Things I Don't Believe #1

There are many popular notions out there, some of them called "conspiracy theories", that many people have come to believe, but which I have decided not to believe.  I was hoping to write an essay on these, and make it into a single post, but I seem to have come up with so many things to write about, and so much to write about some of them, that it would be better to spread these things out.  Let me start with some things related to the man who will soon leave our country's highest office.

I do not believe:

That Barack Obama is a Muslim.

As I pointed out in one of my "Random Musings" posts, our soon-to-be-former president drinks beer, eats pork, and has kept at least one dog as a pet, all three of which are not normally permitted under Islam.  This would mean either that he is not Muslim, or that he has somehow carried out a very elaborate deception on behalf of Islam.  Applying Occam's Razor, I would be more likely to believe the former.  While Obama has called himself a Christian, his particular brand thereof appears to be the Black Liberation Theology preached by Pastor Jeremiah Wright.  It is obvious that Obama has a great respect for Islam, perhaps because he sees it as an oppressed culture or a victim of colonialism, but this is distinct from being an adherent of that religion.

That Obama was born in Kenya.

While it is true that Obama's long-form birth certificate has never been released to the public, the available information that we have indicates that he was born in Hawaii.  I have yet to run across any credible evidence placing his birth in Kenya, or placing his mother in that land.  On the other hand, if someone can find an airline ticket or a flight manifest, bound for Kenya, with the name Ann Dunham Obama on it, please let everyone know about it.  Instead of being a foreigner passing himself off as an American, as alleged by the "birthers", Obama may have instead spent part of his younger years as an American passing himself off as a foreigner, such as by the press release from a book company, which indicated that he was born in Kenya.  I thus find myself open to agreeing on this matter with his former classmate at Columbia, Wayne Allyn Root.  For example, listen to this interview with Rev. Jesse Lee Petersen.

I'm also open to the possibility that the reason Obama has sealed his birth certificate is that it might contain some information that he does not want the public to know.  What it could be, however, is a matter of speculation.

That Michelle Obama at one time was a man.

This idea, if true, would mean that Obama's daughters were adopted, since a transsexual and a normal male cannot produce offspring together.  As the story goes, Michelle Obama was originally Michael LaVaughn Robinson, who was born in Chicago.  In high school, Robinson was a talented athlete, and later received a scholarship to play football for Oregon State.  After playing the 1982 season at linebacker, during which he recorded 88 tackles, he left both the school and the team, underwent a sex change operation, became Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, and enrolled at Princeton, from which she graduated in 1985.  I find this story hard to believe, because I can't find any indication that a Michael Robinson ever played for Oregon State during the early 1980's.  For example, here are the roster and statistics pages for the 1982 OSU football team.  These are admittedly incomplete, listing only "most starters and key reserves", but if Robinson had 88 tackles, which would have been among the team's leaders, it seems unlikely that he would have been left off.  And although Michelle may not be the most feminine looking of our First Ladies, wide hips such as hers are a female trait.  There are some who notice a suspicious bulge in Michelle's dresses, as if she still has Michael's original equipment, but this would contradict the assertion that Michael/Michelle underwent surgery, which would have involved the removal of Michael's male part.

That Barack Obama Sr. obtained a Social Security number for his son Barack Obama II, while travelling through Connecticut on his way to Harvard.

This idea comes from the left, in defense of an allegation from the right that President Obama has a SSN that was issued in Connecticut, a state in which he had never resided.  Let me digress and admit that I don't know what range of Social Security numbers are issued in Connecticut.  I also don't know what the president's SSN is, nor do I regard this information as even being my business.  But let's indulge both sides and consider the idea that Obama has an SSN that was issued in Connecticut.  Let's also assume Obama Sr. went to a Social Security office in person.  Are we to believe that a man who was neither an American citizen nor a Connecticut resident was able to walk into a Social Security office and obtain a number for his child, who was back in Hawaii?  Considering that the year was 1961, three years before the Civil Rights Act, I would be surprised if any black non-citizen could pull this off.  I suspect that such a person would at best be kicked out while being showered with the N-word, if not arrested.  On the other hand, if Obama Sr. obtained Obama's SNN by mail, there is no particular reason for him to do so through the Connecticut office.  Instead, you would think that he would go through the Hawaii office, in the state where his son lived.