NYT: McCain's Birthplace in Canal Zone Raises Eligibility Questions...

Drudge ^

[Kay Ludlow]

NYT: MCCAIN'S BIRTHPLACE IN CANAL ZONE RAISES ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONS...

[Steve_Seattle]

"However, neither of those laws overrides the Constitution. It specifically says, “natural born,” which has only meant to date that the person must have been born natively, within the borders of the United States."

Over the years, hundreds and probably thousands of babies have been born overseas whose parents were American soldiers, diplomats, and ordinary citizens. NO ONE suggests that these babies need to go through a naturalization process to become American citizens.

[ConservativeMind]

Read post 500.

[Mr. Lucky]

Goldwater wasn’t a Presidential candidate?

[kabar]

No, the problem was that her parents failed to go to the US consulate to register her as an American citizen at the time of her birth. If they did, there wouldn’t be any problem.

[Mr. Lucky]

She would have been a US citizen had her parents bothered to notify the US embassy or consulate of her birth.

[Steve_Seattle]

Overseas military bases, consulates, and territories (e.g., Canal Zone) are considered American territory for purposes of determining citizenship.

[CommerceComet]

8 U.S.C. § 1403.

You just don't get it, do you? How many times do you have to be told that the concerns of the NYT are far, far, far more authoritative than the Constitution (which was written by a bunch of dead, white guys) or any statute? ;-)

[ericc4]

What controls is whether the territory would be considered US soil.

That has nothing to do with it. Have you read the Constitution?

The intent of the provision is clear.

Apparently not...

We could have a president who never set foot on US ground but be eligible to be a president merely because of his parents citizenship.

Again, this is also spelled out in the Constitution. The exact section has been repeated countless times every other time this issue has been brought up and debunked. I'll give you a hint though: look for the part about 14 years residency being required.

[pillut48]

Exactly! It’s not like his parents were from, let’s say, Mexico, and here in the United States ILLEGALLY, and he was born on American soil to those un-American parents and became an American citizen anchor baby!! Sheesh. NYT/NYSlimes is sinking to new depths. Think there’s oil down there somewhere that can help with our energy crises?! Oh, wait. That’s Satan sitting on his throne laughing his butt off-my bad!

[Cicero]

Interesting about Romney. I didn’t hear about that at the time.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

“The Prophet Muhammed said “Baddala deenahu, faqtuluhu” — if anyone changes his religion, kill him (cf. Bukhari vol. 9, bk. 84, no. 57).”

I say kill them now before they kill our folks.

(Sorry for the late reply, I am in the middle of cooking lunch.)

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

“I know a girl, born to two US citizens while on vacation in Canada, who was not considered a US citizen.”

That’s not true.

There is more to that story.

[Gatún(CraigIsaMangoTreeLawyer)]

“The United States of America does not recognize dual citizenship. Some other country might, not the U.S.A.”

I don’t know where you folks get your misinformation. It is stunning. It is really stunning!

Again, I, as many of thousands and thousands of Americans born in the Canal Zone and Panama, continue to enjoy two legal citizenships.

The U.S. is more than happy collecting U.S. taxes from us.

[sappy]

Proof that the Dems are afraid of McCain getting crossover votes! Another sabotage piece!

[Dog Gone]

I went to army Jungle Warfare School there in 1986 and even then the "Canal Zone" was largely defunct. But the bases handed over to the Panamanians looked like New Orleans after Katrina they'd been looted and stripped of everything including sewage pipes in the walls of buildings. Even the railroad we built to run alongside the canal was given to them and in just a matter of months the officials in charge had allowed it to decay to the point that the US Military declared it unsafe to ride and banned all Americans from boarding the durn thing. Even the Lock System itself, an engineering marvel of the world began to go bad with no maintenance or care. This is what happens when the FIRST WORLD treats the THIRD WORLD as an equal. I know that is so un-PC and more than a little arrogant but that's life.

I can't argue with what you may have seen in 1986, but that certainly doesn't describe today's conditions.

The Canal Zone looks pretty tidy even if the architecture is a bit dated. The railroad seems to be working perfectly fine, and the port facility on the Pacific side (I didn't see the other side at Colon) seems very modern.

The Panamanians are in the process of building new parallel locks to the existing ones to allow wider ships to make the transit. It's multi-billion dollar project.

In 1986, Manuel Noriega was the Panamanian leader. Today, it's a graduate from Texas A&M. Perhaps that has made a difference.

[Dog Gone]

The United States of America does not recognize dual citizenship. Some other country might, not the U.S.A.

That will be news to two of my brothers who have dual citizenship who were born abroad.

[pepsionice]

Having spent three years in the “canal zone”...its as American as apple pie...and American territory to boot. Course, that was prior to 1999. But in the heyday of the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s....this was pure Americana. I would imagine that none of the Time’s reporters have ever been to Panama or know anything about the old canal zone.

[Hoodat]

This could possibly be the very first time in history that Democrats side with Amendment XIV.

[Carling]

You wish that children born to military families living overseas would not be eligible to run for President?

Interesting take there.

[Polybius]

Overseas military bases, consulates, and territories (e.g., Canal Zone) are considered American territory for purposes of determining citizenship.

McCain's citizenship status or anybody else's citizenship status has nothing to do with the territorial status of a U.S. military base. If a German national and her German husband are visiting their American friends at a U.S. military base and she goes into labor and delivers a baby on that U.S. military base, her child is not a U.S. citizen.

McCain is a U.S. citizen based on the Naturalization Act of 1790 that states, "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".