John McCain was born August 29, 1936 in the Panama Canal Zone, to two U.S. citizens. It’s a common misunderstanding that the zone was a U.S. territory - in fact, the U.S. had lease rights, but not territorial rights.
The US Constitution states, “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.”
I suppose by now, you've got to be thinking, "Is this a bunch of nonsense Ron Paul Supporters are putting out just to get John McCain kicked out?"
Yes, that is the intention. If John McCain is out, Ron Paul will be the only standing candidate left in the Republican Party. However, it is also about the constitution. Would the US Government choose to follow the constitution, or would they just bend the rules and let him be president?
The constitution was not written in a time when the US had so many military bases and embassies in so many countries. So, you could argue that it isn't applicable here.
However,
The status of the U. S. Navy Hospital in the Panama
Canal Zone is described by the U. S. Department of State in its Foreign Affairs Manual (7FAM1116.1-4(c)):
“Despite widespread popular belief, U. S. military installations abroad and U. S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14^th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a
facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U. S. citizenship by reason of birth.”
So, the law says that...but will the government officials, who swore to defend the constitution when they took the oath to office, do what they promised the American People?
Let's hope so.
6 comments:
Time to tell Prakash that his "conservative" candidate is unelectable.
LOL!
Personally, I don't think the dispute in the interpretation of the "natural born" citizen is anything new.
Hey, if they really need to, they can just make another amendment.
If the law prevents proper (albeit foreign born) citizens running for a public office, then the law is unfair.
Remember, (as far as I know) the constitution was not written to prevent McCain from running, but to prevent those unfaithful to the country to run for Presidency.
But now, society is much different from what it was when the constitution was written, and when something is unfair, it should be amended.
I mean, if the birthplace of Ron Paul and McCain was switched, you would have argued otherwise (anyway).
I'd love to see how you define the term proper.
If you don't like the law, just go change it. It would probably be proven right. But changing the constitution is not easy.
What need is there, to have a naturalized citizen be a president? The country doesn't need John McCain. He does not represent any individual's views of his own, only of his corporate friends.
He is not the first naturalized citizen to run for presidency. But no naturalized citizen has ever been president, so the problem has never been raised.
Yes, I would have argued otherwise. But Ron Paul does care about and RESPECT the constitution and would not have ran for president in the first place.
Or at least he would change the rules with reasons based on liberty and fairness.
Aw right, I'll stop complaining.
Maybe there should be a referendum to decide.
One thing is certain.
He cannot become a president, because of what the Founders dictated on the US Constitution.
He can change it, but this will probably be seen as "bending the rules for himself".
I won't actually call that unfair. It is not about being racist or discriminating immigrants and naturalized citizens. It is about making sure that those who are unfaithful or may work for foreign interests, from being the president and commander-in-chief.
You could argue that the US is an immigrant country. But there are many more who have been there longer than others. I tend to think they should have a President that is from the majority.
It's not like naturalized citizens cannot get into a position where they can have the power to change things. They can get into any position in the government, it's just that they cannot be President/Vice-president.
If Ron Paul WAS born in Germany (where his grand-father came from), he would have introduced a bill in advance, as a Congressman, INSTEAD of running for President, effectively disrespecting and cheating on the American people about their own constitution.
Ignorance at its best.
Immigration laws always tend to be very racist and unforgiving. But I would think that it is simply another demonstration of sovereignty, nationalism and pride. I think Americans have no shortage of that.
I bet you'll start complaining about national sovereignty next...LOL!!!
Did you hear what he says about Iraq? The facts are that violence in Iraq and Afghanistan have not improved. It's simply that people don't want to watch anymore stuff about US forces getting killed in Iraq.
And even if he turns out to be right, it certainly won't be over any time soon anyway....
Can you believe this?
http://chineseforpaul.org/
They have many roots in China too.
The Ron Paul revolution is quite possibly the first of its kind. The Presidential elections have never been so global, and there has never been a candidate that has been able to use the internet in such skill (or rather, the supporters).
Got to send all my ABC friends this stuff. Every vote counts, and I hope they'll take Ron Paul into consideration.
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