Once again: Can Barack Obama legally run for president?

The meme won't die, even though Obama' s Democratic opponents have -- so far -- avoided it.

On the right, people are asking: Does the Constitution allow Barack Obama to run for president? Is he a "natural born citizen"?

The matter should be obvious. He was born in Hawaii after statehood. His mother was born in Kansas and spent the first 18 years of her life within the U.S.

But...was Obama actually born in Hawaii? Apparently, his birth was also registered in Kenya, the homeland of his father. Rumor has it that Barack Obama's mother, Stanley (yes: Stanley) Ann Dunham went to Kenya to deliver the child.

Consider those rumors scotched.

The current presidential candidate was indeed born on the beautiful island of Oahu. Daily Kos -- leading blog of the Whole Foods Nation -- has published a birth certificate. Until now, the Obama campaign's reluctance to furnish the document fueled wild speculation. (Note that the campaign sent the thing directly to Moulitsas. That fact should tell you how closely they worked together to spread the "Clintons as racists" smear.)

Interesting question: Suppose Barack Obama had been born in Kenya? Would he still be eligible to run for president? In a previous column, we referenced a FindLaw article which states that

...If only one parent was a U.S. Citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least ten years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16.

So read the Immigration and Nationality Act between December 24, 1952 and November 13, 1986. (Obama was born in 1961.) Ann Dunham was 18 at the time of her son's birth, so she would not qualify under this measure.

However: The new law, 8 U.S.C. 1401, Sec. 301 (g) (here) has a better understanding of biological reality:

...a person born outside the geographical limits of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than five years, at least two of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years...

Obama's mama qualifies under that law.

Wait a minute! (I hear you shouting.) That's the post-1986 rule! It wasn't in place when Obama was born! It doesn't count!

Yes it does. Here's the part of 301(g) that the conservative bloggers always leave out:

This proviso shall be applicable to persons born on or after December 24, 1952, to the same extent as if it had become effective in its present form on that date

Looks like we're stuck with Obi.

By the way, if you check out the Kossack thread on the link above, the Cheeto-heads are still decrying Hillary, Queen of Evil. They're pissed off about Whitewater, of all things.

Democrats. Angry about Whitewater. In 2008.

And these blithering idiots still can't understand why, for the first time in my life, I feel so alienated from my party that I would rather see the Republican win.

PS: It was always rather ridiculous to assert that Ann Dunham traveled to Kenya to give birth. She was not welcome there. As the Lightbringer reveals in Dreams From My Father, both sets of grandparents objected to the marriage -- but the strongest objections came from the father of Barack Obama Sr. He hated the idea of his son marrying a white woman.

Gosh. I thought that only those inherently horrid and genetically vicious white people could ever be so racist. Could it be that irrational fear of The Other is a human characteristic, and not a purely paleface practice?