Wow! Just wow! How does a guy not born in this country even get on the ballot? McCain says his citizenship is completely legitimate, but the Panama
Canal Zone is certainly not part of the U.S. Here is some information from both sides of this develpoing argument about McCain's citizenship
1. Factcheck.org:Though born abroad, he is considered a natural-born U.S. citizen.
John McCain's father was an admiral in the U.S. Navy who was stationed in Panama in 1936, when McCain was born. This has led to speculation as to
whether McCain is a U.S. citizen and whether he can be elected president, a question that was raised during McCain's run for the Republican nomination
in 2000 as well.
Section 1, Article II of the U.S. Constitution states:
Article II: “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.”
But McCain is a natural-born citizen, even though he was not born within this country's borders, since his parents were citizens at the time of his
birth. As a Congressional Act stated in 1790 and another reaffirmed in 1795:
Congress: "And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be
considered as natural born citizens."
The State Department says that this law is again honored under section 301(c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
2. Clevelandleader.com: There is no true definition of a " natural born citizen"
To date, no law or court ruling has ever actually established the official or precise definition of what is a "natural born citizen". However, it is
typically agreed that a natural born citizen is one who is born in any of the 50 U.S. states or the District of Columbia.
I also wonder whether this is why Mike Huckabee has stayed in the race. I have read that this was discussed during the 2000 race, but was never really
addressed because he was not the nominee. Perhaps Huckabee's "miracle" will be a bias decision by the conservative Supreme Court to make Huckabee the
nominee. This will be an interesting story to follow.
www.iht.com
(visit the link for the full news article)
