Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Video: Obama's Gender Missing From His Passport

The White House has produced a video "focused on questions from the American people."  The very first question asked by a "citizen" says, "Does the President receive stamps in his passport when he travels?  Does the President travel with identification?"  Starting at about the 0:40 mark, you will be shown the picture page of President Obama's passport.  No doubt Obama hopes this will prove something to people whom he and his cohorts demagogue by calling them birthers, including those who merely believe that Obama does not meet the Founders definition of a "natural born Citizen" because he holds dual citizenship with the U.K.  Also see this graphic illustration.

The first thing I noticed is that when Jordan Whichard, the official White House Trip Coordinator, pulled Obama's folder from the safe, there was a white piece of paper attached to the front which was titled "Obama's Passports".  Note the use of the plural noun.  Maybe they're just holding his old U.S. passports.  Hmmm.  [Update:  Whichard's family owned The Daily Reflector, a North Carolina newspaper.]

For reasons that seem completely unnecessary, the WhiteHouse.gov videographer has blurred out the Date of Issue and Date of Expiration.  I suspect they hope attention will be focused on the blurred portion and not the rest of the passport.  If that's the case, they are playing a fool's game.  Since Obama's passport bears an amendment on page 51 stating "The bearer is the President of the United States", it seems reasonable to assume that the Date of Issue was on or about January 21, 2009.  So why pretend the dates are confidential?

As a person who currently holds a U.S. passport, there are some notable differences between Obama's passport and mine.  Take a close look at these two images.  On my passport you clearly see my gender and place of birth above the date of issue.  In contrast, Obama's gender is missing entirely, and furthermore, his place of birth is flush left with the margin.  My place of birth is typed about 1/2" to the right of my gender.  Since the U.S. government would never issue a genuine passport that omits the holder's gender, why is Obama's gender missing on his passport?

The only other difference I can spot is that my passport amendments page is numbered 24, while Obama's is numbered 51.
 










[Update: Turns out the person asking the question about Obama's passport is someone named Johnathan Talcott, who is likely a fraternity buddy of Jordan Whichard. Johnathan Talcott posted a teaser about the video on a NYDailyNews.com blog.]
[UpdateWhite House offers glimpse of President Obama's passport; document shows birthplace as Hawaii.]
[UpdateJohnathan Talcott is not just an ordinary citizen writing letters to the White House.  No, indeed!  Besides attending the University of North Carolina (same as Whichard), he is "a partner and head of the corporate team in the Washington, D.C. office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.  He counsels financial services companies, including banks, thrifts, mortgage companies, mortgage REITs, business development companies, investment banks, and financial technology companies.  Mr. Talcott's practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and securities offerings."  He also serves on the Task Force on Financial Reform.]
[UpdateState eases rules for changing gender on passports.  "The change yields another victory for gay rights groups seeking several changes to federal policy. The timing is meant to coincide with Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride Month and comes one week after President Obama extended more employment benefits to the same-sex partners of gay federal employees."]
[Update:  I have learned that passports issued since 2004 now have the gender well to the right of the place of birth, so much ado about nothing regarding the missing info.  Had the videographer not cut off the right side of the passport, the gender would have been visible.  However, it still doesn't make sense to blur the dates out.  Why go to that trouble?  Also, I have learned some interesting details about this entire videothat I will publish once I've finished doing a little more research.]

9 comments:

  1. I'm afraid the passport's not the only place it's missing from ...

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  2. I have the same version of passport Zero has. My amendments page is 27. However my gender is listed way over on the right hand side. I can't see that far over in the picture you have posted.

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  3. Thanks, Greg, for sharing that information. I have had confirmation of this change from the State Department, and so I have posted an update to that effect.

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  4. Poor little Birthers (still in denial about their losses), but our Judges will continue to smack down the crazies .

    To all the birthers in La, La Land, it is on you to prove to all of us that your assertion is true (TOUGH WHEN YOU KEEP LOSING CASES), if there are people who were there and support your position then show us the video (everyone has a price), either put up or frankly shut-up. I heard Orly Taitz, is selling a tape (I think it’s called “Money, Lies and Video tape”). She is from Orange County, CA, now I know what the mean when they say “behind the Orange Curtain”, when they talk about Orange County, the captial of Conspiracy Theories.

    You know Obama has a passport, he travel abroad before he was a Senator, but I guess they were in on it.
    In my opinion the Republican Party has been taken over the most extreme of clans; the Baggers, Birthers and Blowhards (people who love to push their beliefs on others while trying to take away the rights of those they just hate) and that’s who they need to extract from their party if they real want to win in November. Good Luck, because as they said in WACO, “We Ain’t Coming Out”.

    I wonder if Orly Taitz, is a mail order bride, just like her law degree? She is perfect reporter material for “Fake News”, where unfounded rumors and innuendo reign supreme, unlike a our US courts of law. The way our courts work is that you get a competent lawyer, verifiable facts and present them to a judge, if the facts are real and not half baked lies, then, and only then, you proceed to trial. The Birthers seem to be having a problem with their so called facts that they present. Let’s face it no one will go along with you until you guys win a case, but until then, you will continue to appear dumb, crazy or racist, or maybe all three. A lawyer, dentist, realtor and black belt, WOW I must say a JACK of all trades master of none.

    I heard that Orly Taitz, now wants to investigate the “Republican 2009 Summer of Love” list: Assemblyman, Michael D. Duvall (CA), Senator John Ensign (NV), Senator Paul Stanley (TN), Governor Mark Stanford (SC), Board of Ed Chair, and Kristin Maguire AKA Bridget Keeney (SC), she wants to re-establish a family values party, good luck with that.

    We won the election and now these sore losers will continue to spew their hate with lies.

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  5. Preston,
    Feel better now? Like so many liberals, your modus operandi is verbal abuse. Yes, of course Obama has a passport, indeed, probably several throughout his life. Not that it will matter much to left-wingers like you, but for the record, I am in the group that debates the definition of the term "natural born Citizen" which argues that people with dual citizenship do not meet the Founder's definition. Second, I am not a supporter of Orly Taitz, nor am I even interested in anything she does.

    Conservatives fear for our Constitution and our country, so you're right about one thing. We will research under every rock until the day Obama leaves office, however "trivial" that research may seem at times, because Obama's policies are undermining everything we value, but don't believe me. Read the polls.

    You can say goodbye to Obama in 2012.

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  6. ... or, hopefully - sooner!!!

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  7. ... speaking of spewing hate and lies. Indeed you do!!! I wonder how much you are paid to do that??? It ain't working any more my friend. The truth is coming to the fore; not your lies and misinformation.

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  8. Where's the signature page? It's missing.

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  9. In my passport, the signature page precedes the picture page. That page is out of view on the video.

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