Trump Offers $5 Million Charitable Donation In Exchange For Release Of Obama's College And Passport Records

Donald Trump promised a bombshell announcement today that could change the course of this year's presidential election. Instead, we got this video message from Trump offering to pay $5 million to the charity of President Barack Obama's choice if he releases his college applications and transcripts and his passport records by October 31. Oh, I see, we're going to have to wait another week to find out what Trump promised that he was going to disclose today at noon. Why am I not surprised? After all, he's kicking off another season of "The Apprentice" and we all know how much those ratings mean to him. Clearly, Trump is suggesting the bombshell information to which he has alluded is contained within those records, none of which is news to folks who have followed this blog. We're assuming that he is alluding to previous rumors that have circulated that Obama used an Indonesian passport and citizenship while attending schools in the United States after his mother returned him to the care of his grandparents in Hawaii when he was still a boy. Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother as a young child after she married an Indonesian citizen, Lolo Soetoro. According to Obama's school records from Indonesia, Soetoro was identified as his adopted father and his citizenship was listed as Indonesian. The media four years ago decided it didn't matter that Obama had acquired citizenship in another country, and our courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, have all indicated that it does not disqualify him from serving as president. I have my own thoughts about what it means to be a natural born citizen, but until the Supreme Court decides to take the issue seriously, we're just pissing in the wind. Meanwhile, Trump will probably make an extra $5 million just by talking about an issue some of us have talked about for years without any compensation or fanfare--just as a matter of civic virtue. This is not "Let's Make A Deal," Mr. Trump. It's about something far more important than the dollar signs flashing in your eyes and your personal vanity.