TUESDAY, 12JANUARY 2010 22:21
WRITTEN BY ZACHJONES
Did Hopefor Rising GOP Stars like Bobby Jindal Play a Role in the Obama’sPresidential Eligibility Scandal?
Whenquestions about Obama’seligibility to serve as President arose, Iimmediately recognized that this could be the biggest political scandalin U.S. history, bigger even than Watergate. The allegations, if true,would have created widespread political turmoil and would have had toinvolve people, high up people, ignoring and/or covering up facts. Howcould a young Senator from Illinois have gotten so far, so quickly, innational politics without some in both the Democratic & RepublicanParties taking notice, researching, discoveringdetails of his past and recognizingthat there was a BIG potential problem?Especially, given that every other person in Washington is a lawyer,people knew, the media hadto have known, known both of the problem and itsramifications. After all, it’s the political big league in Washington.
Having alegal background, I decided to do my own research to satisfy mycuriosity and it became abundantly clear that legitimate questionsexisted and continue to exist. Questions regarding interpretationof ArticleII, Section I of the Constitution, questionsof original intent, British/Kenyanlaw, acquisition of citizenship,questions aboutObama’s birthplace, hisadoption, his educational scholarships, hisparent’s foreign allegiance/citizenship,his priorinadvertent admissions,questions about his passport(s), etc., existwith sufficient basis in law and/or fact to warrant seriousinvestigation and judicial review. So, like many others at the time, Isat back and waited for the media firestorm to begin. And I waited, andwaited, and waited. Not a peep from the media, Hillary, McCain orRepublicans. Why?
With anissue this big involving the first competitive African-American runningfor the Presidency of the United States,hisintentional withholding of records and thepossibility that he fails to meet the Constitutional requirements forthe Office, I just knew that every stone would bequickly overturned to get to the bottom of it. Even though it’s commonknowledge that the Americanmedia is pretty much left of center whenit comes to politics and everything else - ‘the story’, thisstory was SO big that I was sure they would not be able to ignoreit. It wasn’t like other political stories the media ignored suchas JohnEdwards’ love child or LarrySinclair’s allegations ofdrug use and sex with Obama. This story went to bedrock, therequirements of who can be President and who can serve as CommanderIn Chief of our military. To mysurprise, next to nothing came from the mainstream media.
Manyexpected Republicans to wait as long as they possibly could beforeraising the issue because of the political/media ramifications. Itseemed certain that they were praying for the media to take the lead sothey could stay on the high road. After enduring eight years ofconstant Bush bashing and constant negative media spin aboutRepublicans, it’s easy to appreciate their concerns. It’s ashame that Republican fear may have trumped their doing the right thingearly on. Had they manned up, we probably would not be in the currentsituation of having our rights and freedoms in jeopardy.
Republicanshad seen the media for a decade artfully portray them as corrupt,uncaring politicians on a reckless spending spree. This portrayal leddirectly to the 2006 Democratic takeover of Congress. Even though, aRepublican spending spree pales when compared to an Obama/Reid/Pelosispending spree. Even though, Republican ‘caring’ has historically meanta limited federal government helping those in need with a hand up inways that would not bankrupt the nation (sustainability) and Democrat‘caring’ has historically meant a growing government trying to baitthose with needs, real or otherwise, into becoming permanentlydependent. What Republicans could count on in 2008 was that themainstream media would likely report everything Republicans dared sayabout this critical Constitutional issue as racism, expressed and/orimplied.
They werescared of the media in 2008. They were in the political wilderness.However, I believe fear was not the only factor keeping Republicansfrom speaking from conviction. Republicans might have been reluctant torock Obama’s boat because their own leadership (those who would havefully understood Obama’s agenda, his past associations and ideology)may have been considering the possibility that losing to Obama mightnot be so bad.
Maybethey realized that if Obama were elected, Americans would likely be sodisappointed and shocked by his policies that Republicans might quicklysweep back in power. Instead of being beaten up for eternity by themedia for spoiling the first African American’s opportunity to reachthe Presidency, they could be seen as adults setting things right aftera rebellious kid’s screw ups. Yes, I think political calculations couldwell have been trumping principles. After all, the Party did have a fewbright stars in waiting such as Gov.Bobby Jindal. They could just bide their time,hope America wakes up as Obama revealed himself and be ready to step up.
Jindal,he’s the young Republican Governor who had a 77%approval rating in 2008. Jindal had taken overthe reigns of Louisiana shortly after the embarrassing formerDemocratic Governor’s performance dealing with Katrina. Louisiana isalso the home of some fairly egregious examples of Democraticcorruption such as Rep.Jefferson’s conviction and Senator Landrieu appearingto sell her vote for $300,000,000 dollarsto Harry Reid. Gov. Bobby Jindal is definitely a rising star in theRepublican Party, a fiscal conservative, principled and someone notclosely associated with President Bush. He is seen as a leader with agreat future. I can certainly see him in the U.S. Senate.
As timepassed, more and more lawsuits were filed (over 50) challenging Obama’seligibility and nothing - nothing from the media, nothing from HillaryClinton, nothing Republicans in Washington, nothing from John McCain.The issue was a hot potato that carried a truckload of political risk.Democrats, who were acutely aware that they risked losing the carefullygroomed dependence of many minority voters, wouldn’t touch it.Politicians of both parties were afraid of the charge of racism - andfor good reason. All they had to do was watch the vicious attacksagainst eligibility attorneys PhilipBerg, Dr. OrlyTaitz, LeoDonofrio, StephenPidgeon, and MarioApuzzo.
Giventhat many politicians lack backbone, those of us concerned about theissue had little choice but to put faith with the American judicialsystem and hope that they would answer conclusively the questions ofObama’s eligibility. Well, so much for faith. Notwithstanding theiroaths to protect the Constitution, judges apparently wanted nothing todo with this political hot potato either. Courts have been falling allover themselves from the beginning to do every legal contortionnecessary to avoid granting discovery, examining facts and/or applyingthe law regarding this eligibility issue.
However,we are not defeated. Legalchallenges and opportunitiesfor challenges remain and it will onlytake one principled judge to resolve the eligibilityissue. Is Obama a ‘Natural Born Citizen’ eligible to serve asPresident of the United States and Commander In Chief of itsmilitary? But, we all must remember that most judges begin theircareers on the bench as politicians; and so far, politics trump amagistrate’s sworn duty.
Had thewinner of the 2008 Presidential election been Governor Jindal, you canbe sure there would have been endless lines of Constitutional expertsbrought in by FOX, CNN, MS-NBC, CBS, ABC to explain the history of theeligibility provision, the underlying issues and facts relevant to areasoned determination. You see, Bobby Jindal was born in Louisiana in1971 and his parents are Indianimmigrants who came here to attend graduate school,nearly the exact factual situation as Obama’s (accepting a Hawaii birth). Andhad 50+ lawsuits been filed against a Presidential candidate Jindal,the media would have been in a frenzy trying to outdo each other, itwould have been like the O.J. trial. I also believe that both thefederal & state courts would have been decidedly more eager to getto the merits so that they could be seen as protecting theConstitution, the Presidency and apple pie.
But itwasn’t candidate Jindal - it was candidate Obama. So, instead of havingextensive coverage and thoroughly investigating the issue, the mediahas given next to no coverage. And when the mainstream media decides tocover the issue, they do it so they can spin the story to wronglyequate the meaning of ‘citizen’ and a ‘natural born ‘citizen’ - and topaint those raising the issue as idiots. Where are the realjournalists? With the exception of FOX, this is clearly themedia’s ‘thrill up the leg’ political bias trumpingjournalistic principle.
With FOX,I think of them the same way as I think of Republicans. Because FOX isconstantly vilified by Democrats and the left lending media, thispotato was so hot that even they could not risk being wrong or having acourt come to a different conclusion. FOX’s fear trumped theirjournalistic principle.
I wonderif the Republican leadership figured that if they didn’t complain aboutObama in 2008, they would be able to count on Democrats and the Obamamedia not complaining about Jindal’s eligibility issues should hedecide to run in 2012? My first thought was that having such anexpectation would be a fool’s dream. However, I’m not so sure now. Theyall now have a lot of political capital invested in attempting toeffectively rewrite the eligibility provision of the Constitution bysome sort of contorted waiver/estoppel/abandonment theory. It’s allunderhanded and improper; but as long as courts continue to abdicatetheir own responsibilities, who can know what determined politiciansmight accomplish?
The wholemess smells more and more like ‘the players’ in Washington have gottentogether and decided, or implicitly understand, that the issue and theConstitution are to be ignored. Every player appears to be servingtheir own self-interest, burying their principles, avoiding risk, andusing the mainstream media’s avoidance of the issue as political cover.If the mainstream media ever takes the lead and does theirjob, the other players will be forced to do theirs as well.
Evenwhen, reports were coming out in Canada thata radiotalk show host had revealedthat he, his career, familyhad been threatened; the mainstream American media simply ignored thestory. No real investigation, nothing, nada was started. This smellsreally bad.
Regardingthe Democratic leadership, anyone watching the recent antics of NancyPelosi and Harry Reid concerning the healthcare takeover (with theirbuying of votes, conducting the people’s business in secret, notallowing debate or time to actually read the bills, misrepresentations,manipulation of the numbers, and their constant ridicule those inopposition) must realize that it’s not the means that count to thesepeople – only the ends. Therefore, I have no doubt that they would turna blind eye to the possibility that the Constitution might have beenviolated by Obama and those who have attested to his eligibility. Oh,that was NancyPelosi who did that.
RegardingHillary Clinton, she’s an old school hardball politician who isprobably worrying more about her status and legacy now; rather thanactually doing the right thing and demanding that Obama providedocumentation proving that he is a natural born citizen. I guess it’snot a fight she’s willing to take on given that she is also the wifeof the‘first black President’.
Regardingthe mainstream media, all you need to do is check who has been aconsistent donor to Obama & Democratic politicians through theyears. Then check for yourself what they are reporting, what they areleaving out, how stories are slanted, how far are they slanted and thefrequency of displays of bias. There was a study out of, I believe,UCLA around 2004 that found that 18 of 20major media outlets wereleft of center and that Brit Hume and the Drudge Report did indeedprovide the fair and balanced news coverage. Today, the media appearsto have dropped all pretense of being objective.
RegardingJohn McCain, he is also a seasoned politician who probably values hisown legacy more than tackling such a big political nightmare.Especially, given that some havequestioned his own ‘natural born citizen’ status, hemight prefer someone else take the lead.
A fewRepublican politicians havedisplayed courage by trying to introducelegislation that would require that candidates must provide proof thatthey are in fact eligible for the offices they seeking. Of course,Nancy Pelosi is keeping this buried and it will not see the light ofday while she is the Speaker of the House. This type of legislation isextremely important should Republicans gain power in 2010. It cannot beallowed to stand that politicians can willy-nilly change the effect ofthe Constitution without going through the proper process. Talkabout elitism!
RepresentativeNathan Deal has made the boldest direct display of courage todate by sending Obama a letter asking that he provide proof that he isa natural born citizen. Congressman Deal was of course immediately,repeatedly and viciously attacked for doing this one small act toprotect the integrity of the Constitution. However, Rep. Deal’s act isvery important because it provides a proof that a Member of Congresshad specific concerns over Obama’s eligibility to serve. It is thefirst time that a sitting President has been confronted in this way.Well done! History must not be scrubbed to hide Obama’s probablecriminal deception to obtain the Office of the Presidency.
Republicans took the easiest path in2008 because they were fearful and had been relegated to the wildernessin 2006. With the emergence of the grassroots Tea Party revolt,Republicans are now poised to make substantial gains in 2010. I believepeople are looking for genuine, principled, limited government, fiscalconservative leadership. Unfortunately, current Republicans will haveto do this year because they are the best choice for the nation until bettercandidates emerge. However, all candidates shouldtake heed that millions of Americans recognize that they must payattention to what Congress is doing.
And just a friendly reminder, thoseof us who are concerned about the eligibility issue will also be payingattention. Please don’t consider running Gov. Jindal for the Presidencyin 2012. As much as we (I) may like him, he is not a ‘natural borncitizen’ and we (I) will not put our politics above principles foundedin the Constitution!
Putting the country, theConstitution, & the rule of law ahead of politicians’ self-interestwere called for in 2008 - and the call was ignored. Democrats andRepublicans alike failed to answer.
After rereading this piece, Iam more discouraged and fearful that the courts may well let downAmerica, her Constitution and her people by failing to take the bull bythe horns and look at the issue of Obama’s eligibility. (The courtsystem was the only institution that I had a great deal of faith in butit looks like faith has been misplaced.)
It may ultimately fall to themilitary (who deserve to have a Commander In Chief who is in facteligible to serve in that honored position and is legally capable ofissuing ‘lawful orders&rsquo
to utilize the Uniform Code of MilitaryJustice and demand that Obama establish the facts.
May I suggest Section 935. Art. 135. COURTS OF INQUIRYand possibly
Section 883.Art. 83.FRAUDULENT ENLISTMENT, APPOINTMENT, OR SEPARATION
Any person who–
Tags: OBAMA'S SCANDAL
