No Blair House for Obama Until After Electoral College Count

13 Dec

An interesting speculation for those few who have been handicapping the chances the powers-that-be will figure out before the planned January 20th inaugural what a small minority of internet bloggers have already discovered– that widely presumed President-elect Barack Obama is not constitutionally eligible to serve as President of the United States. (NOTE: Senator Obama’s ineligibility is on account of the conflict between the requirement the president be a “natural born citizen” and a) the fact Mr. Obama’s natural father was a British citizen at the time of the senator’s birth and b) the less probable fact that the public record contains no proof Mr. Obama disavowed the Indonesian citizenship he may have taken advantage of in his young adulthood to travel abroad and qualify for financial aid at as many as three different American universities.)

It has been reported that the Obama family has been denied their request to move in to the Blair House before January 5th, the day before the scheduled affirmation of the Electoral College vote count. The Blair House is essentially the White House’s guest house– it is located across the street– into which incoming presidents have traditionally been invited to move five days before January 20th inaugurals. The Obama’s made the reasonably seeming request that they be allowed to take up the residence early to enable their children to start school. The White House denied this request.

Could it be that the Bush Administration suspects it is possible that Obama’s Electoral College selection will be derailed before the affirmation of the Electoral College balloting as a result of an unfavorable ruling in one of the petitions before the Supreme Court contesting his “natural born citizen” status? Could it be that Obama transition team sought to surround him with the trappings of an official residence the day before so as to reinforce the symbolic impression that his selection has already been affirmed by the Electors? Could it be that President Bush, no stranger to electoral uncertainty, doesn’t wish to make the traumatic possibility of an electoral default even more difficult by having the office snatched from a presumed president-elect while he appears to be a president-in-waiting living in an official residence just a shotgun blast away from the Oval Office?

Can you picture the stand-off in the middle of Pennsylvania Avenue should the people’s choice be denied entry to the White House after he got so close….

Handicappers, stay tuned. This could get very banana republic…

(Tin foil hat pulled tightly around skull, the expressed belief about Senator Obama’s lack of natural born citizenship need not be taken as advocacy for denying his voters’ their wishes. Rather, it is the author’s belief that the Electors, the Courts, Congress, and Mr. Obama should take the steps necessary to insure that no constitutional eligibility questions linger past the inaugural that could diminish the authority of the Office of President. Such steps might include perfecting any existing defects in citizenship, clarifying legislation, a Supreme Court clarification, and/or a Constitutional Amendment. Just as Congress approved legislation today to reduce the salary of the Secretary of State to avoid a violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause should Hillary Clinton serve in that capacity, remedial legislation might be possible to insure the integrity of the Natural Born Citizen clause.)

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Illinois Governor Arrested for Being a Politician

229d 09 Dec

Filed Under Barack Obama, Rod Blagojevich | Leave a Comment

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges, is revealed to be going nothing more than seeking to exchange political favors for political favors in the 78 page federal indictment displayed below.

While Blagojevich’s private deliberations were caught on tape by FBI wiretaps and bugs, none of the evidence revealed in the complaint proves money was paid to the governor or his campaign fund prior to his taking an official action. Nothing in the publicly disclosed “evidence” amounts to any more than the bluster of a cocky politician engaged in Nixonian ramblings with his personal staff. Perhaps that is why U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald pleaded with parties to come forward who have actual evidence of criminal bribery. Before such evidence is presented, can we say at this point what the FBI heard on its recordings– as transcribed in the indictment– is any different than what one would hear were they do bug every state governor’s office.

“The decision [about Senator Obama’s replacement], like every other one, needs to be based upon….. Our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation…. Legal. Personal. Political.”

“[The decision will be made] in good faith… but it is not coming for free… It’s gotta be good stuff for the people of Illinois and good for me.”

How much different are the deliberations in New York Governor David Patterson’s office as he deliberates how to appease the powerful Kennedy, Clinton, and Cuomo political families as he picks a successor to Senator Hilary Clinton?

Where does tit-for-tat politics end and bribery begin? Was the Justice Department within it’s rights to do what the voters and legislators of the state of Illinois could have done themselves? Is impeachment not the more lawful way to remove a sitting governor for what may amount to no more than political crimes?

Barack Obama is Most Like Which Former US President?

08 Dec

Filed Under Barack Obama | 1 Comment

(A) Bill Clinton: Wife and staff have been nominated to key posts in new administration.

(B) John F. Kennedy: Youthful, articulate Senator representing generational change.

(C) Abraham Lincoln: Staffed cabinet with “Team of Rivals”.

(D) Chester Arthur: Other than those born before the establishment of the United States of America, only US president who was born a British citizen.

(E) Jimmy Carter: First president born in a hospital.

Answer: All but E. Barack Obama has refused to directly disclose the specific location of his birthplace or release a copy of his long form Birth Certificatae (though his campaign has released an abstract summary lacking such detail). Further, all present day medical centers in the city of Honolulu have been unable to confirm that Mr. Obama was born at their institutions.

Like Chester Arthur, Obama’s father was a British citizen at the time his American wife gave birth (Barack Obama, Sr. was a citizen of Kenya, then under British rule). Many legal scholars believe this fact complicates Obama’s eligibility to serve as President of the United States given the US Constitution’s Article II, Section I requirement that he be a “natural born citizen”, which is generally regarded as one born of two citizen parents and within the jurisdiction of the United States. More on the natural born citizen controversy here.

OJ Simpson Sentenced to 9 to 33: Hear him cry for leniency

05 Dec

Filed Under OJ Simpson | 1 Comment

O.J. Simpson was sentenced to 6 to 15 years in prison for an armed robbery and kidnapping that took place last year in a Las Vegas hotel room.

Before sentencing, Simpson made an emotional plea for leniency to Clark County District Court Judge Jackie Glass. He started by saying he was “sorry and confused”, though he only sounded hoarse and on the verge of tears.

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