Getting a US Passport is about to become harder
There is, ahem, a bit of controversy about our present President and the legitimacy of his claim for American citizenship. Apparently all he has had to do is show a ‘short form’ certificate of life birth, unsigned by any attending doctors or hospital officials, and that is all.
Some people think that it should be necessary to show more evidence to prove one’s eligibility for the supreme office in the country, and with it, the mantle of leader of the most powerful nation on earth. Others of course disagree. But let’s not go there – let’s leave that for others to thrash out.
However – here’s a question : If we are to require more evidence to confirm the eligibility of a candidate for the office of President, what should that be?
That’s actually an easy question to answer, thanks to our own State Department. They are proposing to amend the form we must complete to get a passport, adding some extra questions. Actually, adding a huge amount of extra questions.
Go have a look at their proposed new form here. Section A seems easy enough, although why do they need to know our social security number?
But, read on. Look at section B, which requires the date and place of birth and citizenship of all related family members, including step parents.
And they’re only getting started. Next is section C, with questions such as where your mother lived a year before you were born. And that’s an easy question in this section – how about dates and details of both pre-natal and post-natal visits? Details of when/where you may or may not have been circumcised!
Now for another memory test. You’re probably familiar with applying for jobs or credit that might ask you to list past addresses and employers, perhaps going back three, five or even ten years. So get ready for section D, E and F – but these require you to list details of every place you have lived at since birth, every school you’ve ever attended, and every job you’ve ever had.
You even have to remember the zip codes – I’ve no idea what you do if you’re sufficiently old as to have had addresses prior to the zip code system being instituted.
And as for your jobs, you also have to remember the name of your supervisor and give a phone number at which he can be contacted!
So let’s see this form first filled out, in its entirety, by our present President, shall we. If it is good enough for the State Department to require us to do this form to get a passport, surely the least he can do is fill out the form, too – indeed, doesn’t he also need a passport?
More details here.