It’s worth remembering that “The Donald” was still beating the birther drum about President Obama long after other people had moved on. It seems to me that he couldn’t think of anything else to keep his name in the supermarket tabloids, so he kept bleating about Obama and his birth certificate. Fellow entertainer Joy Behar said on TV, “It’s like a fetish for him. Some men like to wear women’s underwear; this is Donald Trump’s fetish.”
“Birther” Trump and Sheriff Joe Arpaio are still convinced that maybe, just maybe, President Obama is a secret non-citizen. In a recent interview, Trump said, “Was there a birth certificate? You tell me. You know some people say that was not his birth certificate.”
Trump is a master of the non-denial denial formulation.
I’m not accusing Obama of not being a citizen. I’m not an expert, but there’s somebody, somewhere, who thinks it’s a problem … so I’ll just “raise the question.”
Now, birther Trump is dragging out the same old line about Ted Cruz.
Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father and an American mother. “Most” legal authorities say that makes him a “natural born Citizen,” even though he held dual citizenship with Canada until 2014 when he finally renounced his Canadian citizenship. Sen. Rand Paul said he thought Cruz was definitely eligible to be Prime Minister of Canada.
Although Cruz himself has never been part of the “birther” movement, his father — who brought Cruz to the United States when he was four — may have been. Rafael Cruz said in 2012, “We need to send Barack Obama back to Chicago. I’d like to send him back to Kenya, back to Indonesia.”
The reason why this is an issue is that the Constitution has certain requirements for those who wish to run for president. It’s not enough to just be a citizen. You have to be a “natural born Citizen.” Section 1 of Article 2 tells us what is required: “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.”
The problem is that “natural born Citizen” is never explicitly defined. Some people think that means that you have to actually be born on U. S. soil. The Supreme Court has never ruled on this critical question so there continues to be room for doubt. (Except in the case of Obama, since he really was born in America.) For example, when Sen. John McCain was asked about it, he said, “I think there is a question. I am not a constitutional scholar on that but I think it’s worth looking into. I don’t think it’s illegitimate to look into it.”
For his own part, Cruz brings up McCain, as well as Barry Goldwater and George Romney, as examples of people whose “natural born Citizen” qualification to run for president has been unjustifiably questioned. But none of these cases are exactly alike. McCain’s father was in the U. S. Navy at the time, and McCain was born at the Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone where his father was in command. Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona territory because Arizona hadn’t been admitted as a state yet. In his interview with CNN, Cruz misstates Romney’s parents as being Mormon missionaries in Mexico. (Actually, they were building a home there and intended to stay except that the Mexican revolution changed their plans.)
As much as I’d like it if Ted Cruz were forced out of the race for president, there is very little reason to think that he’s not a “natural born Citizen” under the terms of the Constitution. You can read pages of legal analysis about it at Wikipedia.
Still, it’s great to see Cruz placed in the same situation as so many immigrants. What would he say to a Mexican immigrant who was brought to the U. S. by his father when he was four years old but has lived here ever since? Maybe he would say, “Ah, but that my mother was born in Delaware, ‘There go I!’”
I doubt it.
“Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father and an American mother. “Most” legal authorities say that makes him a “natural born Citizen,”
What makes you (or your ‘legal authorities’) think that ‘citizen’ equals ‘natural born citizen’? The SCOTUS confirmed in Minor v. Happersett that a ‘natural born citizen’ is a person born on US soil AND born of citizen parents (plural) and five other SCOTUS panels have agreed. No other definition appears in US law or SCOTUS decisions. The founding fathers were concerned about foreign influence on the POTUS and no other definition reduces that concern.
P.S. Where Obama was born is only one piece of the puzzle, the other is that his father was a foreign national. Obama was born a British subject and a Kenyan (protectorate) citizen. He is not a natural born citizen. He is a usurper and his name on the list will forever have an asterisk behind it.
Gawd … Another birther.
Obama was born in Hawaii and anybody who says otherwise is as nutty as Trump.
Dan Mad but…You are once again wrong in your thinking but it’s understandable from someone who gets all his news only from the liberal left…and is trying so hard to be relevant. The full picture isn’t about citizenship or Natural Born Citizens…which actually attorney’s and law professors are divided about it’s meaning… contrary to your “opinion” and since the courts have not ruled yet what the phrase Natural Born Citizen means…is up in the air… you of course jump the conclusions and take on the view of the liberal left…which is always an incorrect view…your talking points are as irrelevant as are your lack of argument to back them up….I suppose by your arguments that when Maria illegally crosses the border into the US and has Jose here that Jose is an American citizen….that is the phony left propaganda…Jose is a Citizen of Mexico and belongs back in Mexico with his illegal alien Mother….You denounce Donald Trump because he stands for the principles America wants…Try thinking rather then reciting the Liberal Propaganda you have been indoctrinated in
First … Welcome to my column!
.
Second … I am amused by your effort to amuse by playing around with my name. But you have to do better than that! I heard every permutation possible when I was in the Army. Try again!
Third … Read a little more carefully, Jack! Quoting myself, “The problem is that ‘natural born Citizen’ is never explicitly defined.” That’s what you said I didn’t say but I did say what you said. There are lots of actual arguments you might bring up without claiming something that isn’t there.
.
Fourth … The ONLY real argument in your whole comment – other than schoolyard name calling – is that a child born on US soil isn’t actually a citizen. To add some facts to your diatribe, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), that the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship for nearly all individuals born in the United States. There is room for some doubt, however, since it has been argued that illegal entry invalidates the protections of the 14th Amendment. If the Republican Congress could actually do some work instead of just blocking anything President Obama does, we might be able to clarify this.
.
By the way, your reality TV hero Trump also uses your tactic of name calling instead of facts and reason. In January, Trump called Ted Cruz an “anchor baby” in a recorded interview. But he’s wrong (as usual). United States v. Wong Kim Ark clearly covers Cruz.
When you were in the army…What side were you on? Surely Not the U.S. with your mind set and your communist propaganda I would suspect possibly N. Korea…am I correct?
Hey you like comments, Lets play a bit…
Dan Mad Butt…Maybe you might want to look up cases you quote, they do not make the claim you make…In fact your propaganda is just that….read my article why Children of illegal aliens are not U.S. Citizens…I cite actual cases…not Mad Butt Propaganda…I think we are going to have some fun, You are so easy with your left wing propaganda based on your imagination and lack of facts.
You simply can not make up facts, they always come back to bite you!
Two points:
.
1 – You (again) accuse me to saying things I did not say. I specifically noted that the citizenship of children of illegal aliens had not been decided. It would be nice if the obstructionist Republican congress could spare some time to actually pass laws.
Still suffering from a reading comprehension problem Jack?
.
2 – Elk v. Wilkins was about the citizenship of native Americans … not immigrants.
.
The passage you quoted (in a different article – the one you referenced above but did not provide a link for) was NOT part of the Supreme Court opinion and therefore has no legal standing. And the case I quoted, United States v. Wong Kim Ark, WAS about the citizenship of persons born on US soil to foreign parents – exactly the situation you discuss. And it was a later ruling (Elk v. Wilkins was in 1884; United States v. Wong Kim Ark was in 1898) so it has precedence over the case you cited.
.
* Did you fail to quote United States v. Wong Kim Ark in your other article because it doesn’t support your argument? Hmmmmmmmm ?
(By the way … you CLAIM that I misinterpreted Wong Kim Ark in some way, but again, your claim was just name calling. Again, you totally failed to give any reason why.)
.
* Do they teach you these kinds of things at Bernaden University?
.
(I highly encourage anybody reading this stuff to check out Bernaden University – where Mr. Firm graduated – at Quackwatch.com.
.
http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/Nonrecorg/bernadean.html)
.
ps … I was drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam era and I earned an Army Commendation Medal – not the Medal of Honor or anything like that, but still something. Thanks for asking. Where did you spend the war years, Jack?
Not even a good try, Bernadean was accredited when I got my degree, and graduates sit for the bar Give up Moron we have been over this misrepresentation by you before…Poor Baby, getting upset You were caught lying to the public again with your phony case representations I intend to out all your false comments!
Not even a good try, Bernadean was accredited when I got my degree, and graduates sit for the bar Give up Moron we have been over this misrepresentation by you before…Poor Baby, getting upset You were caught lying to the public again with your phony case trying to argue that children of illegals are U.S. Citizens…The liberal left talking point…. I intend to out all your false comments!
Dan Mad Butt why continue making these false claims, and statements I am beginning to wonder if somehow while you claim to have been in the service (if true) somehow your brain was damaged …or if you really believe the left wing propaganda you sprout
How does it feel to know someone is right on top of you making sure you tell no more fibs?
Interesting.
.
I stand by my statement. Most authorities do say that Cruz is eligible. I didn’t say I believed it. (I didn’t say I didn’t believe it either. That’s not what the column is about.)
.
However …
.
Minor v. Happersett is about women’s right to vote and has nothing to do with the qualifications required to be president. In fact, the only thing SCOTUS said about “natural born citizens” in that case was the statement by Chief Justice Morrison (who wrote the opinion) that the Constitution “does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens.”
Mad Butt…another false fact, The Legal community is equally divided over Cruz’s eligibility to be president that’s what a lawsuit was filed in PA to determine…why make up facts when the truth is so much easier to state?
For the record my son was born in a US military run hospital in Germany. His birth certificate states Citizen of the United States born aboard. His certificate is filed with the state department. So we always thought he was illegible. I wonder what Cruz’s says?
Sorry auto correct I meant eligible
Your son’s status is almost identical to John McCain’s. McCain’s eligibility wasn’t seriously questioned during his run against Obama. He could become president.
(Democrats typically don’t stoop to those below-the-belt tactics so Obama supporters didn’t question McCain’s eligibility. Obama’s eligibility was and still is questioned by right-wing crazies even though the state of Hawaii has thoroughly refuted any rational doubt. It’s time to start looking at the honesty and rationality of the birther accusers.)
Mad Butt…what is your point is fabricating then displaying a phony Birth Certificate about Donald Trump?
Did you even have a point?
No … not really. I just thought it was cute. Thanks for noticing.
(There are half a dozen other little features that you didn’t notice. You might want to try to find them all.)
Of course you would think it’s cute, You have the sense of Humor of a person with an IQ of 70. Goes along with your lack of facts…
Mad But…Why don’t you try telling the truth with REAL facts and not your made up propaganda…
Jack’s most recent expectoration: “How does it feel …?”
Comparing what you have written with what I have written, it feels great, Jack! Thanks for your concern.
Dan Mad Butt…It was not a real concern, in your ignorance you take a real attack that shows you up as a fool as a compliment, to me this shows mental instability….additionally your world view also shows mental instability …we don’t want communism in America, only the Liberal left with their hand out for free stuff want communism. Communism has never worked anywhere in the world, so Mr Stupid why try a failed system here in the US?
In real terms less then 25% of the liberals love Obama and those are the welfare recipients and the illegal immigrants he wants to give the right to vote…The new communist movement by de Blazio (Mayor of NYC) and Obama let all illegals vote….and you think these communists are so wonderful…as you say Obama is the best president the U.S. has ever had…only another communist would believe that!
You want to continue…I ‘m ready when ever you want to make your self look even more foolish!
In response to a political message left by Jack Ferm to a news article elsewhere in the Independent.
.
I simply set the record straight about your cowardly and false attack on President Obama, one of the finest Presidents ever to serve the United States.
Dan Mad Butt:
You truly are a man in need of psychiatric assistance.
Your views of the world are so distorted and you buy into all the left propaganda. You present your self as a complete fool. (and I’m being kind here)
Let’s really set the record strait about your communist Idol Obama, and your communist leanings Your Idol Obama is A KNOWN Communist, raised a communist by his communist mother and Frank Marshall Davis… who was on the FBI watch list for some 19 years, and Obama’s new Mentor Saul Alinski a follower of Karl Marx, who in case you don’t know wrote the communist manifesto, a communist traveler like you are.
You are not going to spread your communist views at the Independent and get away with it! I am going to take you to task every time, I don’t like Communists and communists apologists…
Lets also talk about your views on gun confiscation:
Contrary to your attempt to avoid my comment…I will make it anyway and your readers, as few as they are, can judge for them self:
My communist Friend Dan Mad Butt…Give up on your Liberal Propaganda, You bought the left’s false argument and look like the fool I keep saying you are.
All the shooters so far which you try to argue against facts have been liberals on medication! McVeigh blew up the building or so we have been told….But I remind you of a CIA Program called MKUltra…which in your world of liberal propaganda doesn’t exist.
And Sandy Hook never occurred the school My communist friend had been closed (5) years before the casting call for crisis actors went out.
Cedric Ford was a convicted felon who bought a gun illegally!
Jason Dalton was another Liberal….You liberals should never own a gun! That includes You Dan Mad Butt…your low IQ’s make gun ownership perilous to society
Your facts are simply incorrect when you state the communist propaganda:
“No other developed country in the world has anywhere near the same rate of gun violence as America. The US has nearly six times the gun homicide rate of Canada, more than seven times Sweden’s, and nearly 16 times Germany’s, according to UN data compiled by the Guardian. (These gun deaths are a big reason America has a much higher overall homicide rate, which includes non-gun deaths, than other developed nations.)”
A False statement….and a false fact…The UK Canada and Australia have the same level of gun deaths the only difference is they have stopped Suicide by guns. Canada recently had a mass school shooting with many deaths. Australia with all their gun control’s and guns being outlawed have the same homicide by gun rate as they always did.
Obama your Idol is the voice of the communist party USA raised a communist by both his mother and Frank Marshall Davis a Known Communist on the FBI watch list for 19 years…
Your Moron in chief is nothing more then a hustler who lied his way into the WH and then trashed America…his scandals are far too numerous to go into in this limited space.
Like all Liberal fools you are so easily subjected to propaganda and believe it…Try using your brain….I know, I know you have so little brain matter left after years of smoking dope
Wow! … Just Wow!
.
There is nothing I could write that would reveal Jack better than he has.