Chris Matthews Wrong on Obama Birth Certificate

[Warph]

Chris Matthews Wrong on Obama Birth Certificate

Wednesday, July 22, 2009 6:33 PM
NewsMax.com


MSNBC's Chris Matthews got into a heated exchange with a congressman on his show Tuesday as he revisited the question of President Barack Obama's birth certificate — or lack of one.

Rep. John Campbell, R-Calif., is a co-sponsor of the so-called "birther bill," which would require future presidential candidates to provide a copy of their original birth certificates.

"Birthers" are those who believe Obama is not qualified to be president based on a belief that he was not born in the United States.

Campbell is not a "birther" and has never claimed that Obama was born outside the United States or should be disqualified from being president.

On the show, Matthews seemingly undermined Campbell's claims by producing what Matthews said was a copy of Obama's birth certificate.

But Matthews made a false claim. Obama has never released his actual birth certificate. He has released another document, often provided by state authorities in lieu of a birth certificate, called a certificate of live birth.

Matthews on Tuesday said Campbell was "playing to the crazies" by supporting the "crazy" bill, and the congressman shot back that it was all about "putting the matter to rest."

Matthews also accused Campbell of "feeding the wacko wing of your party," and held up what he called a copy of the supposed Obama birth certificate.

Case closed?

The indisputable fact is that Obama has not released his birth certificate, which the state of Hawaii issues for all citizens born there.

Instead, his campaign has only released his certificate of live birth from the state of Hawaii, which is a document that offers a summarized version of the birth certificate.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, GOP nominee Sen. John McCain quickly released his birth certificate when liberal bloggers raised questions about his eligibility to be president. McCain was born at a military hospital in Panama.

Obama could likewise put the matter to rest by releasing his actual birth certificate, which would show, among other things, the place of his birth and the doctor who performed the birth procedure. This information is not provided in the certificate of live birth.

As it stands, Obama is the only president in history the public doesn't know actually the place where he was born – a fact that would be stated on the actual birth certificate. Interestingly, his family has mentioned two different hospitals in Hawaii as to the place of birth.

The fact that Obama has refused to release his actual birth certificate does not mean conspiracy theorists are right when they claim he was born in Kenya and therefore not eligible to be president. Investigators who have reviewed the claims have found no evidence Obama was born outside of Hawaii.

But Obama's refusal to release his birth certificate does mean that Obama remains one of America's most mysterious and opaque presidents ever.

Obama, for example, has not released many other documents regarding his public and private life.

Many of these documents were sought by reporters, who easily acquiesced when Obama said he would release them – though most presidential candidates release them as a perfunctory matter.

Among the key documents that continue to be shielded from the public by Obama:


Obama released just one brief document detailing his personal health. McCain, on the other hand, released what he said was his complete medical file, totaling more than 1,500 pages.


Obama refused to offer his official papers as a state legislator in Illinois. Nor did he produce correspondence, such as his schedules of appointments or letters from lobbyists, from his days in the Illinois state Senate.


Obama did not release his client list as an attorney or his billing records. He maintained that he performed only a few hours of legal work for a nonprofit organization with ties to Tony Rezko, the Chicago businessman convicted of fraud in June 2008, but did not release billing records that would prove this assertion.


Obama ignored requests for his records from Occidental College, where he studied for two years before transferring to Columbia University.


Obama's campaign refused to give Columbia, where he earned an undergraduate degree in political science, permission to release his transcripts. Former President George W. Bush and presidential contenders Al Gore and John Kerry all released their college transcripts.


Obama did not agree to the release of his application to the Illinois State Bar, which would have cleared up intermittent allegations that his application may have been inaccurate.


Obama did not release records from his time at Harvard Law School.

During the presidential campaign, McCain's campaign released the full list of all online donors. Obama's campaign still has not released the names of those who donated at least one-third of the $750 million he raised.

Ironically, Obama during the campaign accused the Bush White House of being "one of the most secretive administrations in our history," and chided then-Sen. Hillary Clinton for not releasing her White House schedules.

Chris Matthews, get your facts straight and demand full disclosure – that's the best way to keep an honest government.

[Anmar]

Chris Matthews Wrong on Obama Birth Certificate

The fact that Obama has refused to release his actual birth certificate does not mean conspiracy theorists are right when they claim he was born in Kenya and therefore not eligible to be president. Investigators who have reviewed the claims have found no evidence Obama was born outside of Hawaii.

So how was he wrong?  Because it seems as though the article is actually backing up Mathews' point of view...

[Warph]

Chris Matthews Wrong on Obama Birth Certificate
The fact that Obama has refused to release his actual birth certificate does not mean conspiracy theorists are right when they claim he was born in Kenya and therefore not eligible to be president. Investigators who have reviewed the claims have found no evidence Obama was born outside of Hawaii.

So how was he wrong?  Because it seems as though the article is actually backing up Mathews' point of view...

"But Matthews made a false claim. Obama has never released his actual birth certificate. He has released another document, often provided by state authorities in lieu of a birth certificate, called a certificate of live birth."

[Warph]

I know this hasn't anything to do with what you are concerned about, but the eight babies I delivered do not have my name on the their birth certificates. The address where the birth actually took place isn't there either....  The date and time of birth is what I wrote down, not some doc at the hospital. If it was near midnight, I chose the birthday! Even the state could have been in question around here because we are so close to two other state lines. So even "authorized" birth certificates aren't necessarily accurate.

Mmmmm.... I see your point.... I think I got it...  Could it be, "When Barry was born out there in the jungle of kenya and the mid-wife that delivered him had no pen and paper in the thatched hut, so she  had to scratch  his birth certificate on a banana leaf and weeks later the leaf had died... sorry.. dried... and when it came time to take it to nairobi by donkey and deliver it to the kenyan african medical records at the ministry of health department for birth certificates and "other tings," the leaf had crumbled into thousands of little pieces and blew away into the jungle and so Mrs. Obama, who was down with a severe case of schistosomiasis at the time, said "shit," I'll just wait until I get to Hawaii and then file, who knows, he might be president of something someday and then she forgot," kinda scenario?

[sixdogsmom]

Warph, I just googled George Washington, and I could not find any birth certificate reference in any of the first five Google entries. By the way, he most certainly was not born in the United States.

[Anmar]

First, warph, i saw the actual segment, and i posted a link to the video,  Mathews frequently said certificate of live birth.  Regardless, it's not an issue, pls read the original thread to find out why.

Sixdogsmom,

As for george washington, the constitution says something to the effect that those born before the nation's founding and were citizens at the time of the ratification of the constitution are also eligible.  I can't remember the words off the top of my head.  But there were several candidates who ran for office that were not born in the US, including John McCain.  The phrase "natural born citizen" doesn't actually mean born in the USA.

[Varmit]

I think that it is kinda funny that a "certificate of live birth" can be used by the President, but military recruits MUST provide a "birth Certificate". 

[Tobina+1]

Billy; and I trust those military recruits in protecting my country much more than any president!

[Tobina+1]

OK, food for thought... So say that Obama can't produce a birth certificate and he is deemed ineligible for the presidency... what next?  Who will be taking his spot?  Will that be any better??

[dnalexander]

The document I have says "Birth Certification" and has an embossed seal of the Missouri Dept. of Health. No doctors name. Is it a birth certificate or a certification of live birth. I got it when I had to get a passport. What is the difference? If it is not a Birth Certificate how do I get one?

David