Keyes in Better Standing Than Berg

I found myself pleasantly surprised yesterday when I discovered that a new suit questioning the natural born citizenship of Barack Obama and therefore his qualification to serve as President of the United States had been filed before the Superior Court of California. The suit was filed by Gary Kreep (good name for a lawyer) of the United States Justice Foundation on behalf of Alan Keyes, a presidential candidate on the American Independent Party ticket, as well as California electors, Wiley S. Drake and Markham Robinson. Besides Obama, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen, Vice President Elect Joe Biden, and a list of 53 California electors were also named as defendants.

Although neither a lawyer or legal professional, it appears to me that the three plaintiffs in this particular case do actually have standing, something which Phillip Berg has had difficulty proving in his case filed before the Pennsylvania courts and now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court. In hindsight, Mr. Berg probably should have found citizens with standing who he could have represented as council and filed on their behalf, therefore avoiding a pile of legal technicalities.

With cases pending in Hawaii, Ohio, Connecticut, Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, this issue will apparently soon come to a head. Chicago lawyer Andy Martin has a hearing scheduled for November 18th to attempt to force the state of Hawaii to produce the vault copy of Obama's birth certificate, which would indicate the birth hospital, attending physician, and other details not present on the short form Certification of Live Birth posted on web sites such as factcheck.org. Mr. Martin should have a better than average chance of prevailing due to the pinpoint accuracy of details outlined in the suit and the fact that he most definitely avoided jurisdictional issues. Evidence obtained by Andy Martin in Hawaii may be brought forth in the California case as well as others so Mr. Martin's early efforts may prove to be the backbone of the entire movement.

In my opinion, the suit filed yesterday in California on behalf of Alan Keyes has the most potential for success. Alan Keyes and the two electors can prove both standing and proper jurisdiction. This case lacks the hearsay and unsubstantiated claims of the Berg case. I also feel that the attorney for the plaintiffs should focus more on the Indonesian connection rather than the 1961 vault copy of Obama's birth certificate. When Ann and Lolo Soetoro moved their family to Indonesia in 1967, Mr Soetoro enrolled young Barack in school under the name Barry Soetoro as an Indonesian citizen listing his religion as Islam. During that time, neither Indonesia or the United States recognized dual citizenship. Although Obama returned to the U.S. four years later, he travelled to Indonesia in 1981 to visit his mother utilizing an Indonesian passport according to his book, Dreams of My Father. He renewed his passport while in Jakarta and travelled on to Pakistan which at that time was on the U.S. do not travel list. Under Indonesian law, only citizens could obtain passports from that country.

The complicated questions that must be answered by any of these cases to set precedent are:

a) Is Obama a natural born U.S. citizen under laws in effect during 1961?

b) If Obama forfeited his citizenship while naturalized in Indonesia, does he somehow retain his natural born status or is he now a "naturalized" citizen rather than "natural born"?

c) Upon returning to the U.S., did Obama take the steps necessary to regain U.S. citizenship or is he now technically an illegal alien?

Due to many legal difficulties, this web can only be untangled by a competent court system with evidence presented by plaintiffs that can prove both standing and proper jurisdiction. Good luck, Mr. Keyes! May God bless you!

Smear the Queer

I remember, as a third-grader during the late 60's, playing "Smear the Queer", a game in which participants attempted to tackle or "smear" the ball handler or "queer". While in possession of the ball, you either succumbed to the tackling or threw the ball to another who would catch it and then become the new "queer". I don't know whether the game is still played by youths but I'm certain, if it is, that the politically incorrect name has been changed.

The political arena now serves as the new venue for the smear game. Apparently, whoever possesses that ball and runs strong becomes the victim of attack by all other participants. For most of this election season, it appears that Barack Obama has possessed the ball the longest. Hillary started the Obama smear by having us question his patriotism, his citizenship, his credentials and his religion.

At times, John McCain's taken the ball from Obama and become the victim. We've heard of his illegitimate black child and that he's milking the story of five years captivity in a Hanoi prison. Jimmy Carter, I thought you had more class than that!

But Mr. Obama retrieved the ball back from McCain for another round of Muslim bashing before handing it to the newcomer, Sarah Palin. We've heard her Down syndrome son is actually her daughter's. We've heard she's involved with the Alaska Independence Party. We've heard democrats calling her "white trash". Sarah, you've taken enough abuse. Please throw the ball to Joe!

VP Smackdown

Stammering Sarah stayed home tonight and Pitbull Palin showed up, proving to be a formidable opponent in tonight's debate. Palin performed extremely well considering that when Joe Biden debated his first political opponent in 1972, she was a seven year old in Wasilla. The small town charm shined through even during the introductions as Palin said, "It's nice to meet you. Can I call you Joe?", which also showed a much greater respect for Senator Biden than Barack Obama dislayed for Senator McCain during last week's debate.

Gwen Ifill at least appeared nonpartisan as she moderated the debate. Although Palin's knowledge and experience on legislative policy and foreign experience pales in comparison to Biden's, she held her own and delivered direct answers without any of the circular reasoning we've seen in recent interviews. Unknowingly, Katie Couric served as the stone that sharpened Sarah's axe.

During the first round of questioning, Palin sounded like any middle class mom you'd see on the streets or at youth sporting events in middle America. She blamed the current financial crisis on greed and corruption on Wall Street while Joe Biden blamed it on George Bush. She stressed the fact that Obama has always voted along party lines and never truly reached across the aisle to either persuade or agree with Republicans. She also noted that Obama, who always voted for higher taxes, seems to have recently converted to a different philosophy of tax cuts. Biden continued to blame Bush and McCain for all of the current trouble.

Ifill turned the questioning toward why would the Democrats raise taxes on people making over $250,00 a year and why would Republicans tax health benefits? Both candidates handled this topic well although Biden held the upper hand stating that the higher taxes were not a redistribution of wealth but that the middle class is the economic engine of America.

The next question dealt with what campaign promises cannot be kept with the financial demands of the Wall Street bailout? Biden admittted that spending would need to be reduced, especially in the area of foreign aid and said that McCain's tax cuts could not be implemented. I'm not sure what he meant by that because if Obama becomes president, it would be his tax plan that would be proposed. Sarah Palin insisted that McCain would be able to keep all of the promises that were conveyed in his plan.

During this point in the debate, Palin's confidence level grew and her replies became her agenda rather than the moderator's. She turned a line of questioning about bankruptcy law into a talk about energy and during another time asked Ifill, "Could we talk more about Afghanistan?"

Both candidates agreed on the definition of marriage being a union between one man and one woman but still believed in allowing civil rights to homosexual couples. They also agreed on protecting the state of Israel and military intervention in Darfur. They differed considerably on the cause of global warming, the exit strategy for Iraq, and diplomacy with enemies.

Palin addressed the fact that Biden has stated that Obama is not ready to be commander-in-chief, an opinion also carried by both Palin and McCain, as well as most Americans. Palin refused to stumble over Achminijad's name like McCain did last week. She was so proud of the proper pronounciation that she said the name at least five times but she mistakenly claimed our general in Afghanistan is McClellen when his name is McKiernan.

All in all, both candidates handled the debate extremely well. Palin asserted herself as confident and informed and Biden toned down the rhetoric and acted the complete gentleman. No real gaffes slipped from either's mouth. The match stayed close all night but with Sarah Palin as the underdog going in, we have to give her the win, 10 to 7. Looks like the race is back on!

VP Debate Anticipation

Although the second card of the fight and not the main event, the vice presidential debate may prove a bigger draw. Predictability surrounded the McCain-Obama debate. The skilled rhetorical orator versus the seasoned combat veteran left little to speculation. But a lot of uncertainty surrounds the matchup between Pitbull Palin and Bigmouth Biden. Will Sarah Palin hold her ground and not stammer as she did in an interview with a less intimidating Katie Couric? Palin may offer a surprise punch since few outside of Alaska realize her debating skill. Will the more experienced Biden, whose first political debate occured while Palin was in second grade, tone himself down enough to not come across as condescending and rude? All bets are off for this one folks. Tomorrow night's matchup should prove to be very entertaining.

Where is Joe Biden?

I'm somewhat concerned that the malfunction reported last week at CERN's Large Hadron Collider (LHC) may really be a cover up. I'm worried that a black hole was actually created; and through some quantum fluctuation formed in Delaware rather than Switzerland, and has swallowed Joe Biden! I fear for Joe that, after being absorbed into the black hole, he landed in a parallel universe; a strange universe where Al Gore is president of the US, where 9-11 was only the beginning of a war on our soil, and where American women are now required to wear burqas! I now see that operations at the LHC have been suspended indefinitely or until at least spring. I'm certain that a visit to the CERN lab now would reveal the world's greatest physicists theorizing a method for returnng Joe.

I watched the Democratic National Convention and saw Mr. Biden nominated as candidate for the VP slot but I've heard little from him since. It appears the normally outspoken Joe Biden remains abnormally quiet. I would have expected the media overflowing with Biden rhetoric but there's little more than silence. I heard a rumour last week that we would see more involvement from the democratic vice-presidential candidate but that's it.

This election season stands as one of the most interesting in my lifetime since the Nixon vs. McGovern year. We have an old man who's more than paid his dues, two rock stars and an invisible man. Mr. Biden, we may not agree but we sure would like to hear your side. Joe, where are you?

Less of the Same

How many times have we listened to Barack Obama's recitation, "John McCain is another 4 years of George Bush. It's just more of the same." I don't understand the mantra. In the Republican party, fewer members differ on issues as greatly as McCain and Bush. Yes, they are both pro-life and believe in less big government but on other issues, there are considerable differences. McCain supports embrionic stem cell research, Bush does not. There views are also quite different on illegal immigration, taxes, government spending, treatment of native Americans and gun control. Seems like less of the same to me. Throw Sarah Palin into the mix and the differences increase.

When Senator McCain announced Sarah Palin, a Washington outsider, as his running mate, the repsonse from the Obama camp was, “Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency. Governor Palin shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies — that’s not the change we need, it’s just more of the same,” quipped Bill Burton, Obama Campaign Spokesman.

Zero Foreign Policy Experience?

Exactly where did Senator Obama receive his foreign policy experience? I can't see where he has any more than zero. And it seems to me, that as governor of a state that borders two countries, Russia and Canada, Governor Palin must utilize a fair amount of diplomacy.

How do Sarah Palin's views on big issues differ from both Bush and John McCain?

On Abortion:

Palin probably feels more strongly about overturning Roe vs. Wade than either Bush or McCain. McCain appears somewhat ambiguous on the issue. He feels that the supreme court ruling should be made irrelevant but not repealed. Obama is certainly the least compassionate candidate on abortion. In the senate, he supported both partial birth and live birth abortions. Personally, I don't see how a baby born from a botched abortion could be left in a room to die and that not be considered murder.

On the Agenda of Big Oil
An oil man himself, George Bush certainly supports the agenda of big oil. But does Sarah Palin? Her serving as chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission led to the resignation of both Randy Reudrich, head of the Alaskan Republican Party, and former Alaska attorney general, Greg Renkes. from the commission due to conflicts of interest in both cases. Sarah Palin shows no fear of either corruption in her own party or big oil. That's a very big case of "less of the same". John McCain seems to favor advancements in nuclear power technology rather than catering to big oil. Additional investment in solar and wind turbine technologies also rank high on his priority list, unlike President Bush.

Failed Economic Policies
Both John McCain and Sarah Palin seem more reminiscent of Ronald Reagan than George Bush in this arena. McCain learned many lessons in economic policy from President Reagan and his staff during his early years in office and seems to carry that knowledge forward. Both McCain and Palin vow to veto bills laden with "pork barrel" spending and distribute excesses to the citizens. Palin has already done this in Alaska with excess revenue from oil and gas taxes.

In my opinion, I don't see any of this as "more of the same"! Both candidates, Obama and McCain propose change, and I believe regardless of who is elected, change is what will see. Keep in mind though, that change is not always good.

When Joe Biden enters the picture, I see quite a bit of "more of the same". Do we need more of the same rhetoric, wasteful spending, higher taxes, big government, liberalism, and erosion of the country's moral fabric? I view the mentor/student relationship between McCain and Palin as perfectly normal but with Biden coaching Obama, don't we get another four years of Cheney and Bush?