Ridicule Will Not End the Issue; Only Obama Can

This post is about the controversy over Obama's nationality.
I like to watch the O’Reilly Factor even though I often disagree with Bill. Lately, though, I am annoyed by the extent to which he has tried to ridicule the people who are troubled by Obama’s continuing withholding of all kinds of records that are routinely released by this nations’ presidents. Left-wing groups and media are also trying to tar anyone who raises questions, calling them “birthers” and trying to place them in the same category as the ludicrous people who question the fact of 9/11. The questions about Obama’s history and motives go far beyond whether or not he was actually born in Hawaii as he says. I personally believe he was born in Hawaii, but I also believe that there is information connected with his early life and writings and dealings that he wants to keep secret.

In addition to the fact that, despite the requests from many legitimate quarters, Obama has only released a short-form Certificate of Live Birth (which appears to be doctored and is not a true birth certificate), he is also keeping sealed his kindergarten records, his Indonesian records (some of his childhood was spent in Indonesia with his mother and her second husband), his Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, University of Chicago scholarly articles and the passport on which he traveled to Pakistan at a time when American citizens could not go there (a trip only lately revealed).

In addition, as a presidential candidate Obama was asked for information that is normally released, however:

• Obama released just one brief document detailing his personal health. McCain, on the other hand, released what he said was his complete medical file, totaling more than 1,500 pages.

• Obama refused to offer his official papers as a state legislator in Illinois. Nor did he produce correspondence, such as his schedules of appointments or letters from lobbyists, from his days in the Illinois state Senate.

• Obama did not release his client list as an attorney or his billing records. He maintained that he performed only a few hours of legal work for a nonprofit organization with ties to Tony Rezko, the Chicago businessman convicted of fraud in June 2008 but did not release billing records that would prove this assertion.

• Obama’s campaign refused to give Columbia, where he earned an undergraduate degree in political science, permission to release his transcripts. Former President George W. Bush and presidential contenders Al Gore and John Kerry all released their college transcripts.

• Obama did not agree to the release of his application to the Illinois State Bar, which would have cleared up intermittent allegations that his application may have been inaccurate.

• During the presidential campaign, McCain’s campaign released a full list of all online donors. Obama’s campaign still has not released the names of those who donated at least one-third of the $750 million he raised.

Ironically, Obama accused the Bush White House of being "one of the most secretive administrations in our history," and chided then-Sen. Hillary Clinton for not releasing her White House schedules.

Democrat political operatives are not only calling those questioning Obama’s secretiveness, “birthers”, but are also trying to link them with the Republican Party.

In fact it was Phillip Berg, an activist working for Obama's Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, who first brought this curious matter to the attention of the voters of this country.

If this video does not play go here.
Mr. Berg’s lawsuit was dismissed for “lack of standing” as have many other similar suits. After months of little attention, this whole situation became even more bizarre a couple of weeks ago when a Reserve Army Major went to court to get an injunction against an order sending him to Afghanistan because, he maintained, Obama was an illegal president; the mobilization order was immediately and inexplicably withdrawn and the lawsuit dismissed.

Instead of heaping ridicule on people who wonder at all this unprecedented secrecy, the press should be demanding answers from the only person who could clear up all these questions – Barack Obama, the man who promised us the most transparent administration in history.

And the basic question remains: Why has President Obama prevented the release to the American public of his long-form original birth certificate listing the hospital of his birth, the attending physician and the identity of his parents, as recorded at the time of his birth? What information is on the original, long-form birth certificate that President Obama does not want the American people to see?

Note: Andrew McCarthy has written an extensive piece in NRO detailing many of Obama’s past deceptions regarding his life and life experiences. I will publish excerpts from McCarthy’s article in my next two posts.