Cure for Hawaii's Tourism Woes

I was troubled to learn that Hawaii has suffered one of the worst winters for tourism in some time and has even appealed to the state's most famous alleged native son — Barack Obama — to help turn its fortunes around.

Hotel occupancy rates in the winter were the lowest in at least five years, and in February — traditionally the state's busiest month — the rate dropped to 75 percent, according to news reports. That was the lowest level since 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, when it fell to 69.7 percent, according to Smith Travel Research.

In a letter to Obama last month, Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle, otherwise known as the protector of the birth certificate, and 95 government leaders, business owners and tourism officials urged the president to block any policies that would limit business travel in the future.

I have an idea about how to bail out Hawaii, and it won't cost taxpayers a dime. Hawaii should locate the hospital in which Obama was born and declare it a historic landmark. Officials should do their best to find any living staffers, who were on duty when Obama was born in that hospital, that might have some recollections about the birth. Make a tourist attraction. Invite the whole mainland to get involved in reliving this historic event. Heck, I would book a flight to Hawaii myself to be a witness.

Of course, all that is necessary for Gov. Lingle to get the process started is for her to open the vault on that elusive birth certificate — you know, the long form document that would show the hospital in which Obama was born, the attending physician and other little details that have mysteriously been classified top secret.

What an opportunity that lucky medical facility will have for some national attention.

And the whole island will benefit from the surge in tourism that follows.

Maybe a tour of Obama's childhood stomping grounds could even be arranged. I understand Hawaii has already moved to designate the apartment complex where the young Obama lived as a national historical landmark.

There's a natural tie-in here. How could they be missing it in Hawaii? Doesn't Gov. Lingle have any imagination?

Why is she begging for handouts from the president? Why doesn't she resort to a little entrepreneurship? In its secret vaults, Hawaii has a piece of paper that is worth a gold mine. All anyone needs to do is, take a peek at that birth certificate and find out where Obama was born.

In fact, think of how Obama can help his native island by simply authorizing Gov. Lingle to make that birth certificate public so his birthplace can be discovered, verified and commemorated by thousands of tourists who might otherwise stay home.

This is a win-win plan. The side benefit of my bailout plan is that Obama can put to rest all the scuttlebutt about whether or not he is a natural born citizen and a legitimate officeholder.

You would think he would want to embarrass all those "birthers" out there, help his native island and see his birthplace commemorated as a national historical landmark. I'm surprised it falls to me to recognize what an opportunity this is for Obama, for Lingle and for Hawaii.

Can you think of any good reason why Obama and Lingle wouldn't want to do this? Can you think of any good reason why Obama's childhood apartment is being registered as a national historical monument but not the hospital in which he was born? Can you think of any good reason why we still have not seen that birth certificate?

Could it be there isn't one?

To find out more about Joseph Farah and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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