Posted on 09/03/2013 10:18:04 AM PDT by Lakeshark
Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution provides, in pertinent part:
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; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
**snip**
This political season, the eligibilities of Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz are the subject of debate.
As much as we want certainty, the term “natural born Citizen” is not defined in the Constitution, in the writings or history of those who framed the Constitution, or in a demonstrable common and clear understanding in the former British colonies at the time the Constitution was drafted. Nor has the Supreme Court ever ruled on the issue, it probably never will.
The modifier “natural born” is not used anywhere else in the Constitution, and its precise origins are unclear, although it is assumed to be derived in some manner from the British common and statutory law governing “natural born Subjects.” **snip**
want to go on record again objecting to the term “birther.” If the term were confined to conspiracy theorists, that would be one thing. But it has become a tool to shut down even legitimate debate.
The term was used as a pejorative as part of a deliberate Obama campaign strategy to shut down debate on his issues **snip**
5. The Framers never expressed what “natural born Citizen” meant **snip**
6. “natural born Citizen” usage at the time of drafting the Constitution is uncertain **snip**
7. British common and statutory law doesn’t solve the problem **snip**
8. There Is No Requirement That Both Parents Be Citizens
(Excerpt) Read more at legalinsurrection.com ...
No logic in that statement.
” . Let him stay in the Senate where he can do some good and let’s have a 100% American conservative in the White House for 2016. “
Let me know when you find a so-called AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE
other than Cruz. There aren’t any.
I was thinking more of the other half.
A statement that cites no fact, no sources, no evidence cannot, by definition, be 'factual.'
My essay cites numerous sources and facts, all matters of public record that are independently verifiable. The contrast between what I wrote and your vacuous opinion could not be more stark in that regard.
You might want to take it up with the management.
/johnny
The problem with the assertions in #5 and #6 is that they are fundamentally incorrect. In the first naturalization act passed by the first Congress and signed by George Washington, the words “natural born citizen” are used. Further, the section that contains those words clearly show that NBC status is tied to status obtained at birth and that such a birth does not require birth on US soil or inside US jurisdiction.
Thanks very much.
Ted Cruz for POTUS 2016!
It should be clear from the emphasized and underlined words, that the Framers meant the restrictions of "natural-born citizen" to be the "posterity" of "ourselves" (We the People).
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
They wanted the highest office of the land to be "secure" by limiting it to the "posterity" of "We the People of the United States."
-PJ
It was repealed 5 years later and replaced with another Act that had the natural born Citizen language removed. The Naturalization Act of 1790 is null & void.
:: The ultimate arbiter on the issue likely is to be voters, not Supreme Court Justices.
Ultimately, your argument rests on, “Obama was voted to be POTUS, so can Rubio/Jindal/Cruz”.
My arguments rest on, “Madison and Jefferson said so.”
Looks like a stand off between the modernists and the orginalists.
There is Scott Walker but he’s been able to generate zero buzz and polls behind all the RINOs.
Honesty MeganC, he lived in Canada as a TODDLER and MIGHT have DUAL citizenship so he’s not “100% American”? Give me a break. I have maybe 2 or 3 memories of my life before age 4, you think Cruz swore allegiance to Queen of the Queen of England when he was learning how to use the potty?
Or is it just the “principle of the thing” that you wouldn’t “trust” a dual citizen (if he is one), a reason that’s important only in your mind that doesn’t matter and no one cares about?
No, I won't bother Jim with it. But I will respect his wishes. If he doesn't want Senator Cruz's Presidential bid to be criticized here, then he owns the place, so that ends the matter.
That won't make the issue go away, however. It won't come up much again unless and until Cruz wins the GOP nomination. But once he does, the leftists will attack Cruz's eligibility relentlessly. And the leftist media will provide full cover and support. They will use the past words and arguments of "conservatives" (making and allowing no distinction between 'birthers' and non-birthers) against us, calling us hypocrites. It could well be enough to swing the election.
And those will be my final words on the topic on this site.
“Which would indicate it has a very special and significant meaning .... “
It does have such meaning, but explaining and debating it seems pointless. I do not know where Barack Hussein Obama was born, but do know that his father, if that be the claimed Kenyan native, was not ever a citizen of the U.S.A.
:: the leftists will attack Cruz’s eligibility relentlessly. And the leftist media will provide full cover and support. They will use the past words and arguments of “conservatives” (making and allowing no distinction between ‘birthers’ and non-birthers) against us, calling us hypocrites. ::
This is my position, in a nut-shell. The communists will dismiss the Obama eligibility with a simple, “he was voted in by the people!” Conservatives are already being positioned as “uncompassionate evil incarnate”. Cruz will give them another dagger to twist on our backs.
Except that first act passed in 1790 only lasted for 5 years and expired in 1795. It merely codified into law the language of Article II that gave any children born of citizens "at the time of the adoption of this Constitution" the right to serve as President. That time expired in 1795.
We’re more than two years out from the primaries and it’s too early to run the 2016 election when we still have 2014 to contend with.
Scott Walker has a job already and it’s too soon for him to announce anything. Sarah Palin can still jump in if she wants but it’s too early for her.
As to Cruz the fact of his Canadian birth absolutely will be the one issue the liberal media will predictably hound him on to the exclusion of all of his other issues. He’s a good man, no argument here, but this issue will be an albatross for him and given the facts of the birthers going after Obama the GOP will be portrayed in the media as hypocrites for running Cruz.
I know that’s not going to make me popular for saying that but you know it’s true.
On the Democrat side it’s too soon to call and even if Hillary runs she’s got to contend with a party that crapped on her in 2008 and is likely to crap on her again in favor of another charismatic nobody who appeals to the ignorant masses of the Dummycrat party. She’s not a shoe-in by a long mark.
Bottom line is it is all too soon to call.
That said, if Cruz does get the nomination then of course I’ll vote for him. But in the primary please don’t hate me if I hope for someone like Scott Walker, Sarah Palin, or maybe even Jan Brewer to run in the primaries.
Very good article. I didn’t notice in the article reference to the actual congressional debate over the 1790 Naturalization Act that used the “natural born citizen” formula.
I sent that info to Prof Jacobson with the suggestion that watching them actually use Blackstone and English law in the debate lends weight to the parallel between “natural born citizen” and “natural born subject”, the former being an update for a new, non-monarchical government.
I have read the article and I have considered the source.
I have no position on the eligibility of Senator Cruz, I have not looked into his birth in any manner, thus I have no opinion. IMO it is a waste of my time as the law will not be the decider of the issue. I believe arguments can and have been made on both sides and that the USSC is the decider of the issue. I believe Obamacare is unconstitutional and that the Supreme Court was compromised and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
I also believe the US Government has been corrupted, compromised and taken over by a shadow government that controls the President, Congress, the Supreme Court and most of the news media. Voting also looks like it has been corrupted with fraud.
I believe any decision as to Cruz’s eligibility will be rendered by the shadow government no matter what the law and Constitution says. If not so Obama would never have gotten elected once much less twice in this Nation without being properly vetted and his incompetence covered up.
We are no longer a nation of laws, but with a few exceptions a nation run by corrupted greedy self serving men and women. May God save America, it is beyond my ability to help. If I was younger and healthier I might have a different opinion but right now that’s how I see it.
Is that the best reason you have for not supporting a Cruz Nomination? That you cower in fear over the reaction of the leftists and the MSM that they will echo your own vapid and preposterous arguments against the nbC status of Ted Cruz?
FEAR?
OMG what will the MSM say?
If we as Freepers (of all people) are going to cower in fear and refuse to vote for a patriot like Ted Cruz because of what the leftists and MSM might say or do, or that they will call you a hypocrite then we really have no future in this country.
If they bring up the issue we are ready for the battle. This is a battle they will lose, just as the birthers have lost every battle they have fought to try to prove that Obama is not an nbC. He is. Get over it. Ted Cruz is also an nbC. Get over it.
Let us not allow this forum to be the sounding board on the internet for the birthers to reignite their unsuccessful birther wars by turning their guns on Ted Cruz.
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