[wideawake]

The proposed definition of "natural born" is nothing more than a matter of conveniently crafted wording in the service of wishful thinking.

Correct.

And the appeal to Vattel, as I've pointed out, is problematic as well.

Vattel's system is markedly different from ours: the children of non-citizen permanent residents are not citizens under Vattel, but are clearly US citizens under US law.

He himself points out that there are significant real-life exceptions to his ideal definitions of terms.

[r9etb]

And the appeal to Vattel, as I've pointed out, is problematic as well.

Problematic on various grounds, not least of which is that Vattel is not a legally binding document.