So......Obama IS a US citizen after all?!

Black Man

April 27th, 2011 10:06 AM ET

Obama releases long-form birth certificate

t1main.shawna-headshot Posted by:

CNN White House Producer Shawna Shepherd

By CNN's Alan Silverleib

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The White House released copies of President Barack Obama's original long-form birth certificate Wednesday, seeking to put an end to persistent rumors that he was not born in theUnited States.

"We do not have time for this kind of silliness," Obama told reporters at the White House.

Obama's long-form birth certificate [PDF]

"Normally I would not comment on something like this," the president said. But the country has "enormous challenges" that it will not be able to effectively meet "if we're distracted."

The president ripped what he characterized as a recent focus on "side shows" and "carnival barkers."

Obama released a shorter, legally binding "certificate of live birth" in 2008, but many opponents of the president continued to assert he was born overseas.

The administration had to make a special request from the state ofHawaiito get the long-form birth certificate released, White House legal counsel Bob Bauer said. Typically, the state only releases what's called a certificate of live birth when people request a birth certificate.

While the president has tried to make light of the controversy, the question has remained political red meat for some of his critics. A recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll showed that nearly 75% of Americans believe Obama was definitely or probably born in theUnited States. More than four in 10 Republicans, however, believe he probably or definitely was not born inAmerica.

The U.S. Constitution says only "natural born" citizens can become president - a vague clause that some members of the "birther" movement contend disqualifies Obama from the presidency, since they believe he was born overseas.

"The president believed the distraction over his birth certificate wasn't good for the country," White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer said. "It may have been good politics and good (television), but it was bad for the American people and distracting from the many challenges we face as a country.

"At a time of great consequence for this country - when we should be debating how we win the future, reduce our deficit, deal with high gas prices, and bring stability to the Middle East,Washington,D.C., was once again distracted by a fake issue," Pfeiffer said. "The president's hope is that with this step, we can move on to debating the bigger issues that matter to the American people and the future of the country."

Pfeiffer told reporters that the so-called "birther debate" has been politically damaging to the Republican Party.

Skeptics contend, among other things, that Obama was born in his father's home country ofKenya. Potential GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump recently seized on the issue, saying he had doubts about Obama's background.

CNN investigation: Obama born in the U.S.

Following the White House's release of the long-form birth certificate, Trump told reporters in New Hampshire Wednesday morning that he is "very proud" of himself for helping to bring about the release of the document.

"I've accomplished something nobody else was able to accomplish," Trump said. "I'd want to look at (the birth certificate), but I hope it's true so that we can get on to much more important matters."

Obama "should have (released the certificate) a long, long time ago," he said.

Trump, a billionaire business tycoon and reality television star, blamed the media for repeatedly bringing up the issue. Trump, however, has frequently raised questions about Obama's birthplace during his climb in recent GOP primary polls.

Allegations that Obama was not born in theUnited Stateshave been repeatedly discredited. A recent CNN investigation turned up no evidence to support the birther claims.

http://whitehouse.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/27/obama-releases-long-form-birth-certificate/

Berengaria

"I know that there is going to be a segment of people for which no matter what we put out, this issue will not be put to rest," Obama said. "But I am speaking for the vast majority of the American people as well as for the press. We do not have time for this kind of silliness. We have better stuff to do. I have got better stuff to do. We have got big problems to solve."

"We are not going to be able to do it if we are distracted, we are not going to be able to do it if we spend time vilifying each other ... if we just make stuff up and pretend that facts are not facts, we are not going to be able to solve our problems if we get distracted by side shows and carnival barkers," the president declared earlier.

Amen

Ex-Dub MS

If your mother's legal first name was STANLEY, you'd want to keep your birth certificate to yourself, too.

WontLeave

For people on one side, this is an "I told you so" moment. For people on the other side, Obama's the president and has been for a while now; he can get a custom-made birth certificate. People believe whatever they want, facts and truth be damned.

If he had my sense of humor, he'd have released one that said his name was McLovin. (vague movie reference)

OnTheWayOut

I always was certain that Hilary, wanting to be president so badly, would have found dirt on Obama's out-of-country birth if it were true.

I have to agree that it is "silliness."

drewcoul

If your mother's legal first name was STANLEY, you'd want to keep your birth certificate to yourself, too.

LOL

mindseye

It's absurd this ever became a major issue in the first place. I can't remember any other president that has had his US citizenship questioned in this way before. It's a no-brainer why there's a significant segment of the population who are committed to this nonsense.

mrsjones5

It's smells slightly of the "go back to Africa" sentiment that is spouted by those who don't like black folks. It does to me anyway.

thetrueone

I'm actually surprised that the White House would do this, playing into the hands of conspiracy theorists seems going down low to their level

of intelligence.

I'm sure the President has more important things to do.

I guess his opposers will start saying that he's now a Muslim, trying to destroy the United States from the inside.

What the US needs right now is a low IQed white man with a bible in his hand, carrying it with him wherever he goes.

This would appease the Christain right and keep them happy . We all know you cant trust a black man, thats why god

made them black in the first place, to distinguish them from the pure and righteous white people.

Terry

It could be argued that the birth certificate issue was baited to create curiousity, speculation and finally paranoia among a constituency.

For what purpose? To position them for ridicule.

The fastest way to end a legitimate call for corroboration is to produce corroboration.

I'll give an example.

I use to work for an art gallery which announced that it was going to begin administering lie detector tests to employees as a monthly process.

Inventory was going missing and nobody knew where it had gone.

The Polygraph Exams were going to be a policy. The owner asked for anyone who objected to please let him know.

Only one employee got bent out of shape. He really took it to the limit, too. He started crying foul and injecting how UNCONSTITUTIONAL it was

to demand he prove himself not a thief, etc. etc.

The objections were voiced to other employees and not to the boss directly.

Guess what? The gallery owner had no intention of using Polygraph Exams.

He was one smart fellow. He simply figured by announcing the Polygraph he would flush out the thief by their own fear of getting caught.

That employee quit, by the way.

The missing inventory problem immediately stopped.

Co-incidence? Maybe.

But, this is the sort of game that is often played at high levels of the political sphere.

So......Obama IS a US citizen after all?!

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