Posted on Dec 10, 2015
No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University
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Before this inevitably makes its way here through some individuals who will believe it I figured I'd pre-empt it.
No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University
Other Internet debunkers have looked at this before (Snopes, for one), but we wanted to take our own look.
It may not surprise you that it’s a sham.
Sorting out Soetoro
There was a time when Obama used the last name "Soetoro." Obama used Soetoro, the last name of his stepfather, while he was growing up in Indonesia. At age 10, Obama moved back to Hawaii, his birthplace, and stopped using that last name.
After two years at Occidental College in California, 20-year-old Barack Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York in 1981.
There are no records that suggest Obama ever went by his childhood alias while attending Columbia. In 1983, the university’s weekly magazine published an essay written by Obama. The byline reads "Barack Obama."
ID issues
Whoever took the time to make this image apparently didn’t take the extra time to change the number on the card. After the card made the initial rounds, Snopes revealed the card number belonged to another student, who appears to be caught up in this simply because he posted his card to the web in 1998.
The picture of Obama on the fake ID is definitely not of the president as a young college student. It looks like the photo was taken in 1999, when Obama was in his late 30s and a state senator in Illinois.
What’s more convincing is Columbia University didn’t even start using digital ID cards until 1996 — 13 years after Obama graduated.
"This is a fake," said Roger Hornsby, a spokesman for the university, to PolitiFact. "We didn't even have such IDs then."
Finally, Obama’s ID would not have said "foreign student," and not just because Obama was born in Hawaii. Hornsby said Columbia doesn’t even label student IDs like that.
Our ruling
A Facebook post makes ridiculous claims about a Columbia University ID that shows Obama was a foreign student who went by the alias "Barry Soetoro."
The post wants you to believe Obama isn’t really an American citizen. But the ID, and the birther narrative behind it, is not valid.
Obama stopped using his stepfather’s last name when he was 10. Columbia University didn’t even start using these types of IDs until the mid 1990s, long after Obama graduated.
The ID is a pretty bad Photoshop job. We rate the claim Pants on Fire!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/facebook-posts/facebook-posts-still-claim-obama-wasnt-born-us/
No, a college ID does not show Barack Obama was a foreign student at Columbia University
Other Internet debunkers have looked at this before (Snopes, for one), but we wanted to take our own look.
It may not surprise you that it’s a sham.
Sorting out Soetoro
There was a time when Obama used the last name "Soetoro." Obama used Soetoro, the last name of his stepfather, while he was growing up in Indonesia. At age 10, Obama moved back to Hawaii, his birthplace, and stopped using that last name.
After two years at Occidental College in California, 20-year-old Barack Obama transferred to Columbia University in New York in 1981.
There are no records that suggest Obama ever went by his childhood alias while attending Columbia. In 1983, the university’s weekly magazine published an essay written by Obama. The byline reads "Barack Obama."
ID issues
Whoever took the time to make this image apparently didn’t take the extra time to change the number on the card. After the card made the initial rounds, Snopes revealed the card number belonged to another student, who appears to be caught up in this simply because he posted his card to the web in 1998.
The picture of Obama on the fake ID is definitely not of the president as a young college student. It looks like the photo was taken in 1999, when Obama was in his late 30s and a state senator in Illinois.
What’s more convincing is Columbia University didn’t even start using digital ID cards until 1996 — 13 years after Obama graduated.
"This is a fake," said Roger Hornsby, a spokesman for the university, to PolitiFact. "We didn't even have such IDs then."
Finally, Obama’s ID would not have said "foreign student," and not just because Obama was born in Hawaii. Hornsby said Columbia doesn’t even label student IDs like that.
Our ruling
A Facebook post makes ridiculous claims about a Columbia University ID that shows Obama was a foreign student who went by the alias "Barry Soetoro."
The post wants you to believe Obama isn’t really an American citizen. But the ID, and the birther narrative behind it, is not valid.
Obama stopped using his stepfather’s last name when he was 10. Columbia University didn’t even start using these types of IDs until the mid 1990s, long after Obama graduated.
The ID is a pretty bad Photoshop job. We rate the claim Pants on Fire!
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/09/facebook-posts/facebook-posts-still-claim-obama-wasnt-born-us/
Barack Obama
Conspiracy Theories
Columbia University
Republicans
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 30
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Based on the evidence you presented, it's more than likely the ID is fake. However, that neither proves nor disproves that Barack Obama attended as a foreign student. You presented no credible evidence that he was enrolled in Colombia University as either a foreign or domestic student.
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SPC Alexander Brandt
The burden of proof falls on the people making the claim. Someone thinks President Obama isn't an American citizen? Okay. That person needs to prove it. The defense doesn't need to prove something didn't happen. The most common analogy I can think of is trying to prove God doesn't exist.
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MSgt James Mullis
SPC Alexander Brandt - It honestly doesn't matter. The Supreme Court certified him as eligible to be President. Any additional information brought to public attention after that is moot.
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How many of you have read this which is as close to a trial as USA v Donald J Trump is likely to get? If you haven't read this, just start with pages 6-19 and get an idea of what Candidate Trump was told, by whom, and what he did afterwards.
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Funny… this is ancient news… but NEVER debunked. And… in one sentence he said aes, “anything can be forged” and in the next claims he proves a RECORD is factional because HE says it is.
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Again, believe nothing you hear, and half of what you see. With all the computer tricks and such today, what is real and what is memorex?
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And there are still those who believe we never landed on the moon either.
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Aaron Sanchez
No one has ever landed on the moon. Its not a solid. A light source that originally understood as a plasma light source. Imagine all that laced funding & jobs it created for the nazi brought over from germany after the Holocaust who were given new names, homes, money with a steady career at nasa.
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Yeah remember this. Bogus as hell. The Photoshop King that made this didn't realize there was such a thing much later than President Obama but I think the Number was tracked to a White Student and he though it was funnier than Hell.
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First question I have - Why even bring this up at this late date? This ID has been proven a fake so long ago.
Now, I am not a "Birther" by any stretch of the imagination, but there are a number of items that most people do not know or understand, that can led someone to believe that I am one.
Here is the issue - Technically President Obama at birth had dual citizenship in accordance with the law at the time of his birth. He was a US Citizen by virtue of his mother no matter where he was born; and a British subject by virtue of his father a Kenyan of British East Africa.
Now there is no US requirement to relinquish dual citizenship, but having it can cause problems as noted through information as published by US Government sites and publications.
With this in mind, President Obama could have attended colleges or universities as a Foreign Student. How do I know this, my children have dual citizenship and one did go to college as a Foreign Student, it definitely eased the cost quite a bit.
This is where the real crux of the entire problem should be and properly discussed and not this other BS as related to his election as President. I am no fan of President Obama, and I really do question why all of the secrecy around his records, that could really put this issue to rest. So what if he attended school as a foreign student - the big question should be - did he renounce his dual citizenship status?
Now, I am not a "Birther" by any stretch of the imagination, but there are a number of items that most people do not know or understand, that can led someone to believe that I am one.
Here is the issue - Technically President Obama at birth had dual citizenship in accordance with the law at the time of his birth. He was a US Citizen by virtue of his mother no matter where he was born; and a British subject by virtue of his father a Kenyan of British East Africa.
Now there is no US requirement to relinquish dual citizenship, but having it can cause problems as noted through information as published by US Government sites and publications.
With this in mind, President Obama could have attended colleges or universities as a Foreign Student. How do I know this, my children have dual citizenship and one did go to college as a Foreign Student, it definitely eased the cost quite a bit.
This is where the real crux of the entire problem should be and properly discussed and not this other BS as related to his election as President. I am no fan of President Obama, and I really do question why all of the secrecy around his records, that could really put this issue to rest. So what if he attended school as a foreign student - the big question should be - did he renounce his dual citizenship status?
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CPT Ahmed Faried
SSG Robert Webster - I'll simplify it for you since you are downvote happy. True or False the following statement is normally followed by something that weakens it
"I am not racist but..."
apply that to your statement
"I am not a birther but.."
Odds are you are in fact a birther, after all you are the sole downvoter for this topic no? As you were. Expecting the downvote. Don't disappoint.
"I am not racist but..."
apply that to your statement
"I am not a birther but.."
Odds are you are in fact a birther, after all you are the sole downvoter for this topic no? As you were. Expecting the downvote. Don't disappoint.
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SSG Robert Webster
CPT Ahmed Faried - And maybe you should go back to school and learn what a conjunction is, compared to a preposition. But then you would have to read the entire statement to have an understanding of the syntax of the sentence and the paragraph.
There is nothing 'birther' about my statements or questions of facts, though individuals of your 'apparent' political bent or bend (depending upon your want of usage), try to make it to be that way.
Instead of directly confronting the factual statements that I have made, you and others of your style, tend to obfuscate the facts and the questions that they (the facts) can raise by sidetracking the issues. Just like extremist on both sides of this issue, you have an apparent (to me anyway) inability to face the facts head-on.
Now on to the down vote applied to your reopening of this subject, after the fact - Since the subject matter is a hoax and a fraud, it deserves a down vote all by it's self no matter who opened the subject; however, your subsequent comments makes it appear that you are acting as an 'agent provocateur', which in consideration deserves a double down vote.
The other down vote is really self explanatory from there. Here is why - You are trying to paint me as a 'birther' as others would, however, I never contended that President Obama gave up his US Citizenship - what I did say is this "did he renounce his dual citizenship status?" It appears that because of this statement by me that you made an assumption; which leads us to the cliché surrounding that word.
Next the argument that you present about racism, etc. is a false flag proposition in the way that you present it. That method is no different than calling someone a racist because they have a different ethnic background, as opposed to their actions or stated beliefs.
There is nothing 'birther' about my statements or questions of facts, though individuals of your 'apparent' political bent or bend (depending upon your want of usage), try to make it to be that way.
Instead of directly confronting the factual statements that I have made, you and others of your style, tend to obfuscate the facts and the questions that they (the facts) can raise by sidetracking the issues. Just like extremist on both sides of this issue, you have an apparent (to me anyway) inability to face the facts head-on.
Now on to the down vote applied to your reopening of this subject, after the fact - Since the subject matter is a hoax and a fraud, it deserves a down vote all by it's self no matter who opened the subject; however, your subsequent comments makes it appear that you are acting as an 'agent provocateur', which in consideration deserves a double down vote.
The other down vote is really self explanatory from there. Here is why - You are trying to paint me as a 'birther' as others would, however, I never contended that President Obama gave up his US Citizenship - what I did say is this "did he renounce his dual citizenship status?" It appears that because of this statement by me that you made an assumption; which leads us to the cliché surrounding that word.
Next the argument that you present about racism, etc. is a false flag proposition in the way that you present it. That method is no different than calling someone a racist because they have a different ethnic background, as opposed to their actions or stated beliefs.
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SSG Robert Webster
Sgt Richard Buckner - That can be a very dangerous path for an AD officer to tread. Unfortunately in today's military, it seems that the only inequalities that the services pursue are alcohol or male-on-female sexual assault related (apparently due to politic correctness). Today in the military as in the civilian world it is more apparent than ever that, unless you are a white male, public bigotry is an accepted practice.
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So where is his real college ID? Why didn't he release his transcripts? Why did it take Years for him to release his birth certificate??? TO me, anyone who is going to hide something...NOT RELEASE it....doesn't want to share it....IS HIDING SOMETHING....and though he finally produced his birth certificate, why didn't the hospital have it?
Name ONE OTHER PRESIDENT or VICE PRESIDENT who did what Obama did. Name one who didn't readily release any documents or information asked of him!
Name ONE OTHER PRESIDENT or VICE PRESIDENT who did what Obama did. Name one who didn't readily release any documents or information asked of him!
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SPC Alexander Brandt
You can tell us all day long that it's your opinion, but your opinion is wrong. If you want to make the claim, furnish the proof.
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Sgt Kelli Mays
SPC Alexander Brandt - It is how I feel or what I believe...so I am not wrong...and I am not making a statement.
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SPC Alexander Brandt
Sgt Kelli Mays - Again, it doesn't matter. Opinion or not, you are wrong. Saying, "That's just my opinion," doesn't throw up some impenetrable steel wall.
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SGT David T.
Capt Seid Waddell - For the rest of us yes. A politician by their very nature is a liar.
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Capt Seid Waddell
SGT David T., if we have dishonest politicians it is because we excuse dishonesty as inevitable. This is the corruption of low expectations.
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SGT David T.
Capt Seid Waddell - Politicians have always lied. The average voter doesn't want to hear the truth. "Hey I am this party but Congress is controlled by that party so chances are nothing will get done, but I will try really hard" lol
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no but his book did say he was born Kenya then he said that was a mistake watch this video about his birth certificate being a completely wrong https://x.com/KarluskaP/status/ [login to see] 16377021?s=01
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