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When the snow clears, the Birthers may see themselves vindicated. It also may be possible for Hillary to emerge from this smelling more like Lysol than a rose

Follow the tracks in the snow to the Birthers


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By —— Bio and Archives February 12, 2018

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Follow the tracks in the snow to the Birthers It seldom snows in Washington, DC, but when it does, there are tracks left in the snow. As recently as cold November, 2017, CNN ran a story about President Trump and the Birthers. The headline read, “…Trump continues to question Obama's birth certificate.
“Trump has continued to question the legitimacy of Obama's birth certificate during private conversations in recent months, The New York Times reported…citing advisers who discussed Trump's statements…Trump still questioning Obama's birthplace is just one of several instances The Times pointed to as examples of the President's reliance on “manufactured facts…”
We imagine the point of this CNN story is to discredit the president. Nevertheless, in so doing, CNN raises again the issue many want to keep hidden: Barack Hussein Obama may not be a natural born citizen of the United States. Beyond that, like tracks in the winter snow, this story and the continuing revelations of the FISA scandal may lead back to a lair where the truths about Obama lie in wait. In many ways, the Birthers, like President Trump have had a lot of bad press. Some of that they may have brought upon themselves. Over the long run, the press has been reluctant to talk and write clearly about the core Birther issue. Even today, some say it is in bad taste to bring up again the concerns of the Birthers. Nevertheless, those concerns focus on the US Constitution and the meaning of natural born citizenship. At its heart, the Birther issue is an issue that asks us to read the US Constitution and understand there is a difference between being a US citizen and being a natural born US citizen. Instead of reporting about citizenship, the press often ignores the issue and reports about those who believe that Obama was not born in the United States. This reporting also reflects the general watering down of citizenship that accompanies the issues swirling around DACA and illegal immigration in general. Many question the importance of citizenship to begin with in a post-national society. Where did all this confusion about Obama’s origins begin? Some claim it began with Hillary Clinton and her first presidential campaign. If we follow the tracks in the snow left by the FISA scandal, they seem to lead back to Clinton. If her campaign can pay for a fake dossier on Trump, why couldn’t they have paid for information, fake or otherwise, about Obama’s origin? Although Kyle Cheney writing in Politico dismisses the Clinton story about Obama’s origins and citizenship, others don’t. John Nolte, writing in the Daily Wire, claims, “As the contest between Obama and Hillary became increasingly ugly, it was Hillary's hardcore supporters who first raised doubts about the origins of Obama's birth. Hillary gave her blessing through her silence. It wouldn’t take long, though, before her campaign became directly involved.”
Who are we to believe in this matter? Maybe we should just admit that where Obama was born isn’t the issue to begin with. The issue is, does he meet the US Constitutional requirement of being a natural born citizen? Once we see this as the real issue, then we can see, following at its heels, is the issue of documentation. Did Obama give the public valid documents to prove he is a natural born citizen? If the answer to either of these questions is “NO,” then the entire Obama presidency is in doubt. There are various interpretations of what the Constitution means by the words “natural born citizen.” The most likely interpretation is that a natural born citizen is a person born in the United States, from both parents who are also born in the United States. Some disagree with this definition. Because SCOTUS has never ruled on this issue, it is still moot. The question probably will not be settled until SCOTUS makes a ruling. Given the facts of our politics at the moment, such a ruling probably will never happen. As the matter stands, we cannot say with legal certainty that Obama is a natural born citizen. This leaves the issue of documents for investigation. Many have rightly questioned that the document Obama gave to the press to establish his birth in Hawaii is a phony document. Recently, Sophie Tatum, writing at CNN, held an interview with Joe Arpaio. She writes, “Controversial former Sheriff Joe Arpaio on Wednesday called former President Barack Obama's birth certificate a ‘phony document’ in an interview on CNN. ‘No doubt about it, we have the evidence, I’m not going to go into all the detail…it's a phony document,’ Arpaio said on ‘Cuomo Primetime.’” Beyond the issue of the Constitution’s meaning and the documents, there is the political issue of Obama’s citizenship. Could hiding the truth about Obama have been part of the political deal Hillary made with him when she dropped out of the race in 2008?


It was reported in the Daily Mail that in 2012, a secret deal was made between the Clintons and Obama, why couldn’t a similar deal have been made in 2008? In 2008, it was reported that Clinton finally pulled out of the race when a deal was reached to pay off her campaign debts. “Top Clinton adviser Harold Ickes told major campaign donors that Clinton “was unlikely to pull out of the race until the issue of her massive debts was resolved,” according to a June 3, 2008, report from the Daily Telegraph…” Then there is the question about Obama’s college transcripts. In 2012, Donald Trump offered to give $5 million to a charity of Obama’s choice, if he would give permission to release his transcript. Obama never gave permission. Aren’t these transcripts what visitors to Obama’s presidential library expect to see? Trump then expanded the offer. “Now then, what wasn’t reported by the press is, sometime just prior to the expiration date of that offer, I raised the offer to $50 million. $50 million! For charity,' Trump said in 2014. ‘Pick your charity, for $50 million, and let me see your records! And I never heard from him.’” There are many secrets in politics, college transcripts among them. For some politicians, there is a fear that President Trump knows many of these secrets. Beyond that, he may use them for his political advantage. How likely is it that Trump will follow the tracks in the snow that may lead to Hillary Clinton and then to Obama? How likely is it that Trump will make a deal with Clinton: Give us Obama and we will let you go away in peace? Clinton may become a Birther to save her own skin. Few Democrats counted on Donald Trump becoming president and bringing a blizzard to the nation’s capitol. It is possible we may be watching emerge from that blizzard the greatest political scandal in the history of the United States. Yet, why should this be a surprise? Given human nature and the political power assembled in the nation’s capitol, who would not lie or conceal the truth to keep their power, their money and their livelihood? Corruption comes easy to many men and women when others around them are corrupt, too. Unfortunately, ordinary deplorables in flyover country are at the mercy of these corrupt politicians. The deplorables have been swept up many times in events beyond their control.

"Obamas and Clintons, the two power couples of the Democratic Party, loathe each other"

At the moment, the Birther story is sleeping somewhere in the Swamp. The one event that may awaken it is the indictment of Hillary Clinton. If Clinton is indicted for her alleged crimes about the destruction of her emails, then she may want to plea bargain. A plea bargain could include pushing Obama under the bus. All she’d have to do is give evidence that proves the Obama birth document is a phony document. And who would blame her if she did that? Reports are there has never been any love lost between the two. Edward Klein writes in the New York Post, “Outwardly, they put on a show of unity—but privately, the Obamas and Clintons, the two power couples of the Democratic Party, loathe each other.” When the snow clears, the Birthers may see themselves vindicated. It also may be possible for Hillary to emerge from this smelling more like Lysol than a rose. She could justify her actions by claiming she did it for the good of the country. We needed to have a black president to wash away our terrible civil rights record, could be her defense. After the thaw, Hillary could even quote herself, “What difference at this point does it make?”

Robert Klein Engler -- Bio and Archives | Comments

Robert Klein Engler lives in Omaha, Nebraska and sometimes New Orleans. Mr. Engler holds degrees from the University of Illinois in Urbana and The University of Chicago Divinity School. Many of Robert’s poems, stories, and paintings are set in the Crescent City. His long poem, “The Accomplishment of Metaphor and the Necessity of Suffering,” set partially in New Orleans, is published by Headwaters Press, Medusa, New York, 2004. He has received an Illinois Arts Council award for his “Three Poems for Kabbalah.” Link with him at Facebook.com to see examples of his recent work. Some of Mr. Engler’s books are available at amazon.com..


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