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| Home Front: Politix |
| Citizen McCain |
| 2008-02-28 |
| Hit piece #2 from the NYT WASHINGTON — The question has nagged at the parents of Americans born outside the continental United States for generations: Dare their children aspire to grow up and become president? In the case of Senator John McCain of Arizona, the issue is becoming more than a matter of parental daydreaming. Mr. McCain’s likely nomination as the Republican candidate for president and the happenstance of his birth in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 are reviving a musty debate that has surfaced periodically since the founders first set quill to parchment and declared that only a “natural-born citizen” can hold the nation’s highest office. More at link Wouldn't it be ironic for a first generation American descendant of Kenya's Nilotic tribe to meet the constitutional requirements for president while the son of a US Naval officer and his American wife posted in the Canal Zone would not qualify. |
| Posted by:GK |
| #7 Aren't all these people the friends McCain thought were more important than the relatively small conservative subset within the Republican party? I wonder how many of these stories are going to run before McCain figures out these guys weren't worth it? |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-02-28 17:34 |
| #6 #5. Or we could just anoint Hillary Queen-for-life and solve all the problems.:) |
| Posted by: GK 2008-02-28 12:13 |
| #5 Obama and Omama are muzzies and communists. McCain is a Panamanian. Ok, lets throw them all out and start all over !!!!! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-02-28 10:41 |
| #4 After further reading on the matter(H/T Lucianne), I found this at Sweetness and Light: As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps. Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are “citizens of the United States at birth:” Anyone born inside the United States Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person’s status as a citizen of the tribe Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S. Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21 Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time) A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S. Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example. S&L concluded with four good questions: Why did the New York Times even bring up the question? Are they really that uninformed? That lazy? Or are they desperately trying to change the subject? |
| Posted by: GK 2008-02-28 10:40 |
| #3 Plain and simple - its another partisan snipe by the NYT to instill Fear Uncertainty and Doubt about McCain in the mind of the public, and to aid the Democrats. The NYT has become an organ of the Democratic party - I'll leave it up to you to determine which organ. And thus they should should now be subject to campaign finance reform laws that limit political speech (the very laws they backed). |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-02-28 10:33 |
| #2 Reason would seem to dictate; but reason often takes a holiday in Washington. McCain's father was in the service of his country. His father had little to say about where duty to his country would take him. Someone is just stirring up trouble in raising the question. What if you were born in another country because your father or mother was in the diplomatic corp? Or your parents were simply traveling to another country and you are born in that foreign country. I don't think this issue will pass the smell test if it ever hits the courts. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-02-28 09:55 |
| #1 I believe the term 'natural born' will be found to mean any citizen who does not have to be 'naturalized' in order to be a citizen. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-02-28 07:42 |