly crazy as Keyes. That the Republican party is so desperate for any black face that they would promote a mentally ill person is shameful. That you double down by publicizing his insanity is worse.

[Vidor]

Pathetic that the Times would stoop so low as to cover nutjob conspiracy theories from that nutjob Alan Keyes. Y'all deserve to go bankrupt.

[Choska]

Wow, this is one of the most irresponsible pieces of "journalism" that I've ever read - and that includes George Will's factually inaccurate column on global warming.

"The controversy over the validity of Barack Obama's birth certificate is back on a burner with firebrand conservative Alan Keyes making serious new charges."

Is it not clear to anyone watching that video that Alan Keyes is apparently delusional? He isn't a "firebrand". He isn't "serious". Based on his statements, which have zero correlation with reality, he appears to be mentally ill.

By reproducing these comments and labeling them as "serious" you are besmirching the reputation of the LA Times. What's next? Why not look up David Duke for his opinion about the dangers of relationships between people of different races? How about talking to one of those 9/11 conspiracy theorists, or those people who think the moon-landing was fake. After all, they are "serious" people.

And you wonder why people are refusing to pay for your paper? We can get delusional right-wing propaganda for free by listening to street-corner philosophers or Rush Limbaugh.

This is a serious time. Our nation is in a crisis. Your paper, as a civic institution, has a responsibility to its community and to the nation. If you can't fulfill that responsibility by seeking out non-delusional opinions then quit. Simply lock the door and walk away.

We are done wasting our time with you.

[Sean K]

Absolutely ridiculous. Mr. Keyes is obviously full of sour grapes because in his delusional mind, he should have been the first black president. His language would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that it borders on incitement to treason and sedition. The main point, however, is that it is NOT the Obama administration's decision not to release the ORIGINAL copy of his birth certificate (which, by the way, much like the Bush AWOL controversy documents, no one has given any reason to doubt that it differs in any way from the copy) but rather the state of Hawaii's. Keyes is just another brick in the huge wall of embarrassment for the GOP. Hopefully they keep up the shoddy work and marginalize themselves even further.

[Bear Wilner-Nugent]

I can't believe that the Times is fanning the flames of this third-rate conspiracy theory. How far the paper has fallen. How pathetic.

[Andrew]

Giving this tinfoil hat stuff the light of day in a newspaper is absolutely pathetic. Malcolm must be one of the Left Behind crowd.

Oh yeah, it's the LA Times, so I should write "newspaper" instead of newspaper.