You are wrong to ignore the interpretations of James Madison, who WROTE the very document you hold in such high regard.
You are wrong to ignore the members of Congress who debated these issues at length, when crafting the 14th Amendment.
Rxsid - I pinged since you were the person who found the James Madison references about ‘citizenship’ in the newspaper, Richmond Enquirer, of October 1, 1811.
Kansas58 said: “You are wrong to ignore the interpretations of James Madison, who WROTE the very document you hold in such high regard.”
President James Madison had very pointed opinions about citizenship, opinions he provided as Publius in the following newspapers, the Richmond Enquirer on October 1, 1811, and which was then republished in The Alexandria Herald on October 10, 1811. Again, I strongly suggest you go to the link I provide and educate yourself.
“THE PUBLIUS ENIGMA: Newly Revealed Evidence Establishes That President James Madison’s Administration Required Citizen Parentage To Qualify Native-Born Persons For U.S. Citizenship.”
“I was recently forwarded an incredibly amazing article from the October 10, 1811 edition of The Alexandria Herald newspaper. RXSID of Free Republic sent it with a brief note, stating, “Check out this case.” The Herald article is entitled, Case of James McClure. The author is…PUBLIUS.”
“Publius was the pseudonym used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, for their anonymous authorship of The Federalist Papers. By 1811, Hamilton was dead and Jay retired. My research leads me to believe that the article was written by James Madison, but this has not been conclusively established yet. Regardless of authorship, Madison was President at the time the article was written, and it discusses the official position of his administration denying U.S. citizenship based upon simple birth in the country.”
“The official position of the Madison administration was that persons born in the U.S. to alien parents were not U.S. citizens...”
For further details, see:
http://naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/the-publius-enigma-newly-revealed-evidence-establishes-that-president-james-madisons-administration-required-citizen-parentage-to-qualify-native-born-persons-for-u-s-citizenship/
Kansas58 said: “You are wrong to ignore the members of Congress who debated these issues at length, when crafting the 14th Amendment.”
Debates in Congress don’t matter. The 14th Amendment has nothing to do with “natural born Citizen” eligibility as it exists in Article II.
The holding in Minor v. Happersett (1874) is legal precedent. It has not been superceded.
Congress could change that eligibility requirement by using the process specified in the U.S. Constitution, but that won’t happen. It would mean EVERYONE would find out the definition as it presently exists, for that definition would have to be mentioned to propose any change.
Kansas58 said: “You are wrong to arrogantly presume that you know what the Constitution means, to the exclusion of all other voices on the matter.”
If I “arrogantly presume” anything, it is that corruption has seeped throughout the body politic, especially since so many self-professed Republicans want to emulate communists within the Democratic Party.