Okay, so there this video going viral on the Right purporting to be actual footage of Barack Obama's birth taking place in a hospital in Kenya.
I kid you not.
The footage is supposedly a VHS transfer of a home movie shot by Barack Obama Senior of wife Stanley Ann Dunham giving birth to her son on August 4, 1961. The video is so bad and so full of holes (conspicuously focusing on things like a glance at the calendar and a shot of Ann's hospital chart, conveniently off-center so that a Kenyan Flag sticker appears in the frame), It's difficult to imagine anyone might believe it's real. But then again, look at the crowd we're talking about here.
Glenn Beck's "The Blaze" also has the story and even they seem dubious of its claims. Their excerpt of an interview with the film's distributor is just as hilarious and worth reading. Ex: "[Yes the baby is huge but] most of the general public has no idea how big infants are in Kenya." (yes, because the child of an American mother would magically enlarge to three times its normal size upon entering the country.)
A number of people have already pointed out a lengthy (and sure to grow) list of flaws in this ridiculous film:
- The film is purportedly a "VHS transfer of a Super-8 home movie filmed by Barack Sr." Super-8
(16mm)film first appeared in 1965.
CORRECTION: As was pointed out, "Super-8" is not 16mm. I copied that observation from another site and failed to verify. My apologies. - Mugsy) - The conveniently placed Kenyan flag on the baseboard next to the patient chart wasn't adopted until 1963.
- The woman in the video resembles, but clearly is not the woman in the photo of Ann Dunham on the patient chart. Likewise, it would seem unlikely that the Obama's would be traveling with a full-sized enlargement of Ann's YEARBOOK PHOTO that the hospital could attach to her chart rather than take one of their own.
- 6 inches of umbilical cord that falls off with no cutting? Umbilical cords are typically around 2-feet long and must be removed with a scalpel or surgical scissors.
- The child is clearly not a newborn. A 15-20lb baby, awake, eyes open and supporting it's own head?
- No placenta. No "slime" on the child upon emerging from a rapid & near effortless birth.
And my personal favorite: I froze a frame from the calendar to see if it was correct for 1961. Obama was born August 4th, 1961... which would have been a Friday. Whoever the lazy bastard was that created the calendar used in the video decided to play it safe and made EVERY day August 4th.
If I've said it once I've said it a hundred times: It's a pity "stupid" isn't painful.