Columbo's "Excuse Me Mr. Obama"-Truth! Fiction! & Satire!

Columbo's "Excuse Me Mr. Obama"-Truth! Fiction! & Satire!

Summary of the eRumor:
A message that is packaged in the form of television detective Lieutenant Colombo raising questions about the documentation of aspects of the life of presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama.

The Truth:
An internet author going by the nom du plume of "Uppity Woman" told TruthorFiction.com that she is the author of an article called "Ah…Sorry To Bother You Mr. Obama, Sir." The original version was posted on her blog site as satire during the month of August 2008. Various versions with added lines were forwarded on the internet during the months leading toward the November 2008 election. Click here for Uppity Woman page.

There isn't any dispute that Barack Obama served in the Illinois legislature, attended schools like Occidental or Harvard, or that he was born or baptized, but during the 2008 presidential primary season there were questions that came up about the release of some of the actual records about his life, although not as many as this eRumor alleges.

This forwarded email focuses on those issues but humorously presents them in the manner of the famous television character Lt. Colombo, played by actor Peter Falk. The Colombo character was a brilliant detective but was known for his frumpy and mild-mannered style of asking a series of questions that incriminated suspects before they realized where the questions were headed.

Just for the record, and in case anyone suspected it, Peter Falk had nothing to do with this forwarded email and told TruthOrFiction.com that he was" irked that his Colombo character has been used to disseminate false innuendo about Barack Obama."

Let's take the issues raised in the eRumor one at a time:

Your Occidental College records
Obama did graduate from Occidental College. We're not aware of any controversy about a release of his college records.

Your Columbia Thesis paper
There have been questions raised about why there seems to be little said about his Columbia years. According to an MSNBC report dated July 24, 2008 Obama could not provide any copies of the twenty five year old paper he wrote while a senior at Columbia University.

Your Harvard College records
We are not aware of any controversy over this but according to a Harvard Law School Alumni Association Obama did graduate from the Law School.

Your Selective Service Registration
We are not aware of any controversy over this.

Your medical records
There was no concern about Senator Obama's health but there was a controversy over Senator John McCain's medical Records owing to health concerns from a recent treatment for skin cancer, his age and wounds received in Viet Nam. According to a May 22, 2008 CNN report, Senator John McCain allowed select members of the press to review over 1100 pages of his medical records and turned in a clean bill of health.

The Los Angeles Times reported on May 30, 2008 that the Democratic Campaign released a doctor's letter that Barack Obama was in "in excellent health". The letter by his longtime physician stated that although the Senator had not had a physical for sixteen months he was physically ready to serve as president. The report did mention that he was struggling to quit smoking tobacco.

Presidents with health problems have held office in the past. Franklin Delano Roosevelt sat in office for three presidential terms and saw this country through most of the second world war. FDR suffered from polio and was restricted to a wheelchair which was hidden from the press.

Since the 1940's, John F. Kennedy suffered from terrible back pain. In 1954 Kennedy's back pain increase to where he was dependent on crutches. At that time he was a US Senator when doctors discovered that his fifth lumbar vertebra had collapsed. He under went spinal reconstructive surgery but slipped into a coma owing to a related urinary tract infection. The Senator eventually recovered, went on to be the 35th President of the United States but lived with back pain for the rest of his life.

Your Illinois State Senate records and schedule
Senator Obama's records are public on his website along with his voting record.

Your Law practice client list
We are not aware of any controversy over this. On April 6, 2008 the Los Angeles Times ran a story describing the Senator's early legal career. Click here for the LA Times Story.

A Certified Copy of your original Birth certificate and embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth
Much controversy has been raised if Barack Obama really is a natural born American. Click here for our findings.

Your Harvard Law Review articles
We are not aware of any controversy over this. Obama was the first African American President of the Harvard Law Review where he participated as an editor and one unsigned article has been attributed to him on the topic of abortion.

Your University of Chicago scholarly articles
Obama lectured at the Univeristy of Chicago from 1992 until 2004 when he became a Senator but we are not aware of any controversy about articles or any that were written.

Your Record of baptism

Although many questions have been raised about Obama's Muslim heritage there have been no demands for proof of a record of baptism that we know of.

Click here for more findings on Obama's Christianity.

updated 6/05/09

A real example of the eRumor as it has appeared on the Internet:

Excuse me Mr. Obama, I mean Senator Obama, sir. Um . . . know you are busy and important and stuff. I mean running for president is very important and . . . ah . . . I hate to bother you. I will only take a minute ok, sir?

See, I have these missing pieces that are holding me up, and I was wondering sir, if you could take time out of your busy schedule and help me out. You know, no big deal, just some loose ends and things.

Well, listen, anyways, I can 't seem to get the information I need to wrap this up.

These things seem to either be locked up or not available. They should be available as part of the public record given the high office you are seeking to win, Sir. I' m sure it's just some oversight or glitch or something, so if you could you tell me where these things are..
Could you help me please find these things, sir?
Let's see here....Ah, Yes, Sir It's just a short list....Shouldn't take too long if we could just get together, Sir......AllI need is :

Your Occidental College records
Your Columbia College records
Your Columbia Thesis paper
Your Harvard College records
Your Selective Service Registration
Your medical records
Your Illinois State Senate records
Your Illinois State Senate schedule
Your Law practice client list
A Certified Copy of your original Birth certificate
Your embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth
Your Harvard Law Review articles that were published
Your University of Chicago scholarly articles
Your Record of baptism

Oh hey... listen, Sir ! I know you are VERY busy! Is this too much for you now? I mean,...I tell you what. I will come back tomorrow. Give you some time to get these things together, you know? I mean, I know you are busy, so I will just let myself out......But I will be back tomorrow. And the day after...........

Who wants to know these things ask Senator Obama? Columbo answered:

THE PEOPLE