White House mum on eligibility demand Congressman's question to president confirmed

Where's The Birth Certificate?" billboard at the Mandalay Bay resort on the Las Vegas Strip

By Bob Unruh
© 2010 WorldNetDaily

The White House has confirmed that a member of Congress formally has requested that President Obama document information regarding his birth and, therefore, his eligibility to occupy the Oval Office.

WND previously reported the letter was sent by Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., and also that neither Deal's office nor the White House was willing to discuss the situation

Now, according to Jim Galloway, who blogs for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, confirmation has come from two sources that the letter was sent and received.

"The White House on Thursday confirmed receipt of a letter from U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal that formally asks Barack Obama to address questions about his place of birth – and thus, whether he is qualified to be president," the report said. "The letter arrived Dec. 10. Beyond that, no one is willing to say much."

Get the must-wear clothing item for 2010! "Where's the birth certificate" T-shirt!

Galloway wrote, "According to my AJC colleague Bob Keefe in Washington, Todd Smith, Deal's chief of staff, likewise confirmed that the letter had been sent. But neither Smith nor his boss would comment on its content."

Smith told the reporters, "[Deal] just did what he said he was going to do. It's not news."

Galloway reported, "Likewise, White House spokeswoman Gannet Tseggai – while acknowledging receipt of Deal's letter, declined to release a copy or discuss its content, saying that the issue of Obama's birth has been addressed repeatedly.

Deal, who is running for governor, said two months ago he would ask Obama to prove his eligibility. At the time, Deal confirmed there was "no reason to think" Obama is not a "legal citizen" but said because of the questions raised, he should answer.

"I have looked at the documentation that is publicly available, and it leaves many things to be desired," Deal said in November, Galloway reported.

A new media initiative by a group of citizen-journalists reported earlier Deal wrote to Obama. According to the Post and Email, "This forever changes the public discourse."

"What does this mean?" the site asks. "This is probably the first time in 233 years of American history that a sitting member of the House of Representatives has officially challenged the legitimacy of a sitting president … one full year into his term.

"Even if the putative president ignores the challenge, he cannot hide from it, because by doing so he admits his guilt through silence. The question has to be asked near and far, why would a president who has promised greater transparency than any previous administration pay upwards of $2,000,000 of taxpayer money to hide documents that could resolve the matter once and for all time for the cost of $20.00. He has publicly admitted on more than one occasion that his father was NOT an American citizen. This alone disqualifies him from eligibility based on Article 2, Section 1, Paragraph 5 of the Constitution, and consequently makes him a usurper," the site said.

Obama's original birth papers have yet to be made available for review, and there are critics who contended he wasn't actually born in Hawaii. Others say that doesn't make any difference, since with a father subject to British rule at the time of his birth, he was at best a dual citizen. The critics contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from designation as a "natural-born citizen," as required by the Constitution.

The "natural-born citizen" issue has been raised in a multitude of lawsuits since before Obama was elected, including some pending at various levels of the judicial system.

Most judges, however, have concluded that U.S. citizens and political candidates simply have no right – or "standing" – to question whether Obama has met the requirements of the Constitution.

But the questions have been exacerbated by other information Obama has chosen not to release.

As WND has reported, other documentation not yet available includes Obama's kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records and his adoption records.

Because of the dearth of information, WND founder Joseph Farah has launched a campaign to raise contributions to post billboards asking a simple question: "Where's the birth certificate?"

The campaign followed a petition that has collected nearly 500,000 signatures demanding proof of his eligibility, along with yard signs and magnetic bumper stickers raising the issue.

The "certification of live birth" posted online and widely touted as "Obama's birth certificate" does not prove he was born in Hawaii, since the same "short-form" document is easily obtainable for children not born in Hawaii. The "long-form" birth certificate – which includes information such as the name of the birth hospital and attending physician – is the only document that can prove Obama was born in Hawaii, but to date he has not permitted its release for public or press scrutiny.

On the Journal-Constitution website forum page, one participant wrote, "Obviously, there are very many people in this country, some in high positions in government, that have doubts about the birthplace of BO. If the White House has nothing to fear, a neutral panel should be appointed and an investigation begun to find out the truth. Frankly, with all the lies he told during his campaign, I have a hard time believing anything that comes out of BO's mouth. And I know, all you BO fanatics who believe he is the second coming will find fault with this suggestion which will lead me to believe that you too are afraid of what might be found by the panel."

Barack Obama Nationality Scandal

Independent News

There have been rumbles of unrest around the world regarding Obama’s nationality since the day he stated he would run for the presidency. Now, after more than a year as president of the USA, the rumbles have turned into a full on eruption.

The Barack Obama nationality scandal is refusing to burn itself out and seems to be gathering even more speed with Congressman Nathan Deal questioning the eligibility of Obama to hold the presidency. This is the first time in history that a serving president has been questioned about eligibility by a member of congress.

Over the last week the internet has been reporting this story with the blogosphere almost going into meltdown over the latest developments yet no mainstream media seem interested in the story that just won’t go away for Obama.

Congressman Deal asked the president to prove that he is legally entitled to hold the presidency electronically on December 1st 2009. This communication was confirmed received by Obama’s staff but has yet to be responded to.

Even though the president has already produced his short-form birth certificate in order to stop these questions, he has spent a large amount of taxpayers money (estimated to be more than two million dollars) ensuring that the long-form certificate is kept from the public – an action that has raised more than a few eyebrows along the way.

Throughout the campaign trail and longer, Obama made promises of the most transparent administration than any other so why the need to hide a simple birth certificate? Many claim that the whole situation is a complete waste of time and distracting but supporters of the question refuse to stop asking more and more questions.

It seems that the original question seems to have caused a stir not just in America but worldwide with thousands of people doing independent research in an attempt to get the facts out. The problem with independent research is that it is hard to verify where the alleged facts came from and when they are traced back its not unusual to find that it stemmed from opinion.

With several birth certificates doing the rounds, many proven as hoaxes, the ‘official’ birth certificate in the Obama nationality scandal seems to prove that the president was in fact a British Subject at birth. On the website dedicated to protecting Obama from smears, Fight The Smears, there is an electronic copy of the birth certificate showing that Obama was born a British Subject. This in itself has been the cause for much speculation on how, why and when nationality was transferred.

Obama’s nationality scandal doesn’t seem to be going anywhere at the moment and even the secret service seem to be taking an interest in anyone questioning Obama’s nationality with visits being made for security reasons. Reported last week at Mother Jones, more and more people who have raised issue are being visited by the secret service and being left feeling very intimidated.

No matter what side of the fence you sit on this scandal seems set to stay around for a long time to come

Note: Is it any wonder that Americans doubt Obama's nationality, when he and Mrs. Obama cannot even salute the flag appropriately?


When you've never said the Pledge of Allegiance before, you don't know what to do without a TelePrompter. Is their hand over their heart...??!!

Four Supreme Court Cases Define "Natural Born Citizen"

THE OBAMA FILE

Latest OBAMANations -- Day 357

The Post & Email has in several articles mentioned that the Supreme Court of the United States has given the definition of what a "natural born citizen" is. Since being a natural born citizen is an objective qualification and requirement of office for the U.S. President, it is important for all U.S. Citizens to understand what this term means.

Let’s cut through all the opinion and speculation, all the "he says," "she says," fluff, and go right to the irrefutable, constitutional authority on all terms and phrases mentioned in the U.S. Constitution: the Supreme Court of the United States.

First, let me note that there are 4 such cases which speak of the notion of "natural born citizenship":

The Venus, 12 U.S. 8 Cranch 253 253 (1814)

"The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives or indigenes are those born in the country of parents who are citizens. Society not being able to subsist and to perpetuate itself but by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights.

"The inhabitants, as distinguished from citizens, are strangers who are permitted to settle and stay in the country. Bound by their residence to the society, they are subject to the laws of the state while they reside there, and they are obliged to defend it…

Shanks v. Dupont, 28 U.S. 3 Pet. 242 242 (1830)

Ann Scott was born in South Carolina before the American revolution, and her father adhered to the American cause and remained and was at his death a citizen of South Carolina. There is no dispute that his daughter Ann, at the time of the Revolution and afterwards, remained in South Carolina until December, 1782. Whether she was of age during this time does not appear. If she was, then her birth and residence might be deemed to constitute her by election a citizen of South Carolina. If she was not of age, then she might well be deemed under the circumstances of this case to hold the citizenship of her father, for children born in a country, continuing while under age in the family of the father, partake of his national character as a citizen of that country. Her citizenship, then, being prima facie established, and indeed this is admitted in the pleadings, has it ever been lost, or was it lost before the death of her father, so that the estate in question was, upon the descent cast, incapable of vesting in her? Upon the facts stated, it appears to us that it was not lost and that she was capable of taking it at the time of the descent cast.

Minor v. Happersett , 88 U.S. 162 (1875)

The Constitution does not in words say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners. Some authorities go further and include as citizens children born within the jurisdiction without reference to the citizenship of their parents.

United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898)

At common law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children, born in a country of parents who were its citizens, became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners.

I'd like to add to these, Perkins v. Elg, the importance of which is that it actually gives examples of what a "natural born citizen" of the U.S. is; what a "citizen" of the U.S. is; and what a "native born citizen" of the U. S. is.

In this case, the U. S. Supreme Court found that a "natural born citizen" is a person who is born of two U.S. citizen parents AND born in the mainland of U.S.

Finally it should be noted, that to define a term is to indicate the category or class of things which it signifies. In this sense, the Supreme Court of the United States has never applied the term "natural born citizen" to any other category than "those born in the country of parents who are citizens thereof."

Hence every U.S. Citizen must accept this definition or categorical designation, and fulfill his constitutional duties accordingly. No member of Congress, no judge of the Federal Judiciary, no elected or appointed official in Federal or State government has the right to use any other definition; and if he does, he is acting unlawfully.

This chart http://theobamafile.com/ObamaNaturalBorn.htm#TheChart clearly demonstrates the requirements for each class of American citizenship.

Note: Beesting added the political humor picture of Obama.

On "Birthers," Heed "Radio Patriot," Not Glenn Beck

On "Birthers," Heed "Radio Patriot," Not Glenn Beck

The logical conclusion is that there is SOMETHING on the document that Obama does not want to share with the American people. Even the Beckster should realize that!

Glenn Beck is an Obama critic, but he's not a "birther" and ridicules "birthers" as the dumbest of the dumb and even helpful to Obama. "Radio Patriot" Andrea Shea King, a "birther," knows better.

World Net Daily's Drew Zahn, "Glenn Beck on birther issue: 'Dumbest thing I've ever heard'" (January 4, 2009) (http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=120992):

"On the air today, popular radio host Glenn Beck mocked 'birthers' and claimed there is a concerted campaign to get those questioning Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility onto the airwaves – a strategy Beck said would actually benefit Obama.

"'There's always games being played behind the scenes at a talk radio show,' Beck said. 'Rush has always called them seminar callers. But instead of being coy with the seminar callers or with you, I'm just going to expose the game that is going on. Today there is a concerted effort on all radio stations to get birthers on the air.'

"'I have to tell you, are you working for the Barack Obama administration?' Beck scoffed. 'I mean, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.'"

It's Beck's scoffing that's dumb.

This morning on "Fox & Friends" there was a report that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt really died of a brain tumor, not a stroke, and his brain tumor was concealed for political purposes.

What strikes some (or even most) as unbelievable (or "dumb") may be true.

Beck calls radical Obamaton and ACORN 8 leader his "Rosa Parks," so his own capacity for "dumbness" is not in doubt.

Beck just proved that again this year by joining the big dog at Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, in mocking the "birthers."

I don't know where Obama was born, but I believe that "birthers" are right to respect the United States Constitution and demand proof that Obama is eligible to be President and the burden of proof on that issue belongs on Obama.

In 2008 John McCain quickly produced his birth certificate, but Obama still has not done so.

Obama's refusal to produce his birth certificate is NOT proof that he was born in Kenya, but it IS a strong sign that he's hiding SOMETHING.

Zahn:

"The ongoing dialogue then spun off into ridicule as Beck caricatured those who question the sitting president's eligibility with straw-man arguments reminiscent of jibes made by Obama's apologists in other news outlets.

"Beck defined birthers as people who believe Obama was born in Kenya or other foreign country, was raised as a Manchurian candidate and somehow brainwashed Hillary Clinton into not exposing his fraud. According to Beck's running joke, birthers believe someone – maybe Obama's KGB 'control' – preemptively placed Obama's birth announcement in 1961 Hawaiian newspapers with a 'roadmap' of getting an African man into office.

"As for Obama producing a long-form birth certificate to actually prove his place of birth, Beck questioned, 'Why do that when these people ["birthers"] are so discrediting themselves?'"

But, as Zahn put it: "The 'certification of live birth' posted online and widely touted as 'Obama's birth certificate' does not in any way prove he was born in Hawaii, since the same 'short-form' document is easily obtainable for children not born in Hawaii. The true 'long-form" birth certificate – which includes information such as the name of the birth hospital and attending physician – is the only document that can prove Obama was born in Hawaii, but to date he has not permitted its release for public or press scrutiny."

Scrutiny of Obama (in sharp contrast to Sarah Palin) is something that the liberal media establishment avoided and Fox News did not do nearly well enough.

Perhaps Beck and O'Reilly mock the "birthers" because they too would be embarrassed if the true "long form" birth certificate were made public and contained any significant information that would bear on either Obama's eligibility or suitability to be President of the United States. (It was not until long after Obama was inaugurated that those two Fox News hosts focused on The New York Times killing an Obama/ACORN expose on October 21, 2008, even though I reported it on the Internet the next day.)

Zahn:

"The radio host further argued that by distracting the public from actionable issues, 'birthers' have become 'a dream come true' for Obama, an ideal situation akin to the fantasies of adolescent boys after Hollywood bombshells.

"'Barack Obama looks at the birthers as Megan Fox,' Beck said, referring to the star and sex symbol of the popular 'Transformers' films."

Message to Beck: As a faithful student of community organizer Saul Alinsky, Obama has followed his rules for radicals. Like a faithful Alinskyite, you too ridicule the "birthers." But ridicule is not a substitute for Obama's original birth certificate.

Zahn rightly rebutted Beck:

"'Birthers'...reflect a far greater diversity of opinion than is assumed by Beck's characterization. For example, while the term has been applied to anyone questioning Obama's eligibility to serve as president under the Constitution's 'natural born citizen' clause, many 'birthers' don't doubt Obama's Hawaiian birth, but instead take issue with his father's foreign citizenship.

"While other top radio hosts, including Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage, Mark Levin and Lou Dobbs, have all said unequivocally and publicly that the Obama eligibility issue is legitimate and worthy, a few – including Beck and fellow Fox TV host Bill O'Reilly – have taken the position that the issue is, in O'Reilly's words, 'bogus.' Both Beck and O'Reilly cite the contemporaneous appearance of birth announcements in two Honolulu newspapers as prima facie evidence Obama was born in Hawaii and 'birthers' are conspiracy nuts.

"However, what neither talk host realizes is that newspaper birth announcements are not placed by parents phoning their local paper with the good news that they had a child. Rather, as WND has reported based on interviews with the two Hawaii papers involved, the Obama newspaper birth announcements stemmed from information automatically sent to the papers by Hawaii's Department of Health upon the state's issuance of a 'Certification of Live Birth,' which, as WND has also reported, is considered insufficient on its own to positively document the president's birthplace.

"Many people remain unaware that a child does not even have to be born in Hawaii to receive a 'Certification of Live Birth – that's the 'short form' that provides no hospital name, delivering physician or any of the other information that traditionally appears on a legitimate birth certificate. And yet the 'short form' COLB is the one and only piece of evidence the White House has cited in defending its assertion Obama was born in Hawaii.

"Hawaiian law specifically allows 'an adult or the legal parents of a minor child' to apply to the health department and, upon unspecified proof, be given the birth document.

"The only requirement for proof cited in the law doesn't address the birth of the child either, just 'that the legal parents of such individual while living without Territory or State of Hawaii had declared the Territory or State of Hawaii as their legal residence for at least one year immediately preceding the birth or adoption of such child.'

"Demand the truth by joining the petition campaign to make President Obama reveal his long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate!

"And since Obama's long-form birth certificate remains locked away from public view and sealed by privacy laws, no brainwashing device – such as Beck alluded to in his program – would be necessary to keep Hillary Clinton from discovering the contents of Obama's original birth certificate."

The logical conclusion is that there is SOMETHING in the document that Obama does not want to share with the American people.

Even the Beckster should realize that!

Zahn pointed out that concealment is the Obama way.

Zahn:

"Obama's birth papers...aren't the only piece of the sitting president's past that Obama has refused to reveal.

"As WND has reported, other documentation not yet available includes Obama's kindergarten records, Punahou school records, Occidental College records, Columbia University records, Columbia thesis, Harvard Law School records, Harvard Law Review articles, scholarly articles from the University of Chicago, passport, medical records, files from his years as an Illinois state senator, his Illinois State Bar Association records, any baptism records and his adoption records."

Who really thinks there's nothing there that might reasonably influence voters if known?

Beck, who last year publicly stated that Obama is racist, now wants to challenge Obama only on his policies and actions.

Beck: "Why don't we go after the things that are provable, after the things that actually you need to stop right now? And if you want to argue, then let's argue based in fact, based on things that are provable and true. And what do you say? Do you want to argue the Constitution? Good. Let's show the number of people in Congress and in the Senate that don't even read the Constitution – can't tell you right now if healthcare is even in the Constitution. Let's talk to the scholars. Let's talk to the average Joe that understands this isn't in the Constitution. Let's argue the Constitution on the laws and the systems that they are building today. Instead of arguing the Constitution and whether or not he was born in America, why don't we argue the constitutionality of a little known thing called czars and the power that these people have?"

Message to Beck:

First, most Obama/ACORN critics can multitask!

Second, we need to expose the truth about the Obama/ACORN relationship that helps explain why Obama appointed all those "czars."

Third, Marcel Reid is an ardent Obama supporter with personal and radical political agendas and not a "Rosa Parks.

"Radio Patriot" Andrea Shea King surely is disappointed with the Beckster ridiculing "birthers."

"Radio Patriot," in "The Lamestream Media Is Chewing Towels" (December 4, 2009) (http://radiopatriot.wordpress.com/2009/12/04/the-lamestream-media-is-chewing-towels/):

"What toute la monde is chewing dishtowels about this morning ranges from 'Sarah’s a birther!' to 'It’s a reasonable question'. But it’s one that the mainstream media won’t — can’t — touch with a ten foot pole.

"As my show producer Dave said, they’re in quandary — “They can’t take this opportunity to smash Palin once again for fear of reporting on the birth certificate story. They’ve got the club in their hand but they can’t use it.”

"Pinch is half insane this morning. If Palin had come out and said ‘I believe in flying saucers’, they’d report that in a hot second, but they can’t touch this — you know they’re banging their heads on the edge of their desks. They can’t write this story — cannot take this opportunity to smash Palin. This birth certificate/eligibility issue is a no-fly zone.

"And they like to paint her as stupid? I’m laughing out loud. Dumb like a fox. She’s placed this issue squarely on the front page of controversy. Where it needs to be."

"Radio Patriot" related:

"Anyone who has read my blogs or tuned in to my radio program knows I’ve been asking ‘who the heck is Barack Hussein Obama‘ ever since he first appeared on the national radar screen. And here’s why:

"What we DO know about BHO:

His childhood mentor was Frank Davis Marshall, who spied on U.S. military installations in Hawaii for the Soviet Union; edited a communist newspaper; authored pronographic novels; and wrote poetry in praise of Joseph Stalin. BHO was mentored by and is still supported by radical Muslims. BHO promised t[r]ansparency in government, but has spent over a million dollars in legal fees hiding information that would determine his Constitutional eligibility to be President. He is a former drug user. BHO’s academic records are sealed from kindergarten through law school. He was deserted in childhood by his supposed biological father. He has produced no legitimate birth certificate which would indicate his place of birth, the attending physician, and any other pertinent information found on your or my birth certificate. He is a president who refused to intercept or inspect a North Korean ship virtually certain to be carrying weapons of mass destruction to Burma. A president who wants to cancel all missile defense while rogue nations are developing long-range ballistic missiles. An American president who blames the violence in Mexico on America. A Commander in Chief who claims to have been unaware that Air Force One was taken on a terrifying, low-level 'photo-op' over Manhattan. And do we really know who was on-board that aircraft during the flyover joyride? A president who berates American CEOs for flying in private planes at private expense on company business, but whose wife spends hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars flying to Paris for a shopping spree. A president who promised a transparent administration but requires all questions be screened before impromptu appearances. A man who freely admits his energy policies are designed to bankrupt the American coal industry. A president who has presided over the loss of 14.7 + million jobs and whose energy policy will cause the loss of another million jobs. A president whose energy policy will increase the average American utility bills by over $2,000 a year, in the middle of the Great Recession. A man about whom liberal journalist Tom Brokaw said, 'There’s a lot about him we don’t know'… just one week before the election. "But someone knows who he is. Someone paid for his travel expenses to Pakistan and Indonesia. Someone engineered legal challenges to all of his election opponents for the State Senate and had them disqualified. Someone straightened and leveled his path to the U.S. Senate when a Democrat Judge made public the child custody records of his Republican opponent. When he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate, someone arranged for him to speak at the 2004 Democratic National Convention Someone saw to it that all of his records were sealed, at home and abroad Someone assembled the massive organization for his run for Presidency "Someone knows all about him. And it for sure isn’t us. "But we’re disparaged as 'Birthers' by hypocrites who 'won’t go there', yet still ask why it is we know so little about Obama; Conspiracy Freaks by those who are simply ignorant of the facts; and 'Trolls”' by self-appointed 'betters' simply for asking." Michael J. Gaynor Send email feedback to Michael J. Gaynor Biography - Michael J. Gaynor Michael J. Gaynor, born in New York in 1949, has been practicing law in New York for more than thirty years. A member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, he is now a solo practitioner and admitted to practice in the New York State courts, the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In 1969 Gaynor graduated magna cum laude, with Honors in Social Science, from Hofstra University's innovative New College, then a three-year program supported by the Ford Foundation. In 1972 Gaynor received his doctorate of jurisprudence degree from St. John's University School of Law. There he was in the top 10% of his class. He won the American Jurisprudence Award in Evidence and served as an editor of the Law Review and the St. Thomas More Institute for Legal Research. He wrote an article on the Pentagon Papers case for the Law Review and two articles on obscenity law for The Catholic Lawyer, in addition to overseeing the Law Review's commentary on significant developments in New York law, then called "The Quarterly Survey of New York Practice." The day after graduating from St. John's Law School, Gaynor joined Fulton, Walter & Duncombe, a Manhattan law firm with offices at Rockefeller Center. Gaynor worked with that firm, first as an associate and then as a partner, through 1996. He engaged in general practice, involving corporate law, federal and state litigation, mergers and acquisitions, trusts and estates law, tax law, and other areas of law, on behalf of the firm's clients, including International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., Carvel Corporation, Tenneco Inc., UniWorld Group, Inc., and Palisades Geophysical Institute, Inc., as well as substantial charitable organizations, other corporations and individuals. In 1997 Gaynor and Emily Bass formed the law firm of Gaynor & Bass. For more than five years, Gaynor & Bass conducted a general legal practice, emphasizing litigation, and represented corporations, individuals and a New York City labor union. Notably, Gaynor & Bass prevailed upon appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in a seminal copyright infringement case, Tasini v. New York Times, against newspaper and magazine publishers and Lexis-Nexis. The United States Supreme Court affirmed, 7 to 2, holding that the copyrights of freelance writers had been infringed when their work was put online without permission or compensation. Bass, as a solo practioner, had filed the case on behalf of a group of freelance writers, and the United States District Court had granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on liability. He is a regular columnist at www.MichNews.com, www.renewamerica.us, www.webcommentary.com and www.postchronicle.comand has contributed to www.catholiconline.com, www.capitolhillcoffeehouse.com, www.yourcatholicvoice.com, www.intellectualconservative.com, www.starrjournal.com, www.therant.us, www.peoplepolitical.com and www.salon.com. In 2005, Gaynor appeared as a guest on "Your World With Cavuto" (FOX Cable) to promote the eBay boycott that he initiated (see www.boycottebay.org/reports.html) and "The World Over With Raymond Arroyo" (EWTN) to discuss the legal implications of the tragic Terri Schiavo case. He can be reached at GaynorMike@aol.com Read other commentaries by Michael J. Gaynor. Copyright © 2010 by Michael J. Gaynor All Rights Reserved.