Leave it to the free press!

No less than Mike Huckabee says he's not worried about Barack Obama's eligibility for office because the news media would properly vet any candidate for president.

That's a shocking statement by a former candidate for president.

Does he really think the press is that good – and that unbiased?

Not only did the press ignore all questions about Obama's eligibility throughout the 2008 campaign, but they have systematically ridiculed the idea that any questions remain – even to the point of lying.

Take, for example, this recent dispatch from the Associated Press, the largest news-gathering organization in the world.

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It's dated Tuesday, March 8, and bylined by Norma Love: "CONCORD, N.H. – Presidential candidates who want to be on New Hampshire's primary ballot next year may have to produce a birth certificate under a proposal being brought before a state House committee."

So far, so good. But it goes downhill from there.

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"Election Law Chairman David Bates said his committee will consider a bill Wednesday to require candidates to provide a birth certificate and affidavit swearing they are at least 35 years old and have lived in the United States for 14 years, as called for in the U.S. Constitution to qualify for the presidency," the story continues, without ever mentioning the most important eligibility requirement for a president – that he or she must be a "natural born citizen."

The story continues: "'They need to produce a certified copy of the long form of their birth certificate and an affidavit swearing to residency,' the Windham Republican said Tuesday."

Residency? The only residency requirement for president is that he or she must live in the United States.

The story continues: "Obama critics have raised questions about whether he was born in the United States. At least 10 states have proposed legislation seeking more proof before his name is placed on the 2012 presidential election ballot. Obama was born in Hawaii. But even though Hawaii officials have repeatedly confirmed his citizenship, his birth certificate has been made public and courts have rebuffed challenges, the issue has not gone away."

Now let me remind you, this is a "news story" from the "largest news-gathering organization in the world" – one that supplies most of the news you see in your local newspaper and on many websites.

Let me count the lies in this one paragraph:

1. The questions raised about Obama's eligibility do not all hinge on whether or not he was born in the United States. The questions surround an issue conspicuously never mentioned by in this report – the constitutional requirement of "natural born citizenship," which is a far stickier matter for Obama than where he was born.
2. Actually, 13 states have proposed legislation involving eligibility tests to get on presidential ballots, but they don't require "more proof." They require "some proof." No proof of Obama's eligibility was ever offered or asked for in the 2008 campaign.
3. The reporter states unequivocally, as fact, that "Obama was born in Hawaii." Yet that is hardly an established fact. That is merely an assertion on his part, unsupported by any meaningful documentation.
4. The reporter states that Hawaii officials "have repeatedly confirmed his citizenship." But, again, citizenship has neither been proven with documentation not is it the question that needs to be answered to establish constitutional eligibility. "Natural born citizenship" is another matter entirely.
5. We're told his "birth certificate has been made public and courts have rebuffed challenges." Let me state this as absolute fact: Barack Obama's birth certificate has never been made public by anyone. That's why this issue continues to haunt him. That's why 13 states have legislation pending.

What kind of reporting is this?

Is this the kind that satisfied Huckabee?

It gets worse.

Last week, an NPR official was caught on tape suggesting there are real questions about Obama's eligibility but asserting that the state-sponsored radio network refused to cover them – any more than they would cover any scientific doubts about the established fact of "global warming."

What's Huckabee's problem? His problem is he buys into what the press feeds him.