Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Desperation Breeds Stupidity...

Are people really this stupid? First of all, as I understand it, there is no constitutional prohibition against running for president as long as the candidate was born in the USA: 

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.
Well, Obama was certainly born in the US, as ascertained and proven by several third party sources, including, as the article below mentions, Factcheck.org. Second, even if Obama DOES have dual, or even triple citizenship, there's no prohibition against him running and being president. 
Court: No Review of Obama's Eligibility to Serve
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has turned down an emergency appeal from a New Jersey man who says President-elect Barack Obama is ineligible to be president because he was a British subjectat birth. The court did not comment on its order Monday rejecting the call by Leo Donofrio of East Brunswick, N.J., to intervene in thepresidential election.

Donofrio says that since Obama had dual nationality at birth — his mother was American and his Kenyan father at the time was a British subject — he cannot possibly be a "natural born citizen," one of the requirements the Constitution lists for eligibility to be president.

Donofrio also contends that two other candidates, Republican John McCain and Socialist Workers candidate Roger Calero, also are not natural-born citizens and thus ineligible to be president.

At least one other appeal over Obama's citizenship remains at the court. Philip J. Berg of Lafayette Hill, Pa., argues that Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii as Obama says and Hawaii officials have confirmed.

Berg says Obama also may be a citizen of Indonesia, where he lived as a boy. Federal courts in Pennsylvania have dismissed Berg's lawsuit. Federal courts in Ohio and Washington state have rejected similar lawsuits.

Allegations raised on the Internet say the birth certificate, showing that Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4, 1961, is a fake.

But Hawaii Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino and the state's registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, say they checked health department records and have determined there's no doubt Obama was born in Hawaii.

The nonpartisan Web site Factcheck.org examined the original document and said it does have a raised seal and the usual evidence of a genuine document.

In addition, Factcheck.org reproduced an announcement of Obama's birth, including his parents' address in Honolulu, that was published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Aug. 13, 1961.

As I said. Desperation breeds stupidity. Are people really so desperate for things to remain status quo?! 

I just wonder what these fools are going to say in four years, at the next election, when, God willing, Obama does actually work hard to end the wars, save the economy, and reform healthcare, making this country an all around better country. Will they still complain and say he ruined everything? Based on what?

5 comments:

BrooklynWolf said...

"there is no constitutional prohibition against running for president as long as the candidate was born in the USA"

Actually, there is no constitutional prohibition against running even if the person isn't born in the USA. They just won't be able to serve if elected.*

In any event, what always amuses me is that even if the Court (in a mind-blowingly display of stupidity) were to rule that Obama isn't eligible, it's not like that would throw the election to McCain. All that would happen is that the electors would either elect Biden, or elect Obama anyway and throw it to the House, which would probably elect Biden anyway.

The Wolf




* L'mai nafka minah? Well, a 34 year old can run for President, as long as he'll be 35 by inauguration day. But he'll be running while technically ineligible to be President.

Am Kshe Oref - A Stiff-Necked People said...

True. So either way, it'd go to a democrat, NOT the Republican.

Oh, well. I guess everyone's got to have a hobby...

BrooklynWolf said...

So either way, it'd go to a democrat, NOT the Republican.

Well, in theory, it is possible that the EC could vote for McCain... but I don't see that happening. If, for whatever reason, Obama isn't electable, the likelihood is that they will elect Biden president.

For the VP spot, it depends on whether the democratic party can get the Electors to agree on someone. If they can, then that person will be elected VP. If not, then the vote will probably be split a million ways and the Senate will choose the new VP.

The Wolf

The Wolf

Kylopod said...

George Romney (Mitt's dad) ran for president in 1968, and he was born in Mexico. The basis for his eligibility was that he was a "natural-born citizen" of the U.S. because of his American-born parents. But it could have become an issue had he won the election.

cool yiddishe mama said...

My nephew was born in the Netherlands to two American-born parents. He's a US citizen and not regarded as Dutch. If he lives here from age 21 on, he can run at 35.