Obama's "Certification of Live Birth" was indeed an official document, however it isn't an official "Certificate of Live Birth". The document the Obama campaign has circulated, regardless of arguments about its veracity, can be obtained by any Hawaiian parent who has a child born outside the country within the previous year. Also, Hawaiian officials did confirm they have Obama's official birth certificate on record although those officials never confirmed it states he was born in Hawaii, only that they are in possession of it. Strange. It would cost $14 to get a copy of it to end this question once and for all, yet Obama has spent upwards of $800,000 trying to prevent its release. Why not just release it?

Good lord, you're right! It must be a conspiracy! I also heard that he's half-black, can you believe that Shiite?

Absent some evidence that his mother was even out of the country when he was born, there is *nothing* to this manufactured controversy. His grandmother says he was born in Hawaii. The certificate of live birth says he was born in Hawaii. Hawaiian state officials say he was born in Hawaii (From the AP article: "State officials say there's no doubt Barack Obama was born in Hawai'i.") If you ask for a copy of your birth certificate these days, you get exactly what the Obama campaign made public: an official certificate of live birth. Your birth certificate is on record with the office of vital statistics of the state or county in which you were born. You write them a letter asking for a copy. They send you a copy. You publish it. Crazy lunatic fringe nutjobs refuse to believe that it's authentic. What more can you do?

James Orleans:

Also, Hawaiian officials did confirm they have Obama's official birth certificate on record although those officials never confirmed it states he was born in Hawaii, only that they are in possession of it. Strange.

So you think the Hawaii Department of Health is in on some kind of conspiracy to hide the "true" citizenship of Obama?

That's the part that sounds strange to me. What interest does the Hawaii State Department of Health have in misleading the American public?

James Orleans:

It would cost $14 to get a copy of it to end this question once and for all, yet Obama has spent upwards of $800,000 trying to prevent its release. Why not just release it?

I have not seen any report stating that Obama has spent any money trying to prevent the release of his birth certificate. Since the law in Hawaii requires an individual's permission to release their birth certificate, I'm not sure why he's have to spend anything at all.

Why not release it? Why should he?

Put it like this, let's say the Daily Kos or Huffington Post started demanding records from George Bush, Sarah Palin, or John McCain. Do you think they'd be inclined to rush to give up whatever information these hostile parties were looking for?

If it was me I'd send them a photo of my middle finger.

Great point...if there's really nothing to it, then why not just put it out there once and for all...It does look like it's not going to go away. It's actually getting more steam by the week.

I have not seen any report stating that Obama has spent any money trying to prevent the release of his birth certificate.

All of the lawsuits demanding release are being defended fervently...you think it's pro bono?

Mayzee7:

I have not seen any report stating that Obama has spent any money trying to prevent the release of his birth certificate.

All of the lawsuits demanding release are being defended fervently...you think it's pro bono?

Well, first I'd say that there isn't much arguing going on from Obama's side, but more than that I would bet that Obama is not paying any lawyer anything for work specifically related to these issues. At the least I expect that either the lawyers involved are on retainer (and billing regardless of whether they have to work) and/or being paid by the DNC or some related group and consequently not by Obama). Also, consider how many lawyers volunteered their time, for both candidates, to be election monitors etc in battleground states. Now, that lawyers might be volunteering billable hours pro bono for a politician, well, I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that, but I'm sure (unfortunately) that those hours can be scribbled onto some other account not directly officially considered a gift/favour for Obama.

Regardless, if I'm Obama (and thankfully I'm not, I wouldn't want the headaches) I'd be just fine letting this carry on as long as possible; 99% of Americans think it's crazy while the 1% who think it's important keep hammering away at it rather than at something else that might gain more traction. I flash back to Clinton- a million things were thrown at the wall before one of 'em stuck. If I'm Obama, I want people to keep throwing this one thing at the wall, knowing that it won't stick, rather than searching for and getting energized by something else that will.

I heard that he's half white. I also heard that he's half bright.

Mayzee7:

Great point...if there's really nothing to it, then why not just put it out there once and for all...It does look like it's not going to go away. It's actually getting more steam by the week.

yeah, that's what i'm looking for in a president, somebody who will knuckle under to any shmuck who makes enough noise. i'm just sorry clinton didn't get to display his penis to the american people during the lewinsky crap, to prove he didn't commit a crime in whitewater.

Regarding demands from Sarah Palin: Crazed blogger Andrew Sullivan spent weeks demanding the Palin release medical records and DNA samples to prove that she was in fact the mother of baby Trig Palin, rather than her daughter. As he often stated, why wouldn't her campaign want to clear up any doubts. Of course, the only doubts existed in Sullivan's mind.

Mayzee7:

I have not seen any report stating that Obama has spent any money trying to prevent the release of his birth certificate.

All of the lawsuits demanding release are being defended fervently...you think it's pro bono?

You don't have to defend a lawsuit until there is a lawsuit. Simply filing a claim does not make a lawsuit.

If someone goes to court and demands a birth certificate from me, I won't have to spend a cent until the court decides that there is a case. First of all, whomever is filing suit has to have standing to file suit. In other words, they have to have some personal interest or injury in the suit. You can't just say, "I think tubbs is an illegal alien and I want to sue." There has to be a personal reason for you to sue me. I have to have done something that affected/injured you.

As far as I've seen (and I haven't followed closely) no suit has reached any point where Obama would need to defend himself.

Obama did defend himself in Berg's suit. He challenged standing of Berg to bring the suit. He won for that reason, which is also the same reason that McCain won in the New Hampshire suit.

I don't blame Obama for giving in to these people. If you are conspiracy minded to believe all of the facts that must fall in place for him to have been born in Kenya, despite the current evidence that suggests that he was born in Hawaii, is it any stretch to think that these people will not believe the original either? It is interesting that we have so many problems with this country that the President must address, yet this conspiracy theorist want Obama to concentrate on proving that he is an American.

I meant that I don't blame Obama for not giving in. Sorry.