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"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
WEBCommentary Editor
Author:  Bob Webster
Bio: Bob Webster
Date:  April 16, 2011
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Topic category:  Government/Politics

Barry Soetoro or Barack Hussein Obama II, Who is This Guy?
(First published April 15, substantially revised and republished: April 16)

The following commentary is intended to get the reader engaged in this important discussion by encouraging thoughtful consideration of these known and serious questions. It is based on material from a variety of sources. I claim no definitive knowledge of these serious questions, one way or the other. And that is precisely why this is a serious problem. We do not know. Read on and then ask yourself, why don’t we know? Why should we take someone’s word for it that there is no problem here and that everything is in order. If so, then provide the evidence and we can all move on.

Author's note:  The motivation to write this piece came from an email that has been circulating for some time. Because more people are "tuning in" to this issue, I thought it might be helpful to write a column substantially based on the premise and content of that email message. Unfortunately, I cannot credit the original author of much of the material in the original message since I have no idea who originated the message (it may have been based on another commentary someone wrote in the past). I am quite certain the original message has been embellished by readers along the way (why do people feel a need to do that?). Consequently, I've omitted some of the questionable material and added material of which I've become aware that was not part of the original message and, should you notice a resemblance between portions of this commentary and a similar email message you've received, you'll understand why.

Who is this person calling himself Barack Obama anyway?

It is in the historical record that Andrew Jackson's wife smoked a corn cob pipe and was accused of adultery; that Lincoln never went to school; that Kennedy wore a back brace and Truman played the piano.

Most people take an interest in the life of those who have achieved prominence. Yet Americans know little verified fact about the life history of our own current president! That, in itself, is remarkable. That our "news media" appear completely uninterested is nothing short of astonishing!

Doesn’t it seem curious that, other than Michele, no woman who ever dated Obama has ever stepped forward to reveal some facet of his earlier life? One would think with Obama's legendary charisma that strongly attracts women that some woman other than Michele would not have missed the opportunity to date him! We all know about JFK's magnetism, we know that McCain was no monk, we know all about Palin's courtship and even her athletic prowess, we even know about Biden's aneurisms. We know all about both Cheney's and Clinton's heart problems and, with respect to the opposite sex, how could anyone not be aware of Clinton's notorious behavior both before and during his time in the White House? But no, not a single woman has stepped up and said, "Barack was so shy" or "What a great dancer!" Doesn’t that strike you as more than a bit odd?

What about the rest of Obama’s life? What about his marriage? Who was best man at his wedding? What about his groomsmen, can anybody name one?

What about photos? Every president makes available for their presidential library and/or publicity their photos, writings, and memorabilia. What material has Obama released other than his own (ghost-written) story of his past? Has any of his biographical material in his book, Dreams of my Father, been verified?

Ever wonder why no one ever came forward from Obama's formative years saying they knew him, played with him, grew up with him, attended public or private school with him, or was his childhood friend?

Doesn’t all this make you wonder, just a little, who really is this man we call our president?

Wouldn't you think all this mystery, coupled with the fact Obama has gone to a great deal of trouble to block access to any records of his life, would be cause for real concern and something an honest news media would leap at an opportunity to investigate? But our dominant news media are worse than silent. They have acted as Obama's great protector by refusing to acknowledge there is even a story here and ridiculing any suggestion that there is! This is not the behavior of honest journalists. Why? What motivates so-called “journalists” to ignore a story that would be front-page news every single day if a Republican came to office with the same murky background!

Consider that even those with seemingly the least accomplishments in life have someone with whom they went to school who remembers their name or what they looked like. Someone remembers they were the class clown, the nerd, the brain, the quiet one, the bully or something about them, if only just their name. Yet Obama's past is shrouded in such deep mystery that we do not know of such people. Why?

Considering he is thought to be such a great orator, why wasn't he ever on a debating team? Why won't he allow any of his college records to be released? What is this man hiding from us and for what reason?

Isn’t it strange that, during the time Obama claims to have attended Columbia, not one professor recalls knowing him or teaching him. Not one! How many other people we know have such a murky college past? All these questions could be resolved if Obama approved the release of his college transcripts, but instead, he blocks all such efforts.

There is some controversy regarding Obama's years at Columbia. One student, Phil Boerner ’84, has come forward claiming he was Obama's roommate while at Columbia. Yet, the observations of someone (Wayne Allyn Root) who should have encountered Obama at Columbia are worth sharing. Unlike Boerner, Root was, like Obama, also a political science major at Columbia who also graduated in 1983. In 2008, Root said of Obama, "I don't know a single person at Columbia who knew him, and they all know me. I don't have a classmate [class of 1983] who ever knew Barack Obama at Columbia!” A more lengthy quote from Root:

I am NOT a “birther.” I am not a fan of conspiracy theories. I actually think that wild conspiracy theories detract and discredit any serious attempt to ask legitimate questions about the background of our President. I explained that I do NOT believe there is any cover-up by Columbia University administration. I explained that I am a supporter of my alma mater and proud to be a graduate of one of the great Ivy League education institutions in America. All I can testify to is that I was a member of the Class of ’83- just like Obama. And that I was Pre Law and a political science major- just like Obama. It was a small class- about 700 students. Political science majors would be an even smaller group. Therefore it struck me…and many others…as strange that I never met Obama at college, never saw him, never even heard of him in my time at Columbia. And that more importantly, I don’t know any classmate to this day who ever met or heard of a classmate named Barack Obama or Barry Obama or Barry Sotero. Even stranger still, the Wall Street Journal reported in its editorial pages back in 2008 that Fox News called 400 of my classmates and they could not find one student who had ever met Obama at Columbia. Adding to the mystery is the fact that President Obama has sealed all of his college records at Occidental and Columbia. All of this should be troubling to every American, no matter what your political beliefs.

Obama's photograph does not appear in the Columbia's 1983 yearbook and Obama consistently declines requests to talk about his years at Columbia, or provide school records, or verify the name of any former classmates or friends while at Columbia.

Some other nagging questions:

  • Why was Obama's Illinois law license made inactive in 2002?
  • Why was Michelle's Illinois law license pulled by Court Order?
  • Why does Obama’s Social Security number show it originated in Connecticut where he is never reported to have lived or worked?  In fact, records show that the number Obama is using originated with a Connecticut citizen who was born in 1890 and who died in Hawaii.
  • There has never been a public showing of Obama’s original birth certificate. Never! There have been clumsy forgeries of a meaningless Hawaiian “Certificate of Live Birth” shown online, but even if they had been genuine, a "Certificate of Live Birth" is not the same as an original birth certificate and it cannot certify his birth the way an original birth certificate does. So, where is the original birth certificate and why is it such a problem for Obama to produce it (in fact, he has obstructed efforts to obtain it)?

Obama’s biographical information acknowledges that as a boy, after his mother remarried an Indonesian, Barack Hussein Obama was adopted by his new stepfather and became a citizen of Indonesia under the new name Barry Soetoro. Since, at that time, Indonesia did not allow dual citizenship, Obama would have had to give up his US citizenship to attend public school in Indonesia.

This raises several serious questions:

When did Soetoro become Obama again?

Did "Barry Soetoro" attend Occidental College in California, or was that "Barack Obama"?

Was Soetoro ever really Obama in the first place?

When Soetoro/Obama left Indonesia to go to Hawaii and live with his grandparents, what passport did he use to enter Hawaii from Indonesia?

When and how did Soetoro/Obama give up his Indonesian citizenship and become an American citizen again?

What name and citizenship did Obama/Soetoro claim on his application to attend Occidental College in California?

During his college years, Obama/Soetoro spent one summer traveling the world, including a visit to Pakistan. What passport was used for that travel? Who paid the travel expenses?

How and why did Obama/Soetoro transfer to Columbia University in New York City, and who paid his tuition and living expenses (there is no record of his ever having a job to support either his education or living expenses while at Columbia)?

How and why did Obama/Soetoro gain admission to Harvard Law School, and who paid his tuition and living expenses (is there any record of his ever having a job to support his education and living expenses while at Harvard?).

Why hasn’t Obama allowed any of his law writing at Harvard to be released to the public? Remember, he was made president of the Harvard Law Review, a student-run law journal whose presidency is a very prestigious position that normally requires a demonstration of outstanding scholarship through authorship of exception legal opinions/positions. There is no public record that Obama fulfilled the necessary requirements for the position he obtained.

All Obama's records that could verify his claimed personal history are sealed, every one of them! Not even a birth certificate is made public. No old passports. No old records to validate any of his claims of his early life and college years.

All this has been known for years, but the media cover-up continues. Despite the enormous discontinuity in our knowledge about this man, dominant national news media have consistently ignored this murky past while ridiculing anyone who questions these serious deficiencies of our knowledge of the man who is called "Mr. President."

While I do not suggest that he has, if Obama has committed high crimes (“treason”) by participating in a massive scam to illegally rise to the Office of President, then those who so compliantly and willingly have aided him in his fraud are equally guilty.

There is nothing honorable about today’s so-called “mainstream” news media. Their emboldened left-wing bias has accelerated their deterioration from the “Fourth Estate” (considered the fourth ”branch” of government for their responsibility to objectively report truth to the people) to “Fifth Column” traitors to the legitimate constitutional republic of the United States of America by their selective promotion of erroneous information and suppression of truth!

We all know what punishment is meted out to traitors. Treasonous journalists would not be exempt.

Bob Webster
WEBCommentary (Editor, Publisher)

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Notes: 

Definition of FIFTH COLUMN: a group of ... supporters of an enemy that engage in ... sabotage within ... national borders.

Origin of FIFTH COLUMN: a name applied to rebel sympathizers in Madrid in 1936 when four rebel columns were advancing on the city, first known use in 1936.

Definition source: http://m-w.info/dictionary/fifth%20column


Biography - Bob Webster

Author of "Looking Out the Window", an evidence-based examination of the "climate change" issue, Bob Webster, is a 12th-generation descendent of both the Darte family (Connecticut, 1630s) and the Webster family (Massachusetts, 1630s). He is a descendant of Daniel Webster's father, Revolutionary War patriot Ebenezer Webster, who served with General Washington. Bob has always had a strong interest in early American history, our Constitution, U.S. politics, and law. Politically he is a constitutional republican with objectivist and libertarian roots. He has faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and reason over deception and emotion. He is a strong believer in our Constitution as written and views the abandonment of constitutional restraint by the regressive Progressive movement as a great danger to our Republic. His favorite novel is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and believes it should be required reading for all high school students so they can appreciate the cost of tolerating the growth of unconstitutional crushingly powerful central government. He strongly believes, as our Constitution enshrines, that the interests of the individual should be held superior to the interests of the state.

A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.


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