A Modest Proposal 2017

“DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH”

by Joseph DeMaio, ©2017

(Jul. 13, 2017) — Several years ago, your humble servant penned a post here captioned “A 2012 Modest Proposal.”  That post suggested that then-candidate for president Mitt Romney should have obtained dozens of certified copies of his original birth certificate, circulated them to the media for forensic examination, and then called upon the Usurper-in-Chief to do the same.

Romney, of course, backed down in the face of withering media scorn for having the gall… the temerity… to again even suggest that more proof was need to confirm the usurper’s constitutional eligibility.  I mean, what more could one demand as unassailable proof of Obama’s constitutional eligibility than…. ahem… a picture of a document posted on the White House website burdened with more anomalies than Hillary Clinton has Bleach-Bitted e-mails?

That was back in 2012, when the debt was only $16 trillion.  Five years later – and eight years after the usurper seized the presidency – the debt is now $19.97 trillion, with no end in sight.  That was also when other people with “eligibility” issues also started flirting with running for president, including Senator Ted Cruz.

As noted here, here and most recently here, the issue of Ted Cruz’s eligibility to the presidency, and perhaps even his claim to a seat in the U.S. Senate, remains unresolved.

Yes, there have been “bipartisan” articles purporting to confirm his eligibility, despite having been born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, but questions remain.  Perhaps if the biggest eligibility question of our time – that of Barack Hussein Obama – could be resolved, the issue would finally evaporate into the ether.

Which brings us to the Modest Proposal for 2017, and one in which now-private-citizen and former president Obama could play an important and perhaps even indispensable role.

Specifically, if any remaining questions about his eligibility could be finally and dispositively answered, perhaps the issue of a person’s constitutional eligibility as a “natural born Citizen” under Art. 2, Sec. 1, Cl. 5 of the Constitution would be finally laid to rest without the need for a decision of the United States Supreme Court.  That could go a long way toward resolving the issue for candidates from all political parties, thereby bringing more stability to the process in the future.

Accordingly, now that Obama is (mercifully) out of office, and thus without exposure to impeachment and removal from same, there should no longer be any objection from him to waive any of his previously-held privacy concerns under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”).  Among those privacy concerns, of course, was (purportedly) the angst over seeking confirmation from the Kapi’olani Hospital itself in Honolulu that he was, in fact, actually born there.

In order to lay to rest the continuing “wild” and “conspiratorial” rumors that he was not born there but instead was born on the foreign soil of Kenya or Indonesia, all he would need to do is send a letter to the Kapi’olani Hospital telling them that they were free to confirm that he was, indeed, born there on August 4, 1961.  He might even instruct them to release a copy of his “souvenir” birth certificate supposedly given to his mother when he was born.

With the release of these documents, any further claims that Obama was not actually born at the Kapi’olani Hospital in Honolulu, and thus, the United States, might finally be put to rest.  And once that happens, any further questioning of Ted Cruz’s eligibility, or, for that matter, anyone else’s eligibility  – particularly in light of the scholarly article by former Justice Department Solicitor General Paul Clement (a Republican) and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal (a Democrat) noted above – could finally be buried.

Moreover, since Obama has consistently and publicly announced to the world that Kapi’olani Hospital was his place of birth, even confirming that in writing to the hospital, it only makes sense to allow the hospital to itself confirm to the world that, yes indeed, Obama was born there.

Quite apart from the fact that Obama has already waived any claim of confidentiality or privacy with regard to such confirmation by “going public” with his assertions, the officials at Kapi’olani Hospital should be relieved of any worries or concerns that their confirmation of his birth there would violate HIPAA, since the only person with “standing” to complain would be Obama himself.  A written waiver by Obama of the privacy provisions under HIPAA should suffice to allow the hospital to assist in bringing this whole “eligibility” issue, finally, to closure.

Memo to Barack Hussein Obama: how about it, Mr. private-citizen Obama?  Are you willing to tell Kapi’olani to confirm what you have been saying all along, that is, that you were born there?  The Nation (or at least P&E readers) awaits your response.

Memo to P&E readers: don’t hold your breath.