Senator Questions Obama Eligibility

World Net Daily ^ | Feb. 22, 2009 | World Net Daily

[patriotgal1787]

WASHINGTON – A U.S. senator has weighed in on the continuing controversy over Barack Obama's eligibility for office by saying he has never seen proof the new president was actually born in Hawaii.

"Well, his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven't seen any birth certificate," Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., told constituents in Cullman County. "You have to be born in America to be president."

[Big_Monkey]

"Besides, if it is found that the zero is ineligible

That's just the point. He'll never be "found" to be ineligible. A "finding" comes from a court proceeding. No court will ever hear this case.

"Only a duly sworn, eligible president can sign a bill into law. "

Again, this language is no where in the USC. What's described in the Constitution is the "President". Obama is clearly the President. He met every check that the Constitution enumerates. He was elected by the Electors that are certified by the state they represent. There isn't any proscribed procedure in the USC to mount this kind of challenge. Because of this, again no court will ever hear any challenge to a law or order based on Barry's qualifications, or lack thereof. Any speculation otherwise is pure folly.

The USC points out very clearly what the minimal qualifications are for POTUS. Unfortunately, beyond certification of the Elector (as briefly mentioned in USC as "which they shall sign and certify"), there really isn't any procedure outlined in the USC about examining those qualifications much less any indication whose responsibility it would be.

The USC is not perfect. Perhaps an Amendment is in order here to give some clarification and specificity to this issue.

[Blood of Tyrants]

You forget that in order to BE president, one must be a naturally born citizen. If he does not meet that, then he is not and has never been the president.

[tomkat]

Someone's evidently redacted the earlier screed, as this is the only current mention I saw:

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Obama Citizenship

At a meeting on February 21, 2009, Shelby called into question whether Barack Obama had been born in the United States, and therefore able to be President of the United States. When asked if there was any truth in the rumour that there was an issue regarding Obama's citizenship, Shelby responded "Well his father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate. You have to be born in America to be president.”^[11]

[curiosity]

LOL. It's amazing to see so many gullible people getting their hopes up because of something they read in WorldNutDaily.

Any story in WorldNutDaily has about the same probability of being true as your typical story published in Weekly World News.

[Big_Monkey]

"You forget that in order to BE president, one must be a naturally born citizen. If he does not meet that, then he is not and has never been the president."

For the record, I actually believe that there's a reasonable chance that Barack Obama wasn't born in HI. I also believe that he likely took federal or state aid designed for foreign students. Which, is probably why he's so reluctant to release his college transcripts for Occidental, Columbia or Harvard.

As for "being President". Barack Obama IS POTUS. Regardless if he was born on the Moon to to space aliens, or actually born in HI to at least one or none US Citizens. He is now the sitting President. There's only one way to get rid of a sitting President. Impeachment in the House and Conviction in the Senate. That's not going to happen.

Even if overwhelming (and by overwhelming, I mean a home movie of Barry's mom giving birth) evidence came to light that he wasn't indeed born in the US, who exactly is going to hear that evidence. No court will, and no Senate or House sub-committee that's controlled by the Dems is going to convene hearing on the matter. And if they did, does that make him guilty of "High Crimes and Misdemeanors". Probably not. Has Obama ever sworn under penalty of purgery that he was born in the US? Again, probably not. I don't even recall him ever saying it aloud, much less affirming it in sworn testimony.

Effort and energy would be better spent fighting Obama on policy rather than litigating an "unlitigatable" fantasy.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I understand, but there is a huge question about the legitimacy of the laws, EO’s etc passed under him. IMHO, the courts will be forced to annul them.

[BP2]

The natural born citizen clause was simply to exclude naturalized citizens from holding the office of President. And again, this concept comes straight out of English common law which prevented naturalized citizens from holding certain political offices.

Since you're recycling stuff from last week, I guess I can too for those who missed it:

The Natural Born Citizen clause is NOT some silly, outdated rule born out of Common Law, created by stodgy, old men in powdered wigs meant to keep foreigners from holding the office of President.

The Founders wanted the President to be a NBC to ensure that the ONE person sitting at the top of the Executive branch has UNQUESTIONABLE, UNWAVERING loyalty to the United States, first and foremost.

At one point, the delegates writing the Constitution in 1787 considered THREE "presidents" in the Executive for "checks and balances." They considered a NBC clause for Senators as well. Debating those issues, they felt that a NBC clause for Senators would limit the pool of possible candidates and could cause bad feelings with immigrants needed to "jump start" the newly-formed republic.

In the end, the Framers compromised that Senators be required to be US residents for 9 years, while striking the NBC clause for the office.

The Framers also compromised on ONE Executive vs THREE. But to ensure "checks and balances," the Framers inserted in Art II, Sect. 1, Clause 5: "No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President..."

The NBC clause was NOT an accident, nor was it an inane rule to be restrictive to immigrants, and it certainly isn't just a "political" issue ... LOYALTY to the US is the reason the NBC clause was inserted into the Constitution for the POTUS.

You have nine Justices sitting here (internal checks and balances):

You have 535 Senator and Representatives sitting here (internal checks and balances):
and

BUT only ONE person sitting here (NO internal checks and balances):

When the President is being updated by the Four Stars in the White House Briefing Room that "the UK, Kenya and Indonesia are being invaded," it would be comforting to know that the ONE person sitting in the Executive chair has had NO foreign allegiances to any other country that might cloud his judgment as to where, how and IF to deploy US troops.

Remember this from Fight The Smears?:
“As a Kenyan native, Barack Obama Sr. was a British subject whose citizenship status was governed by The British Nationality Act of 1948. That same act governed the status of Obama Sr.‘s children. Since Sen. Obama has neither renounced his U.S. citizenship nor sworn an oath of allegiance to Kenya, his Kenyan citizenship automatically expired on Aug. 4, 1982.”

AT BEST, Obama has openly admitted he was a dual citizen of the UK/Kenya from 1961 to 1982, nearly half of his life.

LOYALTY is at the HEART of the Natural Born Citizen clause for the President of the United States, and that's a BIG concern with Obama sitting in the chair.

[curiosity]

Why do you conspiracy nuts think that your arguments are made better when they are dressed up in large and colorful fonts, and interspersed with a bunch of photographs that are completely irrelevant to the question at hand?

Because let me tell you, they're not.

For the record, nothing in your post refutes the proposition that all persons born in the United States, and subject to US jurisdiction at birth, are natural born citizens.

Furthermore, nothing in the Constitution, or in the writings of the founders, indicates that having dual citizenship at birth negates the natural born status of a child born on US soil under US jurisdiction.

[BP2]

Why do you conspiracy nuts think that your arguments are made better when they are dressed up in large and colorful fonts, and interspersed with a bunch of photographs that are completely irrelevant to the question at hand?

Ooooo, criticizing my use of HTML-coding and images ... you know just how to cut me deep ...< /sarc >

Listen, just because you flunked out of HTML Bootcamp doesn't mean I'm a conspiracy nut; it just means you can't study and adapt ... if you can't handle it, perhaps you should go back to a monochrome monitor... you won't even notice it ...

And obviously, if you're here, you must have some sick fascination with hanging out with the "nuts" as you call them. Perhaps you should discuss that issue on your next visit to the shrink.

For the record, nothing in your post refutes the proposition that all persons born in the United States, and subject to US jurisdiction at birth, are natural born citizens.

HEY, don't take MY word that there's a distinction between "Citizen" and "Natural Born Citizen". Here's a small sampling of just under 30 attempts total to pass Constitutional Amendments to re-define NBC -- and ALL have taken place AFTER the 14th Amendment.

109th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. J. RES. 15

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 1, 2005

Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

---

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

`Article --

`A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and who is otherwise eligible to hold the Office of the President, is not ineligible to hold that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.'.

108th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2128

To define the term `natural born Citizen' as used in the Constitution of the United States to establish eligibility for the Office of President.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 25, 2004

Mr. NICKLES (for himself, Ms. LANDRIEU, and Mr. INHOFE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

---

A BILL

To define the term `natural born Citizen' as used in the Constitution of the United States to establish eligibility for the Office of President.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Natural Born Citizen Act'.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF `NATURAL BORN CITIZEN' .

(a) IN GENERAL- Congress finds and declares that the term `natural born Citizen' in Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States means--

(1) any person born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof; and

(2) any person born outside the United States--

(A) who derives citizenship at birth from a United States citizen parent or parents pursuant to an Act of Congress; or

(B) who is adopted by 18 years of age by a United States citizen parent or parents who are otherwise eligible to transmit citizenship to a biological child pursuant to an Act of Congress.

(b) UNITED STATES- In this section, the term `United States', when used in a geographic sense, means the several States of the United States and the District of Columbia.

108th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. J. RES. 104

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

September 15, 2004

Mr. ROHRABACHER introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

---

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who is not a natural born citizen of the United States but has been a United States citizen for at least 20 years.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

`Article --

`A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been a citizen of the United States for at least 20 years, and who is otherwise eligible to hold the Office of the President, is not ineligible to hold that Office by reason of not being a native born citizen of the United States.'.

107th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. J. RES. 47

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who has been a United States citizen for twenty years.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 2, 2001

Mr. FRANK (for himself and Mr. HOEKSTRA) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

---

JOINT RESOLUTION

Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to make eligible for the Office of President a person who has been a United States citizen for twenty years.

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years after the date of its submission for ratification:

`Article--

`A person who is a citizen of the United States, who has been for twenty years a citizen of the United States, and who is otherwise eligible to the Office of President, is not ineligible to that Office by reason of not being a natural born citizen of the United States.'.

And we have this little gem from 2008, preceding Leahy's non-binding Senate Resolution for Senator McCain:

110th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 2678

To clarify the law and ensure that children born to United States citizens while serving overseas in the military are eligible to become President.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

February 28, 2008

Mrs. MCCASKILL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

---

A BILL

To clarify the law and ensure that children born to United States citizens while serving overseas in the military are eligible to become President.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Children of Military Families Natural Born Citizen Act'.

SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF `NATURAL BORN CITIZEN' .

Congress finds and declares that the term `natural born Citizen' in article II, section 1, clause 5 of the Constitution of the United States shall include: `Any person born to any citizen of the United States while serving in the active or reserve components of the United States Armed Forces'.

BTW, they're referring to an Immigration Act, possibly the rescinded 1790 Act when they say, "To clarify the law and ensure that children born to United States citizens while serving overseas in the military are eligible to become President." That was rescinded by the 1795 Act...

They must ALL be nuts, huh? You must feel REALLY good to be the ONLY sane person in the room... LOL

[FreeManN]

b

[real_patriotic_american]

Article 2, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution clearly states that an individual must be a natural born citizen to serve as President. The only evidence coming out is that Obama was born in Kenya and thus NOT eligible. We are not nuts because this info happens to be included in the Constitution.

[little jeremiah]

“We”?

IF he’s not eligible, he’s not actually the President. You can only impeach someone who is actually the President. If he’s not eligible and lied and committed fraud, then he can be arrested, he’s not even eligible, in that case, to be impeached. Only actual Presidents can be impeached.

[Earthdweller]

Sen. Shelby laid out the Constitutional qualifications for the Presidency and said that, while he hasn't personally seen the President's birth certificate, he is confident that the matter has been thoroughly examined.

Yep and the pilots of the planes that hit the twin towers were sure that all the passengers had been checked for weapons at the gate.

[curiosity]

Listen, just because you flunked out of HTML Bootcamp doesn't mean I'm a conspiracy nut; it just means you can't study and adapt ... if you can't handle it,

Childishly playing around with fonts and colors doesn't help your argument. It only makes your posts more difficult to read.

But hey. If you want to go on making your posts look juvenile, go right ahead. Don't let me stop you.

HEY, don't take MY word that there's a distinction between "Citizen" and "Natural Born Citizen".

No one denies there is such a distinction. I defy you to find a single instance in which I denied it.

I have always maintained that there are two types of citizens, natural born and naturalized. No one here disputes the notion that only a natural born citizen is eligible for the presidency.

What I and others are disputing is your claim that dual citizenship at birth somehow prevents a child born in the US, under US jurisdiction from gaining natural born status. You have yet to provide any support for this claim.

There's a reason for that: it's impossible. There is not a single passage in the Constitution, a single text in the writings of the founding fathers, or a single federal court decision that would support it.

But go ahead. Keep on repeating your assertion without supporting it with any substance. Maybe someone will be taken in by the pretty colors.

[curiosity]

The only evidence coming out is that Obama was born in Kenya and thus NOT eligible.

That's simply not true. There is not a shred of evidence that Obama was born anywhere other than Hawaii.

[jamese777]

Good point.
What should we conclude?
Either the senator has found some new information that is about to break {not likely}, or..this is some sort of boob bait for us Bubbas.

---

My money’s on choice B.

[Earthdweller]

"conspiracy nuts"

All wars, movements, politics and crimes such as thefts and revolutions involve conspiracy. To think otherwise is just plain childish.

[Earthdweller]

There is not a shred of evidence that Obama was born anywhere other than Hawaii.

You have no real evidence that he was.

[curiosity]

You have no real evidence that he was.

There's a mountain of evidence that he was. It's there for all those who are not willfully blind to it.

Here's a good place to start:

www.obamaconspiracy.com

[Earthdweller]

Not a single person has viewed his vault copy. No sale. Your hunch is no better than any other persons on this thread.

It's a useless debate without that one piece of paper...so why exhaust yourself? It's all nuts if you ask me.