Political Opportunity

Barney Frank is a funny guy... or, at least, I'm sure some people find him amusing. In a joking swipe at the controversy around Obama's concerted efforts to ensure that nobody outside of a couple of public officials in Hawaii can actually verify his citizenship (and hence his qualification to serve as president), Frank suggested that the media should verify the citizenship of new House representative Charles Djou. Notwithstanding the fact that citizenship is not required for membership in the House of Representatives, I'm thinking it provides a potential political opportunity.

See, Djou was born in LA, so it would be pretty trivial for him to acquire a certified copy of his actual birth certificate, and post it online or something. You'd have to be careful about the wording, but I'm thinking of a public statement along the lines of:

You see, it's not actually difficult at all for an American-born citizen to acquire and produce for verification one's birth certificate, as I have shown. There is no law requiring this, and several states have laws to shield the information from the public; but I personally see no reason to go to extraordinary lengths to hide by birthplace information, or contest people requesting it for verification, or otherwise fight to obfuscate my background or qualifications. I see no place for that in public service, although that's just my opinion.

Depending on the level of media coverage, it could make for an interesting response to jolly ol' Barney...