For the birthers, of which one is one too many
On this day in….
….1959 — Hawaii becomes the 50th state in the United States of America. That’s August 21, 1959. For our birther friends, President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. That’s 714 days after Hawaii became a state (remember that 1960 was a leap year). So what’s the problem? Both Hawaii newspapers even announced his birth!
I’m trying to imagine Obama’s parents saying back in 1961, “Our son will want to go into politics and become President of the United States, so we will need to put fake birth announcements in the papers to make it appear that he is ‘natural born.’ ”
And his birth certificate? Snopes.com does the best job of debunking all of the birther claims. Now if only the birthers can learn to read and comprehend. Of course, I guess birthers would claim that Snopes.com is simply a bastion of the liberal, left-wing media……..lol
Okay, now that we have that out of the way, let’s explore Hawaii.
The oldest United States stamps featuring Hawaii were “overprinted” stamps recognizing the Hawaii sesquicentennial. Overprinting was used to commemorate special events and was done by taking a standard issue stamp and printing text on the stamp:
Those two overprinted stamps were issued in 1928. If, like me, you were wondering about the sesquicentennial of Hawaii being recognized on a United States stamp in 1928 and what the sesquicentennial was all about, they recognized Captain James Cook’s first documented visit to Hawaii in 1778, Hawaii’s first contact witih European explorers. (That was close! I was sure a birther was going to come up with some off-the-wall story………) Captain Cook originally named them the Sandwich Islands.
The Queen of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893, apparently with covert help from the United States. In 1993, an Apology Resolution was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton apologizing for the United States’ role in overthrowing the Hawaii Kingdom. (I guess it will be ninety years before we apologize for Bush’s illegal invasion of two foreign countries….)
Hawaii became a United States Territory in 1898 with the passage of the Newlands Resolution. There probably wasn’t any doubt after the Japanese bombed Hawaii on December 7, 1941, that eventually it would be more than just a territory. That happened on this date in 1959 when Hawaii became the 50th state. (Now if we can just let Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia in as states….)
Scott #799, 50th Anniversary of Hawaii Territory, 1937
Scott #1682, Hawaii flag, 1976
Scott #1733, Bicentennial of Captain James Cook’s visit to Hawaii, 1978
Scott #1784, Hawaiian wild broadbean, 1979
Scott #1963, Hawaii state bird and state flower, 1982
Scott #2080, 25th Anniversary of Hawaii statehood, 1984
Scott #3105c, Hawaiian monk seal, 1996
Scott #3706, Greetings from Hawaii, 2002
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Posted on August 21, 2012, in Halls of History, History, History Through Philately. Bookmark the permalink. 49 Comments.
I’ve been to Hawaii twice and loved it. As a Canadian, I can’t understand all the Obama bashing and particularly the animosity to the health care plan.
Wish you lived in the U.S. We need more positive thinkers…especially ones who are fans of Hawaii…where I’m from originally.
I vote the seal!! I love seals
Nice post… enjoyed the history lesson… now going to look at the birth certificate…
Samantha the cat was born in Hawaii!!! She is the one in the pic begging for cookies!
I used to use Snopes quite a bit when trying to reason with my conservative friends. Unfortunately, they all believe that Snopes is a fraudulent organization owned by Obama backers whose purpose is to falsely debunk the truth and bolster up Liberal lies. I kid you not.
I know. There is no such thing as education when it comes to religious political extremist fanatics or the ultraconservative right wing.
My ex-mother-in-law, bless her pea pickin’ little wacko heart, was especially unreasonable. Any time she saw or heard ANYthing she disagreed with or that did not fit in with her ‘facts’, she would stretch her arm out and hold up her hand with fingers outstretched and say loudly “I DENY you!” She was a right proper whackadoodle. My family and friends (except for a few who are still sane) are pretty much the same way. If you don’t agree with them, you from the DEVIL (just like foosball, I guess.)
Sounds like my relatives in South Texas.
This is very very interesting – we don’t hear a lot of this detail over here. Thanks for the Hawaii information!
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I love your cat – what can I say? -runs and hides-
What a great post (and history lesson) on my lovely state. Hawaii’s history is most fascinating and complex both before and after the overthrow. I feel a post of my own coming on.
Re the birthers, they seem to be rather quiet about those other forms that have not been fully revealed to the American public—Romney’s tax returns.
What’s funny and ironic is that it was Romney’s father, George, who started the tradition of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns.
Ironic, indeed. Perhaps George had nothing to hide. Perhaps we should vote for George in absentia.
George and his wife were on welfare during the early part of their life together.
I just heard about that. Also heard that Mitt blackmailed the U.S. government into giving Bain Capital a bailout. He threatened to use the company’s “slush fund” to pay out huge bonuses to the execs (instead of using it to pay down debts) and take Bain into bankruptcy if the bailout wasn’t forthcoming. What a hypocrite.
Great post! I had read the whole explanation on Snopes years ago when it first came up. Don’t they even point people to the website that prints the fake Nigerian certificates? I’m so tired of this birther thing.
I suspect they don’t want to give any type of legitimacy whatsoever to anyone or anything coming out of Nigeria. I hesitated just typing the name of the country!
Good one!!!
great post … thanks
Another Canadian who has been to Hawaii twice. Great post. The whole birther mentality is a belief system. It is the type of belief system that holds that certain events are true – much like a literal interpretation of religious/mythic narrative. You see the same belief structure at play from those who will not accept climate change or withhold vaccinations for their children.
If only the Birthers could read. Such a sad statement on the pitiful state of education in America. Too bad they’re still allowed to vote.
It’s not the education in America that’s pitiful, it’s the parents who think the education system is free babysitting.
Russel, check out this UK company called, Disaster Designs they make these awesome handbags and wallets mimicking old stamps. I always enjoy these vintage posts and the story behind it. Thanks Again as always.
Hi, You’re back again…so great to find you as I do believe I lost your blog for awhile. This post reminds me so much of my childhood and the friends I made all over the world collecting stamps! I think I enjoyed collecting friends more than the stamps although I was amazed that the other countries had such gorgeous stamps and ours were so … dodgey!
Well things have changed. I’ve just gotten a present from a friend in the mail and the outside of the package she mailed it with about 50 29 cent stamps of herbs…. They were gorgeous! And made the box look gorgeous as well.
Hi, again… I have read the most marvelous book by W. S. Merwin… called Hawaii… He’s written a long poem that is crafted from old letters and it’s the whole history of Hawaii through the words of the people themselvs… and it’s one long poem… It’s one of the most beautiful and wonderful books I’ve ever read.
Hi Russel, thanks for following my blog! This is a great post. Love the stamps and the commentary.
I found your blog via a blogging friend. I’ll be back by in a couple of days to look around in greater detail.
You can keep DC, we want to go our way, thank you very much.
lol
Liked the postage stamps from Hawaii! I used to be an avid stamp collector as a kid. This post brought back some good memories from the hours I used to spend on my stamp collection.
The worst thing they have on Obama is a lie about his birth certificate. I cannot believe people fall for such bs. Thanks for the info and for sharing the truth!
I’m not a fan of his and surely won’t be voting for him but this stuff really does have to end.
Aww, i still have somewhere a postcard my dad send from Hawaii in 1986, the stamp is very similar to the one at the bottom! Ohh, and Zoey is winking!!!! Cute overload! <3 (knock- knock on wood
Kindly accept my sincere thanks for visiting my blog. I consider it my privilege to have received a mail from you. I would love to follow you, really. Thanks again.
What I think is ridiculous about the birthers is that they never dispute whether or not Barack Obama’s mother was American. Even if he had been born in Kenya, he would still be an American!
You could also verify using US immigration and customs forms to verify that Obama’s mother did not travel during her pregnancy.
But if some people will never accept any birth certificate, they probably wouldn’t accept passport records either.
In any case, thank you for the history lesson! I love stamps!
Yes, but the qualification to be the President is “natural born,” which means on American soil, not just by American parents. Of course, Hawaii was a State when Obama was born there.
Ah, yes. I ran my mouth before remembering the definition of natural born. I wasn’t disputing that he was born in Hawaii. Just dumbstruck about how people still question it!
I’ve spent almost four years being dumbtruck……..lol
Me too!
Being a Brit, I don’t really understand what all the fuss is about the whole birth thingy? Do people really still go on about it? Do people still really think it matters? I am guessing yes, but fail to understand it! That aside,, because I am not qualified to opine, I enjoyed this post for its lovely blend of history and philately. You do this so well.
The Constitution of the United States requires that the President be a “natural born” citizen. That means that s/he has to have been born on United States soil, not on foreign soil as the child of American citizens. So, interestingly, if the First Lady were pregnant, and she were in, say, Britain visiting the Queen, went into labor, and had her child on British soil, that child would never been eligible to be President of the United States.
Obama’s dad was from Kenya and his mom was from the United States. They were living in Hawaii when Obama was born. Since he was born in 1960, and Hawaii became a state in 1959, he is a natural born citizen.
Well said. Simple and logical.
Hi Russel! Thanks for visiting my blog today and for all the likes! It’s always a pleasure to have you visit for the day!
Such cool stamps and thanks for the history lesson!
Hi Russel, thanks for camping out on my blog. You’re right about the birthers, they are annoying, and don’t have their facts straight. It’s strange that people can make an argument for anything without facts. But we have seen politicians in recent weeks fabricate facts so that they can make their case. It’s transparent when they do this, but only to people who can read, write, and think logically. Sadly, with the state of the US public education system, this isn’t always the case and our country is coming across as not just naive to other countries around the world, but ignorant.
Thanks for all your “likes” on my blog. I like your posts too.
Interesting collection! beebee