McCain knifes Cruz: Um, I don't know if he's a natural-born citizen of the U.S.

Hot Air.com ^ | January 7, 2016 | ALLAHPUNDIT

[Kaslin]

Via BuzzFeed, this makes three big names from three very different sectors of the party suddenly questioning Cruz’s eligibility. McCain represents the establishmentarians; Rand Paul represents libertarians; and Donald Trump represents … whatever the hell Trumpism is. It seems we’ve reached the “any weapon to hand” stage among Cruz’s political enemies. Which is interesting in ol’ Mav’s case, since his 2008 campaign against Obama will forever be remembered by grassroots righties for his refusal to go kitchen-sink on O. In the end, I guess the “wacko birds” were the real threat all along. May the McCain/Paul/Trump alliance last a thousand years.

The defense here, I assume, will be that the Supreme Court has never ruled on the “natural-born” clause in the Fourteenth Amendment, therefore McCain’s answer is correct. No one knows what the Court would do! But that’s too cute by half: There are statutes and scholarly opinions he could have cited if he wanted to downplay this line of attack against Cruz. Congress’s own statutory definition of citizenship by birth is expansive, extending it to children (like Cruz) of a single citizen-parent born abroad so long as the parent resided in the U.S. for some period of time. The idea that there are five votes on the Court to read a narrower definition into the Constitution when the text itself does nothing to define “natural-born” seems dubious to me, but that doesn’t mean Cruz-haters aren’t going to try. Why, here’s one well-known left-wing troll now promising to do just what Donald Trump wants and sue Cruz over his eligibility:

In addition to the question of whether Cruz's birth in Canada disqualifies him from being considered a natural-born citizen, for which there are clashing historical claims, Grayson notes there's disagreement about whether both parents of U.S. citizens born overseas must be citizens.

And then there's Cruz’s mother, Eleanor Darragh Wilson.

Grayson says Wilson may have forfeited her U.S. citizenship by taking a Canadian oath of citizenship, and that he's seen no evidence she actually was born in the U.S.

Cruz’s mother "may have elected to give up her U.S. citizenship — she wasn't there on a visitor's visa for five years, that's for sure," he says.

Grayson says "if his mother, who clearly worked in Canada for years and years, did so while becoming a Canadian citizen and taking an oath, which is how you do it in Canada, she lost her citizenship by U.S. law, specifically Section 349 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.”

Grayson says he’ll sue if Cruz wins the nomination, which makes it even more unlikely that a court would rule against Cruz. Imagine the public outcry if a major-party nominee was suddenly booted from the ballot months before the general election on a highly questionable, crabbed reading of a vague constitutional term. Who would replace Cruz as nominee? How many Cruz supporters would stay home in utter disgust at having the prize ripped out of their guy’s hands by judges, egged on by Cruz-haters from the left and right? No court wants to insert itself into a national election that way. But then, I doubt Grayson really believes he’d win. The point of the lawsuit is the same as Trump’s goal in nudging Cruz to go get a declaratory judgment about his eligibility: Both of them want to create enough of a cloud over Cruz’s status to discourage some voters and tilt a close election against Cruz. That makes sense for a hyper-partisan Democrat like Grayson who wants his party to hold the White House. What’s Trump’s — and Paul’s, and McCain’s — excuse?

Update: Fair point from some Cruz fans on Twitter: The best way for a conservative to endear himself to the base is to be shivved by John McCain. If anything, this will steer some righties into circling the wagons around Cruz. How does that play for Trump?

Update: Lotta Cruz-hating Democrats joining in on the fun today…

Pelosi: distinction between John McCain and "someone born in another country" on presidential eligibility. but says its not her place to say

— Lauren French (@laurennfrench) January 7, 2016

FWIW: Basically the only people who believed the birther claims against Obama were GOP primary voters, Cruz should not take this lightly

— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) January 6, 2016

…oh, and of course, Donald Trump too:

.@SenTedCruz Ted–free legal advice on how to pre-empt the Dems on citizen issue. Go to court now & seek Declaratory Judgment–you will win!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2016

[FreeAtlanta]

I agree.

I hope and pray he loses his primary.

[Carry_Okie]

I’m beginning to wish he had stayed at the Hanoi Hilton.

[FreeAtlanta]

Who’s Kelli Ward?

Maybe, this could be the new "Who is John Galt?" Kelli Ward

[Impy]

McCain left his marbles in some tiger cage in ‘Nam.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Here's what I'd like to ask Johnny.

Jose and Maria pay a "coyote" $1500 to sneak them across the border. They enter the U.S. illegally. Fifteen minutes after crossing the border, Maria gives birth to an "anchor baby" whom they name Jose Jr. Jose and Maria start receiving food stamps and medical assistance. Jose Jr. is awarded "disability" for some goofy reason or another. After a year, Jose and Maria become homesick and decide to go home. That "disability" check goes a long way south of the border. When Jose Jr. gets older and finishes high school, he decides to come back to the US to attend college and become an "immigration lawyer". Soon, Jose Jr. decides to run for the presidency of the US. Is Jose Jr. eligible?

[mtrott]

A slam from McLame is more like a badge of honor for a true conservative like Cruz, and probably helps Cruz more than it hurts him in Iowa!

[ought-six]

FUJM.

[Himyar]

McCain was born in a civilian hospital outside of the Canal Zone. My sister was born in the same hospital. When she tried to register to vote she found out she was here illegally. My Dad got it straightened out.

[Still Thinking]

He’s probably still got the money people held their nose and gave him in 2008 to fight The Won. If so, he’ll probably spend $20/vote buying the primary like he did in 2010, using conservatives’ money to keep the Senate liberal. He should be in prison for fraud, the azzhat.

[Kaslin]

What year was your sister born?

[Kaslin]

McCain was born on August 29, 1936, at Coco Solo Naval Air Station in the Panama Canal Zone.

Coco Solo was a United States Submarine base and naval air station. McCain was born in a small hospital at the Coco Solo naval air station. Hence he was born on American soil

[RightLady]

A vote for McINSANE , at the time, was a vote against Obama :) don’t feel too bad

[bjorn14]

McCain was not born in the Zone but in a public hospital in Colon about a mile away. The Naval Hospital in the Zone was built a year later.

[Kaslin]

Coco Solo was a United States Navy submarine base and naval air station established 6 May 1918 that corresponds with modern-day Cativa in Panama. It was on the Atlantic Ocean (northwest) side of the Panama Canal Zone, near Colon, Panama and five C-class submarines were based there 1914-1919.

John McCain was born on August 29, 1936, at at a small Navy hospital at Coco Solo Naval Air Station.

The larger Coco Solo Hospital was constructed in the summer of 1941. The area containing it was transferred from the civil part of the Panama Canal Zone to the naval part when Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8981 on December 17, 1941. During World War II, Coco Solo also served as a Naval Aviation Facility, housing a squadron of P-38 Lightning aircraft.

[mac_truck]

So, McPain is on the same page as Trump.

Trump kicked off his campaign for President by smacking John McCain so hard you could hear the sound in Rio Vista.

Perhaps McCain learned from that experience not to cross the Trumpster...

[Liz]

Cruz was born in Canada to a Canadian father......and a native-born American mother......thus making Cruz a dual Canadian-American citizen.

Texans elected him to the US Senate not knowing he was dual Canadian citizen.

It was not until a 2013 Dallas Morning News article that Cruz acknowledged his Canadian citizenry publicly. In 2014, the senator publicly renounced his Canadian citizenship altogether.

Cruz consistently depicted himself as "latino" Yet his family bgrnd indicates only his father is Spanish; his mother is of two nationalities, Italian and Irish from each of her parents.

Cruz ran in Texas as a latino (which has a wealth of latino votes). Cruz even convinced the Senate biographer that he was the first latino elected to the Senate (besides Rubio).

As the immigration issue grew negative in the world of politics, being known as a latino has lost its luster.

[Liz]

WIKI The 1803 edition of William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, perhaps the leading authority for the delegates to the Constitutional Convention for the terms used in the Constitution, noted that the natural born citizen clause is "a means of security against foreign influence" and that "[t]he admission of foreigners into our councils, consequently, cannot be too much guarded against."

=============================================

NOTE At the time, King George, and lordly England, were the colonists' boogeymen. It was feared the wealthy Brits could surreptitiously buy their way into our new country's councils and wreak havoc.

====================================================

OLD THINGS SEEM SUDDENLY NEW AGAIN Cruz's wife is a Goldman Sachs exec.

Mrs Cruz served on the North American Union task force, and supported their report called---'Building a North American Community."

The North/South border effort was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations in association with the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Consejo Mexicano de Asuntos Internacionales.

Translated into English, that means forget US sovereignty....just eradicate US borders.

Canada is under the jurisdiction of England.

[Himyar]

Okay. I guess it was just family lore that he was born in the Colon hospital like my sister.