Now I have said time and again that I believe that Barack Obama was born in the United States and is a natural born citizen. I believe that today, and have yet to see even a scrap of evidence to convince me otherwise. However, this situation in the state of Missouri raises an interesting question -- one that cries out for some further clarification -- because of the apparent racial/partisan double standard being applied by a Democrat election official.

Hector Maldonado is a naturalized American citizen born in Mexico. he is a US Army veteran. He is running for the GOP Senate nomination in Missouri, where he trails Congressman Roy Blunt by a wide margin. But Maldonado raised an issue recently that needs to be brought to light much more fully in the national media. It involves a letter he received from the Missouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan, pursuant to his filing as a candidate for office.

MALDONALDO: [Secretary of State Robin Carnahan] sent me a letter, and I ignored, it said, you have to prove you’re a citizen. I ignored it. You know, Obama got away with it, so I figured I could get away with it too. … I brought all this documentation…and I asked, is that a public record, now? … And they said, oh yes, absolutely, anyone who wants proof, we have it. I said, okay, can you do me a favor then, I’m sure Ms. Carnahan requested the same of Barack Obama when he petitioned to get on the Missiouri’s ballot to become president. They had no response, nothing.

I was going to picket when Mr. Obama coming into town to raise money for Ms. Carnahan. And I was going to…put up a big sign, telepromter, ‘read here Mr. Obama, Ms. Carnahan, where’s his proof of U.S. citizenship?‘ But I decided something different. I’m actually considering suing Ms. Robin Carnahan, because she discriminated against me. And she actually has said her job is to protect Missouri against fraud and corruption, but the fraud that she created is if she did not make Mr. Obama show proof of citizenship when he petitioned to get on the Missouri ballot. So therefore, the votes that he got from Missouri…should be taken back. And hopefully, other states do the same thing and sue Ms. Carnahan and their other secretaries of states, and sooner or later he’s going to have to prove, based on our demand, that he is in fact a U.S. born citizen.

Now let's consider this for just a minute. The Secretary of State in Missouri is requiring proof of citizenship from candidates for federal office. The documents filed to prove citizenship are a public record. And yet there is on file in Missouri NO PROOF OF US CITZENSHIP for Barack Obama. We know this because Hector Maldonado made a request for such proof when he filed his own proof of citizenship as per Secretary Carnahan's official demand that he prove his citizenship or be removed from the Missouri ballot.

This leads to some questions:

1. On what legal authority is Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan demanding proof of citizenship from candidates for federal office seeking ballot access in Missouri?
   
2. Did Carnahan make such a demand of Barack Obama prior to allowing him on the ballot in 2008?
   
3. Was documentary evidence produced by Barack Obama proving his citizenship? What form did that evidence take?
   
4. If no documentary evidence was produced, why was Barack Obama permitted to be a candidate on the ballot in the 2008 Democrat primary and the 2008 general election in Missouri?
   
5. If such evidence was produced, why was it not made available to Hector Maldonado as a public record when it was requested?
   
6. If no request for proof of citizenship was made of Barack Obama, why was a request for such proof made of Hector Maldonado? Is the reason his party affiliation? Or is the reason racial/ethnic profiling against a Hispanic?
   
7. If there is a requirement in Missouri that a candidate for federal office tender proof of citizenship and Obama did not do so, were votes cast for him legally invalid?

Those are not "Birther" questions, contrary to claims by at least one left-wing website. They are "Equal Protection of the Law" questions. After all, we have two candidates for federal office being treated differently by the same public official acting under color of law. We need an explanation for that disparate treatment in order to determine whether or not the US Constitution, Missouri Constitution, and US and Missouri law are being violated by Robin Carnahan and her office.

By the way -- Robin Carnahan is running for the Democrat nomination for the same US Senate seat being sought by Maldonado. Guess who was in Kansas City helping her raise money for her campaign yesterday. Yeah, that's right -- Barack Obama. Just saying.