Obama: A Disaster Waiting to Happen, Legal Challenges Imminent?

I begin this article by once again pointing out that I am not a Lawyer. I have been trying to puzzle out exactly what the Election Laws of a small group of States have to say about Proof of Eligibility in order to try to draw conclusions about the whole. I may have got it wrong because the Laws take up whole Chapters of the State Codes and seem vague. However, there does seem to be a common thread and unless I have it terribly wrong, what I say below seems to be basically true.

Again, this article is an expression of no more than my own thoughts and impressions. If you have concrete evidence that I am wrong please let me have it because nobody would be more delighted than I if I am wrong.

There are hundreds of Electoral Laws on the Statute Books of the various States of this Country. Nobody could read all of them in a month and those that I have managed to get copies of are vague. But it is abundantly clear that there is, or can be, a Duty incumbent upon the Secretary of State and the State Electoral Commissions/Boards of each State to establish the Eligibility of Candidates in their State.

Until now this has been a gentlemanly process that has amounted pretty much to self certification but it doesn’t have to be. In each and every State the papers filed with the State Electoral Commissions/Boards are subject to challenge in either the State Supreme Court or the US Supreme Court, which can both issue what used to be called Writs of Mandamus instructing the Secretary of State or State Electoral Commissions/Boards to determine the eligibility of a candidate for any given office.

The standards of proof are in some cases the Civil Standard and in some cases the Criminal Standard. Criminal Standard of Proof is this: “The issue must be established Beyond all Reasonable Doubt”. Civil Standard of Proof is this: “The issue must be established by the Preponderance of Evidence”.

Obama, one way or another, is going to have to prove either some of the things below or all of them:

a) His Legal Name and Age.

b) His Legal Parentage and Place of Birth.

c) His Legal (Sole) Nationality/Citizenship.

d) Whether or not he has EVER been a Citizen of any Country other than the USA.

e) Whether or not he has ever Registered for Selective Service.

f) Whether or not he has any outstanding Tax Debts and his current Tax Status.

g) Whether or not he has any outstanding Criminal Convictions, etc. [Even unpaid Parking Tickets may count.]

h) Whether or not he is suffering from any Mental Illness or Condition that might render him unfit for Office. [Including any Record of Drug or Alcohol Abuse.]

i) Anything else any Court, Election Commission or Secretary of State asks him to prove.

No previous candidate, so far as I am aware, has ever had to prove all of these things but they can be asked to, and Obama, almost certainly will be. One may reasonably assume he will be asked for proofs in at least two States, if he becomes the Nominee.

He will also be cross-examined about his friends and associates. Several of these questions could result in Criminal Charges, should the answers be less than adequate in the opinions of the Court, the various Secretaries of State, or State Electoral Commissions/Boards. If any of these questions produce negative results he will be removed from the Ballot in that State.

It seems obvious that Senator Obama either cannot answer some of these questions adequately, or dare not answer them for fear of the consequences, or else he would already have done so. Indeed, if he can deal with these issues adequately I can think of no reason for the fact that he has not already done so.

A number of Obama supporters have said that there are no verifiable facts in any of my previous articles. Well, they are wrong because the texts that I quoted are facts in and of themselves. They are absolutely right that I have stated no verifiable facts about Senator Obama except the following: His birth year; the fact that his father was a Kenyan Citizen and before that a UK Subject; the fact that his stepfather was an Indonesian Citizen; the fact that every Indonesian Household has a KK document; the fact that he attended 2 Indonesian State Schools; etc, etc, etc. These facts are drawn from, among other sources, his own statements.

My views on his Eligibility and probable Citizenships are not matters of fact, they are my views and I never claimed otherwise. But my entire point is that there SHOULD be Facts and there are NOT.

Senator Obama has presented not ONE SINGLE FACTUAL REASON to support the IDEA that he is Eligible to be POTUS, or at least IF he has I am unaware of any person to whom he has presented it. The burden of proof does not lay with a Petitioner. It lays firmly on Obama.

These same Obama supporters argue that my views on Article II lack merit but I have yet to actually encounter any argument they have advanced to counter my view that doesn’t make Governor Schwarzenegger a Legitimate Candidate for POTUS under the XIVth Amendment.

The problem for his supporters is this:

If he does become the Official and Legal Nominee of the Democratic Party for the Office of POTUS he may/will be Legally Obliged to present evidence PROVING BEYOND ALL REASONABLE DOUBT, or on the Preponderance of Evidence, that he is Eligible to hold the Office of POTUS. He will have to present this evidence to the Secretaries of State of the various States of the Union, and/or the State Electoral Commissions/Boards and to the Courts. This evidence will be amenable of Legal Challenge in each and every State, the Secretaries of State will be Legally Obliged to verify it and will also be Liable to Challenge if they do not do so. Writs of Mandamus may be issued under the Authority of the Supreme Court to force them to do so. [Please try to find the appropriate part of your State Legislation online or physically. If it isn’t the case in your State let me know; it SHOULD be.]

Now Obama, or the Democratic Party could just “self certify” in each State, as he did in Illinois before he became a State Senator, and the Secretaries of State and Electoral Boards and Commissions could just accept it. But does anybody believe that in none of the 50 States Court Challenges will be launched? True, any challenger would have to prove a basis in Law for the challenge. The basis exists, and only the Courts can say it is invalid. Normally there would be no problem and the Secretary of State or the Electoral Commissions/Boards would not ask for the evidence but in this case it is reasonable to assume that at least some of them will.

This has already happened to McCain, let us remember. What if the challengers possess actual proof of Ineligibility, such proof as I do not possess? This need be no more than the proof that his Legal Name, as given on his documents, is incorrect, or might be.

Unless I badly misread the situation, this means that the issue of the meaning of Article II of the US Constitution could come to be addressed by any number of State Supreme Courts, in addition to the US Supreme Court. Likewise, the issues surrounding the Senator’s Citizenship in General and Specific Terms.

Is this what Bill Clinton meant when he said this would be an “interesting election”?

What happens if Challenges are issued in all 50 States and are found correct in, say 15, unjustified in 19, considered moot in 6 and unresolved in 10? The answer to that question is a Constitutional Crisis. A crisis of major proportions because his name would Legally have to be removed from the Ballot in 25 States and replaced by that of his VP Candidate. If nothing else it would become impossible for him to win an election. There are Amendments that seem designed partly to prevent this but I do not see how they could.

Even if challenges were issued in only one or two States, but were successful, the whole mess would have to go to the US Supreme Court. If it went before the Courts explain how it would be possible for him to remain a candidate, or if he did how the General Election could go ahead in November with him on the Ballot? Does anybody really believe he wouldn’t lose in at least two States? In most cases his name will simply be replaced on the Ballot by that of his VP Candidate and the Election will go ahead, but without him. It is an oddity of the system that he may not need to be Eligible to stand, but he must be in order ever to take Office.

Certainly if he were obliged to present proof establishing Eligibility beyond All Reasonable Doubt the evidence would tend to suggest very strongly that he could not do so. Certainly he has not done so to this point in time. Indeed, he has not even produced evidence that would establish HIS LEGAL NAME beyond all Reasonable Doubt, to date.

There are sufficient provable untruths in his public utterances and published writings to prove Reasonable Doubt would have to be entertained with regard to anything he has claimed about his background. Those untruths are there and they are Legally Verifiable beyond all Reasonable Doubt. I cannot see how he could hope to prove his Eligibility, in these terms, and there would seem to be reason to think that in some States he might be liable to Legal Sanction for his past claims.

Unless and until he proves all Reasonable Doubts baseless, Senator Obama should remove his name from contention. If he does not do so he risks promoting severe problems for the whole country, as well as for himself. It isn’t possible, given all that we do not know and all that he has not revealed, that he could pass the necessary Standard of Proof in all 50 States, and unless he did he unleashes the Deluge.

It is not for Petitioners to prove their doubts correct to get the case into Court. Once it is there the burden is upon the Senator to prove that the doubts are unreasonable. He doesn’t seem to be either willing or able to do so, or in any event he hasn’t done so yet.

Many people, including myself, have asked themselves why all of this has not already been done, if it can be. There seem to be two reasons. Firstly, most Democrats did not realize that it could be done and those that did were afraid to be perceived as damaging the Party in their own interests, or to be seen as racist. Make no mistake, if this goes to Court, or if any Secretary of State or Election Board/Commission simply acts on their own Authority, it will damage the whole Democratic Party in the General Election.

Secondly, the Republicans who know the possibility exists cannot act until he is the Nominee and the Democratic Party begins the process of filing the papers in each State. Once he is and the process begins they can, and presumably will, act. The Republicans know what has been done in McCain’s case and how and why it had no effect so they know how it can be done and how to do it.

Remember that this is a unique situation in the History of the USA and only the Republicans have any relevant experience in this area. Until he is the Candidate the only place in which an objection could be lodged would be Illinois. Subsequent to his candidacy any State is open.

It is not for me to verify facts about Senator Obama; it seems to have been made either difficult or impossible for me to do so. It is up to Senator Obama to verify the facts. He has not done so, he has not tried to do so, all that he has done is to create more doubt. And if you are supporting him you should demand that he does and not insult those who actually ask for answers to which every single citizen in the USA is entitled.

If Obama becomes the nominee he will have to produce the evidence that justifies him. What will you, as an Obama supporter, do if he fails? What will we, who do not support him, do? And how will the United States weather the storm? He will have placed the Democratic Party in eclipse for a generation and destroyed the Political Influence of his major Constituencies probably forever. If the groups who support him try to prevent the removal of his name as a candidate by fomenting Civil Disorder it will be a Disaster of epic proportion. The African American Community seems to have decided to overwhelmingly support him and upon them will fall the bulk of any suffering that ensues. The rest of America will suffer, and has, and American influence in the world will plum a new depth.

Obama is a disaster waiting to happen, win or lose, and he HAS TO STEP DOWN NOW before the tsunami hits.

The Paper Trail: Obama’s Indonesia Background

Divided Loyalties: Obama’s Eligibility Problem, Part 2

Divided Loyalties: Obama’s Eligibility Problem, Part 1

Cross-posted from TexasDarlin.