Donofrio misfires
In a recent article, Leo Donofrio takes aim, it looks like, at this blog.
Long-time readers here know that I have taken up the defense of President Chester A. Arthur after he was most unjustly maligned by innuendo from Mr. Donofrio. While he published a picture of the cover of Arthur foe A. P. Hinman’s book How a British subject became president of the United States, I got a real copy through interlibrary loan, scanned, and published it in its entirety, uncovering an interesting letter, that is the starting point of Donofrio’s latest essay. But Donofrio must have read what I wrote sloppily, because he misrepresents what I said (or perhaps some other person publishing the same rare book and letter) rather badly. Here’s the relevant bit from Donofrio:
Thomas F. Bayard was a US Senator from Delaware between 1869 and 1885, which includes the Chester Arthur administration. From 1885 to 1889, Bayard was Secretary of State under Grover Cleveland. This is the same Bayard mentioned in Hinman’s book on Chester Arthur. Hinman wrote to Bayard and Bayard’s response has been erroneously cited by those who support Obama’s eligibility. For some reason I have yet to comprehend, they argue Bayard was aware of Chester Arthur having been born a British subject.
But nothing in Bayard’s letter to Hinman supports that position.
I daresay Mr. Donofrio has a hard time comprehending this view, because no one I know of has ever made such a claim. My article in which I present Bayard’s letter, Chester A. Arthur: Rest in Peace, claims that it is likely that Hinman (not Bayard) knew about Arthur’s father’s naturalization status based on the letter. But I never said, nor do I have any reason to believe one way or the other, what Senator Bayard believes. (more…)
Obama v Franken Poll
Here’s a whimsical poll requiring a double prediction. At the end of 2011, who will be more popular, Al Franken or Barack Obama? Consider whether you feel Al Franken has what it takes to be a real Senator (instead of a humor-wielding critic) and whether President Obama’s ambitious plans for America will have succeeded well enough to keep him out of the popularity “poor house”.
On December 31, 2011, who will have the higher approval rating:
- President Barack Obama? (52%, 201 Votes)
- Senator Al Franken? (48%, 184 Votes)
Total Voters: 385
Loading ...Obama Occidental Blast!
President Soetoro?
This little gem (first circulated as an April Fools joke) is being recycled. Of course the case obliquely referenced here was dismissed, and the subpoena was quashed. This article represents what the “hope” of the denialists looks like:
transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school
In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama’s qualifications for the presidency, the group “Americans for Freedom of Information” has released copies of President Obama’s college transcripts from Occidental College. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program. To qualify for the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship.”
This is the man now sitting in the oval office that we’re talking about above. He is also a lawyer; that is a sworn officer of the courts system, and a member of the Bar that actually taught Constitutional Law in Illinois, before running for the office he now occupies.
This immediately brings up a number of direct conflicts of interest that in themselves create several indefensible positions for the fraud that Barack Hussein Obama, formerly Barry Soetoro, truly appears to be. How could Obama the lawyer not know that he took grant money for financial aid, from the Fulbright Foundation that was intended only for foreign citizens? How then to square this with his supposed Naturalized American-citizen status that he claimed in order to run for president? He cannot be both things in the same person; especially not at the same time. (more…)
A view from the other side
John McCain
Reading over some new material on citizenship from early in our country’s history, I was suddenly struck by the thought: John McCain probably isn’t a natural born citizen of the United States. If we were talking about President McCain today instead Obama, how would the story be different.
The historical fact is that McCain was nominated by the Republican Party to run for president, and that he was on the ballot in all 50 states. A lawsuit was filed, Hollander v. McCain, that challenged his eligibility, a lawsuit that was dismissed. We can reasonably presume that the lawsuits against Obama, had they been filed against McCain would have been similarly dismissed for the same reasons, reasons that are not tied to the truth or falsehood of his eligibility.
McCain’s (and Obama’s) eligibility was not a significant factor in the election. Given that the Senate had already unanimously declared John McCain a natural born citizen in Senate Resolution 511, it hardly seems credible that any Senator would have objected to the certification of his election and an objection must be raised by one Senator and one House member before an objection is recognized. There were articles written by law professors challenging McCain’s eligibility, but I don’t see a mechanism by which the process would have run any differently than it did. (more…)
Chester A. Arthur: Rest In Peace
Chester Arthur
Out of necessity, a fiction was created, one which says Chester A. Arthur hid the naturalization status of his father, because he knew he was ineligible. It is true that Arthur lied about his age (making himself a year younger than what was in the Family Bible) and he got some other dates wrong from the history of his family before he was born (Arthur was estranged from his father). But he never gave any lie that hid his father’s naturalization status.
A 19th century political operative, bent on bringing down Arthur went about trying to prove Arthur was really born in Canada. Indeed, the operative, a lawyer named A. P. Hinman began before the election and continued his investigation until he published a book, four years later, titled How a British Subject became President of the United States. Today the claims of a Canadian birth for Arthur are dismissed by Arthur biographers. However, in a remarkable irony, A. P. Hinman’s little book leaves us proof that Arthur’s birth to an Irish citizen was well known at the time! (more…)
Obama Birth Announcement False (UPDATED!) (Updated Again!!)
…says Mississippi PI in a signed, but not notarized “affidavit.”
Mississippi investigator Jorge L. Baro says that he swore (although the notary’s signature is blank) that some unnamed people he hired told him that they had talked to Beatrice Arakaki in Hawaii and that she told them that 47 years ago in 1961 there was no black baby living next door to her at the address in the Sunday Advertiser announcement of Obama’s birth.
#6085 Kalanianaole circa 1961 - Honolulu Advertiser
According to the Honolulu Advertiser, it was practice to get birth announcements from the Health Department via a news service, not from private submissions, as evidenced by that fact that two independent newspapers had the same announcement with the same announcements for other infants before and after. The announcement had to come from the Health Department, via the birth registration. So what gives? Did they live there or not? It all becomes clear with careful reading and examination of the evidence.
Option A
Let’s assume for a moment that everything that Baro says about the interview is true (but not perhaps complete). (more…)
