Monday, December 14, 2009

Did Obama Doctor His Selective Service Registration?

 
Some have claimed that Obama did not register with the Selective Service System in 1980 as was required of him by law. Those who fail to register may not be engaged by the federal government; they may not hold elected or appointed offices at the federal level. Some have alleged that Obama registered years later, that he doctored his registration.

Given the suspicions about the hue of his national loyalties and the barrage of doubts assailing his eligibility for office, had the author of this piece been in Obama's shoes, he would have ignored this rumor too.  While the Obama campaign felt compelled to release a copy of the candidate's COLB (certificate of live birth) verifying his homeboy credentials and to confront the rumors that his religious affiliation was ever seriously anything else but Christian, it wisely chose to ignore this comparatively obscure bit of gossip, just as it ignored the other marginal sensations.

Many do not appear to appreciate the kind of considerations one might have to weigh in a political campaign or allow that only a conservative might legitimately weigh them. Unlike other kinds of vital records, any persistent person can verify another's Selective Service registration.

While Birthers preoccupied themselves with hoaxes contrived to entice and discredit them, Obama was trying to win an election, not lose it. The crafty politician does not needlessly lend credibility to baseless charges or even respond to credible charges made by enemies who look like kooks to most.  Machiavellianism 101.


Pajamas Media
August 12, 2008
Bob Owens

. . . Associate blogger "Free Dem" explained the vital importance of Obama's Selective Service registration to his presidential aspirations in a July 1[, 2008] post at one of the pro-Hillary Democratic blogs that has been at the epicenter of some of the worst anti-Obama rumor-mongering:
According to the Selective Service System, under the authority of the Military Selective Service Act (Act of June 24, 1948, c. 625, 62 Stat. 604, as amended; 50 U.S.C. App. 451 et seq.):
A man must be registered to be eligible for jobs in the executive branch of the federal government and the U.S. Postal Service. Proof of registration is required only for men born after December 31, 1959. The registration requirement was suspended in April 1975. It was resumed again in 1980 by President Carter in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Registration continues today as a hedge against underestimating the number of servicemen needed in a future crisis.

1-103. Persons born in calendar year 1961 shall present themselves for registration on any of the six days beginning Monday, July 28, 1980.1

The obligation of a man to register is imposed by the Military Selective Service Act.  The Act establishes and governs the operations of the Selective Service System.

Barack Obama, who states he was born in Aug. 1961, was required to register for the Selective Service in 1980. Did he?

It is a rumor that the Obama campaign has chosen to ignore despite numerous requests, and it is a rumor that even Snopes couldn't seem to confirm or deny definitively. After contacting the Selective Service System for an answer several times since late June, Pajamas Media obtained official confirmation from the Selective Service System via email that Barack Obama did indeed register for the Selective Service as required by law, and is eligible to run for the presidency.
Mr. Owens,

Barack Hussein Obama registered at a post office in Hawaii. The effective registration date was September 4, 1980.

His registration number is 61-1125539-1.

Daniel Amon
Public Affairs Specialist
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1Compilation of the Military Selective Service Act.

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