Obama Eligibility: A Letter to Rupert Murdock

Family Security Matters contributor, Attorney John D. Hemenway , has published an interesting letter to News Corp. chief Rupert Murdock asking that he direct his Fox News people to report on the Barack Obama eligibility controversy. Hemenway writes of a “ massive collapse of the fundamentals of the electoral process (ensuring candidate eligibility)” and places Murdock’s Fox News in the midst of the controversy because of  the news division’s avoidance of the Obama  eligibility issue; saying further that  orders from on high forbade commentators from mentioning it. Hemenway writes:

There are reports that top management of Fox instructed its commentators to stay away from the subject – a strange position for a service that deservedly won a reputation for “fair and balanced” reporting. I cannot believe that you would issue such an order, with your good sense. Was it Roger Ailes or someone else?

The letter is long but well worth reading and you can do so here.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdock

Leo Donofrio’s Biggest Gamble: The Lawyer as Artist….

….the Defense Attorney who is defending human beings against the assaults of Satan*

I say there’s nothing wrong with tireless self promotion as long as there is some ingenuity and talent to back it up. Such is the case with Leo C. Donofrio, most recently in the blogger news (not much in the main stream news anyway) with his lawsuits before the SCOTUS regarding the eligibility of Barack H. Obama. I had heard of his skill at poker. He took top prizes at two “hold ’em” tournaments earlier this year.

Donofrio’s biggest gamble however is his attempt to remove ineligible candidates (Obama, McCain, Calero) from the presidential ballot for failing to meet the “natural born” test. His first suit “Donofrio v. Wells” was conferenced by the Justices on Dec 5 but they declined to order oral arguments. The next test comes tomorrow (Dec 15) in the Wrotnoski v. Bysiewicz when the Court will announce if it will hear that case. Today, on his blog, Natural Born Citizen, we learn that Donofrio is also an artist ,”damn it to hell”!

From Olberman at MSNBC and right on down the line with very few exceptions, I’ve been labeled a tin foil hat sporting freak show loony toon… and for what? I questioned whether a man – who admits his birth status was governed by the laws of Great Britain – is a “natural born Citizen” under our Constitution.
Well, I don’t really give a rats booty product what the media says. It’s all lies and spin anyway. But what does bother me is that they’ve insulted my artistic abilities. I am an artist, damn it to hell!

He goes on to spin a conspiracy yarn he calls “Obama Has a Twin”. He has also written a song with that title which he performs on his MySpace page where he is called The Paraclete. One reference to Paraclete on Wikipedia defines the term as “as the Defense Attorney who is defending human beings against the assaults of Satan (the Prosecuting Attorney, the Accuser, the fomenter of violence).”* He also plays in a band called Schizo Fun Addict.

Donofrio is an excellent writer and researcher and somewhat of a sleuth. His article titled The Mystery of Southern Pines Golf Club is an interesting read, even if you don’t care about golf.

I think I will come down on the side of those, and there are many, who praise his legal talent and his gutsiness in taking on a potentially huge constitutional issue. One can only wish him well in that regard, self promoter or not.

Leo Donofrio: “The Propaganda Ponies of the Fourth Estate”

The Connecticut version of the Obama “natural born citizen” cases is before the Supreme Court for conferencing today. The title is, Wrotnowski v. Bysiewicz, docketed here. Cort Wrotnowski is a Greenwich CT attorney store owner (see comment below) and Susan Bysiewicz is Connecticut’s Secretary of the State. Leo Donofrio is the New Jersey attorney whose own case Donofrio v. Wells was declined a hearing before SCOTUS last week. Donofrio has assisted Wrotnowski in strengthening this case.

In his blog, Natural Born Citizen, Donofrio takes the press to task for their failure to recognize what this suit is about: namely, the removal of the ineligible candidates (Obama, McCain, Calero) from the ballot because they fail the “natural born citizen” test and not because of their various places of birth. Donofrio fires off this salvo:

This week has been quite enlightening as to the blatantly obvious fact that our “Fourth Estate” press corps have been transmogrified into propaganda ponies polly wanna crackering whatever may be handed down to them from “The One Corporation – your source for everything…” (cue eery theme tune). They don’t report the news anymore. No. Now they tell you what they want the news to be. There’s a huge difference.

For the record, my law suit was brought to remove three candidates from the ballots – three candidates who have big Constitutional issues as to their eligibility.

At the time of his birth, Obama was a British/Kenyan citizen by descent of his father. Because I pointed out pesky international laws which governed his citizenship due to the fact that a father has every legal right in the world to have the laws of his nation apply to his son, I have been labeled a conspiracy freakoid of nature.

Never mind that I included demands for Panama John McCain and the Nicaraguan born Roger Calero to also be removed from our ballots. No, they don’t want to talk about that do they – because it would blow the “he’s just another Obama hater” mantra clear out of play.

A citizen (me) raised the Constitutional issue of first impression as to the meaning of “natural born Citizen” in Article 2, Section 1, of the United States Constitution – that ultimate pesky legal document for those who would rather “be” the law instead of following it.

What are the Fourth Estate propagandists worried about? Thou doth protest too much. Me thinks so. Why? Because the law is against their man – it indicates Barack Obama is not a natural born Citizen of the United States. And most of the media pundits have basically agreed by default. I say this because when yelling and mocking the issue, their main argument is not that the law is on their side (they know it isn’t), but rather that the law shouldn’t be discussed at all.

The gist of Donofrio’s argument regarding Barack Obama:

Like it or not, rich or poor, great or strong, Democrat or Republican, Obama was born under the jurisdiction of Great Britain via Kenya. There is nothing conspiratorial about saying that. Obama has it posted on his own web site. It’s this very definition which I included in Cort’s Wrotnowski’s brief. Here’s what it says at Obama’s web portal, Fight The Smears:

When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a British colony, still part of the United Kingdom’s dwindling empire. As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.‘s children. (Emphasis added.)

There it is. Obama is telling you his status was “governed” by a foreign jurisdiction. This is no theory. This is a fact.

Leo Donofrio Responds to Benjamin’s Obama Eligibility Thesis….

“The common law is gone. The federal courts never applied the common law and even in the state courts it’s codified now.” (Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Nov 22, 2008)

LEO DONOFRIO COMMENTS ON JUDAH BENJAMIN ARTICLE CONCERNING NATURAL BORN CITIZEN AND THE COMMON LAW

Leo Donofrio has responded with his comments and corrections to the Judah Benjamin thesis on Barack Obama’s eligiblity which was published at TD Blog two days ago. Doonofrio writes:

While I enjoyed reading this article, and I agree with the conclusion – that Obama is not eligible – I disagree with the basis upon which that conclusion was made.

Specifically, I disagree that the common law is controlling on the issue of “natural born citizen”. It is “national law” which is controlling. I don’t know if Mr. Benjamin is a lawyer, but his reading, explanation and understanding of the natural born citizen issue is not exactly on point.

I do agree with Benjamin’s conclusion, that Obama is not a natural born citizen, but for the wrong reasons…..

Donofrio’s conclusion:

….All in all, Mr. Benjamin has made a valiant attempt to provide a clear analysis of the natural born citizen topic. Please do not assume I am bashing him. I respect his passion and research, but it’s not entirely accurate. And considering what Scalia just said to the Federalist Society about the common law being gone (only three days after my case was scheduled for conference), it’s important to keep things in their proper historical perspective.

We reported here earlier (11/28):

This issue of how ineligible candidates were allowed on the ballot will be coming to a head on Dec 5 when the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has scheduled a conference on the merits of Leo Donofrio v. Nina Mitchell Wells, Secretary of State of the State of New Jersey – no. 08A047

Regarding local Connecticut case (Wrotnowski v CT Sec of State) which has also garnered national attention Donofrio notes:

Today we are watching for the SCOTUS AUTOMATED Docket to be updated with two important developments, one in Cort’s case and one in mine.

We hope the docket will reflect that Cort Wrotnowski has renewed his application to the Honorable Associate Justice Antonin Scalia as of this morning. Cort’s application for an emergency stay and/or injunction was denied by the Honorable Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on November 26, 2008. Cort sent it by Express mail on Saturday Nov. 29, 2008.

Also see Federalist Blog

h/t The Right Side of Life

Unite States Supreme Court Building

CT Sec of State Errs: Hawaii Officials Did Not Verify Obama Birthplace

Below is a partial screen shot of a letter sent by Connecticut Secretary of State Bysiewicz to a person requesting information under Freedom of Information laws. Requested was information on file regarding Barack Obama’s place of birth. Sec. Bysiewicz replied that her office did not maintain files containing such information and further stated, incorrectly as it turns out, that Hawaiian officials had issued assurances that Obama was born there. In fact, they said only that Hawaii Health Department had an original Certificate of Live Birth on file. Most importantly they did not specify what the document says. Under Hawaiian law at the time of Obama’s birth, a person born overseas could be registered at some later date to obtain a Hawaiian birth certificate.

h/t moniquemonicat

Below is reproduced the document wherby Barack Obama announced his presidential candidacy in Rhode Island. Title 17-23-17 of Rhode Island code reads in part:

(a) Any person is guilty of a felony who:

(1) Makes a declaration of candidacy or obtains, circulates, or causes to be circulated his or her nomination papers for an office, knowing or with good reason to know that he or she is not qualified as provided in this title to be his or her party’s candidate for the office;

(2) Knowingly or without reasonable and proper investigation makes any substantial misstatement in any declaration of candidacy, nomination paper, or affidavit provided for in this title;

(3) Signs a nomination paper when he or she knows that he or she is not qualified to sign;

(link to PDF

On this form Barack Obama “declares that he is eligible under the laws and Constitution of The United States to serve in the Office of The Presidnet of The United States if elected…”

CT SecState Susan Bysiewicz