Birth-Places and Mothers

What mighty contests rise from trivial things!
- Alexander Pope, The Rape of the Lock

The
Internet is rapidly proving itself the best friend of those who seek to
be truly informed-not limited by the sorts of things reported in the
Wall Street Journal or The New York Times.

Two of the
front-page stories on the WSJ on December 6 dealt with the consequences
of the disastrous downturn of the economy. One was a report that the
job losses affecting the country were the worst since 1974. Another
described the devastating effects of the job losses and the corporate
failures on workers' health insurance coverage. On December 7 the New
York Times had a story about families suffering from lack of health
insurance. Neither paper so much as mentioned even more important
developments that were being covered on the Internet. The first
concerns the legitimacy of Barrack Obama's election as president of the
United States.

Although the issue was brought up and
disproved prior to the election, a few constitutional purists continue
to pursue the issue, not out of hatred for President-elect Obama, I am
confident, but out of a love for the Constitution of the United States.

The Constitution says that only "natural born citizens of the
United States" can become president. These constitution protectors are
afraid that some day we will learn that Mr. Obama was not a "natural
born" citizen. To avoid that dreadful event they want the issue
resolved before he becomes president.

One of the more diligent devotees of the Constitution is Philip J. Berg,
a former deputy attorney general for Pennsylvania. He is not a nut,
although some may say I am too easy on him. He claims that Mr. Obama's
birth certificate is forged and that Mr. Obama was born in Kenya and
is, therefore, not eligible to be president. Mr. Berg heard a tape
recording of someone talking to a woman who said she was Mr. Obama's
grandmother. She said Mr. Obama was born in a hospital in Kenya and she
was in the delivery room when he was born. (She does not speak English
but there was a translator talking to the grandmother.) Mr. Berg says
Mr. Obama's claim to be "natural born" is "a real sham he's pulled off
for the last 20 months." (Mr. Berg is not a partisan. In 2007 he filed
a RICO lawsuit against George Bush and Dick Cheney for the events of
9/11. In a letter
reportedly sent to world leaders he wrote: "Bush and his cronies made
9/11 happen or let it happen. And, if they let it happen, then they
made it happen. Either way, they are responsible; and more important,
they have completely and unequivocally covered-it-up!" Mr. Berg said
that world leaders should issue arrest warrants for George Bush and
Richard Cheney and try them for the murder of over "2,800 people from
more than 80 countries on 9/11/01 and, when found guilty, sentence them
appropriately.")

Although not stated, I suspect that the
zeal with which Mr. Berg and others pursue this is attributable to
their distress at the successful assaults on the constitution made by
George Bush. They are ashamed that they were silent while George Bush
was using the Constitution to wipe his feet. They are determined to see
that that never happens again. (The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear
one of the cases involving Mr. Obama's birth certificate.)

As
indicated above, it is not only Mr. Berg and his friends who want to
make sure that the fact that 553,000 people lost their jobs in November
does not overshadow other important things. Ever since Sarah Palin was
chosen by John McCain as his running mate, the country has been
consumed by the question of whether Baby Trig is her baby or that of
her daughter. Those continuing to seek answers about Trig's birth are
doing so with the same zeal as those seeking answers about Mr. Obama's
birthplace.

On December 3 in a posting on the website of the
Atlantic there is a link to Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish. Mr.
Sullivan has posted
what he calls "A Fourth Picture" of Sarah Palin that Mr. Sullivan says
was taken March 26, 2008 or only three weeks before Trig "a full-term,
6 pound baby" was born. A blown up stomach shot shows a flat,
unpregnant stomach. For the benefit of those not familiar with the
shape of a prospective mother's stomach three weeks before she gives
birth to a 6-pound baby, Mr. Sullivan has included a photo of one of
Ms. Palin's earlier pregnancies. Another sleuth has posted text
accompanied by several pictures of some very attractive and very
pregnant women on Audrey's website for comparison purposes.

Just
as we are indebted to Mr. Berg for keeping the question of Mr. Obama's
birthplace alive, so are we indebted to Mr. Russell and Audrey for
keeping the question of Trig's birth mother alive. We will all be
relieved when these questions are satisfactorily answered and we can
again focus on people without jobs, health insurance or homes.