Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Justice, Lawyering, Politics, Religion, Society

Obama Defends Defense of Marriage Act and Moves to Dismiss Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit

225px-official_portrait_of_barack_obamaCivil libertarians have been outraged by President Barack Obama’s adoption of extreme Bush policies on secrecy and executive privilege, including his effort to dismiss public interest lawsuits and his Administration’s refusal to investigate war crimes committed by the Bush Administration. Now, Obama has filed to dismiss the case of Arthur Smelt and Christopher Hammer, who are challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which blocks same-sex couples from securing Social Security spousal benefits, filing joint taxes and enjoying other federal rights of marriage.

While Obama criticized the act and promised to seek a repeal of the law when he was complaining for gay and lesbian votes in the campaign, he is now arguing that it is entirely constitutional and should be allowed to stand. DOMA was passed with the support of Bill Clinton in 1996.

The Justice Department insists that it is only defending existing federal laws, though the Justice Department is not required to defend a statute that it believes is unconstitutional. Yet, if this were a separate but equal statute, the Administration would presumably not fight to preserve it. There are various ways for the Justice Department to back away from defending such a law if it believes that it is unconstitutional.

The Administration has been silent on seeking a legislative repeal of DOMA and backed away from initial promises to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military — leaving gays and lesbians frustrated on the two greatest issues affecting their community.

For the full story, click here.

44 thoughts on “Obama Defends Defense of Marriage Act and Moves to Dismiss Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuit”

  2. Jill, I agree. However, there is one new point. The link to WND takes you to a site that ends with yet another fund raising plea for wheres-the-birth-certificate billboards. So Mike is right. Bvm is not the only one with his, hers or its hat in hand. Part of this whole camplaign seems to be a cynical effort to separate a lot of money from a lot of gullible people by exploiting their suspicions and fears.

    It is all about money.

  4. Vince and Mike A.,

    I think you’ve both done a very good job at exposing BVM. It’s my opinion that he is here as a distraction from other posts and it might be best to ignore him from now on, with the occasional refutation after a period of time has passed. But most everyone who reads this site has most likely gotten a clear picture of BVM by now.

  6. Note to bvm and Orly, Obama HAS produced his birth certificate.

    You can get a lot of funny poll results, depending on how you word the questions and weight the sample.

    Ever heard of “push polling”?

  7. Most Americans know about Obama’s Ineligibility

    WND/WENZEL POLL
    Shocker! Most Americans know of Obama eligibility questions Despite near media blackout on coverage, 49.3% ‘troubled,’ think he should release birth certificate

    Posted: June 16, 2009 9:16 pm Eastern

    © 2009 WorldNetDaily

    Editor’s note: This is the second of a series of monthly “Freedom Index” polls conducted exclusively for WND by the public opinion research and media consulting company Wenzel Strategies.

    WASHINGTON – It may be the issue few in the media dare address, but a new scientific public opinion survey of a cross-section of Americans shows they are not only aware of questions about Barack Obama’s constitutional eligibility for office, but almost half are either “troubled” by the questions or believe he should release all relevant documents including his long-form birth certificate.

    Asked if they are aware of the questions raised about Obama’s constitutional eligibility for office, 51.3 percent answered affirmatively, while only 18.7 percent said no. Another 30 percent said they were unsure.

    “Our polling shows that the questions surrounding Barack Obama’s eligibility to serve as president clearly strike a nerve across America, probably because it is a problem that everybody understands,” said pollster Fritz Wenzel. “Every American citizen has a birth certificate, and once in a while we all have to produce them to get a drivers license or gain entrance to school. Everyone understands the simple rules – if you don’t produce it, you don’t get in. And while Obama did get in to the White House, nearly half the country’s adults – 49 percent – are troubled by this issue and still want him to produce his official long-form birth certificate.”

    http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/blog1/?p=2290

  8. Mike A, whoever is posting anonymously as bvm is making statements that are malicious and false.

    To all readers who come here by search, be advised that bvm’s accusations are false and malicious.

    Do not give them any credence because they were posted here. This is an open site.

  9. By all means, look at the site of Doctor Orly Taitz Esquire. The lawyers here at the site should take an especially close look at her legal filings with the Supreme Court.

    Then make a judgment on her credibility.

  10. BVM maintains an anonymous web site and solicits donations from the public without identifying the principals behind the web site, the purpose for the donations, the manner in which donations will be expended or the intended beneficiaries. To whom or what organization are these funds being funneled? Is it even a lawful enterprise? Is it licensed to solicit donations from the public? Where is BVM’s “birth certificate”?

  11. By all means, all interested persons should do their own independent research.

    The short answer to the question “Where’s the birth certificate?’ is that Obama has produced it, that it is on the web for all to view, that it is valid and legal and not forged, and that the birthers are too blind or willfully resistant to looking at it. http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html.

    The Obama birth certificate flap is an urban legend, a fairy tale, a false story that has been exposed repeatedly by snopes.com and others:
    http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/birthcertificate.asp
    Politifact.com, examined and verified the Certification: http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii/
    A news article quoted Dr Fukino, and the official statement can be read here: http://hawaii.gov/health/about/pr/2008/08-93.pdf

    I said above that they have admitted that no birth certificate or evidence will ever satisfy them. Here is the source:

    “Nonetheless, there is little doubt that President Obama’s original Hawaiian birth certificate says he was born in Hawaii. Under the laws that were in effect in Hawaii when Barack Obama was born, the State of Hawaii would not have knowingly issued a Hawaiian birth certificate to anyone born outside of Hawaii. …

    “In 1961, the State of Hawaii would not have issued a birth certificate to Barack Obama unless the State believed he was born in Hawaii. Barack Obama’s original 1961 typewritten birth certificate undoubtedly says he was born in Hawaii.

    “But questions still remain. When Barack Obama was born, was his birth attended by a doctor or midwife? If not, who testified regarding his birth? His mother? His grandmother? Were any of these people interviewed? Was there a judicial or administrative hearing to determine the birth certificate’s probative value? Who recorded the date and time of Barack Obama’s birth? Could his actual date of birth have been a week or two earlier? “ Source: http://people.mags.net/tonchen/birthers.htm#ref20

    There you have it: there is little doubt that President Obama’s original Hawaiian birth certificate says he was born in Hawaii.

    So, even if the original were released to a press conference attended by Berg, Andy Martin, Orly, Leo Donofrio, Cort, Allan Keyes, swift-boater Corsi, and Elvis, with reporters from the Globe, Enquirer and the entire supermarket press corps, guess what? The have admitted that they would still not accept it. They will challenge it under a whole new set of theories. They will all move to Kenya.

  12. Even leftist nutjobs like Rachel Maddow and Joan Walsh are now talking about Obama’s illegitimacy for presidency

    This issue grew so big, that even the leftist fringe media like Rachel Maddow from MSNBC and Joan Walsh from Salon.com have to say something about the issue to their viewers and readers. The problem is, that the leftist communist nutjobs don’t do their homework, they don’t read legal pleadings submitted to courts and they sound like clowns.

    Orly
    http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/blog1

  14. “COLB states on the bottom that ‘This copy serves as prima facie evidence of the fact of birth in any court proceeding.’ A COLB is NOT proof of birth.”

    Poor bvm cannot even read English. Prima facie is Latin for “on its first face.” Prima facie evidence is evidence which, on its face, is proof of a fact, unless refuted or contradicted by other evidence. It makes the case for the party with the burden of proof, until the opposing party introduces credible evidence to counter it. By its own terms, it is evidence of birth unless countered.

    It is good in any court proceeding in Hawaii, and good in any U.S. court of law. It is proof that Obama was born in Hawaii in 1961. It is the foundation of the case that he is therefore a natural born citizen.

    Now, the birthers first said it was a forgery. But that was not credible because the responsible state officials have said that the certification issued to Obama was authentic and correctly recorded the evidence in state records.

    Then they said it was valid, but not accepted by the State of Hawaii. But it was only the certificate not used or needed for Hawaiian Home Lands applications. But the Home Lands office needs more than the fact of birth, since applicants must be 50% native Hawaiian.

    Now the driver’s license is argued. Hawaii does not require an applicant for a driver’s license to be born in Hawaii, to be a resident of Hawaii, or to even be a US citizen. The DVM is not a court of law. Obama did not apply for a Hawaii driver’s license.

    In every court of law that has heard these contentions so far, the cases have been dismissed, or are pending dismissal.

    His birth was announced in two Honolulu newspapers in 1961. Those papers got their information from the city hospitals.

    The birthers have admitted that the state records will show Obama was born there. They have admitted that they hope they can find something else to challenge in those records amidst the information that would include hospital, doctors, and witnesses.

    They have admitted that they will challenge Obama’s right to be President even if they finally admit that he was born in the United States.

    They are the type of people that deny that men walked on the Moon and assert that Elvis lives.

  16. The fools here take you for one of their kind. Hit the books and the “Net” Learn the truth.

    Ask yourself … why won’t Obama produce his birth certificate and other records?

  18. Vince Treacy:

    BVM is the kind of guy who constantly denies that the Eiffel Tower stands in Paris. Even in the face of photographic, official, and anecdotal evidence spanning time, this doubting Thomas must see to believe. And even at that moment of truth, he will still deny his own senses in a pathetic effort to placate his obsessive belief in his own correctness. Sad, but all too common.

  19. Funding the war means killing the troops.

    Obama should not have been on the presidential ballot. He was and is a War Criminal. He voted in the Senate at least 11 times to fund the Wars of Aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan which is conspiracy and waging illegal wars. Obama was committing War Crimes as early as 2003 in “selling the illegal Iraq War”, conspiring and waging War of Aggression with Howard Dean in this video:

  20. Obama, as senator, voted at least 11 times for war-funding in the murders and maiming of the illegal Iraq and Afghanistan wars. He is guilty of all the atrocities. Had there been no funding there would have been no wars.

    “Barack Obama – Mass Murderer”

    By Dan Spielberg

    “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names” ~ Chinese Proverb

    “The Chinese proverb that opens this piece is true in all times and places, so let’s call Mr. Obama by his real names: Wall Street Stooge, Zionist lickspittle, National Socialist, liar and above all, mass murderer.”

    http://informationclearinghouse.info/article22607.htm

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