Virginia Birth Certificates, Like Obama's, Fail the Birther Test
By Robert Schlesinger, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
I fear for my son's political viability. Granted he's a couple of weeks shy of three months old, but it's never too soon for a father to worry, right?
I started to ponder his political future the other day when his birth certificate came in the mail from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Birth certificates of course have been a major topic of political discourse this summer, ever since some incensed Delawarian held hers up (in a Howard Hughes-ian protective plastic bag) in a town hall meeting with GOP Rep. Mike Castle. "I have a birth certificate here, from the United States of America, saying I'm an American citizen, with a seal on it, signed by a doctor, with a hospital administrator's name, my parents, my date of birth, the time, the date," the agitated constituent vented in a moment repeatedly replayed on YouTube.
But my infant—and anyone else born in the Commonwealth of Virginia—would have problems meeting that standard.
First of all, the document the commonwealth (not, for what it's worth, the United States of America) issued to me was not a "birth certificate," but a "certificate of live birth." It may seem to the rational among us a distinction without difference, but ... well, not everyone's rational. And while it has a seal, it's not signed by a doctor. In fact no doctor, hospital administrator or hospital is named! There's no signature at all! And no time of birth!
Who's to say that my son was born in Virginia at all? Sure, a local newspaper ran an item mentioning his birth (although his name is not, as an earlier version of the item reported, James Tiberius). And yes, this is an official certification of his Virginia birth by the state of Virginia. But if he decides to run for president in 50 years will he have to prove his American-itude? Probably not. Presumably by then people will have gotten their minds around living in a digital age. And perhaps be somewhat more rational. Maybe not.
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Reader Comments
Ohio Too
My daughter was issued a certificate of live birth in ohio. I just got her passport. No long form necessary. Got it with the short form issued at her birth. Got my husband's passport with his short form from Indiana several years ago. Indiana does not issue a long form.
Hawaii is the Only State that Matters
I think the argument of the "birthers" is that Hawaii does have a long form, and that's the form Obama should release. What the other states have or do not have is a non-issue, since Obama doesn't claim to have been born in those states.
Missouri only provides COLB, no other documentation is available.
The state of Missouri only provides a COLB, which is the only document EVER needed to prove your birth in the state and the only document ever needed by the federal government to prove your birth for a passport or any other official document or position that requires proof of birth.
The legislature in Missouri recently tried to make a law saying that all presidential candidates provide long form birth certificates, but had to withdraw it when they discovered that no citizen of Missouri is capable of meeting those demands since Missouri does not provide long forms to citizens under any circumstances whatsoever. In many cases the entire process is electronic, so there is no "long form" that exists at all.
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