Re: OT: Foulball

["Robert L Bass" <Sales@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"Kid" wrote:
>
> like Barry Soetoro?

Nice try, but (of course) you're lying.

From: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/occidental.asp

Claim:   Recently released records document that Barack Obama received college
financial aid in the U.S. as a "foreign student from Indonesia."

FALSE

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, April 2009]

April 1, 2009

Final Nail In Obamas Lack Of US Citizenship Coffin?

AP- WASHINGTON D.C. - In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obamas
qualifications for the presidency, the group Americans for Freedom of
Information has released copies of President Obamas college transcripts from
Occidental College. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, under
the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from
Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by
Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the
group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama
(Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign
students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program. To qualify, for
the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship. This document would
seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obamas detractors have been
seeking.

The news has created a firestorm at the White House as the release casts
increasing doubt about Obamas legitimacy and qualification to serve as
president. When reached for comment in London, where he has been in meetings
with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused comment on
the issue. Meanwhile, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at the
report stating that this was obviously another attempt by a right-wing
conservative group to discredit the president and undermine the
administrations efforts to move the country in a new direction.

Britain's Daily Mail has also carried the story in a front-page article
titled, Obama Eligibility Questioned, leading some to speculate that the story
may overshadow economic issues on Obamas first official visit to the U.K.

In a related matter, under growing pressure from several groups, Justice
Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to hear
arguments
concerning Obamas legal eligibility to serve as President in a case brought by
Leo Donofrio of New Jersey. This lawsuit claims Obama's dual citizenship
disqualified him from serving as president. Donofrios case is just one of 18
suits brought by citizens demanding proof of Obamas citizenship or
qualification to serve as president.

Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the results of
their investigation of Obamas campaign spending. This study estimates that
Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign funds in the past year with
eleven law firms in 12 states for legal resources to block disclosure of any
of his personal records. Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still
ongoing but that the final report will be provided to the U.S. attorney
general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused to comment on the matter.

Variations:   One variation in circulation asserts: "*SNOPES* confirms
Occidental College did, indeed, release records that Obama had been admitted
to that California college as Barry Sortero (one of Obama's known 6 names) on
a Fullbright Scolarship with his country as INDONESIA!!!!" This is not the
case ? this article says nothing like that.

Origins:   As the April 1, 2009, dateline on this article indicates, this
piece originated as a April Fool's joke that has continued circulating long
afterwards, a prank which plays on rumors that President Barack Obama is not a
native-born citizen of the United States (and thus not eligible to hold the
office of President of the United States). Even without the tell-tale
dateline, however, several indicators give away this item as a hoax:
The article is tagged "AP," signifying it came from the Associated Press news
agency, but the writing does not at all fit the standard Associated Press
stylebook guidelines.

No such group as "Americans for Freedom of Information" exists. In fact, a web
site for this faux group was later established to poke fun at those who
believed it did:

Read these tiny words very closely: the group Americans for Freedom of
Information does not exist, just like the supposed "AP article" you keep
cutting and pasting into e-mails to your irritated family does not exist, just
like the "Daily Mail article" referenced in the fake "AP article" does not
exist. They're all fabrications. Fakes. Hoaxes. Ask yourself why you're so
eager to believe these obvious fakes. No, really. Really, really ask yourself.

Obama attended Occidental College in California for two years as an
undergraduate from 1979-81 under the surname Obama, not Soetoro (the latter is
the surname of his Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro):

Jim Tranquada, Occidental's Director of Communications, said: "Contemporary
public documents, such as the 1979-80 freshman 'Lookbook' published at the
beginning of President Obama's first year at Occidental, list him as Barack
Obama. All of the Occidental alumni I have spoken to from that era (1979-81)
who knew him, knew him as Barry Obama."

Fulbright scholarships for foreign students are coordinated through the
American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF), which does not not fund
Indonesians for undergraduate study in the United States (only for master's or
doctorate programs).

Occidental College has neither released, nor been ordered to release, Barack
Obama's student records.

Neither Britain's Daily Mail nor any other major UK newspaper published a
front-page article entitled "Obama Eligibility Questioned" in 2009, nor has
any such newspaper published an article consisting of the text reproduced
above.

Leo Donofrio's lawsuit challenging Barack Obama's eligibility for the
presidency was denied a hearing by the Supreme Court of New Jersey back in
December 2008. It has not been taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The web site of the United States Justice Foundation includes no report of an
"investigation of Obama's campaign spending," and the executive director of
that organization who is referenced in the e-mail, Gary Kreep, said in
response to an inquiry that the e-mail was a hoax.

Last updated:   10 July 2009

The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/occidental.asp

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Sources:

    Corcoran, Monica.   "Barack Obama Went Hawaiian Casual at Occidental
College in L.A."
    Los Angeles Times.   18 January 2009.
    Gordon, Larry.   "Occidental Recalls 'Barry' Obama."
    Los Angeles Times.   29 January 2007.