Jim and Mairi Fear an Illinois Democratic Cover Up Re Obama Birth Certificate

Given the anti-democratic and closed nature of Illinois politics Jim is skeptical of Mairi's petition drive. But stranger things have been successful. Barack Obama should hang his head in shame at his overt contempt for democracy.

Jim writes:

> I have exchanged emails with Mairia already. She is trying to collect signatures. God bless her for doing that.

> I have tried calling the RNC, but no one is picking up. You may not be familiar with Illinois, but the politics here are all run by the Chicago machine and the state combine. It is difficult to explain to an outsider how tightly controlled and inbred politics here really are. I am, at best, skeptical that a petition will produce results.

> I have called my state rep who is a democrat, but a decent guy. I will call Durbin just for yuks.

> I am open to other ideas to move this along.


>ContrairiMairi Writes:

>I am writing to request permission to circulate petitions at local Dominick's Grocery Store entrances. I am enclosing a copy of the petition being circulated. Please be certain that this petition is open to all adult residents of Illinois. It is not partisan, nor does it exclude people who are not registered voters.

>The petition requests that the State of Illinois verify that Barack Obama meets all legal requirements to hold the office of Senator of Illinois. This petition is a public service open to adults in our State. Illinois law mandates American citizenship in order to serve. Barack Obama has produced a certificate at his campaign website which is not valid. The certificate states clearly that any alteration of it renders it invalid. The certificate number has been removed, an alteration of the document, thereby rendering it invalid.

>The citizens of Illinois, by law, may request information to verify compliance with State Election guidelines and laws, and that is the sole motivation behind this petition drive.

>I am hoping you will grant us permission to circulate our petitions at your entrances. We shop frequently at Dominick's, and I feel that shoppers at your stores reflect an Illinois public that matches exactly what we hope to represent with our petition. We are striving to capture the feelings of residents who adequately reflect the total population of our great State. I feel that your shoppers meet and exceed our hope!

Sincerely,

The Progressives' Sleight of Hand

In the nineteenth century, "progress" meant technological and economic progress. Whig economists like Henry Carey believed in progress and were optimistic as opposed to the pessimism of Malthus and the Manchester school. However, by "progress" Carey meant technological and economic progress. He did not see politics as important. The idea that progress ought to occur through the political system was introduced in the late nineteenth century in several ways. First, the Mugwumps argued that rationalization of public administration through Civil Service laws meant progress. Populists argued that large scale industry must be broken up by government edict. Americans such as Henry Carter Adams, Richard T. Ely and John R. Commons, educated in Germany began to argue for social democratic intervention. Thus, the Progressives identified progress with governmental reform. Which is more important: breakthrough technologies and better management methods that increase wealth, or government policies that rationalize government operations and redistribute wealth? The Progressives seem to not have realized that there was a trade off. In particular, the policies that implement redistribution and regulation forestall entrepreneurship because their costs rest most heavily on small business entrepreneurs. The result is that the Progressives adopted an anti-progressive attitude toward technological and market progress, which was carried forward through the New Deal. The twentieth century saw a slowing of technological progress because of monetary, regulatory and redistributive reforms of the Progressive and New Deal era.

Suspicions About Obama Birth Certificate Grow

Thelma from Florida has written the following snail mail letter to my West Shokan PO Box. Her suggestion is that some good Republican in Hawaii go to all the hospitals in Honolulu to see if Obama's birth certificate can be found, and also to investigate Kenyan records. An interesting idea. Anyone up for a Hawaiian vacation in August? Or a trip to Kenya?

>Dear Sir:

I enjoyed reading your blog about your attempts to obtain Barack Hussein Obama's birth certificate.

Since Obama has dual citizenship, might it be possible to obtain information about his place of birth from Kenya records?

And Stanley Ann Dunham was on Mercer Island visiting friends with an approximately month old Obama in August 1961. The friend states that Dunham was on her way from Hawaii to visit Barack, Sr. at Harvard. But Barack Sr. didn't go to Harvard until 1963 (or late '62?) Is it possible to check records in Vancouver, Canada to determine if Dunham might have hidden out with friends in Canada while pregnant and had the child there?

At least one hospital in Honolulu that Wikipedia claims Obama was born in can find no record of his birth. Could records be checked in all hospitals in Honolulu?

I appreciate your efforts in attempting to obtain the birth certificate

Sincerely,

Thelma

E-Mail From Reader: No Response from Hawaii Health Department

>Good afternoon.

I have been following the small drama surrounding Mr. Obama’s birth certificate.

The whole affair is odd. As a parent, I have to supply our schools with official, notarized, and authentic birth certificates for each of my children to attend school. So I write, pay my fee, and a few weeks later… viola! No big deal for me, so why such a fuss and all the foot dragging on Mr. Obama’s part?

Have you received any response yet from Hawaii? It has been a month.

--Jim

Dear Jim: The Hawaii Health Department has an odd interpretation of social responsibility. On the one hand, it views the records of a major party presidential candidate as confidential despite a Hawaii open records policy. On the other, when I contacted them, Director Chiyome L. Fukino's and Communications Officer Janice Okubo's response has been to clam up.