Impure, adulterated gossip and innuendo but it's against Obama so that's alright then!

The so-called 'birther controversy' is all rather 'old hat' now despite the fact that it has still not yet been fully answered.  Happily, however, there is another one bubbling away which I trust the ratpacks of the American Right-wing press (if any exist outside of FoxNews) will pursue with the ferocity with which their Left-wing associates are hounding Romney over his tax returns.  I have heard mention before of the refusal by Obama and his college to release his student records but I knew very little of what it was about.  Mr. Wayne Alleyn Root of The Blaze enlightens me - as far as he can:

Obama has a big skeleton in his closet. It’s his college records. Call it “gut instinct” but my gut is almost always right. Obama has a secret hidden at Columbia- and it’s a bad one that threatens to bring down his presidency. Gut instinct is how I’ve made my living for 29 years since graduating Columbia.

Scrummy-yummy, mummy, tell me more:

Romney should call a press conference and issue a challenge in front of the nation. He should agree to release more of his tax returns, only if Obama unseals his college records. Simple and straight-forward. Mitt should ask “What could possibly be so embarrassing in your college records from 29 years ago that you are afraid to let America’s voters see? If it’s THAT bad, maybe it’s something the voters ought to see.” (My emphasis)

Now so far, I admit, Mr. Root sounds like your average dustbin-searcher but actually he has considerable personal knowledge of Mr. Obama's college days - because he was at Columbia with him!

If anyone should have questions about Obama’s record at Columbia University, it’s me. We both graduated (according to Obama) Columbia University, Class of ’83. We were both (according to Obama) Pre-Law and Political Science majors. And I thought I knew most everyone at Columbia. I certainly thought I’d heard of all of my fellow Political Science majors. But not Obama (or as he was known then- Barry Soetoro). I never met him. Never saw him. Never even heard of him. And none of the classmates that I knew at Columbia have ever met him, saw him, or heard of him. (My emphasis)

And Mr. Root reminds us all that the WSJ contacted a random 400 students who had studied at Columbia and nary a one of them had ever heard of Barack Obama a.k.a Barry Soetoro.  He goes on to wonder how 'Barry' managed to gain entry to both Columbia and Harvard Law?  He suggests the following:

If you could unseal Obama’s Columbia University records I believe you’d find that:

A)   He rarely ever attended class.

B)   His grades were not those typical of what we understand it takes to get into Harvard Law School.

C)   He attended Columbia as a foreign exchange student. (My emphasis)

D)   He paid little for either undergraduate college or Harvard Law School because of foreign aid and scholarships given to a poor foreign students like this kid Barry Soetoro from Indonesia. (My emphasis)

The killer question, of course, is the corollary to the one that is repeated ad nauseum to Romney over his non-disclosure of his tax records: why, Mr. President, are you going to such lengths to keep your college records secret?  Oh, and how was it for you in Indonesia?

ADDITIONAL:   This blog prides itself on its reputation for fairness and accuracy, a reputation which stretches from one end of this garret to the other.  So, I would draw your attention to an article in The American Thinker by Michael Iachetta which explains some of the anomalies concerning Obama's student history - but not the main one which remains: was he financed through college as a "foreign" student?

 

Comments

[Dom]

I think this is just one more leg of the Birther "controversy", and it won't go anywhere. I think the records are sealed because they are, in fact, private, and possibly they will show that Obama was not a good student. But nothing more than that.

If you want a scandel, here is one that has me all knotted up right now. As part of the General Motors bailout in 2009, the non-union employees lost most of their pensions, while the unionized workers got improvements. This had nothing to do with the terms of the bailout, which was only meant to save GM. Thus the white house effectively stole money from workers and called it a bailout.

http://dailycaller.com/2012/08/07/emails-geithner-treasury-drove-cutoff-of-non-union-delphi-workers-pensions/#ixzz22tbz31y0

It's illegal for the government to act this way.

[JK]

But, but, but Dom?!!!

That one was bipartisan:

http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/02/07/10342178-bush-on-auto-bailouts-id-do-it-again

[backofanenvelope]

Well, I don't want to rain on your parade Mr Duff (Oh yes I do). I read today that the way things were organised at Columbia when Obama was there, it was quite possible for him not to know anyone or for anyone to know him. Especially if he wasn't the sort of person you would want to know.

On the other hand, he is the President. He can't be President and private; he should publish his scholastic record as other presidents have. It is probable that the problem is that he claimed to be born overseas in order to finance his education.

[dearieme]

Why on earth are American academic records private? Ours were published on notice boards and in the papers.

[David Duff]

Please don't rain on my parade, 'Envelope', I hated it when my carefully applied blanco dribbled down my uniform and my platoon sergeant would put me on a charge for being 'idle on parade', or some such!

However, and Dom please take note, you have it dead right concerning Obama's locked-up college record. If Mr. Root is right, Obama claimed foreign student status to qualify for special finance and that would cast even further doubts on his nationality - or his probity. Not that we have much doubt about that - he's a politician after all!

[Arizona CJ]

There's a potentially interesting corollary to the foreign exchange student angle: What, exactly, does it take to be one?

Indonesian citizenship would be one strong possibility. If Obama adopted or claimed Indonesian citizenship at any point after turning 18, that's defacto renunciation of his US citizenship and legally binding on him because he was an adult.

I'm a good deal younger than Obama, but I do well remember my situation as an American born in the USA of UK parents. I was eligible for dual citizenship, but only up until I turned 18. At that point, I had to choose. I'm only guessing that similar rules would have applied to Obama. However, if they did, and he expediently chose Indonesian (or even Kenyan) citizenship to get a free ride for college, then even Hawaiian-born, he';s not legally eligible to hold the office he occupies due to having renounced his citizenship.

[Dom]

You are all looking for a back door here. This is conspiracy territory, and all conspiracy talk gets the same answer -- too many people know the truth to keep it quiet. There are many good reasons to vote against him, first and foremost he doesn't know what he is doing. Go with that.

[backofanenvelope]

OK Dom, lots of people know the truth of the matter, but they are ALL keeping quiet. That's interesting in itself. The question raised by your last sentence is "what if he does know what he is doing?" I suppose I should say "HE".

[David Duff]

Hello, ACJ, good to hear from you again. You raise some interesting points. And, Dom, I don't think "conspiracy" is quite the right word, more a case of an older man trying to cover up for his younger man's mistakes which probably didn't seem important back then. And the question remains, why doesn't he release his college records?

[Arizona CJ]

@ David Duff; Good to be here, and thank you for this blog.

@Dom; No large-scale conspiracy need exist. Depending on what Obama is hiding, those "in the know" could range from a handful, to just Obama himself.

Obama won't release his medical records either, and this is something that every presidential candidate in modern times has done. Obama famously hammered on McCain in 2008 for McCain's slowness to release records, and then refused to release his own.

[JK]

I dunno ACJ, asking for the guy's medical records might give us all something we'd rather not see. Sister Wolf for instance got linked to from these esteemed D&N pages a few months back - don't know his is as beautiful as her's. Smellier I'd wager.

And besides - who're we ever gonna get to examine his prostate?