NDAA 2012 and Martial Law Hype

As a result of my zealousness during the 2008 elections, I'm known and respected as a political blogger, but I actually prefer writing about music, concerts, sporting events, muscle cars, and Harley-Davidson motorcycles.  I've delved into a few political issues this year but must admit that I rarely watch television and for the most part I've acquired an absolute naivety regarding politics.

So imagine my astonishment when a friend, politician, and icon in the community asked my opinion regarding the recent passage of the National Defense Authorization Act 2012.  I admitted my lack of expertise in the matter then dove into the subject for many hours of intense research.

I know that we are currently seeing a ton of sensationalism and hype on the internet regarding the passage of this bill and how it limits our civil rights so please take the time to read my interpretation in the following letter in response to my friend:

Hi Rodney,

Thanks for looking toward me for help on this matter and I apologize for my naivety yesterday in regard to it.  Please keep in mind that I am not a lawyer nor a politician.  I'm just a guy with an inquisitive mind that likes to study controversial subjects.  I lean conservatively politically and I am a fundamental Christian so unfortunately my opinions are tainted and biased a bit as I am only human, although I do try to stay objective.

This bill that was recently signed by the President is essentially the same Defense Authorization Act that's been signed by the President every year for the last 48 years although some significant changes were implemented after 9/11 in regard to Al-Qaeda operatives specifically and the military was granted the ability to detain them almost indefinitely.

This Bill was huge (565 pages) and I waded through it a bit last night and a little more this morning.  Everything was handled in typical political fashion regarding compromise and edits.  The original bill introduce in the House was 29,542 words, grew to 230,298 words when it hit the Senate, and ended up a whopping 245,071 words when Obama signed it.

It appears that what most people seem upset about are some news articles and blogs that were published while the bill was still in the Senate being revised.  I hate to say this because I align with him well ideologically but it looks like the Ron Paul camp actually perpetuated the propaganda.  The president, as well as the governor of every U.S. state has always been authorized to implement martial law and suspend habeus corpus.  It has happened numerous times in history most notably during reconstruction after the Civil War, in the state of Hawaii during all of World War II, and in Louisiana after the devastation and chaos created by Hurricane Katrina.  

What a lot of people are upset about now is Section 1031 of the Senate version of the bill which ended up actually being Sections 1021 and 1022 of the Act signed by the President.  This occurred when Ron Paul subversively announced that this was contrary to the Bill of Rights and gave the President the right to implement martial law.  But the President has always had this power.  

Obama increased the tension and anxiety over this controversy when he made some incredibly stupid comments right before he signed it.  As much as I dislike his policies, I feel that in this particular situation after he had threatened to veto the bill, he was trying to play along and be non-partisan since an overwhelming majority of both the House and the Senate approved it.  

There are at least 10 mentions in the entire Act that exclude American citizens and legal residents, twice mentioned in these two controversial sections, but the wording is ambiguous and the grammar is poor.  I could see the possibility of things for this to be read out of context and the President insisting he has unlimited power to implement martial law but that's certainly not the intent and I cannot imagine that happening on our soil although I do recognize that things like this have happened throughout history. 

This excerpt from the law in the controversial section 1021 seems very clear to me:

"Nothing in this section shall be construed

to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of

United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States,

or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United

States."

The U.S Constitution, The Bill of Rights and more than 200 years of other laws and case precedence would have to be somehow overthrown or overturned before any President of our country could obtain absolute power.  

If we desire true change for our country, then I feel that our energy may better be expended by seeking a candidate that has the potential to beat Barack Obama in the next election.  He's performed poorly, most educated and informed people predicted it, and now it's time for his replacement.  

I hope this helps.  If you want me to dig into this any more, please let me know.  

Sincerely,

John

Obama'a Golf Swing

I recently received this email from my friend, Matt Romney with the following message:

Since taking office, President Obama has repeatedly promised he would “not rest until every American who is able and ready and willing to work can find a job.” And 1,584 holes of golf later, the President has stayed true to this promise by staying busy on the links.

This figure doesn’t bode well with the twenty-five million Americans who are currently unemployed, underemployed, or have stopped looking for work.


It’s time to have a president whose idea of being “hands on” doesn’t mean getting a better grip on the golf club.

Donate $18 to help me put President Obama on a permanent vacation:


At first glance, this seemed incredulous to me!  With our country in the midst of fiscal and civic ruin, and while fighting wars on two seperate fronts, our beloved leader and Commander-in-Chief gallivants across the green, whacking small, white balls, on our dime and our time, for 1,584 holes smiling the entire time like the Cheshire cat.  This dude hit more holes than Bill Clinton!

Mitt's ad  initially elicited the expected reaction from me.  Our president putts around the course as the country sinks, surrounded by the enormous presence of expense of the Secret Service.  My overactive imagination flashed images of Nero fiddling while Rome burned.

I sat in utter astonishment, then reality sunk in and I simply performed the math.  1,584 divided by 18 holes per round equals 88 rounds of golf.  The President assumed office in January of 2009 which was approximately 148 weeks ago.  So, Barack Obama plays one round of golf on average once every 13 days weeks or approximately twice per month.

Regardless of our opinion of him, it appears to me that the man performing one of the globe's most stressful professions should have an opportunity to unwind and relax on occasion.  Personally, I require much more down time than two rounds of golf per month.

Mitt, will you start attacking him for reading a book, shooting a few hoops, or playing with the kids?  How would you enjoy criticism for running every day or the occasional hunt?

While Barack Obama spent valuable time playing 1,584 holes of golf, Mitt Romney spent a similar amount of time running 3,108 miles.

Mitt, as a hunter, why are you unable to realize the relative ease in finding shots to fire at Obama in regard to a poor understanding of economics, health care reform propaganda, high unemployment, favoring importers over exporters, and the very real likelihood that he is not an natural born citizen of the United States?  Do you really think that you will garner support, in the polls and financially, by attacking golfers, a hobby practiced by a skewed percentage of conservatives?

A country club only a few miles from my house is currently running a pre-season special to attract extra business from non-members.  I believe that rather than sending my $18 to the Romney campaign, I will invest in 18 holes of fun for myself.  And Mitt, if you are counting, that will give me a tally for the year of 54 holes of golf as I have desired to squander my valuable time on motorcycling and playing music!

During my time on the greens, I think I'll focus a bit on the attributes of Michele Bachmann, a woman of impeccable character and integrity, who is in the primaries against you.  I will find it much more difficult to criticize or pick on her but I'm sure I'll find something interesting to write!

Back to the Political Circus

I know it appears odd, particularly to my readers from several years ago, that I've dabbled little in politics and the hilarity behind it.  Many remember during the 2008 election year, I, along with a few others, first exposed the possibility that Barack Obama may not be a natural born U.S. citizen, one of the few requirements necessary to obtain the position of President.  The story gained some ground, hit mainstream news, and then surprisingly disappeared beneath the rug that we figuratively sweep things under.  I have no intention of re-hashing that story now although I may plunge into it  again as we more closely approach the actual election.  If one would like to read more on the Obama birth certificate scandal, please look at my blog archives and read the stories from that period in time.

Since the last presidential election, I blogged little as life consumed me, then returned to write but chose subjects that I personally find more interesting like music, concerts, and motorcycles. I've also attempted to adopt the discipline of simplicity which has led me to almost entirely abandon television so I am not the least bit up to date on current events or the details of where we stand right now in the 2012 election process.  So today, I have the distinct advantage of writing from a vantage of naivety and innocence which may cause me to appear stupid or ignorant, or on the other hand, allow me to offer a fresh, fairly unbiased perspective.  But I heard bits and pieces of news today that struck my funny bone so hard that I felt compelled to write something tonight. 

Continue to keep in mind that I've not followed politics at all for the past three years so in my research to brush up, imagine my amazement as  I discover a list of 16 Candidates for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.  I understand that as the incumbent, protocol dictates no Democrat may compete for the ticket against Barack Obama, so please let's look at this list and allow me the opportunity for naive comment.

Herman Cain

Knowing little of the man, I instantly liked him as a potential candidate when I heard his view of the political system and realized the long list of qualifications on his resume.  I understand that days ago he withdrew from the race because of allegations of sexual misconduct.  I don't quite understand that.  I observed the same behavior from a Mr. Clinton many years ago and it actually propelled his popularity to a whole new level. Not that I condone any of it but I guess what's good for the goose (Democrat) may not be equally good for the gander (Republican).  Or maybe it's a racist thing?  I would love to stir that pot!

Newt Gingrich

I thought this man disappeared from the political scene many years ago after his tenure as Speaker of the House of Representatives?  Now apparently out of retirement and the purported front runner for the nomination, is a man that has already buried the stories of his sexual misconduct.  But I did hear that Herman Cain was a possible running mate for Newt so that would make an interesting ticket of the Two Players, bigger skirt chasers than Al and Bill?

And the story that caught my attention today and forced me back into blogging politics was the leak that Newt Gingrich used tax payer dollars three times for anal bleaching. Who has their ass bleached?  Why is anyone staring at it?  How expensive is the process?  I'm quick to follow trends so I am now interested in this anal bleaching. Who performs this procedure?  Endless questions enter my mind so it's unlikely that I will let this story cool for a while.

John Huntsman

Maybe not this year but very soon speaking Chinese will be a prerequisite for the candidacy.  So Mr. Huntsman, maybe you're too early.

Gary Johnson

He does not attend church, is pro-choice, pro-immigration, and an outspoken opponent of the war on drugs who favors the legalization of marijuana.  I don't agree with much of his ideology except he is anti big government and I like the idea of buying weed at the store.  But shouldn't this guy be on the other party's ticket?

Fred Karger

God smacked me with this one years ago so gay bashing is no longer part of my routine.  I admire the man for being openly gay and still aligning himself with Republican rhetoric.

Andy Martin

I remember Andy from many years ago as he was one of the leaders in the pursuit to expose the citizenship status of Barack Obama, and I still correspond with him occasionally by email.  But unless I'm wrong, I thought Andy was a Democrat.  Did he party switch?  This smells a little fishy to me. And after Blagovich and Obama, do we want another Chicagoan? 

Jimmy McMillan

Another former democrat and member of the "Rent is Too Damn High Party", as well as a Viet Nam veteran and karate expert, I like this guy.  Not that he has a chance but he looks very cool and like he'd be a blast to hang out with.  I will have fun blogging him in the future. And Jimmy, if by chance you read this, please contact me.  I'd love to interview you!

Tom Miller

This man is a career flight attendant.  I respect the profession but how does that qualify one for the presidency?

Ron Paul

You can't help but like this Libertarian leaning medical doctor and congressman. He believes in reform and he believes in himself and his supporters are dogmatic about all of it.  This type of man could live in that big, white house in the capital and actually make a difference instead of just talking about it.

Rick Perry

I admire the things that he stands for but didn't we already try an evangelical, good looking, grass roots, smiling, millionaire Texan?  What is Einstein's definition of insanity?  Look it up if you don't know.

Buddy Roemer

I know nothing about him other than he is another former Democrat.  Why all the ship jumping this campaign?

Mitt Romney

This man appears solid, has a tremendous resume, and apparently the ability to address our economic woes.  And I understand that he along with Newt Gingrich are the current front runners.  I don't need to flip a coin on that one!

Rick Santorum

Shouldn't he just be supporting his friend Mitt?

Matt Snyder

This man claims that he is a representative of the people.  I thought that was the entire concept!  What am I missing?

Vern Wuensche

Contractor and businessman, this man appears to be another capable of assessing and addressing our financial woes.  But how could he ever unseat Obama?

Michele Bachmann

I saved the best for last!  Why is this upstanding woman not the front runner?  She maintains impeccable character, shows integrity on every level, stands firm on conservative issues, displays superior intellect, speaks articulately, and shows absolutely no signs of dishonesty or abuse of power.  Anyone reading this article, please take the time to learn more about this incredible woman.  Besides, if you ask me, she's a lot hotter looking than any of the other goons!  

My Choice!

Justice Kennedy Denies Lightfoot

Earlier today, Justice Anthony Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court denied the application for a stay pending the filing and disposition of a petition for a writ of certiorari, filed by attorney Orly Taitz on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate on the Ron Paul ticket. Ms. Taitz, a rare combination attorney and dentist, claimed that Barack Obama fails to qualify as President of the United States because he lacks status as a natural born citizen. Similar lawsuits filed earlier by Phillip Berg, Leo Donofrio, and Cort Wrotnowski met with the same fate. Although Justice Kennedy denied the application for a stay, Ms. Taitz still retains the option to resubmit to another justice of her choosing. Ms. Taitz also serves as co-counsel representing Alan Keyes and others in another suit challenging Obama's citizenship. That suit still awaits a hearing in California Superior Court.

For those not in the know, many question whether Barack Obama is eligible to be President under the qualifications stated in Article II of the U.S. Constitution:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President

There are several possible scenarios that put Obama in a situation where he may not qualify as "natural born".

a) Obama's mother Stanley Anne Dunham was American but his father was from Kenya which at the time was part of the British Protectorate. So at birth, young Obama was a citizen of the United States, Kenya, and Great Britain. Many legal experts feel that this caused divided loyalties preventing one from being natural born according to the intent of the original framers of the constitution.

b) Obama's parents divorced when he was two years and his mother married an Indonesian national, Lolo Soetoro. Some records indicate that Soetoro adopted Obama when the family moved to Jakarta, where he lived and attended school under the name, Barry Soetoro. Some feel that when Soetoro adopted Obama, he automatically forfeited his U.S. citizenship.

c) Others claim that Obama was born in Kenya rather than Hawaii as he contends. Much of this argument stems from a rather questionable interview conducted in Swahili of Obama's paternal grandmother. It also relies on a strange interview with a mysterious forensic expert who feels that the birth certificate that the Obama campaign posted online is a forgery.

I'm no legal expert but in my opinion the Lightfoot lawsuit, a Berg clone with elements of Donofrio thrown in, appeared hastily prepared and poorly written. Ms. Taitz managed to ram the case through the legal system blazingly fast. Hopefully she will be better prepared when the Alan Keyes suit comes to fruition.

Enjoy the two accompanying YouTube videos of Orly explaining the details of both cases. It's interesting to note that Orly Taitz, who escaped the totalitarian Soviet regime, cannot claim natural born status either.

The Blagojevich Connection

Utilizing frantic damage control tactics, President Elect Barack Obama must now expend a tremendous amount of effort, better spent on structuring a transition, on distancing himself and staff members from the controversy surrounding Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. FBI agents pulled Blagojevich from his bed early Tuesday morning charging him with a multitude of federal corruption charges including attempts to sell the Senate seat recently vacated by Obama.

How interconnected and entangled are our new President Elect, described as the messiah by Louis Farrakhan, and the foul mouthed corrupt governor of Illinois?

Obama served as a senior advisor and one of the chief architects alongside both Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod to the successful 2002 Blagojevich campaign. Blagojevich endorsed Obama for Illinois state legislature, U.S. Senate in 2004 and for the 2008 presidential race, and Obama reciprocated during the 2002 and 2006 Illinois gubernatorial races. Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel and senior advisor, David Axelrod, played key roles in the campaign electing both Obama and Blagojevich. Additionally, Emmanuel filled the congressional seat vacated by Blagojevich when he was elected as governor. Tony Rezko served as chief fundraiser for both Blagojevich and Obama before being federally indicted for bribery.



David Axelrod began his career as a Hyde Park journalist so I'm sure it won't be long before we realize that neighborhood heavyweights Bill Ayers and Louis Farrakhan are also entangled in this capacious web. We watched as Jesse Jackson, Sr. wept during Obama's acceptance speech and then hear later that his son Jesse Jackson, Jr. attempted to buy Obama's vacant senate seat from the perfidious Blagojevich.



After observing the close connection between these devious characters, one must ask how long before the teflon candidate Obama becomes entrenched by his own trail of deceit and corruption? It appears that Obama has already exceeded the controversies surrounding Nixon, Reagan, Clinton and Bush before his own presidency has even commenced.

Wrotnowski Denied by Supreme Court

If tradition holds true, the lawsuit filed by Cort Wrotnowski vs. Susan Bysiewicz, Connecticut Secretary of State, and appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, questioning the natural born citizenship and presidential eligibility of Barack Obama was dismissed without comment earlier today as the nine justices met in private conference. The court granted three certiorari today indicating that Wrotknowki's suit was summarily denied.

Wrotnowski presented a well written and documented, concise case aided by attorney, Leo Donofrio, whose case had been rejected days earlier by the court. The basis of both suits alleged that Obama could never declare status as a natural born citizen due to his father's Kenyan citizenship which also fell under British jurisdiction.

Rather than entertain the merit of Wrotnowski's case, the court ruled that he does not hold legal standing and is therefore unable to bring civil action against Obama.

Although not as well prepared, another case on behalf of vice presidential candidate Gail Lightfoot also sits before the court and should be able to prove standing.

The Globe on Obama's Citizenship

After 54 years of printing hot gossip and randy rumors, the Globe apparently published it's very first true story this week concerning the mystery of Barack Obama's birth. The supermarket tabloid's cover dated December 9th states "Obama Election Illegal" in huge type. In another history breaking moment, that headline alone may prove to be enough to cause this crazed conservative to shell out the $2 or $3 necessary to see what's on the inside because their website only posts this teaser.

Governor Rod Blagojevich Arrested

The smelly, corrupt ties to President Elect Obama continue as Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich finds himself in FBI custody for conspiring to sell the Senate seat vacated by Obama as well as other federal corruption charges. When will we tire of the stench emanating from Chicago? Regardless of any ties between the two, certainly the teflon candidate will escape another near disaster.

I Started a Joke or the Birth of an Internet Rumor

For those of you too young to remember, I Started a Joke was a big 1960's hit for the BeeGees when they were still a semi-cool pop band similar to the Beatles or Turtles, way before the 1970's disco invasion that almost destroyed the music industry.


But in this case, I'm the one who started a big joke that apparently has turned into somewhat of an internet rumor. I'm certain that most reading this blog are aware of the controversy surrounding the natural born citizenship status of President Elect Barack Obama. A couple of weeks ago, when Mr. Obama started naming cabinet positions, I commented on obamacrimes.com that he appeared to be recreating the Clinton administration so that when he became disqualified to serve as president, Hillary Clinton would assume the position through the electoral process and she would appoint Obama as Secretary of State. Believe me, this has absolutley no basis in fact, it was only meant as a joke.

Several days after I posted that comment, I began reading other comments posted as well as blog articles referring to the switch that was about to take place. One poor rumor spreader even elaborated on the exact chronology that would soon occur.

To set the record straight, I would like to let all know that I started the rumor and there is no factual basis. If it by chance does become reality, then I guess that's a good example of life imitating art!

MSNBC's Olberman Touches on Donofrio Case

Tonight's Countdown with Keith Olberman on MSNBC featured a small exchange between George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley and Olberman concerning the case being conferenced tomorrow by the U.S Supreme Court, which was filed by retired New Jersey attorney Leo Donofrio questioning the natural born citizenship status of President Elect Barack Hussein Obama. Olberman utilizes an extremely biased interviewing technique continually bashing George Bush and the conservative right, insinuating that supporters and plaintiffs involved in any of the "certificate-gate" cases are "crackpots". During the interview, Professor Turley claimed that these cases had little chance of being heard by the Supreme Court primarily due to their lack of legal standing, regardless of merit.

After the interview, I the inquisitive reporter investigated the somewhat smug, Jonathan Turley, and suprisingly discovered this excerpt from his own website's bio:

Among his current cases, Professor Turley represents Dr. Ali Al-Timimi, who was convicted in Virginia in 2005 of violent speech against the United States. He also represents Dr. Sami Al-Arian, accused of being the American leader of a terrorist organization while he was a university professor in Florida.

Jonathan Turley has made a career of protecting known terrorists from having their constitutional rights "violated". It serves as no wonder that Olberman and Turley colluded to protect the "One".

Olberman consistently attempted to steer the conversation toward the insanity of people claiming that Obama may have been born somewhere other than Honolulu rather than addressing the real subtance of the Donofrio case which is the aspect of divided loyaties and the tri-citizenship with Kenya and Great Britain, as well as the United States. Donofrio claims that according to the Constitution, those born under divided loyaties cannot, by law, be declared natural born citizens.

Regardless of the bias displayed by the liberal Keith Olberman, good luck, Mr. Donofrio, during the Supreme Court conference tomorrow, and God bless!

2nd California Obama Citizenship Suit

One of the attorneys, Orly Taitz, DDS, esquire, representing Alan Keyes and others in their lawsuit questioning the natural born citizenship status of Barack Obama filed yesterday another lawsuit in California Supreme Court. In this suit, Ms. Taitz represents Gail Lightfoot, the vice presidential candidate for Ron Paul, three Constitutional Party electors, one Ron Paul elector, and several voting citizens against Debra Bowen, California Secretary of State. The suit is a petition for extraordinary emergency writ of mandumus for stay of certification of the 2008 presidential election. This newest filing by Dr. Taitz appears to be very well written, properly documenting and referencing applicable case law and precendent. The majority of the plaintiffs can positively prove legal standing and this suit focuses more on the divided loyalties occuring from dual citizenship rendering one a citizen, but not "natural born." Ms. Taitz briefly touches upon the issue of the vault copy birth certificate but not to the point of allowing that to be the primary focal point of the case. Very well done, Orly! You certainly have your hands full. How do you find the time to practice law and dentistry?

Find the entire document here.

New Obama TV Ad

On December 1st, Illuminati Pictures released a 60 second television ad outlining the constitutional issues that some question regarding the eligibility of Barack Obama to serve as President of the United States, primarily due to his questionable status as a natural born citizen per Article II of the Constitution. Janet Porter of Faith2Action is currently attempting to raise money on her website to air the commercial on national television prior to December 15th when the electoral college meets. Below is the actual clip:

Congratulations Saxby!

Under reported for whatever reasons, Saxby Chambliss won the runoff election against challenger Jim Martin in Georgia yesterday to retain his Senate seat and prevent the Democrats from owning a filibuster proof Senate. Although the Obama campaign pumped in millions of dollars and kept their Georgia field offices open to support Martin, the extra campaigning that Sarah Palin and John McCain did for Chambliss paid off as he won handily 57% to 42%. Hopefully the Democrats occupying less than 60 Senate seats will help to preserve the checks and balances intended by our founding fathers.

Congratulations Saxby and Good Luck, you'll need it!

A Mystery Surrounding Stanley Ann Dunham

In studying what little one may find about the history of President Elect Barack Obama, I realized a discrepancy between the common reports of mother Stanley Ann Dunham's (better known as Ann Dunham) college education and reality.

Dunham enrolled at the University of Hawaii in the fall of 1960, where she met her future husband, Barack Obama, Sr. Already three months pregnant, she married the senior Obama in February of 1961 and gave birth to young Obama in August of that same year. It's reported that she took a collegiate break to care for the baby while her husband continued his studies. According to the university registrar, she resumed classes at the University of Hawaii in the spring of 1963 and graduated with a BA in Mathematics in 1967.

Prior to moving to Hawaii with her parents in 1960, the Dunhams lived in Mercer Island, Washington, where she attended high school. So not surprisingly, a Stanley Ann Dunham registered at the University of Washington for the fall semester of 1961 and attended there through the spring semester of 1962.

This appears a bit odd to me. Why would a newly married nineteen year old leave her parents and husband to attend a university 2668 miles away with a three week old baby? How is this even possible logistically?

This bit of knowledge adds further fuel to the fire concerning the mysteries regarding the birth and history of our new President Elect. Although pure speculation at this point, it also increases the possibility that young Obama's birth occurred somewhere other than Honolulu such as Coast Hospital in Mombasa, Kenya which has been widely rumoured.

Al-Qaeda's Fear of Barack Obama

President George Bush presents the perfect ideologically target for Al-Qaeda operatives and other Muslim extremists. He represents everything about the west that they despise. His white American Christian upbringing, his use of alcohol, and his successful entrepreneurial endeavors represent the perfect opponent for their jihad. It's easy to recruit martyrs to your cause when you have such an ideal example of American capitalism.



But Barack Obama represents a different view to the world of the much hated United States. The gun toting, rough speaking cowboy disappears and is replaced by a smooth talking, world traveler, as ethnically diverse as anyone. As Commander-in-Chief, he'll represent a familiarity that they'll find difficult to oppose. The die hard jihadists will continue to find his entire being repelling but how much harder will it be to recruit the common mahadra student or mosque worshipper to fight a man who resembles them in name and appearance more than any other President in the entire history of the United States?

The war of words and propaganda began early when Osama bin Laden's chief deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri condemned Obama as a "house negro" doing the bidding of his white masters.

During the presidential debates, Obama threatened to invade Pakistan if it became necessary to defeat bin Laden and Al-Qaeda, something that both George Bush and John McCain oppose.

The world appears a bit leery of the new American Commander-in-Chief. Apparently, they will be just as uncomfortable with him and the possible unknown as he will be learning the ropes of his new job.

Internet Political Censorship Woes

It came as little surprise the other day when I read the article by Chelsea Schilling featured on World Net Daily regarding the censorship by Google of the conservative blog Atlas Shrugs for anti-Obama articles according to it's publisher, Pamela Geller. Daily hits to the website have dropped from as high as 45,000 per day to less than a hundred after Geller featured a story about a certified forensic expert claiming the Barack Obama Certification of Live Birth posted on Daily Kos and other sites a forgery and an obvious fake. Why would that comes as any surprise as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, prepares to leave the internet giant to assume a position in the Obama cabinet?

I've noticed this political censorship occurring on a much smaller scale during the last several months. I noticed as far back as September that articles I posted that were not favorable toward Obama appeared quickly in top 10 searches but several days later completely disappeared, but yet when I wrote an article during the same time frame about a 1972 Harley shovelhead formerly owned by David Lee Roth of Van Halen fame, the article still appears high on search lists. Many articles that I wrote painting either John McCain or Sarah Palin in a positive light never appeared in the search engines at all.

I've also noticed similar occurrences on sites owned by Google such as YouTube and Blogger. Videos on YouTube that even hinted about Obama's Muslim heritage often disappeared after only a few views. As late as this date, when clicking on Leo Donofrio's blog, Natural Born Citizen, one receives the following warning: "Possible Blogger Terms of Service Violations". I searched the site rather carefully and could find nothing offensive or in violation of Bloggers' Terms of Service.

Almost comedically, Google's partisanship shines through when searching the word "idiot", a YouTube video declaring, "Is Bush an idiot?" displays at number 4 and when searching the word "messiah", "Is Barack Obama the Messiah?" rings in at number four on the list. We all realize that the Google censorship team consists of a group of 20-something geeks in cubicles but please try to be a little more center of left. I always thought that liberals despised censorship.

Google, you've done a great job throughout your short but highly successful history so don't let politics become the monkey on your back. Please keep the censors busy scrubbing kiddy porn while the internet remains a free applicable place for debate on American politics.

Addicted to Obama Birth Certificate Blogging

Each day I vow to no longer write about the controversy surrounding the birth certificate of President Elect Barack Obama and each day I break that vow after digging up some juicy tidbit. No juice today but I still can't avoid the temptation because of all the inaccurate information that I see floating around the blogospere. There appear to be many misinformed people who are in turn creating even more misinformed people so I felt a need to add my two cents on what I know to be fact, know to be rumour, and know to be pure speculation.

Early this past summer, many questioned the natural born citizenship status of Barack Obama based on three main points of reasoning.

1. Rumours abounded that Mr. Obama had been born in Mombasa, Kenya rather than Honolulu, Hawaii as recorded in his book, Dreams of My Father, and as recorded by the campaign. The only proof offered this far in connection to this theory was from an interview with Obama's paternal grandmother conducted over the telephone between two missionaries acting as translators. She referred to Obama as a "son of Kenya" and then later claimed that she witnessed his birth in Mombasa. There are also rumors of a Kenyan birth certificate that has supposedly been sealed by authorities.

2. Obama moved to Jakarta, Indonesia with his mother and stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, sometime around 1967. Mr. Soetoro registered Obama in school under the name Barry Soetoro, listing him as an Indonesian citizen with his religion as Islam. Many unknowns exist here. At the time, Indonesia did not allow foreign citizens to attend public schools. Did Mr. Soetoro adopt young Obama to allow for his education or did he only lie on the paper work to complete registration? Also at the time, Indonesia did not recognize dual citizenship, although this may not have been reciprocated by the U.S. government. The question that remains is did young Obama forfeit his American citizenship to attend school in Jakarta?

3. During the campaign, when questioned about his lack of foreign policy experience, Obama replied that he had travelled to Pakistan while in college and had derived expertise from those travels. At the time, Pakistan was on the state department's do not travel list. Much speculation persists that if he travelled to Pakistan and then later India, it must have been on an Indonesian passport. This has never been confirmed.

In response to those questioning, in mid June, the Obama campaign sent a .jpg scanned Hawaiian Certification of Live Birth (COLB) to the Daily Kos. Several days later, the same image appeared on factcheck.org, politifact.com, and Obama's own site fightthesmears.com. Immediately the internet erupted with claims that the COLB was a forgery. In researching Hawaiian law, many also learned that parents who were citizens could register foreign births with the state within a year and receive the same COLB.

Many lawsuits followed insisting Obama reveal the "vault" copy or long form version of his birth certificate which shows the birth hospital, attending physician, and many other bits of information that are omitted on the COLB. Rather than submit the document, the Obama campaign repeatedly files for motions to dismiss creating another buzz of "What is he hiding?". To date, I know of at least 39 lawsuits that have been filed around the country with three currently sitting at the U.S. Supreme Court.

I'll address many of the inaccuracies I've seen floating around the internet.

1. Barack Obama is a Muslim. This is not completely accurate. Obama was born into a secular Muslim household and then later raised for several years by another secular Muslim stepfather. Apparently, very little religion was practiced at home. Obama's maternal grandparents had more influence over his life and they were atheistic. As an adult Obama attended Jeremiah Wright's Trinity United Church of Christ where he later married wife Michelle and where apparently he was baptized but no records have been obtained.

2. Barack Obama was born in Kenya. So far, this is only speculation. No Kenyan birth certificate or record has surfaced and no one has yet been able to obtain the travel documents of Obama's mother, Stanley Anne Dunham, from the early 60's.

3. Barack Obama is more Arab than black. I saw dozens of postings yesterday claiming that Obama's genealogy shows that he is less than 7% black and over 40% Arabic. This is nonsense. His American mother was 100% Caucasian and his father a Luo tribe member from Kenya who was a 100% black. Many of the Luo converted to Islam and adopted Arabic sounding names. That does not make them Arabic.

4. Justice Souter has ordered Obama to reply to the lawsuit filed by Phillip Berg by Dec. 1st. This again is untrue. Normal response time to any suit is 30 days. Obama may respond but he has not been ordered to respond. Additionally, Berg is only before the supreme court because lower courts ruled that he did not have legal standing. If the supreme court decided that he does have standing, then most likely the case would be referred back to the lower courts.

5. Hawaiian heath department's Dr. Fukino has verified that Obama was born in Hawaii. This is also untrue. The only thing that Dr. Fukino revealed is that she had examined the original certificate and found it authentic. She never did reveal whether the place of birth was Hawaii or Mombasa.

The real truth of the matter lies in the fact that the leader of the mightiest nation in the world should be somewhat above reproach. Many question whether Obama meets the "natural born" citizenship provision of Article II of the U.S. Constitution. The only irrefutable proof would be the review of the vault copy birth certificate by a non partisan inspector and a decision made by the U.S Supreme Court regarding the possible forfeiture of U.S. citizenship while residing in Indonesia.

This matter will never be totally settled by bloggers or defendants requesting dismissals rather than providing the proper documentation.

And I really can't help that I'm addicted to writing about this issue!

Obama Birth Certificate Saga Continues

Appearing as the proverbial "beating a dead horse", information continually floods the internet concerning the authenticity of the birth certificate provided by the Obama campaign to the Daily Kos, factcheck.org, and his own site fightthesmears.com. Recently a rather convincing argument has been presented by a man using the pseudonym Ron Polarik, proclaiming himself a computer forensic expert. Mr Polarik amazingly claims the document featured on these sites is unquestionably a forgery, utilizing Adobe Photoshop and other graphic manipulating software. His argument appears valid and as a graphic artist myself, I understand the science behind his findings. I only remain skeptical because the man has not revealed his true identity. I understand that he's afraid of possible repercussions but to maintain credibility, one must always step forward. I'm also a little concerned about his fanciful use of deductive reasoning but I'll leave that for another time. Here is a link to the full report: http://polarik.blogtownhall.com/ as well as a youtube video of the man disguising both his face and voice while presenting the "smoking gun".

Obama's Unoriginal Tax Plan?

As most readers of this blog are keenly aware, I've been extremely apprehensive about the thought of Barack Obama leading this country through the many crises that we now face.

At this time I'm still uncertain whether or not Mr. Obama meets the minimum qualifications per Article II of the U.S Constitution regarding natural born citizenship. I don't need to elaborate hear but there are at least a half a dozen lawsuits pending throughout the country questioning this matter.

I'm also deeply concerned about Obama's ability to lead us as Commander-in-Chief through a world wide war on terror currently being fought by our troops on two different fronts. It also troubles me that for any other government job, Mr. Obama would not pass the background check necessary to obtain a security clearance regarding sensitive information.

But what affects me the most personally seems to be the Obama tax plan. I'm neither an accountant or tax attorney so my grasp may be limited but I am the owner of two subchapter S corporations and a managing member in a land development LLC. The plan appears to me to not be original but only a resurrection of the Clinton tax plan with Bush style rebates thrown in to the majority of tax payers. I strive to not reveal too much personal information online but I must make myself a little more vulnerable now because I can only relate to how this matter personally affects me.

As a stockholder in subchapter S corporations, the profit from those entities trickles down from the corporate tax return through schedule K-1 to my personal tax return. As a result of this my taxable income for 2007 was $359,967 of which I paid $96,866 in income tax. Of the $263,101 remaining, my family lived on less than $100,00. The balance went toward interest payments on a new commercial building for one business that must be later capitalized and a stock buyout of former partners from another business. So the majority of money was reinvested to help maintain local economic growth which ultimately added jobs.

If I understand the Obama tax plan correctly, my taxes would have been $142,546, a staggering $45,680 higher than what was paid. Consider the crippling economic effect on a nation full of closely held corporations. In my case alone between one and two jobs would be lost or as much as 8% of the work force! Can our nation sustain that type of blow? With the additional money contributing to big federal government spending, there would also be a draining of the local economy. Unless I'm missing something, an additional 8% of the poulation unemployed would force this nation to tumble into another 1930's type depression. Hopefully, there still remains in Congress enough common sense to prevent this from happening. Why penalize small business owners with higher taxes while offering a $1,000 rebate to 95% of the population causing nearly 16% to become unemployed forcing even higher taxes to support the welfare state?

It appears to me that the Obama tax plan will cause an out of control downward spiral in the U.S. economy, stagnating business growth and the creation of jobs. Please, let's not allow that to happen.

Obama Citizenship Cases Lack Credibility

As another lawsuit, filed by Andy Martin in Hawaii, falls unfavorably toward the plaintiff, it occurred to me that the majority of these cases were filed not so much in defense of our Constitution but as an attention getter from those who seek public notoriety.

A lingering question still remains as to the natural born citizenship status of Barack Hussein Obama. He claims to have been born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961 and has presented a Certification of Live Birth (COLB) to the Daily Kos and factcheck.org, as well as his own site, fightthesmears.com and it has supposedly been authenticated.

Many concerns surround the COLB posted on these websites. Many forensic experts claim it a forgery. See youtube video below:



Personally, I'm not impressed by the credence of this argument but I do realize that according to Hawaiian law in effect during 1961, Hawaiian citizens who gave birth outside the country were able to register those births in Hawaii within one year. This could be a distinct possibility because Obama's paternal grandmother insisted while being interviewed that she witnessed his birth in Mombasa, Kenya.

Additionally, Obama's father, a Kenyan on a student visa, was not a U.S. citizen. At the time Kenya fell under the British protectorate so technically, at birth, Obama possibly became a citizen of Kenya, Great Britain, and the United States.

To further complicate matters, Obama's parents divorced when he was two years old and four years later his mother remarried an Indonesian national, Lolo Soetoro, and the family moved to Jakarta. Mr. Soetoro registered young Obama in school as an Indonesian citizen, listing his name as Barry Soetoro and his religion as Islam.



So the matter that should be decided by a competent jurisdiction is:

a) Can natural born status be conferred upon an individual born with divided loyalties against the intent of our founding fathers?

b) Did Obama lose his American citizenship in Indonesia and then later regain it as a naturalized, not natural born, citizen?

The internet abounds with chatter about this situation but in reality, it needs to be addressed in the proper venue which ultimately would be the Supreme Court of the United States.

The major problem faced appears to be the credibility of the parties filing these lawsuits. I'm aware of at least 39 lawsuits that have been filed throughout the country either questioning Obama's eligibility or seeking access to the vault copy of his birth certificate. Most of these have already been dismissed but others are open and have received a fair amount of publicity, especially from the more conservatively slanted news sources.

The first suit I became aware of was filed before the Democratic National Convention by Hillary Clinton supporter Phillip Berg. Unfortunately, many of the suits that followed Berg's based their content on supposed Berg discovery; much of which stands as still unsubstantiated claims. To worsen the situation, Berg's reputation for filing frivolous lawsuits precedes him. In response to the Gore vs. Bush decision in 2000, Berg filed asking Justices Scalia, O'Connor, and Thomas to voluntarily disbar themselves for not recusing themselves from the case due to conflicts of interest. After 9-11, Berg, claiming that the twin towers were destroyed by the American government, and filed suit against George Bush and Dick Cheney for crimes against humanity. Berg vs. Obama, already dismissed by two Pennsylvania lower court now sits at the US Supreme Court. The Obama camp has filed a waiver not to respond. Based on his prior history, Berg has almost no chance to further this case at the federal level. The Supreme Court has not even yet scheduled a conference. It is unlikely that they will even consider the matter.

The next highly publicized case was filed by the colorful litigator, Andy Martin. Martin has been sanctioned at many different judicial levels for being a vexatious litigant, noting that he has a tendency to file suits of a frivolous and scandalous nature. He's also run for numerous political offices as a Democrat, a Republican and an Independent. Martin filed in Honolulu Circuit Court requesting access to Obama's long form vault birth certificate. Judge Ayabe conducted an abbreviated hearing on November 18th, took the matter under advisement, and ruled on the 20th denying Mr. Martin access to the document.

Another case sitting before the U.S. Supreme court was filed by retired lawyer and professional poker player Leo Donofrio. Mr. Donofrio appealed to the Supreme Court after his case was rejected by New Jersey Courts. He challenges the citizenship of Barack Obama, John McCain and Socialist Party candidate, Roger Colera. The Supreme Court has actually scheduled a closed door conference for December 5th to determine whether they will address this case. Is this a legitimate suit or just another publicity stunt from the fame seeking Leo Donofrio?

Many bogus cases have been blogged about. The most notorious by a fellow named "Wild Bill" and supposedly filed in Virginia. No one has been able to determine any docketing in any Virginia jurisdiction regarding this matter; just another example of web based "hot air".

Currently, the most credible case to date must be the one filed last week in California Superior Court by the United States Justice Foundation on behalf of presidential candidate Alan Keyes, and two electors from America's Independence Party. Keyes, an ambassador under Ronald Reagan, may possess a less tainted reputation than either Berg or Martin, but he's also known as a perennial political loser. In fact, just during 2008, he lost the Republican primary, the Constitution Part primary and then basically nominated himself as the candidate from AIP. Mr. Keyes, as a candidate on many states' ballots, does appear to have standing in the matter, unlike Phillip Berg. But, will the courts look at Mr. Keyes with a legitimate claim, or for just being a sore loser?

Herein lies the problem. Do we have a string of media hounds seeking personal notoriety taking right wing Americans for a ride? I'm certain that's how it appears to the liberal media and the majority of America's courts. There exists a legitimate concern that should be addressed prior to the electoral college meeting in December but we desperately need a competent plaintiff with a sterling reputation as well as legal standing to come forward. Sir or ma'am, where are you?