July 28, 2008
Day By Day
Too long since I have stolen a Day By Day strip:
Mondo-heh! I am starting to wonder if -- in a reverse-uncertainty-principle -- Senator Obama might actually not exist unless there are cameras or crowds to observe him. If so, how would you prove it? If not, is he Constitutionally eligible for the presidency?
2008
Posted by jk at July 28, 2008 1:21 PM
Funny you should bring that up. I've been meaning to blog about that.
When Obama was born, the law conferred U.S. citizenship if at least one parent was a U.S. citizen, but only if that parent had lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, 5 of which years must have been past the age of 16. Obama's father was not a U.S. citizen, of course. But Obama's mother was only 18 when he was born.
Liberal apologists like the Snopes pair (http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp) have dismissed this, saying that he was born in Hawaii, thus "natural-born" according to the 14th Amendment. Actually, this is incorrect. Courts were interpreting things both ways, in no small reason because because of the "jurisdiction" requirement. Jacob Howard, the senator who wrote the citizenship clause, said it "does not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors, or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of person." In other words, one can be born in the U.S., and not necessarily the child of a visiting political dignitary, and still be a foreigner/alien. I was born in the Philippines, but as a natural-born U.S. citizen, so I was considered a foreigner and needed government permission for my residency.
It wasn't until the 1986 change to federal immigration law that anyone born here was considered an automatic American citizen (which is really when every pregnant Juanita wanted to cross the border before she gave birth). It could well be argued that "Barry" was certainly subject to a foreign power (meaning Kenyan citizenship had precedence), because Obama Sr. had enough jurisdiction to take him to Indonesia for some years. Having a birth certificate from a jurisdiction doesn't make you a citizen of there, either. To add to the above, my birth certificate is from the Philippines.
Now we have this recent thing about the birth certificate on DailyKos being a forgery. So why won't Obama just release the real one? What does he have to hide? Well, like many liberals, he can instead use the "ostrich strategy" with great success: ignore the thing completely and rely on the MSM's help.
Funny you should bring that up. I've been meaning to blog about that.
When Obama was born, the law conferred U.S. citizenship if at least one parent was a U.S. citizen, but only if that parent had lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years, 5 of which years must have been past the age of 16. Obama's father was not a U.S. citizen, of course. But Obama's mother was only 18 when he was born.
Liberal apologists like the Snopes pair (http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp) have dismissed this, saying that he was born in Hawaii, thus "natural-born" according to the 14th Amendment. Actually, this is incorrect. Courts were interpreting things both ways, in no small reason because because of the "jurisdiction" requirement. Jacob Howard, the senator who wrote the citizenship clause, said it "does not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens, who belong to the families of ambassadors, or foreign ministers accredited to the Government of the United States, but will include every other class of person." In other words, one can be born in the U.S., and not necessarily the child of a visiting political dignitary, and still be a foreigner/alien. I was born in the Philippines, but as a natural-born U.S. citizen, so I was considered a foreigner and needed government permission for my residency.
It wasn't until the 1986 change to federal immigration law that anyone born here was considered an automatic American citizen (which is really when every pregnant Juanita wanted to cross the border before she gave birth). It could well be argued that "Barry" was certainly subject to a foreign power (meaning Kenyan citizenship had precedence), because Obama Sr. had enough jurisdiction to take him to Indonesia for some years. Having a birth certificate from a jurisdiction doesn't make you a citizen of there, either. To add to the above, my birth certificate is from the Philippines.
Now we have this recent thing about the birth certificate on DailyKos being a forgery. So why won't Obama just release the real one? What does he have to hide? Well, like many liberals, he can instead use the "ostrich strategy" with great success: ignore the thing completely and rely on the MSM's help.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at July 29, 2008 3:39 PMActually I need to correct myself there, it was his "second father" Soetoro who took Obama Jr. to Indonesia.
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at July 29, 2008 3:42 PMAs I recall, Senator McCain is subject to a similar question, is he not? (Not that he does not exist, but that he was born in Guam). Perhaps Rep Barr and Mister Nader will be forced to fight it out.
Posted by: jk at July 29, 2008 4:35 PMMcCain's situation is actually very clear: he's a citizen. Panama Canal, actually. Guam, being a territory, would have been obvious, but the Panama Canal Zone is treated the same because of federal legislation. Besides, the child of two U.S. citizens is a U.S. citizen by blood, regardless of the location of birth, if the parents lived in the U.S. for a minimum number of years. Jus sanguinus.
I myself was born a U.S. citizen abroad, with only one of my parents (at the time) a U.S. citizen. The U.S. State Department gave us a certificate to prove it.
http://eidelblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/once-again-new-york-times-doesnt-know.html
Posted by: Perry Eidelbus at July 29, 2008 11:25 PM | What do you think? [4]