Rumors Surrounding Barack Obama's Birth Certificate

Once again, Barack Obama is in the spotlight. This time, because of his birth certificate. Jim Geraghty reporting on behalf of The Campaign Spot on National review says, "Reporters have have asked for it and been denied, and the state of Hawaii does not make such records public." I have to say that I agree with the state of Hawaii. In fact, one's birth certificate is a vital record that can only be obtained by the person who's it is, or if they are underage, by their parent or legal guardian. So, why in the world would the press think they could obtain something so personal, just because it's a Presidential candidate... a controversial one?

The reasons why they want hold of this document are basically for tabloid-like gossip, which makes no sense. One rumor surrounding his birth certificate is that he was born in Kenya, therefore raising the question of being a naturalized citizen of the United States. At the time of his birth, the law was that the natural-born parent would have had to reside in the U.S. for ten years, which had to be after the age of 16. Barack Obama's mother had him at 18, and hadn't met that. This may be the only quasi-valid argument amongst these rumors. However, I ask, don't they check these kinds of things before one becomes are real contender for the President? I mean, it would make sense, and if they didn't check, and really dig deep to find out, I say shame on the government.

The second rumor surrounding the birth certificate escapade is whether is middle name is "Hussein" or "Muhammad." Mr. Geraghty also points out that Politifact states that "all available public records going back to 1991 refer to the candidate as Barack H. Obama." Geraghty speculates that perhaps Barack Obama changed his name, when trying to sort out his culture and identity, and insinuates that perhaps changing his middle name from Muhammad, a highly regarded deity in the Islam faith, to the last name of the "highest-profile anti-American dictator in the Middle East" was a bad idea. I make this notion: It's none of Jim Geraghty's or anyone else's business! If, in fact, Obama did change his middle name from Muhammad to Hussein, it was Barack's decision, and not the public's. What does that even have to do with this campaign? However, if his real middle name was Muhammad and not Hussein, it might disappoint a lot of conservatives who use that as a reason not to vote for him, just like his first name rhyming with Osama.

The last rumor is that his mother did not want to name him after his father, and that his birth certificate says "Barry." Okay, again, honestly, why does this matter? If you are a mother reading this, if you had a kid, would you want everyone and their mother's input on your child's name? This is ridiculous. Also, if she didn't want to name Barack after his father, why would she chose something that's so close to it? And why would he go by Barack now? Oops, I guess he changed his FIRST name, too. I wonder if his last name is really Obama, too?

Seriously people, this whole thing is probably the lamest attempt to mar the name and reputation of Barack Obama yet. If the state of Hawaii isn't releasing Obama's birth certificate, I applaud them. Something like that is private, just like a social security number. I also think it's sad they've asked for this, period. It seems pretty prejudiced and offensive. We didn't see anyone ask for Hillary or McCain's private documents.