The return of the Barack Obama 'birther' story

The Telegraph reports that:

'Leading Republican claims Barack Obama grew up in Kenya

A possible Republican presidential candidate suggested in a radio interview that President Barack Obama's childhood in Kenya shaped his world-view – even though Mr Obama did not visit Kenya until he was in his 20s.'

The story relates to

'Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (who) told a New York radio station on Monday that Mr Obama's youth led him to resent the West, which he said explains why Mr Obama's foreign policy differs so greatly from that of his predecessors.

"One thing that I do know is his having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, (is) very different than the average American," Mr Huckabee said, pointing to Mr Obama's decision in 2009 to return a bust of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill.'

What is interesting is that The Telegraph state as fact 'even though Mr Obama did not visit Kenya until he was in his 20s.'

I have covered the Barack Obama birth certificate story before and at some length and am not sure that The Telegraph so should easily state:

'"The first time I came to Kenya was in 1987," Mr Obama said at the University of Nairobi in 2006. "I had just finished three years of work as a community organiser in low-income neighbourhoods of Chicago, and was about to enrol in law school. My sister, Auma, was teaching that year at this university, and so I came to stay with her for a month."

Many conservative activists believe – and some have unsuccessfully filed lawsuits to prove – that Mr Obama is a Kenyan who does not meet the U.S. Constitution's citizenship requirement. A Washington Post-ABC News poll last year found 14 per cent of Americans say without prompting that they believe Mr Obama was born in another country. That number rose to 20 per cent when those with no opinion were given that as an option.

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Mr Obama posted a copy of his birth certificate on his website to confront persistent rumours. It did little to assuage sceptics who are convinced by internet rumours and conservative talk radio hosts that Mr Obama was raised in his father's homeland. '

The whole story of Barack Obama's birth troubles me as there just seems to be too many unanswered questions and gaps in the story. Barack Obama has not produced a copy of his birth certificate, he has produced a Certificate of Live Birth (COLB), not a birth certificate and these forms were issued in some states (including Hawaii) for children of parents who were US citizens at that time. A COLB merely proves that a child was born. It doesn't say where or when, and is not verified by the delivering physician.

One point that I read in the article's comments was of great interest:

'Pay close attention to the following Hawaiian legal statute:

“[§338-17.8] Certificates for children born out of State.
(a) Upon application of an adult or the legal parents of a minor child, the director of health shall issue a birth certificate for such adult or minor, provided that proof has been submitted to the director of health that the legal parents of such individual while living without the Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child.
(b) Proof of legal residency shall be submitted to the director of health in any manner that the director shall deem appropriate. The director of health may also adopt any rules pursuant to chapter 91 that he or she may deem necessary or proper to prevent fraudulent applications for birth certificates and to require any further information or proof of events necessary for completion of a birth certificate.
(c) The fee for each application for registration shall be established by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 91. [L 1982, c 182, §1]”

Everybody get that?

As long as an adult can walk into Hawaii’s version of the Department of Records and provide proof that they are a legal resident of Hawaii, the document is issued.

The child, on the other hand, could have been born in Hawaii, Kenya, or a back-alley in Budapest.'

Other points that strike me are that whilst his parents have so far been unable to name the hospital he was born in in Hawaii, his Kenyan grandmother claims to remember his birth in a hut in her Kenyan village. Another two oddities are how he lived in Indonesia when Americans citizens were not allowed to and indeed had to renounce their US citizenship if they stayed for more than three weeks and also how he was able to visit Pakistan when US citizens were banned from doing so. I am also confused as to how Barack Obama received a Fulbright Scholarship to attend Harvard Law which were (at that time) only awarded to foreign born students who were accepted to US schools, and US students that were accepted to foreign schools; if Barack Obama was born in Hawaii then how did he get a grant only available to foreign born students? Was he indeed born in Hawaii but committed fraud to get the scholarship or was he born in Kenya and thus not eligible to be US President?

Another thing that really annoys me is the way that Barack Obama's scholastic records have been sealed at some cost; why, what is in those records that Barack Obama does not want made public? Every other Presidential candidate of recent years has had their medical and scholastic records crawled over by the press and any omissions are volubly demanded by the press but in Barack Obama's


What is also interesting about The Telegraph article are the comments that it has elicited, many make similar points to me but others are aggressively in favour of Barack Obama's story and it is fascinating how so many of these supporters of Obama are so aggressive; here's a few examples from 'epicadventure' and another:

'epicadventure
Mike "I'd do ANYTHING for Israel" Huckabee, a mind controlled lunatic, guilty of treason. This criminal should be removed from his home immediately, placed in cuffs and jailed (in a straight jacket) before he and his wacko Christian Zionist brethren start WW3.

...

epicadventure
Your Israeli? Just a guess, your filthy mouth gives you away.

...

epicadventure
Obama under attack from criminal Zionism for not carrying on the killing for greater Israel ie Iran. The hater Zionist jews are all over this blog, everywhere, it's crawling with gentile hating, freedom hating Zionist anarchists. The hidden hand behind usury and revolution, they are the enemy of the world.


...

ozy123
I really hope this thread has been littered with posts by Americans or more accurately Republicans. I'd hate to think the British have been infected with the same level of profound stupidity. '

So anyone who dares to question Barack Obama is a racist, an evil Zionist or just plain stupid. Maybe it's better just to believe and 'hope'.


What is the truth here? I really  don't know because there are too many outstanding questions for me to just accept Barack Obama's life story.