Hawaii tells Sheriff Joe to get lost!Hawaiian officials have apparently had enough of your requests for President Barack Obama’s birth certificate
and they’re not afraid to tell you where to get off, even if you are Arizona’s Secretary of State Ken Bennett
or a special delegation sent by Maricopa County’s controversial “Sheriff Joe.”
~Hawaii sent back a list of web sites with photos of the actual birth certificate.
~Bennett’s office replied on March 30 that if they could not have a certified copy of the actual birth certificate
sent to them, then they would need the Department of Health to verify the details of Obama’s birth and
parentage and fill out an enclosed form. The email also requested that department officials verify that the
copy of the birth certificate released by the White House matches the document on file in Hawaii.
~On April 16, Bennett emailed again asking what was taking so long. Nagamine replied that she would
check with the Department of Health to see if they had received Bennett’s request. Two weeks later,
on May 1, Arizona’s Deputy Secretary of State Jim Drake emailed, insisting that he needs Hawaii’s help
to quell suspicions about the president’s legitimacy.
~ Nagamine wrote back demanding verification that they were qualified to seek verification of the president’s
birth. “My client, the Department of Health, has forwarded your request for verification of President Obama’s
birth record to me,” she wrote, “We need more information to substantiate that you are eligible to receive
verification.”
~Bennett huffily replied, “As the chief elections officer for the State of Arizona and pursuant to Arizona
Revised Statutes, sections 16-212, 16-301, 16-502, 16-507 and others, my office is tasked with quadrennially
compiling a list of candidates for the Office of the President of the United States.”
~Nagamine’s response on Saturday, May 19 was to again request verification of Bennett’s legitimacy to
receive the information, and to point out that the statues of Arizona law he directed her to in his email
were not in fact germane to the discussion, but rather pertain to “election of presidential electors,
nomination of candidates for printing on official ballot of general or special election, form and contents
of ballot, and presentation of presidential candidates on ballot.”
She concluded that “none, as far as I can tell, establish the authority of the Secretary of State to maintain
and update official lists of persons in the ordinary course of his activities.
~On Saturday, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain assured the public in an interview with
Arizona’s KPNX, “The president of the United States is not going to be taken off the ballot.” Some
have speculated that Bennett’s decision to play to the “birther” elements of the electorate is a
purely political gambit on his part ahead of a run for governor in 2014.
~This morning, Arizona’s embattled Sheriff Joe Arpaio confirmed that he sent a deputy from his
“threats unit” to Hawaii, along with a volunteer tasked with investigating the matter. They arrived
in Hawaii on Monday and flashed badges at Hawaii Department of Health personnel, announcing
that they had been sent by the State of Arizona.
When quizzed by reporters as to what specific threats necessitate such measures, Arpaio cited
“security issues…that I can’t got into.”
Don't ya just love Birthers! >