Obama Birth Certificate, FEC Petition Update

The FEC Obama birth certificate petition will close in a day or two. We've got almost 4,700 signatures. If you haven't signed it yet, please consider signing it and passing the url along to your friends. The petition reads:

The signers of this petition request the Federal Elections Commission and Mr. Donald McGahan, FEC chairman, to take responsibility to verify the eligibility of Mr. Barack H. Obama to be President of the United States. Mr. Obama has refused to produce a physical certified, stamped copy of his birth certificate. An electronically-displayed image displayed by his official campaign website has been alleged to be a forgery. We request that the FEC require Mr. Obama to authorize the FEC to obtain an official copy of his birth certificate and if he does not produce the authorization that the FEC reject his registration as a presidential candidate; that the FEC not monitor his campaign finances during the primary or election; that votes cast for Mr. Obama and reported by the states' boards of elections not be recorded and displayed by the FEC; and that Mr. Obama be considered in violation of 2 USC 437g for filing a false statement on FEC Form 2, as specified on that form.


http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Federal-Elections-Commssion/index.html

Lisa From Illinois Comments on Birth Certificate, Petition

I bet we will have over 5,000 by tomorrow!
A good story for National Enquirer?
Rush Limbaugh's pain killer addiction - True
John Edward's Mistress - True
Barry Soetoro and not Barack Obama - True?

It would be fun to know because Obama is my US Senator.

I like to see him off the POTUS Ballot and lose his seat in the US Senate.

He has done unsavory things to advance his crooked career.
He challenged Alice Palmer's petition signatures during the State Senate race and ran unopposed.
He opened sealed divorce records on his opposition during the US Senate Race. Blair Hull and Jack Ryan had to drop out of the race and Obama ran unopposed.

Obama stoled the primary from Hillary.

It's time to kick this Confidence Man off the bus!

Thank you for your courage.

Sincerely yours,
Lisa

Bureaucracy and None of the Above

The Progressive movement and its social democratic system put considerable faith in bureaucracy. In part, this was because the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries saw bureaucracy as improvement over the paternalism of the early nineteenth century, and they were right. However, by 1940 right as the New Deal reforms of 1932-7 were drawing to a close, it had become evident that bureaucracy does not work so well as its proponents thought. In the 1940s the sociologist Robert Merton wrote an article about the rigidity of bureaucracy and bureaucrats' fetishization of rules at the expense of efficiency. In the 1950s Taiicho Ohno of Toyota pioneered the principles of lean production and total quality management. Even going back so far as the 1920s, Alfred Sloan of General Motors, along with executives in other leading firms, pioneered the use of decentralization, federalized organization, realizing that large firms did not permit global or functional forms of organization. The information and flexibility requirements of large firms are too daunting for anyone to handle.

Strangely, though, the Progressive and social democratic movement continued to emphasize centralization. The result is that increasingly, American life has been dominated by unresponsive, unproductive government bureaucracies that spin regulation and do not care what the public thinks. This is the result not only of centralization but also of the increasing emphasis on expertise in the expansion of government at the expense of the spoils system.

The result is a considerable degree of dissonance between the public's experience and the "facts" it is fed in school, through the news media and through public opinion leaders who are committed to the Progressive, social democratic solution because it enforces their status as professional experts, elite business leaders and the like.

The public has become increasingly alienated from public institutions because they are distant; they do not work; and they are held forth as far superior to the processes and systems that in the public's own experience work. As a result, the public experiences what psychologists call "cognitive dissonance". On the one hand, they are taught that "experts" know better than they do. But when they interact with state government, the department of motor vehicles and the like, they experience systems that do not work so well as ones that they themselves could devise. They are taught that scientists can solve problems. But then they hear that cancer has become an industry characterized by avoidance of effective remedies, politics, waste and regulation of innovative ideas out of existence. They are told that the state equalizes inequity, then they learn that the federal government subsidization billionaire investment bankers through direct bounties and a central banking system that sees its primary role as to support stock prices.

Cognitive dissonance has unpredictable effects, but one of them is potentially withdrawal. Others include anger, attempting to intervene and correct the situation, and denial. All of these are present in today's society.

Both left and right have become increasingly strident as the remedies that they advocate, central banking, expertise in government, efficiency, a corporatist state that supports the public interest, have failed to materialize. Political correctness, left wing intolerance of dissent in universities and other institutions, reflects the left's inability to confront the failure of the mercantilist solution to which it has been wedded since the late eighteenth century. Likewise, the right wing increasingly fights within itself, unable to arrive at a coherent picture of reform. As well, much of the right is in denial about its own Progressive spirit. The split between libertarians and conservatives has permitted mercantilists of the Progressive (Republican) and social democratic (Democratic) stripe to dominate the electoral process.

The public faces declining real wages, yet has refused to confront the decline and has borrowed, consuming about six percent more each year than it creates. There is avoidance of the causes of economic decline. Firms have heavily relied on public subsidy, especially through the banking system, yet corporate executives claim prerogatives of private property in extracting ever-increasing salaries that at most weakly reflect corporate performance. Few in the news media suggest that corporations that do not see a public role ought not to be subsidized by the public, and that the Federal Reserve system is little more than a crutch for inefficient American firms.

Americans increasingly feel alienated. The reason is that the obsession with size and economies of scale has been pursued too far. The large scale of industry; the large federal government have not yielded increases in wealth. Rather, they have become vehicles by which corrupt special interests extract wealth at public expense and as the public has reacted to cognitive dissonance by increasingly withdrawing or by becoming ever more strident in its demand for "change", a noun that describes an unnamed verb.

The remedy for too much centralization is decentralization.

Letter to New York State Board of Elections Re Obama Birth Certificate

The New York Secretary of State's secretary has informed me that the Board of Elections, not the Secretary of State oversees elections in New York. I had previously sent the following letter to the Secretary of State. I have therefore forwarded an e-mail and will send a snail mail letter to the Board of Elections in New York as follows:

PO Box 130
West Shokan, New York 12494
August 9, 2008
http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com
mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

James A. Walsh / Co-Chair
Douglas A. Kellner / Co-Chair
Evelyn J. Aquila / Commissioner
Gregory P. Peterson / Commissioner
New York State Board of Elections
40 Steuben Street
Albany, NY 12207-2108

Dear Messrs. Walsh, Kellner and Gregory and Ms. Aquila

I would like to file a public, formal complaint with the New York State Board of Elections requesting verification of the natural-born U.S. citizenship of Mr. Barack Obama, and revocation of the registration and recognition of Mr. Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States if that citizenship is not verified as described below within 7 days of your receipt of this letter. Mr. Obama has not shown that he fulfills the Constitutional requirement for president, to be a “natural born citizen”, Article Two, Section 1.

The basis for this complaint is:

a) Mr. Obama’s refusal to produce a physical certified, stamped copy of his birth certificate, with the Hawaii file number visible, upon my previous repeated request and the requests of others.
b) Significant analysis of the electronically-displayed image displayed by Mr. Obama on his official campaign website as the certificate indicates forgery.
c) The electronically-displayed image displayed by Mr. Obama on his official campaign website has the Hawaii state birth certificate filing number blacked out, eliminating any objective information that links the image to an actual certificate on file (see http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/atlas-exclusive.html).

If Mr. Obama produces a certified, stamped copy of the original birth certificate with all information visible, I request as the complainant to see that document in person to examine its authenticity, including electronically, before you finalize its response; and the opportunity to verify the authenticity with the issuing state official. This process should require no more than two business days, and may take place in at your office.

If the certificate is not produced in 10 days and verified by you and myself within another 5 days, this complaint requests that Mr. Obama’s registration as a presidential candidate be rejected by the State of New York because he has failed to document his citizenship.

I ask for expedited formal response and resolution of this request, given that the national convention furthering the candidacy will occur in three weeks, and given that this document is easy to produce upon personal request of Mr. Obama to the Hawaii state government. Please note you can request it directly, as qualifying under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 338-18 has having “a direct and tangible interest in the record.”

This request is made with the utmost respect for New York’s laws, the presidential election process and the candidates involved, in the desire to resolve this question quickly and confirm their integrity. If a similar request is appropriate to be made to all presidential candidates it must not slow down this specific request.

If the you decide that you do not have jurisdiction in this matter, please respond within three business days of receipt of this complaint with the state agency or other governmental organization that is responsible for enforcing Article Two, Section One of the Constitution that requires natural-born citizenship for candidacy for the president of the United States. Please include the basis for such jurisdiction by that agency or organization. Please respond by email to: mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

Sincerely,


Mitchell Langbert
PO Box 130
203 Watson Hollow Road
West Shokan, New York 12494

Contours of American History I

I'm almost done reading William Appleman Williams's 1961 Contours of American History. Williams is considered a New Left historian (how "new" he is I don't know, the book is 47 years old and he died in 1990). I disagree with his ideological orientation, especially his hatred of property rights and his intense dislike of the laissez- faire policies of the Jacksonian period through about 1900. For instance, he refers to the 19th century laissez-faire philosophy as "reactionary" even though he develops the argument that the mercantilist or corporatist philosophy that originated in feudal England is preferable. In other words, he calls a 100 years old philosophy reactionary, but he does not so call, and instead praises to the heavens, a 400 year old philosophy, not considering that it might be reactionary to re institute a 17th century mercantilist model in 1900. Moreover, he expressly notes that real wages and standards of living were going up in the late nineteenth century and that there was a large degree of innovation. Yet, he insists that laissez-faire was a failure because of business "depressions". This was the corporate argument made at the time by economists such as DA Wells, but Williams does not question it.

One question that I am left with is why the left has so obsessed on restoring mercantilism or even feudalism, and accuses anyone who disagrees with the anti-property and anti-individualist stance as "reactionary". This is an illogical, almost insane, position. First, emphasis on individualism and property rights led to innovation and increasing living standards. Second, it is reactionary to advocate an older philosophy, not a newer one, and mercantilism is older than laissez-faire. Third, Williams has no interest in applying his significant and imaginative intellect to attempting to ascertain why laissez-faire was attacked.

That said, this is one of the most brilliant books I have ever read. Williams said it all in this sense:

1. He outlined how elitist economic interests have advocated mercantilism from the pre-Revolutionary War period through the Federalist era and then renewed them in the Progressive and New Deal eras. He falls down in the Jacksonian period in that he ignores the mercantilist impulse in the Whig philsophies of Abraham Lincoln and the American System of Henry Clay.

2. His exegesis of the frontier hypothesis is wonderful. He points out that Americans traditionally saw expansion to the frontier as a source of economic bounty. This was the famous argument of Frederick Jackson Turner. Then, he pushes the argument further, and this is where I got really excited. He argues that the emphasis of late nineteenth century business executives on large scale industry and state support for large scale industry was a function of the expansionist argument. John R. Commons too argued that "expansion of markets" is crucial to explaining labor relations, but Williams puts the expansionist vision into brilliant historical context. Globalization (he does not use that term as he wrote in 1961) and the emphasis on large scale business is a function of the expansionist impulse, and he documents that well. Thus, Americans have been obsessed with creating big business because they believed that "expansion" creates wealth. The Japanese don't have quite the same obsessions.

3. He argues that the New Deal was the fulfillment of Progressivism. I find this much more believable than the claim that there was a gulf between Progressivism and the New Deal. This leads to the question: if Herbert Hoover was a Progressive, how did the New Deal differ from what Hoover proposed? The National Industrial Recovery Act was essentially the implementation of fascism in America, but the Supreme Court overturned it. Hoover still favored a degree of individualism and property rights, and Roosevelt went a bit further than Hoover wanted to in the social democratic direction. The outlines of most of what Roosevelt did were already discussed in the Progressive era. Roosevelt's most extreme syndicalism was overturned. Hoover did not support the NIRA, which didn't go into effect in any case.

4. Williams outlines the new order as syndicalist, and it is. Economic interests, namely labor and management, were reflected in the new feudal or corporatist order. I quote these two paragraphs

"It is of course essential to evaluate the combined significance of these decisions within the framework of the syndicalist approach that had been present in the Progressive Movement from the very beginning of the 20th century and which the New Deal consolidated...In that system, the citizen was almost wholly dependent upon the definition of public welfare that emerged inside the national government as a consensus among the leaders of the various functional-syndicalist elements of the political economy. The possibility that Hoover had projected in 1921-22 had emerged as reality: the United States was 'a syndicalist nation on a gigantic scale'.

"Yet the citizens' political activity was carried on within a framework that was organized on an entirely different basis: i.e., geographic boundaries which had only the most causal and accidental relationship to the syndicalist structure of the political economy. That discrepancy left the citizen without any effective, institutionalized leverage on the crucial and centralized decisions affecting every phase of his life."*

What Appleman has done is conjoin the special interest theory of regulation with the historical narrative. Syndicalism recreated the mercantilist system of the Federalist period and earlier (and a little later) but it also created a free-for-all whereby those with the best representation would be able to extract the most wealth from the political system. Mancur Olson did not write until a bit later. His point was that special interests gain economic rents through structural advantages.

Although Appleman spiritually supports mercantilism, he does so despite a factual base that points in the opposite direction. The mercantilist model is not appropriate to the modern world because it is not responsive; it does not respond to change; it leads to bureaucracy; and it is not democratic. Most of all, it leads to oppression of less represented groups by better represented groups.

*William Appleman William, The Contours of American History. Chicago: Quadrangle Books, 1966, p. 448.

ContrairiMairi Raises More Questions

Here's a thought I just had.....Remember I had asked, "How did Maya get a COLB if she was born in Jakarta?"

I was just looking at info on your new blog, and a HUGE bell went off in my head!

The two COLB's Patricia Decosta (actual), and Husseins/Maya's (possibly fake) say TWO different Things!

Patricia...Date Filed by State Registrar " a record of birth sent from a local hospital?"

Hussein....Date Accepted by State Registrar "possibly indicating someone born somewhere else and late filed?"

Why else two different statements on the same form????
What do you think?
Maya's would also have to be "accepted" if born out of country as we know she was......
Just a thought

Petition to Request RNC to Have Allen West Speak

Raquel Okyay is circulating the following petition:

We endorse the Request to have LTC Allen West Speak at Republican National Convention Petition to John McCain, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, McCain '08 Campaign Team and Republican Delegates.

Please consider signing it at http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?west22

West is running for Congress. According to his bio:

>LTC Allen West has lived his life in service to America. In 2004, when it was time to retire from more than twenty years of service in the US Army, he brought his wife and two young daughters to Broward County, Florida, where he taught high school. He then returned to Afghanistan as an advisor to the Afghan army, an assignment he finished in November 2007.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Allen West received BS (UT) and MS degrees in political science (KSU). He also holds a Master of Military Arts and Sciences from the US Army Command and General Staff Officer College in political theory and military history and operations.

"Education is the great equalizer," he says. "With a good education, any child in America can live his dream."

Allen West knows that for our children to live their dreams, they need to be safe. He has faced down the world's terrorists: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was battalion commander for the Army's 4th Infantry Division, and in Afghanistan, where he trains Afghan officers to take on the responsibility of securing their own country.

In his Army career, Col. West has been honored many times, including a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service Medals, three Army Commendation Medals (one with Valor), and a Valorous Unit Award. He received his valor award as a Captain in Desert Shield/Storm, was the US Army ROTC Instructor of the Year in 1993, and was a Distinguished Honor Graduate III Corps at Fort Hood, Texas Air Assault School.

Excellence is a West family tradition. His wife, Angela, holds an MBA and PhD. and works as a financial planner. His daughter, Aubrey, is a sophomore at Archbishop McCarthy HS and his daughter, Austen, is a 6th grader at Parkway Christian School.

Additional Letter to Barack H. Obama Re Birth Certificate

PO Box 130
West Shokan, New York 12494
August 11, 2008

The Honorable Barck H. Obama
United States Senate
713 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
WASHINGTON DC 20510
(202) 224-2854

Dear Senator Obama:

This is a second open request for your authorization to the State Of Hawaii's Department of Health to permit any American to obtain a copy of your Certificate of Live Birth from Ms. Janice Okubo. Two of your supporters have been defending you on my blog and they increasingly sound like H.R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman. Please show them mercy, and that you are acting in good faith. Please permit open access to your birth certificate.

Sincerely,


Mitchell Langbert
mlangbert@hvc.rr.com
www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com

Freedom of Information Act Request for Barack Obama's Passport Application

PO Box 130
West Shokan, New York 12494
August 12, 2008

The Honorable Condoleeza Rice,
the Secretary of State
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520
202-647-4000

Dear Madam Secretary:

This is a freedom of information act request for all documents and application materials relating to any and all passport applications for Mr. Barick H. Obama, allegedly also known as Barry Soetoro, on or after January 1, 1961. Because Mr. Obama is a public figure, ordinary rules of confidentiality ought not to apply. Would you kindly reply to this request within seven days. If you are unable to comply with this request, would you kindly inform me via e-mail at the address below.

Sincerely,


Mitchell Langbert, Ph.D.
mlangbert@hvc.rr.com
www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com
PO Box 130
West Shokan, New York 12494

Definition of Natural Born Citizen

Two recent articles on citizenship suggest the chief issue is allegiance, not place of birth. Thus, dual citizenship calls into question Mr. Obama's eligibility to be president.

First, Judah Benjamin of Texas Darlin has an interesting post. The article begins:

"Barack Obama has been a citizen of multiple nations. And even if his citizenship outside the US was renounced, Article II of the U.S. Constitution prohibits him from being President, for the same reason that naturalized citizens are prohibited: divided loyalties."

and

"There is no way a person who has Dual Citizenship, or who has had Dual Citizenship, should be eligible under Article II."

Mr. Benjamin's reasoning is that the United States Naturalization Act of 1790, which was repealed in 1795, states that:

"The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens”.

Around the same time, John Jay wrote to George Washington:

"Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Commander in Chief of the American Army shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.”

Noting that the chief concern is with divided loyalty concerning defense, Benjamin adds:

"Note that what particularly concerned Jay was not a political issue but a military issue arising because the President is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States. He was bothered by issues of National Security."

Benjamin then goes on to quote Supreme Court Justice Noah Haynes in United States v. Rhodes:

In United States v. Rhodes, Supreme Court Justice Noah Haynes Swayne (December 7, 1804 – June 8, 1884) addressed the issue as follows:

“All persons born in the Allegiance of the King are Natural- Born subjects, and all persons born in the Allegiance of the United States are Natural-Born Citizens. Birth and Allegiance go together. Such is the Rule of the Common Law, and it is the Common Law of this country…since as before the Revolution.”

Benjamin concludes:

"To be a Natural Born Citizen one has to be born in a State, or Condition of, Allegiance to the USA. A person with Dual Nationality due to having parents of differing Nationality, who both acknowledged the Birth, is not so born. Their Allegiance is, by definition, divided. Subsequent acquisition of Nationality produces the same problem."

Benjamin goes on to quote Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England:

"And this maxim of the law proceeded upon a general principle, that every man owes natural allegiance where he is born, and cannot owe two such allegiances, or serve two masters, at once.... To encourage also foreign commerce, it was enacted by statute 25 Edw. III. st. 2. that all children born abroad, provided both their parents were at the time of the birth in allegiance to the king, and the mother had passed the seas by her husband’s consent, might inherit as if born in England."

Benjamin also quote the US State Department:

"dual nationals owe allegiance to both the United States and the foreign country"

He argues that:

"The whole point of Article II is that the President must have absolute and total Allegiance to the United States of America and no Foreign Ruler or Government, Church, or Political Entity...The purpose behind the exclusion of Naturalized Citizens is that the President must never even have had such an Allegiance in the past"

Moreover, under the law that governs naturalization, SEC. 337. [8 U.S.C. 1448], to become a citizen you are required:

"(1) to support the Constitution of the United States; (2) to renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or citizen..."

and

"Obama’s behavior in Kenya by campaigning actively for Odinga has to call his Allegiance into question. There is also reason to think that Governor Bill Richardson has the same problem, more or less. This is unprecedented and it should not be allowed to go unchallenged."

Miri sent me a related article by Edward Erler of Cal State San Bernardino that appeared Imprimis Magazine, published by Hillsdale College. Professor Erler points out that the Fourteenth Amendment states:

“All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The phrase "'subject to the jurisdiction thereof' meant 'not owing allegiance to anybody else and being subject to the complete jurisdiction of the United States.'"

Professor Erler argues that the concept of "birthright citizenship" has feudal origins and was explicitly repudiated. An example is the use of the term "jurisdiction" in the Fourteenth Amendment. He adds that:

"the framers of the Fourteenth Amendment specified that those who are naturalized must owe exclusive allegiance to the U.S. to be included within its jurisdiction. And the citizenship oath taken today still requires a pledge of such allegiance. But in practice dual citizenship—and dual allegiance—is allowed. This is a sign of the decline of American citizenship and of America as a nation-state."

Obama's Supporters Have a Moral Problem

After being down this evening Texas Darlin's blog is back up. TD analyzes the legal implications of Obama's multiple citizenship. TD argues:

"Prior to 2007 (and possibly earlier), Indonesian law did not permit dual citizenship. Thus, if Obama actively kept his Indonesian citizenship, his US citizenship could be challenged." With respect to Kenya he notes that "Under the Constitution of Kenya, he would have automatically forfeited his citizenship at the age of 21 unless he affirmatively “claimed” it. If he took some action to keep his citizenship, that’s a big problem because 1) Kenya prohibits dual citizenship and 2) the US does not recognize dual citizenship with Kenya."

TD adds: "Again, I don’t think that Obama has Kenyan citizenship. I think that the Rocky Mountain report and Andy Martin’s work are poorly sourced on this point."

TD raises a few points that amount to ethical as well as Constitutional problems for Mr. Obama:

1. The attempt to cloak his Indonesian citizenship
2. Constitutional problems because the conflict of interest may mean that he is not a "natural born citizen".

TD writes:

"The “natural-born” clause of Article II is commonly understood to relate to the place of birth, but more accurately relates to loyalty to country as Commander in Chief. That was the original intent of the founding fathers. In McCain’s case, there is no question because of his circumstances (born on military base to 2 US citizens, later joined the military, never had anything to do with Panama, etc.). In Obama’s case, it’s not nearly so clear, especially given his travels, relatives, and associations in some of these other countries."

He concludes:

"In my mind, however, the biggest problem is that Sen. Obama has intentionally concealed his background, Indonesian identity, citizenship, and the fact that he was at one time Muslim."

If these allegations are true, there are serious ethical and moral concerns about Mr. Obama. I am not a constitutional expert and would want additional support for TD's interpretation of the concept of natural born citizen. As a professor of business and a former corporate manager, there are serious and obvious motivational, ethical and professional concerns about conflicts of interest, especially those that are as fundamental as dual or multiple citizenship. There have been cases of terrorists who claimed to be loyal to the United States for many years before committing murder.

Obama supporters' recent responses to allegations of Mr. Obama's longstanding deception about his birth certificate; his failure to disclose and reveal his adopted name which allegedly is on the only birth certificate available to him; and fundamental questions about his citizenship and loyalty suggest a moral breakdown. Whether these allegations are true will remain to be seen.

But instead of questioning and asking Mr. Obama to do the right thing, to reveal information, to behave in an ethical and open fashion, the response of a number of Obama supporters, all with whom I have corresponded, has been to defend his lying, to lie themselves, to concoct specious arguments, to quibble, to deflect and to feign.

Obama Supporters: You have a problem. Your candidate has been lying, covering up and may have serious conflicts of interest that could prevent him from doing the fundamental Presidential job of protecting these United States. You need to demand that he explain the deception, explain the dual citizenship and reveal any and all documentation. Concocting specious arguments, lying and hoping that things will turn out all right is not the right approach.

Have Obama Supporters Attacked TexasDarlin?

I received the press release about the Soetoro birth certificate just a while ago as I was out mowing the lawn. I tried to access the TexasDarlin blog, which is on Wordpress, about the Soetoro birth certificate referenced in the e-mail and by No Quarter. I get a portal message that says that access is by password only. That wasn't true of TexasDarlin as of yesterday. So either TexasDarlin closed his blog on the same day as this hot story was released, or once again we see something fishy surrounding an anti-Obama blog.

No Quarter & Texas Darlin Report Birth Certificate w Last Name Soetoro, Not Obama--Obama May Have Been Concealing His Adopted Name

Larry Johnson (h/t Bob Robbins) of No Quarter USA whom I had heard on Friday had obtained a copy of Barack Obama's birth certificate visited Hawaii this past weekend. He now blogs that Mr. Obama may have Indonesian citizenship and that he has links to Pakistan as well, as well as Kenyan citizenship. Johnson goes on to add:

"Did I also mention how small Hawaii is? Republican operatives, with help from their own island backers, have unearthed critical information on Obama and are just biding their time until after the convention to drop it on him. Such as? Having a birth certificate that lists you as Barry Soetoro.

"Barack aka Barry Soetoro might have escaped scrutiny back in 1960 when there was no internet. Controlling information back then was so much easier. Not today. It is there for the taking and the Democrats foolishly chose to trust this clown just as they trusted John Edwards."

Whether these are accurate claims will be confirmed in time. There are increasingly serious accusations about Mr. Obama's integrity and his past. Allegations about multiple citizenships and his failure to reveal his birth certificate.

TexasDarlin adds:

"For those who have not followed this story, Soetoro is the name on Obama’s Birth Certificate (BC) because a new BC was issued when he was adopted by Lolo Soetoro, his step-father. His original BC, which we assume was issued for Barack Hussein Obama at birth, would have been sealed at that time.

"We assert that Barry Soetoro acquired Indonesian citizenship in approximately 1965-1966, and may still hold it. Barack Obama possibly changed his legal name back to Barack Hussein Obama as an older child, teenager, or adult, possibly never did — but even if he did, this procedure would not result in a change to the BC.

"The Birth Certificate published by Obama on his campaign website (still there, by the way) and distributed to the media was forged because the real BC on file is in the name Soetoro, an identity he apparently wanted to hide from the American people.

"I am getting reports from different sources that Obama traveled to Pakistan in ‘81 with an Indonesian passport."

TexasDarlin comments that the concealment and dual citizenship may pose legal as well as political problems: "Article II of the constitution requires the POTUS and Commander-in-Chief to have only ONE loyalty to country, and that must be to the US."

This episode reveals much about the mainstream media (MSM), as alot of people have been commenting. This epic scandal has not been treated on any of the MSM television channels or the major market newspapers. It is as though the institutiton of the press has decided to make itself irrelevant and bloggers and other informal sources are filling the gaps.

This is one more piece of evidence of a more general institutional breakdown in the United States. The Fed subsidizes investment banks for tens of billions of dollars without even masking the subsidies with claims of public interest concerns. Special interests dominate Washington. The media is inept and partisan, unwilling to tell the truth or even make inquiries about a major candidate. Elections are managed in an incompetent way so that boards of elections and the Federal Elections Commission do not verify candidates' claimed identities.

The Democrats Should Challenge McCain's Citizenship

The issue of candidates' identity disclosure should work both ways. Both Democratic and Republican candidates ought to be required to file birth certificate, drivers' license, criminal record and similar information with the state boards of elections. In the presidential election filing with the Federal Elections Commission would make sense to avoid duplication. A number of people have written to me with this argument: why do you raise the question of Mr. Barack Obama's birth certificate when Mr. McCain's citizenship is in question.

I do not believe that Mr. McCain's citizenship is in question, but I do not deny the importance of openness in government. I therefore urge Mr. Obama and the Democratic Party to file a de novo complaint in the US Supreme Court concerning John McCain's citizenship. The Democrats and Mr. Obama will have to publicly argue that military children born overseas while their parent is fighting on behalf of their country are not citizens. As a Republican, I urge Mr. Obama and the Democratic Party to make that argument publicly.

It is obviously fair that both Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama reveal their birth certificate and other identification information. It is also fair that any and all questions concerning eligibility be raised, and I urge the Democrats to raise the qualifications of military children to be citizens openly.

Contact with Social Democratic Media Re Obama Birth Certificate

I just sent the following message to editors at the New York Times, CNN, CBS Evening News, Newsweek and Time.

>Why haven't you covered Mr. Obama's failure to permit access to his birth certificate? There is considerable buzz about it on the Web, and you increase public skepticism by avoiding discussion. See the following blogs:

http://mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com/2008/08/letter-to-donald-mcgahan-and-federal.html

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Federal-Elections-Commssion/signatures.html

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/08/09/a-call-for-obama-to-step-down/

http://mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com/2008/08/request-for-investigation-of-obama.html

http://mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com/2008/08/drake-questions-techdudes-analysis-is.html

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/atlas-exclusive.html

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/08/previous-owner.html

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/obamas_birth_certifcate_forgery/

You wonder why the public stops taking you and the news media seriously, but all this buzz, thousands of people, on the Internet are wondering why Mr. Obama has not disclosed the information, and you're not asking questions. At a minimum, you should publicly ask him for all ID documents. Why has he failed to respond to repeated requests? There may be nothing wrong, but your failure to ask makes you look absurdly partisan.

Five Things You Can Do About B.O.'s Birth Certificate

Joanie just e-mailed me asking what she can do to bring the failure of our government systems to address the public's concerns about B.O.'s birth certificate. There are at least five ways to contact elected officials, the media and the governmental bureaucracies. Joanie's inquiry and my response follow.

Joanie writes:

> Dear Sir,
> I have spent most of this lovely Saturday on the web reading. I am surprised to hear about a story that questions whether Obama's Birth cert is accurate. Are there any people I can email demanding that this story be looked into. Also, how can we get this into the main media to "chew" on?
>
> Thank you for your courage to write about this.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Joanie

My response:

Hi Joanie:

You can sign my petition; write to the Federal Elections Commission; write to your state's Secretary of State and Board of Elections; write your Congressman, Senators and the President; and you can send out a press release. Each letter would be a little different.

1. First--I hope you signed my petition already. Please pass the URL around to anyone and everyone you know. We've got around 3,300 signatures now. The URL is at

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Federal-Elections-Commssion/

2. The website Texas Darlin (TD) has a model letter to write to your state's secretary of state. TD also has a list of secretary of states (here it is) on which you can look up your Secretary of State.

I used a different letter to the NY Secretary of State (I live in NY) on my blog

http://mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com/2008/08/request-for-investigation-of-obama.html

You can write a similar letter to your state board of elections.

TD's letter is at:

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/eligibility-challenge-state-by-state-act-now/#comment-6377

3. Third, you can write a letter to the Federal Elections Commission just like the one that I wrote at:

http://mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com/2008/08/letter-to-donald-mcgahan-and-federal.html

4. Fourth, you can write to your Congressman and Senators and demand legislation that requires release of identification information to the Federal Elections Commission and to state boards of election. You can also copy the President on this as he oversees the FEC.

5. Fifth, you can send out a press release to the media in your area and/or national media informing them of each step. You can find media contact information on the Web. For instance, most newspapers have a letters to the editor address, and you can send a press release to that address or to a better address if one is on the Website.

Hope that is useful.

James Commends Mitchell Langbert's Blog

Now here is something! I commend you, Mr. Langbert, and your reference to Rocky Mountain News.

Being in charge of all of our armed forces, you M U S T have undivided loyalty. That must be part of the reasoning about not being eligible for the office, if you are naturalized. To that end, how can duel citizenship not be an issue? I would say this no matter the candidate, no matter the political party, no matter the other nation.

Mr. Langbert:

Can this information be corroborated or is it some "urban myth" Is there some sort of legal ruling or position on this issue of duel citizenship

Mr. Langbert, your comment about obfuscation and obstructionism is dead-spot on. Keep in mind that this is a no win situation for Mr. Obama, so, if I were him, I would certainly ignore it and just hope that it does not get traction. Keep in mind, from the very onset of the campaign, Mr. Obama has been running from his past, and frankly running from himself. Yet sadly, he seems to not know it, because he has no center.

My career requires me to make decisions about situations and more importantly people. I have learned to trust my gut, and it is usually right. Now, as I have grown older, I have become convinced that solid character is the most critical component to effective leadership. Perhaps the Boy Scouts have said it best: "CHARACTER COUNTS".

Mr. Obama, who are you?

This guy is really beginning to fail the smell test. So, as these data points stack up, pardon my bending a phrase from another of his associates, but "the fleas are coming home to roost".

James

Drake Questions Techdude's Analysis: Is There Risk In The Pursuit of B.O.'s COLB?

My concern in following through with the pursuit of B.O.'s Certificate of Live Birth (C.O.L.B.) is not my concern with the C.O.L.B.'s authenticity or the chance that there is anything wrong in it. Rather, I am chiefly concerned that the state boards of election or the federal election commission should do due diligence on requirements to hold office, to include this constitutional one of natural citizenship. Criminal records, drivers' license information, birth certificate and similar kinds of identification should be collected by the state boards of election and the federal government and should be available for all citizens to review. We live in an age of identity theft and electronic scams. It is foolish to run an electoral system that takes at face value candidates' claims as to who they are. Even if the birth certificate on the Daily Kos and other pro-Obama websites is fair and true there should be a way for a citizen to review a certified copy in person without resorting to a website or bloggers' work-shed analyses. As well, Mr. Obama should have simply told his staff to authorize any and all requests for information to the Hawaii Health Department.

The main point is that the states or the federal government need develop a responsive audit system, not whether there is anything wrong with Mr. Obama's birth certificate. I'm puzzled that there is no system in place to permit a citizen to obtain identification information. Is our government run by marks, by trusting fools eager to be conned? If the state and federal governments cannot run an election properly, what can they do?

Drake, a scientist and attorney, has e-mailed me about his concerns that TechDude's analysis is inaccurate. But I don't think that's the right concern. The only chance of improving due diligence requirements for candidates is now. Public pressure must be intense because politicians don't like scrutiny any more than do Corporate America, Wall Street or Tony Soprano.

Drake writes:

>Dr. Langbert:

I have been trying to carefully follow this Obama COLB issue from the beginning. At first, I was convinced that a forgery had in fact been demonstrated. However, as time has gone on, I am becoming more and more skeptical. As one who has a computer science degree and is minimally competent at graphics, I have yet to see any verifiable and reproducible information from Techdude that actually indicates a forgery. This is especially significant concerning the claim that the name of the original bearer of the certificate (Maya, apparently) could be discerned from the image. Techdude has yet to post step by step instructions by which any reasonably skilled person in graphics could reproduce his findings.

Instead, what seems to be happening is that Techdude makes his claims and, as "support" for them, goes into laborious detail using very technical language and images with boxes and numbers. Most people simply skim these explanations, regarding them as beyond their expertise, and simply accepting his ultimate conclusions. Yet, when other non-pseudonymous graphic experts actually take the time to sludge through his explanations, they find them vacuous and insufficient to point toward Techdude's ultimate conclusions. Although I in no way regard myself as a graphics expert, I have reached the same conclusion when I have actually taken the time to go through his dense analysis. At the end, I ask myself, "Is there something I'm missing?" Yet, for a significant period of time, I have simply assumed that the missing analysis is there and Techdude has either not yet posted it or I am simply unable to understand it. As time goes on, I am becoming convinced that nearly everyone on the Atlas blog and on the TexasDarlin' blog is doing the same thing. Each person thinks to himself or herself, Well, I don't understand it, but it looks impressive and very technical, and all of these other people are convinced, so apparently his explanations have satisfied them. The result is that each person simply assumes that the others understand and have independently verified. It's like the free rider problem in economics.

Dr. Langbert, I'm writing you personally because, having read your blog, it is apparent that you are an intelligent man and a respectable scholar. I believe that we are similar in that we are both respectable professionals who are careful in their analysis and not simply internet hotheads. I myself am both a computer scientist and a lawyer. I am concerned that we are possibly being hoodwinked. I do not think it wise to try to bring an allegation of forgery in either the media, the political process, or the law until there is sufficient proof of forgery. Although I personally would very much like to see Obama disqualified from the Presidency (as I find his policy positions repugnant, to say the least), I can honestly say that neither Techdude nor anyone else has sufficiently shown forgery. Unlike others, I am in no way declaring the authenticity of the COLB, but neither has it been proven in authentic. If this email registers with you, I could go into more careful detail as to the holes I see and the seeming psuedoscience of it all.

While it might be argued that if Obama ultimately produces a physical copy as a result of this campaign you are waging, then there will be no harm done, I respectfully disagree. If the MSM were to actually pick this story up and Obama were to produce an authentic physical copy identical to the picture, and the analysis on which you and others are relying were to be exposed as junk science, then the result is far worse than having never brought up the story. Those who opposed Obama on this ground would look like idiots, hurting the credibility of his opposition. Moreover, as an associate professor who actually has a career at stake in terms of intellectual integrity, I honestly fear what the consequences might be for your career if this whole thing flops as badly as I fear it might. I myself am operating under a psuedonymn (Drake is not my real name) for this very same reason. I don't need my reputation to be tarnished or my publications not to be taken seriously as the result of this.

Regardless, I am not trying to tell you what to do. My concerns are simply that I am beginning to fear more and more that this is a hoax, and I worry that it may ultimately aid Obama. It seems to me that you are the most intellectually respectable and credentialed role player in this, and therefore I thought I'd email you about my concerns, both out of interest as to your thoughts regarding my criticism and a slight concern for your career.

I look forward to (hopefully) hearing back from you. Kind regards,

Drake

Letter From Carol of the Pacific Northwest

Gosh darn it I respect you with all that you all are doing here. I love it. This is such integrity and American patriotism. Sincerely, Carol from the Pacific Northwest

And thank you Carol!

Obama's Dual Citizenship

Is it appropriate for the President of the United States to hold dual citizenship? Mr. Obama may believe himself to be a citizen of the world, but there is what economists call a principal-agent problem if the president has dual loyalties. This may or may not be relevant to the Article II issue. However (and h/t Larwyn), it would seem that the failure of the state and federal governments to establish a system whereby simple information about presidential candidates is made public seems to have shocked us a second time this year.

Gateway Pundit notes that Rocky Mountain News reports that he "(h)olds both American and Kenyan (since 1963) citizenship."

Gateway Pundit quotes Political Gateway's 2007 post.

“Under the Independence Constitution of Kenya, Obama became a Kenyan citizen on December 12, 1963. He has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. On his senate web site, Obama tap dances around his own dual nationality when discussing his father. Obama obviously knows, because his father told him, that he also held/holds Kenyan nationality.

“Once again, we find Barry O concealing fascinating information about his identity. There is nothing unusual about dual nationality. Indeed, ancient Roman Law doctrines of jus sanguini and jus soli come into play, because both Kenya and the U. S. recognize dual nationality. Once again, the issue is not ‘legality.’ The issue is the cover-up; Obama’s concealment of his own identity. From us, and most of all from himself."

Yes, concealment is the issue, isn't it?

Black Republican Forum Meets in NYC

The Silent Majority discusses the recent Black Republican Forum:

"Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican. Not enough people know this FACT but wonderfully that information was on display at the Annual Black Republican Forum. This Forum is here to Educate…to correct the propaganda passing as history and that it did. As The Silent Majority entered the second floor foyer of the beautiful Republican Women’s Club in New York City (just a hop from St. Patrick’s Cathedral) there was a table filled with books and pamphlets as well as a poster of the First American Blacks to sit in Congress (in the 1800’s!); Free Men and Elected! A long overdue freedom that came courtesy of the Republican Party; the real history of America that’s been erased by the Zinn/Chomsky ‘history’ books that have replaced the truth in our public schools."

Obama Investigation Petition Breaks 3,265 Signatures

The petition I circulated on Thursday now has3,266 signatures. There is still time to sign it at:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Federal-Elections-Commssion/

It reads:

The signers of this petition request the Federal Elections Commission and Mr. Donald McGahan, FEC chairman, to take responsibility to verify the eligibility of Mr. Barack H. Obama to be President of the United States. Mr. Obama has refused to produce a physical certified, stamped copy of his birth certificate. An electronically-displayed image displayed by his official campaign website has been alleged to be a forgery. We request that the FEC require Mr. Obama to authorize the FEC to obtain an official copy of his birth certificate and if he does not produce the authorization that the FEC reject his registration as a presidential candidate; that the FEC not monitor his campaign finances during the primary or election; that votes cast for Mr. Obama and reported by the states' boards of elections not be recorded and displayed by the FEC; and that Mr. Obama be considered in violation of 2 USC 437g for filing a false statement on FEC Form 2, as specified on that form.

Request for Obama Investigation by New York's Secretary of State

Texas Darlin has proposed a state-by-state inquiry as to Mr. Barack H. Obama's eligibility to be president. Good idea, TD. I have adapted my earlier letter to the FEC and forwarded it electronically to Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, Secretary of State for New York in Albany. I live within an easy drive, so I would not mind meeting with her representative.

PO Box 130
West Shokan, New York 12494
August 9, 2008
http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com
mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Secretary of State
One Commerce Plaza,
99 Washington Avenue
Albany, NY 12231-0001

Dear Ms. Cortés-Vázquez:

I would like to file a public, formal complaint with the New York Department of State requesting verification of the natural-born U.S. citizenship of Mr. Barack Obama, and revocation of the registration and recognition of Mr. Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States if that citizenship is not verified as described below within 7 days of your receipt of this letter. Mr. Obama has not shown that he fulfills the Constitutional requirement for president, to be a “natural born citizen”, Article Two, Section 1.

The basis for this complaint is:

a) Mr. Obama’s refusal to produce a physical certified, stamped copy of his birth certificate, with the Hawaii file number visible, upon my previous repeated request and the requests of others.
b) Significant analysis of the electronically-displayed image displayed by Mr. Obama on his official campaign website as the certificate indicates forgery.
c) The electronically-displayed image displayed by Mr. Obama on his official campaign website has the Hawaii state birth certificate filing number blacked out, eliminating any objective information that links the image to an actual certificate on file (see http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/atlas-exclusive.html).

If Mr. Obama produces a certified, stamped copy of the original birth certificate with all information visible, I request as the complainant to see that document in person to examine its authenticity, including electronically, before you finalize its response; and the opportunity to verify the authenticity with the issuing state official. This process should require no more than two business days, and may take place in at your office.

If the certificate is not produced in 10 days and verified by you and myself within another 5 days, this complaint requests that Mr. Obama’s registration as a presidential candidate be rejected by the State of New York because he has failed to document his citizenship.

I ask for expedited formal response and resolution of this request, given that the national convention furthering the candidacy will occur in three weeks, and given that this document is easy to produce upon personal request of Mr. Obama to the Hawaii state government. Please note you can request it directly, as qualifying under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 338-18 has having “a direct and tangible interest in the record.”

This request is made with the utmost respect for New York’s laws, the presidential election process and the candidates involved, in the desire to resolve this question quickly and confirm their integrity. If a similar request is appropriate to be made to all presidential candidates it must not slow down this specific request.

If the you decide that you do not have jurisdiction in this matter, please respond within three business days of receipt of this complaint with the state agency or other governmental organization that is responsible for enforcing Article Two, Section One of the Constitution that requires natural-born citizenship for candidacy for the president of the United States. Please include the basis for such jurisdiction by that agency or organization. Please respond by email to: mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

Sincerely,


Mitchell Langbert
PO Box 130
203 Watson Hollow Road
West Shokan, New York 12494

Holy Gas Cap: Congressman Maurice Hinchey Accused of Assault

A Rosendale, NY man has accused Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who proposed price controls on gasoline a month or two ago, of assault according to the Kingston Daily Freeman.

According to the Daily Freeman, "Paul Lendvay, 46, who is the chairman of the Catskill Regional Friends of the National Rifle Association" is planning to press charges against Hinchey because the two got into a scuffle at a street fair over a Winchester 94 Teddy Roosevelt commemorative rifle that Lendvay was displaying and because Hinchey refused to buy raffle tickets for the rifle, which he was admiring.

The Freeman adds: "Police said that, based on what they knew of the alleged incident, a charge of misdemeanor assault would be unwarranted. Harassment, a violation, would be the more likely charge, they said."

Hinchey's spokesman accused Lendvay of pressing charges for political purposes.

"Hinchey, first elected to Congress in 1992, is running this fall for his ninth two-year term in the House. His Republican opponent is expected to be George Phillips of Endwell."

In a separate Freeman article, Republican challenger George Phillips, a gallant, capable, well educated and handsome gentleman, questioned Hinchey's far fetched statistics concerning energy exploration:

"In a press release, Phillips - who lives in Endwell, near Binghamton - said Hinchey was using "rhetoric" and was "blocking new oil production" by continuing to support a ban on opening drilling in protected areas.

"Despite polls showing public support for offshore drilling at near 70 percent, including a majority of Californians and Alaskans, Hinchey continues to oppose tapping the 20 billion barrels of oil that the Department of the Interior says can be found in the areas currently closed to drilling," Phillips said in the prepared statement. "The United States is alone among developed nations in implementing such a ban on offshore drilling."

New York's 22nd Congressional district looks like it's going to have an interesting and tight race. With Hinchey getting into street scuffles and Phillips getting major traction on energy, Ulster County and the rest of the gerrymandered district may be looking at a Republican in Congress next year.

Ed Roth On the Obama Birth Certificate: Is It Possible to Know?

>If you are the Langbert with the Obama birth certificate petition on blog this is information for you. To let you know how thing are done, let me tell you a true story. Years ago my cousin had a child who was born a few days late to meet the cut of day to start school. He called his US rep and told R the problem. A few days later a man appeared at his front door with a certified Cook County Illinois birth certificate with a different birth date. The date allowed his child to enter school a year early. The man told my cousin's wife to destroy the certificate after using it.

Nancy R Notifies Governor Lingle About Obama COLB Concerns

Dear Governor Lingle,

I have read Barack Obama's birth certificate is a forgery. Can you produce a new certified State of Hawaii birth certificate for him?

If the State of Hawaii has no record of his birth, this should be public knowledge before the Democratic Convention.

Please give the American people the truth.

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Nancy R
American Patriot

Does Larry Johnson of the No Quarter Blog Have a Hard Copy Obama COLB?

I just heard a rumor that Larry Johnson of No Quarter USA has obtained what purports to be a hard copy of Barack H. Obama's birth certificate. I am eager to learn of the substance of this rumor.

Seeking Associate in Missouri, the "Show Me" State

Dear Friends: I am seeking a resident of Missouri to send one letter each to the Missouri Secretary of State and the Missouri Board of Elections requesting that they take responsibility for investigation of citizens' questions concerning candidates' eligibility, including requests for birth certificates. If you are willing to send two letters (I will provide the templates) and you live in Missouri, please contact me at mlangbert@hvc.rr.com.

Petition To Request the Federal Elections Commission to Investigate Barack Obama

Please consider signing this petition at

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Federal-Elections-Commssion/

The signers of this petition request the Federal Elections Commission and Mr. Donald McGahan, FEC chairman, to take responsibility to verify the eligibility of Mr. Barack H. Obama to be President of the United States. Mr. Obama has refused to produce a physical certified, stamped copy of his birth certificate. An electronically-displayed image displayed by his official campaign website has alleged to have been a forgery, with the filing number blacked out. We request that the FEC require Mr. Obama to authorize the FEC to obtain an official copy of his birth certificate and if he does not produce the authorization that the FEC reject his registration as a presidential candidate; that the FEC not monitor his campaign finances during the primary or election; that votes cast for Mr. Obama and reported by the states' boards of elections not be recorded and displayed by the FEC; and that Mr. Obama be considered in violation of 2 USC 437g for filing a false statement on FEC Form 2, as specified on that form.

George Washington on Religion, Morality, Isolationism and Foreign Policy

"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

"It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?

Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened...

"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?

George Washington's Farewell Address, 1796.

George Washington on the Future of US Foreign Policy

"If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel."

---From Washington's Farewell Address, quoted in William Appleman Williams, Contours of American History, Chicago: Quadrangle Paperbacks, 1966, p. 173.

Williams adds:

"Far from being a call for isolation, what Washington issued was a mercantilist manifesto for an unchallengable empire. Whatever one thinks of the logic or of the goal itself, Washington's Farewell Address remains one of the great documents of America's Age of Mercantilism."

New Ships of 9/11 Steel

The USS New York is an anti-terrorist ship that the Navy just launched (h/t Contrairimairi). The wrenching story behind it is that it is made from steel melted down from the World Trade Center. The USS New York website is very inspiring. Below are three pictures of the USS New York. The second one shows the christening where the Navy, NYPD and NYFD bands all played. God Bless America. And I hope they hit those terrorists very, very hard.

Conservative Bolters Should Listen to Jerry Molen

Jeremy E. Sarber and Friends (h/t Contrairimairi) has posted an essay by Jerry Molen, who notes:

"Most people aren’t even aware that the Democrats ruled Washington for over 40 years. It wasn’t until 1994 when the so called Gingrich Revolution changed that for a short period of time. Nor do people realize that it was the Dem’s that created the failed policies of the many entitlement programs that are falling apart right before our eyes. Please do not think I find the Republicans blameless in all this."

Jerry notes a paradox:

"Poor people have been voting for Democrats for the last fifty years….and they are still poor."

No kidding. The fact is, almost everyone is poorer because of the Progressive(Republican)/social democrat (Democratic) alliance.

Jerry has a few predictions about what Barack Hussein Obama would do as president:

1. Strict new gun laws will be enacted even though he promised he would not.
2. The phrase “In God We Trust” will be removed from all currency.
3. He will back away from his pledge to Israel and leave them to the wolves of Islam.
4. Hillary Clinton will be named to the Supreme Court.
5. Tax rates will return to their highest levels in 30 years.
6. The capital gains tax will be at least double current levels.
7. Retired Army General Wesley Clark will be named Secretary of Defense.
8. The borders will be ‘basically open’ to all comers. Especially those from the Middle East and South America.
9. Amnesty will be granted to all illegals now in the U.S.
10. The war in Iraq will be brought to an abrupt end and the results will be tragic and the consequences to our military will be devastating.

The Left Eats Its Own--Blog Banning at Daily Kos

Lee Stranahan (h/t ReUnion PI) posts on Stranahan.com that he has been banned from the social democratic Daily Kos site (Lee erroneously calls Daily Kos "progressive"). A blogger on Daily Kos writes:

>"So apparently Lee Stranahan has been banned from this site for publishing one too many "Hey, what the hell is up with John Edwards and his completely odd and totally inept efforts to hide his love child from the media?" posts. Well isn't that just goddamn admirable of you all.

"In solidarity with Lee, I ask that you ban me as well. I'd rather not leave the site peacefully and willfully - no, preferably, I would like to be removed from the great orange monster for expressing dissent. That way, I could put one of those moronic "Dissent is Super Patriotic!" bumper stickers on my car and get the full experience."

Stranahan writes:

"Now I’m banned. I can’t write about ANYTHING at Kos. Can’t comment, can’t post a non-Edwards piece. Nothing...And I stand by my title - it’s largely John Edward’s fault that I’m banned."

Stranahan has a point.

There was a time when the left could claim that it really was on the side of democracy, that the "democratic" part of "social democratic" really meant something, and that it was victimized by witch hunts. With the advent of political correctness, the American left has become a suppressive movement, losing all claim to tolerance, democratic thinking and any claim to the appellation "progressive". The left is the perpetrator of witch hunts, not the victim.

I have worked or lived around counter culture and left wing communities for much of my life, and I conclude that they are as suppressive as any corporation or cult. It is not coincidental that all of the left wing governments have been intolerant of dissent. It is inherent in the social democratic ideology that true believers become convinced, much like cult members, there is one true answer and that anyone who deviates from their answer is to be silenced.

So while I pity Mr. Stranahan, I do not empathize with him. He has chosen to align himself with social democrats of his own free will.

ContrairiMairi Contacts Dan White of Illinois Election Commission Re Obama Eligibility

Dear Mr. White,

I am writing to respectfully demand the Board investigate the qualifications of Barack H. Obama. In light of the Certificate of Live Birth posted at the Campaign's internet site, I feel there needs to be a full investigation of his citizenship status. Illinois statutes require that he be a citizen, and I challenge that his claim is valid. The Certificate posted has been altered. The certificate number has been removed. The document states clearly, that any alteration of it makes it invalid. I believe that removal of the certificate number does alter the document, thereby rendering it invalid.

It is the duty of the Board to insure that all legal guidelines and qualifications of any candidate running for office in this State are adhered to. He is our State Senator. That is far too important a position to leave in a questionable state. He must be required to make public, a legal documentation of his citizenship status.


It also now is known by Barack H. Obama's own writings, that he lived in at least two other countries. He may have been known there by his own name, or the name of Barry Soetoro, since he was adopted. The nature of his residency in either of these countries calls question to the possibility that he may own citizenship in either or both. Under United States law, his ownership of citizenship in either of the countries could negate his U.S citizenship, even if he was born here. I am respectfully challenging that if he is in fact holding multiple passports issued by countries that do not recognize dual citizenship, under either name, his American citizenship cannot be valid. I respectfully demand that he provide the Board with all documentation relating to travel in and out of the United States for public review and also related documents from any countries where he may still own citizenship by that country's laws.

It is imperative that the residents of this State are being represented by persons who meet all the legal qualifications as set forth by Illinois law. Your office is entrusted with upholding the law. You cannot expect that we should be governed by laws passed by someone who may be breaking the law. Please send verification with documented proof of his status to me at the address listed.

Sincerely,

Letter To Donald McGahan and Federal Election Commission Requesting Obama Investigation

I have mailed the following letter following conversations with Contrairimairi and others who have suggested an FEC investigation of the Obama birth information. Currently, it does not appear that any one government office has taken responsibility for verification of a candidate's eligibility to be president, and part of this inquiry is to force the FEC to clarify who is responsible.

PO Box 130
West Shokan, New York 12494
mlangbert@hvc.rr.com
http://www.mitchell-langbert.blogspot.com
August 6, 2008

Mr. Donald F. McGahn, II, Chairman
Federal Election Commission
999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20463

Dear Mr. McGahan:

I would like to file a formal complaint with the Federal Elections Commission requesting verification of the natural-born U.S. citizenship of Mr. Barack Obama, and revocation of the registration and recognition of Mr. Obama’s candidacy for president of the United States if that citizenship is not verified as described below within 7 days of the FEC receipt of this letter. Mr. Obama has not shown that he fulfills the Constitutional requirement for president, to be a “natural born citizen”, Article Two, Section 1.

The basis for this complaint is:

a) Mr. Obama’s refusal to produce a physical certified, stamped copy of his birth certificate, with the Hawaii file number visible, upon my previous repeated request and the requests of others.
b) Significant analysis of the electronically-displayed image displayed by Mr. Obama on his official campaign website as the certificate indicates forgery.
c) The electronically-displayed image displayed by Mr. Obama on his official campaign website has the Hawaii state birth certificate filing number blacked out, eliminating any objective information that links the image to an actual certificate on file (see http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/07/atlas-exclusive.html).

If Mr. Obama produces a certified, stamped copy of the original birth certificate with all information visible, I request as the complainant to see that document in person to examine its authenticity, including electronically, before the FEC finalizes its response; and the opportunity to verify the authenticity with the issuing state official. This process should require no more than two business days, and may take place in at the FEC office in Washington.

If the certificate is not produced in 10 days and verified by the FEC and myself within another 5 days, this complaint requests the following four remedies:

1) Mr. Obama’s registration as a presidential candidate is rejected (as filed on FEC Form 2).
2) Mr. Obama’s campaign finances will not be monitored by the FEC as a candidate, during the primary or election.
3) Votes cast for Mr. Obama and reported by the states’ boards of elections will not be recorded and displayed by the FEC.
4) Mr. Obama will be considered in violation of 2 U.S.C. 437g, for filing a false statement on FEC Form 2, as specified on that form.

I ask for expedited formal response and resolution of this request, given that the national convention furthering the candidacy will occur in three weeks, and given that this document is easy to produce upon personal request of Mr. Obama to the Hawaii state government. Please note the FEC can request it directly, as qualifying under Hawaii Revised Statutes § 338-18 has having “a direct and tangible interest in the record.”

This request is made with the utmost respect for the presidential election process and the candidates involved, in the desire to resolve this question quickly and confirm their integrity. If a similar request is appropriate to be made to all presidential candidates by the FEC it must not slow down this specific request.

If the FEC decides it does not have jurisdiction in this matter, please respond within three business days of receipt of this complaint with the agency or governmental organization that is responsible for enforcing Article Two, Section One of the Constitution that requires natural-born citizenship for candidacy for the president of the United States. Please include the basis for such jurisdiction by that agency or organization. Please respond by email to: mlangbert@hvc.rr.com

Sincerely,


Mitchell Langbert
PO Box 130
203 Watson Hollow Road
West Shokan, New York 12494

Cc: Steven T. Walther, Vice Chairman
Cynthia L. Bauerly, Commissioner
Matthew S. Petersen, Commissioner
Caroline C. Hunter, Commissioner
Ellen L. Weintraub, Commissioner

McCain Campaign Needs to Stategize Fraud Prevention

Has the McCain campaign begun making preparations to preempt election day fraud? I was just on the phone with a lobbyist in Washington, DC who had been involved in the Democratic Texas Caucus, and she alleged that the Obama campaign engaged in intimidation against elderly women amounting to fraud. She also stated that these allegations have trailed Mr. Obama's campaigns beginning with his first race in Chicago, Illinois. Illinois has long been a state accused of being lax on fraud, going at least as far back as the 1960 presidential election. In a close race like the 2008 race, cheating could easily be the determinative factor. As well, Democrats continue to accuse Republicans of fraud in 2000, and there is no more likely thief than the man who believes that something has been stolen from him.

It is imperative that the McCain campaign begin thinking about and developing control procedures such as training an army of observers for election day. Rationally planned steps now could be the most important campaign strategy. As Sun Tzu said, wars are won before they're fought, and know your opponent. Barack Obama is an opponent capable of election fraud.

Israel Commentary Blog on Forged Birth Certificate

Israel Commentary blogs recent revelations of Techdude, TexasDarlin, Atlas Shrugs and Israel-Insider Insider about the identity of the original owner of the forged Obama birth certificate. Pamela Geller is said to know who the original owner was, and Pamela hasn't shrugged. She calls the identity "a jaw dropper"!

Income Inequality Effects of Estate Tax

The controversy surrounding the estate tax has emphasized moralistic arguments. The first is that proponents claim that eliminating the estate tax will increase wealth inequality. The second is that opponents argue that the estate tax is coercive and deprives earners of their right to property. A corollary of the first is that the estate tax enhances government revenue. A corollary of the second is that the estate tax taxes wealth that already has been taxed via capital gains and income tax.

But what if the estate tax increases wealth inequality?

The claim that the estate tax reduces wealth inequality overlooks a critical point: not all estates are taxed. In particular, wealth placed in family trusts is not taxed. Since the ultra-wealthy tend to place their wealth in family trusts, the wealth-equalizing effects of the estate are uncertain.

There is surely a statistical argument that if you eliminate wealth of the top 2-0.5 percentiles of wealth earners, then there is more wealth equality. But wealth in the top 2-0.5% of wage earners is not what might be called deviant levels of wealth. The top 0.5% of wealth is in the 3-4 million dollar range, which is not enough to escape at least the threat of having to earn a living. Someone who aims to live a luxurious lifestyle would need to have much more than that. Thus, the variance of wealth distribution is a deceptive measure. It is only with respect to the top .1% and above that income inequality has significant effects on one's prospects, and it is precisely this group that establishes family trusts.

As I have previously blogged, a prime example is the Ochs Sulzbergers, owners of the New York Times, who have repeatedly advocated estate taxes for everyone else, but have dodged them for themselves for the past four or five generations via a family trust. To be fair, an estate tax would tax family trusts first, say 70% of a pro-rata share of each beneficiary who dies, before lesser wealth is taxed. I have never heard of a Congressional proposal to tax family trusts. Hence, Congress has never really cared about wealth inequality where it really counts. Just the opposite.

That is, there is a more subtle question. The onerous taxation of families in the top 2 - 0.5% percentile while exemption of families above that level from estate tax via family trusts may actually increase wealth inequality. This cannot be proven nor disproven empirically.

It takes some firms several generations to grow into Fortune-level concerns. Examples include Johnson and Johnson and IBM. If there are fewer very large firms than there would be without an estate tax, shares of the very large firms trade at higher prices than they would under conditions without the estate tax because there is less competition. The estate tax may accentuate the wealth of the very wealthy by nipping competition in the bud. If there would be a greater number of large firms in a free and fair market than there are today, then profit levels of the large firms would be lower. Stock prices of the large firms will also be lower. There will be more firms, more economic diversity, and as a result, more equality.

There would be more equality without an estate tax because the wealthiest, like the Ochs Sulzbergers, would not be as wealthy, and because the ranks of the very wealthy would be increased by a greater number of competitors. The larger number of competitors would reduce the wealth of the very wealthy and would increase their number. Thus, wealth inequality would be reduced. Moreover, the incentive to invest long term would increase, stimulating more Americans to achieve high degrees of wealth. The end result would be that income equality would be increased. This could have large effects on wages if increased competition increases demand for workers.

In other words, the estate tax may be increasing inequality by reducing the number of firms that become large over several generations and increasing the wealth of the Ochs Sulzbergers and other ultra-wealthy families. This freezing of American capitalism leads to a more permanent form of income inequality than would a competitive economy where families are struggling to compete with large firms.

As a result, not only can one not say with certainty that the estate tax reduces wealth inequality, but one can be fairly sure that the estate tax INCREASES the MOST IMPORTANT forms of social stratification whereby an ultra-elite that includes the Ochs Sulzbergers differentiates itself from the rest of society not because of merit but because of government and law.

One response might be to tax family trusts, and if there is to be an estate tax at all it should be applied to family trusts first because the oldest, least innovative firms are held by the oldest money that is most likely to be in trusts.

The most innovative firms that are most likely to create new technologies are held by families in the top 2-.5 percentiles. Thus, the estate tax may create wealth inequality in yet another way. By freezing out innovation and supporting the upper echelons in outmoded technologies, new business ideas that create new sources of wealth have been inhibited by the estate tax. The result is a country that is poorer because there is less innovation and economic growth and more wealth inequality. The effects of the estate tax likely exceed any mere statistical variance or Gini coefficient and may be unobservable because no one knows how badly the estate tax has harmed innovation.

Do not look for these ideas in the New York Times.

Candace de Russy on Solzhenitsyn

Candace de Russy on Democracy Project blogs about Solzhenitsyn:

"Like many of my generation, I owe much to Solzhenitsyn. His magisterial and uncompromisingly truthful writings jolted me into examining more rigorously my, and our culture’s, moral values and politics. He galvanized us into confronting, justly fearing, and committing to a lifetime of fighting – to the best of our ability – what he called “the absolute Evil” of totalitarianism in the world. Moreover, this moral titan put us on guard against “the timid” and “pacifist” in our ranks, in particular, the faint-hearted “American Intelligentsia,” which would abandon us to the barbarians, past and present, who ever threaten our gates."

For me as well, reading Gulag Archipelago was critical. It puzzles me as well that while Nazism, or National Socialism, has been appropriately reviled, Socialism in One Country, which is the name Stalin gave it and is an accurate description of all real-world forms of socialism, as John Lukacs points out, continues to receive healthy support in universities. Solzhenitsyn showed us the reality of collectivist and socialist depravity, and so is a true giant.

New York Sun Covers Shut-Down of Mitchell Langbert's Blog/Google Apologizes

The New York Sun's Anna Phillips has covered the shut down of this and other anti-Obama blogs last week. Google has posted a general apology here. The Google text follows the Sun article.

Google insists that the problem is purely due to their computer algorithm. I do not know enough to argue, but it seems too coincidental that the Hillary Clinton campaign was having a similar problem several months ago when Hillary was running against Obama, and now I and other Republican anti-Obama bloggers have had the very same problem.

Just by way of self-defense, although it may look like I spend more time on the political diatribe-type blogs, the academic-type blogs such as my write-up of Howe's book on the Whigs take up 4/5ths of my blogging time. Thus my claim to Ms. Phillips about the blog being two thirds academic stuff is probably an understatement, although it may appear to be an overstatement.

Anna Phillips's Sun Article:

>Anti-Obama Bloggers Say They Were Silenced

Web loggers who are campaigning against Senator Obama's presidential run are accusing Google and Obama supporters of silencing them after their Web logs were marked as spam and their accounts temporarily frozen.

On Thursday, hours after publishing a post about an online petition demanding that Mr. Obama publicly produce his birth certificate, an associate professor of business administration at Brooklyn College, Mitchell Langbert, found that he could no longer access his Web log.

Google's Blogger hosting service had suspended "Mitchell Langbert's Blog," which Mr. Langbert describes as "two-thirds academic stuff I'm working on and one-third politics," until it could verify the Web log was not a "spam blog," or a site designed solely to increase the page views of associated Web sites.

A day later Google lifted the block on the account, but the incident and earlier Web log freezes in late June have led Mr. Langbert and other anti-Obama bloggers to accuse the Illinois senator's supporters of intentionally identifying their blog addresses to Google as spam blogs. They also say the company has reflexively suspended the sites.

"These tech-savvy smart alecks have figured out that if you report a blog you don't like, you can do some damage to a person," Mr. Langbert said.

A spokesman for Google, Adam Kovacevich, said in a statement that an overzealous antispam filter was responsible for the blocks.

"We believe this was caused by mass spam e-mails mentioning the 'Just Say No Deal' network of blogs, which in turn caused our system to classify the blog addresses mentioned in the e-mails as spam," he said. "We have restored posting rights to the affected blogs, and it is very important to us that Blogger remain a tool for political debate and free expression."

Several of the blogs that were blocked, including hillaryorbust.com and comealongway.blogspot.com, are part of the "Just Say No Deal" network of anti-Obama blogs. But Mr. Langbert's blog is not, leading him to conclude that Obama supporters had targeted him.

On her right-leaning blog "Atlas Shrugs," Pamela Geller keeps a list of blogs that Google has temporarily blocked. "The blockings do come in waves," she said. "The last wave was this past week, and now it got very quiet."

Some writers have had their blogs unblocked, while others have moved them to WordPress, a rival blog host.

"I don't think" Google has "malicious intentions at all, it's just that spammers can literally overrun a service if you're not careful, so their defenses have become overzealous," a spokesman for WordPress, Matthew Mullenweg, said in an e-mail.

"We always have human review before turning off an active blog," he said. "People invest so much time into their blogs, to treat it with anything less than the utmost respect is criminal."

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Two Google Apologies (h/t Phil Orenstein):

Google Apology

Spam Fridays

"While we wish that every post on this blog could be about cool features or other Blogger news, sometimes we have to step in and admit a mistake.

"We've noticed that a number of users have had their blogs mistakenly marked as spam, and wanted to sound off real quick to let you know that, despite it being Friday afternoon, we are working hard to sort this out. So to those folks who have received an email saying that your blog has been classified as spam and can't post right now, we offer our sincere apologies for the trouble.

"We hope to have this resolved shortly, and appreciate your patience as we work through the kinks."

AND

You Are Not Spam

You knew that already, and now we do too. We have now restored all accounts that were mistakenly marked as spam yesterday. (See: Spam Fridays)

We want to offer our sincerest apologies to affected bloggers and their readers. We’ve tracked down the problem to a bug in our data processing code that locked blogs even when our algorithms concluded they were not spam. We are adding additional monitoring and process checks to ensure that bugs of this magnitude are caught before they can affect your data.

At Blogger, we strongly believe that you own and should control your posts and other data. We understand that you trust us to store and serve your blog, and incidents like this one are a betrayal of that trust. In the spirit of ensuring that you always have access to your data, we have been working on importing and exporting tools to make it easier to back up your posts. If you'd like a sneak peek at the Import / Export tool, you can try it out on Blogger in Draft.

Our restoration today was of all blogs that were mistakenly marked as spam due to Friday's bug. Because spam fighting inherently runs the risk of false positives, your blog may have been mis-classified as spam for other reasons. If you are still unable to post to your blog today you can request a review by clicking Request Unlock Review on your Dashboard.