Spencer Kornhaber misleads about Obama citizenship issue (+a challenge)

Posted Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 10:28 am

Spencer Kornhaber of the OCWeekly offers "Meet Orly Taitz, Queen Bee of People Obsessed With Barack Obama's Birth Certificate" (ocweekly.com/2009-06-18/news/orly-taitz). Taitz certainly seems to be a bit of work and she might actually have had an impact if she had simply concentrated on the facts; see my completely fact-based Obama citizenship summary for my coverage of this issue.

That said, Kornhaber's article is yet another attempt to smear those who have questions about this issue and lump all who have questions together. And, like all the other "debunking" articles, it's based on misleading claims.

Specifically, Kornhaber lays out Taitz' argument and then says (omitting the parts not covered here):

The problem is most of the above facts aren’t true.

[...] ...The law allowing foreign-born children to obtain Hawaiian COLBs didn’t exist until 20 years after Obama was born, while Obama’s published COLB says his birth information was recorded four days after his birth in 1961.

When the law Kornhabber mentions was passed doesn't matter because it was clearly meant to be retroactive. As discussed at the link, it covered the children of parents who had been "living without the Territory or State of Hawaii ". The Territory of Hawaii was dissolved in 1959.

The fact that it would cover the children of parents who had been living outside the Territory of Hawaii means that it was intended to apply to those born in 1959 and before. And, of course, it was intended to apply to all those born after that date. Thus, Obama was covered under the law. That doesn't mean that Obama or his parents took advantage of the law, it just means that when the law was passed doesn't matter in the current case. (Sorry to spell this out in such detail, I'm doing it in case Obama fans read this).

Also, "Obama’s published COLB" is disputed and it's never been verified by any government agency. That means that what's written on it cannot be relied on. At the present time, it's just a picture on a web page. It probably hasn't been modified, but it's sloppy thinking to assume it must be accurate.

Finally, here's a challenge for Kornhaber: pick up the phone, call Hawaii, ask them the questions at this link, and then publish a full recounting of their response. I even provide the name of the person to speak to, their phone number, and the questions that could clear all this up. I have a feeling that, like other hacks who've misled about this issue, Kornhaber isn't going to be up to that challenge.

Tags: 
obama citizenship
spencer kornhaber
ocweekly

Comments

petty bourgeois (not verified)

Mon, 06/22/2009 - 16:47

What do you expect from a lefty fag rag replete with prostitute ads in the back, a virulent bigoted MECHista writer known as gustavo arellano and not a single conservative (or even moderate) writer on its staff? It's not journalism...its left wing propaganda. Always has been, and always will be. It is not fit to line a bird cage or wrap a stinking fish. No wonder its free. They have to give this shit away. On a singular positive note, the OC weakling did endorse McClintock in a brief moment of sanity during the governor gumby recall election.

KAB (not verified)

Tue, 06/23/2009 - 02:50

What about Obama's academic records? I cannot believe that the records have not been legally obtained or leaked. Did Obama have good grades? What is Obama's religion listed as? How about nationality?

petty bourgeois (not verified)

Tue, 06/23/2009 - 04:46

We will never know. At least we got to see some of Bush's records, even the fabricated ones (See, Dan Rather for an example). Bush was actually smarter than Kerry: http://www.vdare.com/sailer/kerry_iq_lower.htm We don't have the benfit of doing a psychometric analysis of B. Hussein Obama compared to Bush because there are no college records to be found for The Messiah. However, I consider this valid as a psychosocial assessment: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12134

Spencer Kornhaber (not verified)

Tue, 06/23/2009 - 06:17

Hey there, thanks for reading. I'm not completely clear on how you think I'm misleading people. The COLB has a line that says its information was recorded on Aug. 8, 1961. Even with HRS 338 being "retroactive" when passed in 1982, that doesn't change the fact that the COLB was apparently obtained in 1961. It doesn't mean it was any easier for someone, in 1961, to obtain a COLB without being born in Hawaii. If the COLB was later amended, the printout would have to note that according to law. Whether or not the COLB is forged is a separate issue. I won't be leaving another comment, so feel free to email me to talk about this.

eh (not verified)

Tue, 06/23/2009 - 08:25

'Hey Spencer', _...the far-right anti-immigrant group..._ What's the deal here? Seems to me this is a rather crude ("anti-immigrant"), albeit sadly rather typical, smear. _like other hacks_ At first I was going to say that it would have been better if TLB had left this part out. But now I'm not so sure. Why not just tell us what CCIR's positions and/or activities are, and let us decide if they're "far right" or "anti-immigrant", whatever those terms mean. As far as Obama being eligible to be President...I really have no idea. I don't know where he was born -- I have no personal knowledge of that. And I don't think you know for sure either. Given his parents and their travels, it seems conceivable he was not born in the US. In any case, his mother was a citizen, which means he was eligible for citizenship. While not exactly a formality, it seems more or less routine [1].

Links:
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[1] www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f3a1b6b1b8e1e010VgnVCM1000000ecd190aRCRD

eh (not verified)

Tue, 06/23/2009 - 08:34

And whether they're an "anti-immigrant" or "far right" group or not, from the looks of it the CCIR has at least one good reason to be concerned about immigration. [1]

Links:
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[1] orangecountyda.com/home/index.asp?page=69