Originally posted by captainnotsoobvious
reply to post by OldCurmudgeon
The issue isn't an issue. The scotus won't rule because it's been defined and accepted by proxy decisions many times.
All the rulings wherein someone is born here to foreign parents and that enters into decision, have all gone one way for decades and decades.. Being
born in America makes you American, unless your the kid if a diplomat or something. Obama was not an exception. He was just another kid born in
America, who did something very American; he went from rags to riches to President.
If we had ANY sense we'd be bragging about what an amazing country we have, the land of opportunity, etc., instead of trying to rewrite decades of
law to demonise our president, for a short term political boost.
The fact is Sir, the issue of the determination of the phrase "natural born citizen" stills exists and legally has not been clarified and only
SCOTUS will ever put the issue to sleep. Scotus has never ruled, as the issue has never been submitted to them to refuse or recuse:
This fact has been clearly stated over and again and as the following from wikipedia.
The natural-born-citizen clause has been mentioned in passing in several decisions of the United States Supreme Court and lower courts dealing with
the question of eligibility for citizenship by birth, but the Supreme Court has never directly addressed the question of a specific presidential or
vice-presidential candidate's eligibility as a natural-born citizen. NBC has only been mentioned in passing and this lends no legal opinion
whatsoever.
The real question is, and everyone seems to dodge it, "IF" President Obama WAS born in Hawaii then he could be considered a NBC by 'right of
birth'.
But what if he was NOT???, and as this Sir still is the question which has never been clearly defined, and regardless how anyone attempts to camoflage
or ignore the ssue, if he was not born in Hawaii, Mr. Obama is an American citizen and but NOT a NBC, thus he was never eligable under current
constitutional law and opinion to be the President or the VP. No problem having been in Congress and many other offices, just not POTUS or VP.
As research shows currently there are as many opinions by noted legal academics* 'for' as there are 'against' the meaning of the phrase, NBC, so
then it rather becomes a 'he said she said' at this point, or a push if you like, and without this issue being formally submitted to and ruled on
once and for all by SCOTUS, this will never be resolved and potentially could haunt candidates far into the future.
As to opinions for and against, per wikipedia"
*Gabriel J. Chin, Professor of Law at the University of Arizona believes under the current law that not all persons born OUTSIDE of the United States
to U.S. citizen parents are eligible to serve under the natural born citizen clause.
And:
* For example, in her 1988 article in the Yale Law Journal, Jill Pryor wrote, "It is well settled that 'native-born' citizens, those BORN in the
United States, qualify as natural born."
I assume you are aware that legally, the United States Congress in amendments, even such as the Naturalization Act may not overrule the Constitution
without authority.
So this issue still requires resolution on the highest level, i.e. SCOTUS.
Whether Obama was born in Kenya or Hawaii and for our sake, I hope Hawaii, I am sad as our first black President of which I am proud of the fact (and
await the election of our first female President) has been hamstrung by this issue and other failures of previous administrations.
But the fact still remains, from an investigative standpoint, 'probable cause' is evident and makes a full investigation responsible and warranted.
Frankly, I am willing to bet that future public opinion will look more favorably on a President who confronts the issue head on and resolves it for
himself/herself and or any future Prezs or VPs.
I would almost guess that public opinion, if this issue is NOT resolved, will lend itself to 'requiring' every Presidential or VP candidate to jump
through hoops in proving their status as NBC. BTW, this would be a total waste of time and resources and could be easily resolved.
Respectfully,
