Mr. President, it’s time for openness on your birth certificate

I am not a birther. There is ample evidence President Obama was born in the US, and his mother was a US citizen. Either qualifies him as a US citizen. But it is beyond me why he doesn’t authorize the release of a photocopy of the original certificate of live birth, and put this issue to rest. But rather than resolve it, he has his minions attack the birthers as nutcases. That is irresponsible.

But what information on the certificate is so damaging he would allow a goodly portion of the nation challenge his legitimacy as President? The sample shown is from 1964, about 3 years after Obama’s birth and probably similar to, if not identical in format to Obama’s. There is not a lot of information on the form: Name of the father (correctly named in the birth announcement in the Honolulu Advertiser, and presumably on the certificate), name of the mother (not in dispute). The only possible area of concern could be in the race boxes, and in particular for the father. The term used in that era and also used in official census reports for race was Negro. That shouldn’t cause embarrassment, tens of millions of African descent were categorized as that for nearly two hundred years. Even if someone fibbed and called the father Caucasian, it shouldn’t be a major issue. There is no box for religion, another contentious issue, nor anything regarding citizenship.

For President Obama, it’s time to put the country at ease. Release the certificate.