A quick reality check, before we dive in: The challenges to Obama’s eligibility have no grounding in evidence. Courts across the country have summarily rejected the movement’s theory — that Obama can’t be a citizen because his father wasn’t —as a misreading of U.S. law; and Hawaii officials, along with contemporary birth announcements, affirm that Obama was in fact born in Honolulu in 1961.

1) None of the Obama cases have been decided on their merits. They have had requests for preliminary extraordinary relief denied (not a final finding on the merits) or have been dismissed on legal technicalities such as standing. If there is a case out there that has made a legal finding that Obama is a natural born citizen, cite it to me.

2) There is no law whatsoever on the meaning of “natural born citizen” as used in the Constitution. That term of art is used only in the Presidential qualification language, and does not necessarily mean just a citizen at the time of birth. It is a meritorious legal argument that a dual citizen with dual loyalties is not a natural born citizen. That question has never been addressed by the Courts in the context of a Presidential qualification contest. We just do not know how the court will rule on that question, because it has never been addressed. So, anyone who claims this “conspiracy” is based on a misreading of the law — what law? Point me to the authority that says a dual citizen at birth is a natural born citizen (as that term is used in the Constitution).

3) I agree that Obama has a BC that says he was born in Hawaii. That merely creates a rebuttable presumption. Such a presumption can be overcome by other evidence. The plaintiffs claim to have a grandmother that says he saw him born in Kenya. It sounds kooky to me, but it is enough in my mind to allow them discovery. If all they find is the hearsay statement of a confused old lady, then we can laugh at them, but first we need to give them the opportunity to take discovery, deposition and issue subpoenas.

Laughing at the conspiracy theorists is premature at this point, because there has never been an orthodoxy established on any of these points - JUST ASSUMPTIONS OF ORTHODOXY by the pliant.

I would have no problem with this issue going away for ever. All we need to do is have a Court specifically find that Obama is a natural born citizen in spite of the fact that at the time of his birth he was a dual US Citizen / British subject. I think Thomas Paine would roll over in his grave, but whatever. That issue will be resolved. Then we need to allow the plaintiff’s to conduct their discovery, maybe the original vault copy of the BC is viewed in camera by the judge and counsel and not disclosed publicly. Then after it is established that there is insufficient evidence to overcome the presumption created by his valid BC, then we can set this issue aside and laugh at all the nutz still following it. However, that time has not yet come!