This is an interesting thread. I generally stay away from them, but you've provided me reading material for a week.
Circular reasoning can be pursued for infinity.
But what's really interesting are the visceral reactions to your citations. In that week's worth of reading, I might find some holes in your reasoning, or I might not. But these people are like members of a cult.
We are like people REACTING to members of a cult, to which they have been exposed far too long. Jeff is a crack pot. If you want to find out, just FIND one of those "holes in his reasoning" to which you referred.
At first he'll politely disagree. If you keep insisting that it is a hole, eventually the crazy will come out in him.
Here, i'll even help you out in finding one of those "holes" in his reasoning. Ask him how George Washington is a "natural born citizen" of the United States of America, rather than a "natural born subject" of King George III.
When you're done with that "HOLE" in his reasoning, ask him why the 14th amendment was created.
Jeff's sanity will not withstand scrutiny.