“Then why was citizenship of McCain’s parents examined in the 2008 hearing?”
Because there is a dispute over whether or not the term natural born citizen applies to someone born outside the country. The first Congress said it applied to those born of two citizen parents outside the country, but there was a disagreement about that. That disagreement was never fully settled.
Since McCain was born outside the country, it was important that both his parents be US citizens. If not, then all would agree he was NOT a natural born citizen.
The term used in the Constitution wasn’t picked out of thin air. It was a standard legal term, with a meaning established in English common law. The lawyers at the Constitutional Convention all knew what it meant. That was why they didn’t try to define it - because they already KNEW what it meant.
In the years prior to the Constitution, the term was already being used by the states to describe what they were doing. It was the American version of ‘natural born subject’, revised to have citizens living in a republic. But the term was not pulled out of thin air.
And no, the legal meaning did not require two citizen parents. Sorry. You are wrong.
>>> And no, the legal meaning did not require two citizen parents. Sorry. You are wrong.
Well, we could argue about that all day long.
Does not change my point, nor the fact that Obama has not been vetted, nor the fact that he gave up NBC status (if he had it) as a student in Indonesia.
Your argument centers around WHY the senate found it necessary to hold a hearing on McCain’s status.
Regardless of the reason, both McCain’s birthplace and parental status WAS an issue. There is NO comparison between McCain and Obama because Obama’s birthplace is still unknown. That alone should be reason enough to hold a hearing, or at least require that Obama prove his claims.
I personally would be willing to ignore the fact that Obama’s father is not a citizen IF Obama would be willing to prove three things:
1. he was born in Hawaii
2. that he re-applied for and was granted citizenship upon returning to America.
3. that the SSN he has been using (from Connecticut) was issued to him.
Is it your argument that a congressional hearing or vetting of the president is not needed???
English Common Law was never adopted by the United States; they chose instead, the Roman model, which was suited to sovereigns, rather than commoners as in the English model.
We had no royalty, nor had we any commoners, so Common Law could never apply.