Saturday, October 25, 2008

The Citizenship Question

Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution provides:
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.
On August 21, 2008, attorney and self-professed Democrat Phillip Berg filed a federal suit in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, seeking the court's declaration that Obama is not eligible to run for President, and an injunction to prevent him from running. The (poorly drafted) complaint alleges that Obama is a citizen of Indonesia and therefore fails to meet the qualifications enumerated in Article II, Section 1 above. It also alleges that Obama committed fraud on the American people by deliberately and knowingly offering himself as a candidate for president despite being unqualified, and by promulgating falsified documents and information about himself. The named defendants -- the Democrat National Committee, B. Hussein Obama, and the Federal Election Commission -- responded by moving to dismiss the action; Obama and the DNC also moved for a protective order to stay discovery during thependency of their motions to dismiss.

Which motion to dismiss has apparently just been granted, on the basis that Phillip Berg lacks standing to challenge Obama's presidential qualifications.

On the question of whether Obama is disqualified from holding highest office in the land in virtue of his citizenship, I can't help wondering: if there really were anything to it, why didn't Hillary blast him out of the water with it?

And suppose Obama wins (which God forbid), and then it turns out that in fact he is not a natural born citizen. Will he be removed from office? or will Article II, Section 1 join the ranks of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments and other parts of the Constitution that have become a dead letter?

4 comments:

  1. Let us suppose you were right and that Obama was not born in Hawaii.

    He WAS born in Hawaii. I’ve seen pictures of his birth certificate (or maybe certificate of live birth, I forget which), and there is a confirming notice in the Hawaii Advertiser. But suppose on a wild chance that this was wrong.

    Suppose that this fact were to be proven before the election. Would this help make McCain elected president? No. It would merely make Joe Biden the presidential candidate of the Democratic party.

    Would Biden win just like Obama would? Sure.

    Would he win even BIGGER than Obama would? Maybe. You can’t call him inexperienced or a terrorist or a friend of Ayers, nor would people who vote against Obama because of his race or alleged Arab ties or alleged Moslem religion vote against Biden.

    Biden would get all the votes of Obama and maybe a few more.

    Suppose it was proven after the election. Would that make McCain the president? No. If the Congress really bought the fact that Obama was not naturally born in the USA, and that Obama was not eligible to be president (which is a stretch because it is controlled by Democrats), then Biden would be president.

    So, what is the point?

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  2. Let us suppose you were right and that Obama was not born in Hawaii.

    Read the post again. I did not take the position that Obama was not born in Hawaii, or that there is anything to the citizenship argument. In fact, I questioned its validity in view of the fact that Hillary, who seemed to feel entitled to be President, didn't make hay out of it.

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  3. I think the point is support and defend the Constitution of the United States. It is not a case of winning or losing, it is an issue of integrity to the guidelines that insure our liberty. Any person, Democrat, Republican, or Other, that attempts to subvert those rights should be exposed.

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  4. I still can't believe America is favouring a Muslim for president, and one who has such questionable ties as Obama does. Has 911 been forgotten so soon? The terrorists must be dancing with glee that America is about to have a Muslim president. We will soon see where Obama's true loyalties lie.

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