This is wingnuttery at its wing-nuttiness.  Even most right wing blogs think this is stupid.

But it is out there.

I'm talking about the claim that Obama isn't qualified to be President, because he is not a U.S. citizen.  Some desparate people believe it, like Shiv Zieve, who writes a column entitled "Obama Too Important For The Supreme Court":

President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to produce an original and viable birth certificate indicating that he truly and indisputably is a natural born US citizen — as is required by the US Constitution — is continuing to take unusual tacks and turns. In fact, as it is appearing more and more that Barack Obama is not qualified for the US presidency, his and his minions' machinations may just take the country off course entirely. Now, not only is Mr. Obama refusing to provide proof that he is even eligible to be the President of the United States but, he has decided to thumb his nose at members of our highest court in the land.

This is how off-the-wall stupid this is:

First of all, nobody has their original birth certificate.  Nor do they have control over it.  The states possess the original.  So it's not like Obama has the original birth certificate in his hot little hands, and refuses to turn it over.

That said, Obama produced a certified copy of his Hawaii birth certificate.  It's at the right [click to embiggen].

And furthermore, Hawaiian officials have confirmed that he was born in Hawaii (why would they lie?)

But that wasn't good enough for the tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorist wingnuts like Shiv:

Note: The copy of the Hawaiian document (now sealed away from US citizens by the Governor of Hawaii) that appeared for a time on Obama's website was not a certified birth certificate. Instead, it was a "certificate of live birth" stating that Obama was born alive.

Uh, a "certificate of live birth" IS a "birth certificate", idiot.  What does she think?  They complete a certificate stating that a baby was born alive, and another document entitled "birth certificate" stating that a baby was born?

Even that document's authenticity has been debunked by multiple sources.

Yes.  The kerner's folly.

Obama's rise to fame — with no vetting from the media or the Democrat Party — is nothing less than phenomenal. It causes any thinking person — apparently not too many of those left — to wonder what forces are behind him.

Could it be….. Satan?

With regards to Donofrio v Wells — one of a growing number of lawsuits filed nationwide that question the eligibility of Barack Obama to be POTUS —…

Yes, and the other lawsuits, from other tinfoil hat wearing goofs, were all dismissed.  Five of those suits, by the way, were filed in Hawaii by a person who is currently suing the "Peoples Association of Human, Animals Conceived God/s and Religions, John McCain [and] USA Govt."  Shows you the kind of company Shiv keeps.

…the full US Supreme Court has agreed to conference on the suit 5 December 2008. Obama and the DNC (also named in the suit) were advised by the high court to respond to Donofrio v Wells by 1 December. To date, neither Mr. Obama nor the DNC have responded. With this lack of response, the president-elect has now flatly stated that he is above — if not beyond and outside of — the law and reports and is responsible only to himself. This is what — not who — was elected to the presidency of the United States.

According to Shiv, the Supreme Court "advised" Obama to respond. Not "order", but "advise".  Therefore, even under her own facts, he's not acting like he's "above the law".

But she's right" he doesn't have to respond.  In fact, there is nothing to respond to. 

You see, the person filing the suit is the "petitioner" and the person being sued is the "respondent".  But there is nothing on the Supreme Court docket which requires Obama to "respond" and/or produce his original birth certificate.  This is just an internet rumor from people who don't know what they are talking about.

The primary qualification for any US President is articulated in the US Constitution's Article II and reads: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States."

Yay!  She got something right!

Obama's paternal grandmother still maintains that her grandson — Barack Hussein Obama (AKA Barry Sotero) — was born in Kenya and that she attended his birth. Obama's half-brother and half-sister have confirmed the grandmother's statement.

Actually, granny is unsure, and the half-brother, half-sister "confirmation" is simply made up.  They THINK it was Obama.

Kenyan officials have worked tirelessly in their attempts to cover up Mr. Obama's true birthplace and even held Obama-critic Jerome Corsi, PhD in custody (jail) for visiting that country and working to elicit the truth.

"True" birthplace.  See, now it's no longer a question of where he was born.  It's an answer and a cover-up.  Here's why Kenya can't produce Kenyan documents — ready?  Because there aren't any.

And Corsi, the man behind "swiftboating"?  The 9/11 conspiracy nut?  He was never in "jail" in Kenya.  He was detained (briefly) and then deported because he was didn't have work papers.

Still, Obama was allowed and apparently continues to be allowed to refuse to produce a number of documents, including the one which would qualify or disqualify him to hold the office of President of the United States — his true and official birth certificate.

A number of documents?  Like what?

In an outstanding column from Joan Swirsky, "Obama the Trojan Horse," she cites legal Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr. as stating "America is facing potentially the gravest constitutional crisis in her history" and "If Obama fails to prove his citizenship but the voters, the Electors, or the Members of the House purport to "elect" him. He will be nothing but a usurper, because the Constitution defines him as such. And he can never become anything else, because a usurper cannot gain legitimacy if even all of the country aid, abets, accedes to, or acquiesces in his usurpation."

Another alleged by Swirsky in that article: "A graphic designer suggested that George Soros dipped into his billions and "treated" major media people to a cool $5 million each."  That's the kind of evidence we're talking about — "a guy on the Internet says…"

But now we get to the best part….

This may be the toughest test that our US Constitution has ever faced. If the qualifications for POTUS are suspended for Obama, the entire document will be null and void — as will, inevitably, our country.

Hmmmmm.  When the writ of habeus corpus (also in the Constitution) gets suspended, does the ENTIRE DOCUMENT become null and void?

And now, Mr. Obama has essentially told the United States Supreme Court to "go pound sand" — or worse.

"Go fuck themselves".  We get it.

If allowed to assume the presidency and he is NOT a natural born US citizen he will be emboldened to no longer respect — let alone follow — any law that he doesn't like. And his National Civilian Police Force (AKA "The American Gestapo") will — along with other democracy-busting programs — be quickly put into place. With all of these insanities being fomented by Democrats — including the worldwide economic crisis — I have to wonder how many actually realize how much jeopardy we and the country are in. The fact is that this current pending Constitutional crisis places all of us in the gravest of positions.

Cats and dogs marrying!  A rain of toads!  OMG!!!!1!!!!

Look, here's the bottom line.  This petition to the Supreme Court seeks to "stay" (legalese for "halt") the inauguration of Obama on the grounds that he is not a citizen.  Now, the Supreme Court is petitioned to stay something hundreds of times every term.  There are so many of these petitions that the judges divvy them up.  Individually, they reject most of them.  It's not a rejection on the merits of the case; it's just a rejection for considering the merits. 

Occasionally, a judge might pass a "stay" petition to the other judges to see what they think.  This case is just one of them.  The Supreme Court still hasn't decided to even hear the case, much less decide it. 

It should be noted that in the past eight years, 842 petitions seeking stays were distributed to the entire court.  782 were denied; only 60 were heard.  And most of those 60 weren't successful.

I have no doubt that the Supreme Court will decline to hear the case.  But I kind of wish they would hear it.  Have one of the justices fly to Hawaii, and look at the original birth certificate.  Then tell the wingnuts to shut up.