Obama birth certificate again

[RecycleMichael]

Yesterday I had to listen to my friend for an hour about this.

He is a local attorney and thinks that this is going to cause riots in the streets if Obama doesn't produce a birth certificate to the Supreme Court before December 1st. His opinion is that the Supremes will halt the electoral college vote on December 15th and not allow Obama to become President of the United States.

I am not a lawyer (I respect myself too much to do that) so I don't know. A "writ of certiorari"? I thought they were a brand of breath mints...

Here is a link to the Supreme Court case...

http://origin.www.supremecourtus.gov/docket/08-570.htm

[guido911]

I wish Obama would put this stupid story to rest once and for all.

[sgrizzle]

It was put to rest in August.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

[waterboy]

I think legally this moron Berg is still pursuing the matter. I thought I had read that at least one court ruled against him, I guess he's busy appealing. The "Q Nation" talk show host (Campbell?) interviewed Berg and has been  charging up the tin foil hats locally.

I agree with your lawyer friend about the potential results of Berg's success. One would expect a lot of turmoil should they thwart the will of the electorate.

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by waterboy

I think legally this moron Berg is still pursuing the matter. I thought I had read that at least one court ruled against him, I guess he's busy appealing. The "Q Nation" talk show host (Campbell?) interviewed Berg and has been  charging up the tin foil hats locally.

I agree with your lawyer friend about the potential results of Berg's success. One would expect a lot of turmoil should they thwart the will of the electorate.

If this tells you anything about Berg, I heard him first back in July on Coast to Coast radio with George Noory (you know, this is the same station that used to carry Art Bell).

Noory doesn't seem as off the wall as Bell does/did, but he essentially had all the callers challenging him, and even George challenged him about the charge.  In true, lawyer fashion, he neither proved nor disproved his point.

Non-issue, and has been for MONTHS.  It's all about Wingnuttia and the sore losers within.

[Red Arrow]

This birth certificate deal is embarrassing to reasonable Conservatives.  It reminds me of the sore loosers in 2000. Especially those who persisted after AlGore did noble thing (probably his only time) and said GWB was the President Elect. (Hopefully my wording will reduce the remarks from the still sore loosers about whether GWB actually won the election.)

[guido911]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

It was put to rest in August.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

Thanks.

[RecycleMichael]

The guy who talked to me about this was no kook.

He said this is still alive and that the higher court has refused the case, but still wants to see the proof.

I guess "writ of certiorari" means that the high court wants to see the records.

I think the Berg guy is out of the picture, but the court still wants Obama to produce a certificate.

[pmcalk]

RM, at least according to the source you cited, it appears that only a petition for a writ was filed.  That's basically the appeal that was filed by Berg.  The Supreme Court so far has denied that petition (via Justice Souter).  If the writ had been granted, then the Supreme Court would have ordered the lower court (not Obama) to produce its record for review--that is the meaning of writ of certiorari.  I haven't heard of any "demand" that the Supreme Court is making with respect to Obama's birth certificate.  And I don't see that they can.  I don't know who your lawyer friend is, but I am guessing he or she doesn't practice much before the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court only reviews lower courts to ensure that the law was appropriately followed--it is not an evidentiary court, and would not demand evidence be produced.  

I could be wrong--I don't practice before the Supreme Court either.  But for the Supreme Court to deny a petition and demand evidence produced anyway sounds like bull to me.

[pmcalk]

OK, one more try at this.  I didn't realize that Berg filed two petitions.  First, he filed a petition for writ of cert.  Then he filed for an emergency injunction to stop the election.  That injunction was denied by Souter.  The original petition hasn't been decided yet, but if the other parties (the DNC, FEC, & Obama) want to respond to Berg's original petition, December 1st is the deadline for their response.  That doesn't mean anyone has to produce a birth certificate by Dec. 1.  The lower court said that no individual has the right to sue under the "natural citizenship" clause of the Constitution.  That is what the Supreme Court will decide--if they decide to hear the case at all--not whether or not Obama is a citizen.  If they grant cert, and they disagree with the lower court, then they would send it back to the lower court for Berg to prove his case.  

Under what possible theory does your friend believe that the Supremes could "halt the electoral college"?

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by Red Arrow

This birth certificate deal is embarrassing to reasonable Conservatives.  It reminds me of the sore loosers in 2000. Especially those who persisted after AlGore did noble thing (probably his only time) and said GWB was the President Elect. (Hopefully my wording will reduce the remarks from the still sore loosers about whether GWB actually won the election.)

Legally, yes, he won the election.  But it was more like 'selected' than 'elected'.  Neither of his two runs did he ever win the popular vote.

The electoral college, in my opinion, has outlived its usefulness.

[RecycleMichael]

Thanks, pmcalk.

I knew that you legal types could explain it to me.

My friend is one of those lawyers who defends insurance companies against their insurers. He probably has never had a case before the Supremes. His explanation was that the high court wanted some evidence from Obama. His point was that if Obama failed to produce a certificate, he would be in contempt of the court. He further thinks that the electors could not legally vote for a candidate that did not meet the requirements for election.

The Supremes would not stop the election, they would just say that Obama votes would not count.

This whole thing seems incredibly far-fetched and I argued with him that if it was true, it would be covered by the media. Then I came home and found a open case on the Supreme Court website.

[TulsaFan-inTexas]

If the Supreme Court overturns the results of the election, there will be big trouble.

It won't happen; at least I pray that it won't happen.

[guido911]

This is just an article I read this morning on the subject (I am not giving it any real credence but the dig at factcheck was funny):

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/11/why_the_barack_obama_birth_cer.html

Is it true that Obama refuses to produce his birth certificate? If so than Obama is being silly, particularly since Sarah Palin was all but forced to prove that Trig was her child and not her daughter's child.

[rwarn17588]

quote:Originally posted by guido911

This is just an article I read this morning on the subject (I am not giving it any real credence but the dig at factcheck was funny):

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/11/why_the_barack_obama_birth_cer.html

Is it true that Obama refuses to produce his birth certificate? If so than Obama is being silly, particularly since Sarah Palin was all but forced to prove that Trig was her child and not her daughter's child.

This is sheer lunacy. It's as pathetic as those claiming that William Ayers ghost-wrote Obama's first book.

I find it funny that people are spending so much energy on this, especially after someone found Obama's birth notice in the Honolulu Advertiser's archives back in 1961. And the same notice appeared in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20081109/NEWS01/811090361/-1/SPECIALOBAMA08

Hmmm. So someone faked the archives of Honolulu's two daily newspapers. And the birth certificate, too. Riiiiiiiight.

These nutjobs need to spend time on substantive issues, not conspiracy theories that make the 9/11 Truthers look sane.