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The case for getting rid of the requirement that the president must be a “natural born citizen”
The Washington Post ^ | 1/14/2016 | Ilya Somin

Posted on 01/17/2016 4:37:25 PM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel

In recent weeks, much time and effort has been devoted to debating whether Ted Cruz is a "natural born citizen" eligible for the presidency. Whichever way you come down on this question of constitutional interpretation, the real lesson of this debate should be the absurdity of excluding naturalized citizens from the presidency in the first place. Categorically excluding immigrants from the presidency is a form of arbitrary discrimination based on place of birth (or, in a few cases, parentage), which is ultimately little different from discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity. Both ethnicity and place of birth are morally arbitrary characteristics which do not, in themselves, determine a person's competence or moral fitness for high political office.

The "natural born" citizen requirement was originally inserted into the Constitution because some of the Founders feared that European royalty or nobles might move to the United States, get elected to the presidency, and then use the office to advance the interests of their houses. Whatever the merits of this concern back in the 1780s, it is hardly a plausible scenario today.

One can argue that immigrants have less knowledge of the country and its customs, and might make worse presidents for that reason. But that problem is surely addressed by the constitutional requirement that a candidate for president must have been resident in the United States for at least fourteen years. As a practical matter, anyone who attains the political connections and public recognition needed to make a serious run for the presidency is likely to have at least as much knowledge of the US and American politics as most serious native-born candidates do.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: canadian; ineligible; naturalborncitizen
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To: TigerClaws

Good point. SMH.


21 posted on 01/17/2016 4:44:31 PM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel (I love JESUS CHRIST because He first loved me! Thank You, JESUS! (1 John 4:19))
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To: Las Vegas Ron

So, you flatly fail to address the substance of my remark, and then engage in ad hominems and insults. If you wish to point the finger of progressivism, you could do no better than starting with the mirror.


22 posted on 01/17/2016 4:44:37 PM PST by Oceander
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

The case for getting rid of editorials posing as journalism.


23 posted on 01/17/2016 4:45:13 PM PST by Hoosier-Daddy ("Washington, DC. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious")
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To: BenLurkin

Somin is a legal academic. Orin Hatch proposed this amendment years ago. It gets proposed from time to time in Congress. I don;t have a list of them, but found half a dozen on a casual search a few days ago. Looked back to 1995 or so.


24 posted on 01/17/2016 4:45:38 PM PST by Cboldt
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

YouCon Ted agrees.


25 posted on 01/17/2016 4:45:41 PM PST by Karl Spooner
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To: Cboldt

I think it’s Obama who was the nose of the camel.


26 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:04 PM PST by miss marmelstein (Richard then Third: I like to destroy the Turks (Moslims))
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

I agree. Anyone could become a naturalized citizen (even some Kenyan kid from Indonesia) and do this country irreparable harm, given the right grooming, backing, and handlers.


27 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:17 PM PST by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
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To: TornadoAlley3
Ted Cruz would disagree. Originality.

Cruz would agree, to keep NBC. Given that he is natural-born, according to current law, there is no impact.

28 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:36 PM PST by C210N (Supporting the Constitutional Conservative in the race. Constitutional Conservative Cruz.)
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain
the "natural born citizen" requirement needs to stay.

The most important thing is for it to be clarified.

29 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:41 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

We already got rid of it for Democrats.


30 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:55 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum ("The goal of socialism is communism." -- Vladimir Lenin)
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To: BenLurkin

Oh heck, for that matter how would the WaPo feel about Benjamen Netanyahu running for President? He has American citizenship!


31 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:56 PM PST by erkelly
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

JUST MORE INSANITY FROM THE WAPO. In this NWO insanity to remove all borders and throw the world into one great big stew pot with no requirements for allegiance to a country, no retention of culture, values, individuality, or right to dissension, the WAPO is right on schedule. Try to make the THINKING AMERICANS mold into stupid little robots and slaves so we no longer have any sovereignty or say so on our own country’s laws. All will be decided from cradle to grave by a few elite kings and queens and the REPUBLIC of the United States of America will exist no more.
Either we stand up and DEFEND the Constitution AS IT WAS WRITTEN, or we Lose forever our rights and privileges as independent people. The Liberal Road is directly to insanity. We have been warned. We had better listen!


32 posted on 01/17/2016 4:46:59 PM PST by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
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To: humblegunner

Is the profanity necessary ?


33 posted on 01/17/2016 4:47:56 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: Oceander

I disagree. The existing requirement should be enforced. When a candidate files their paperwork, the valid documentation should be part of it.

The current requirement is rational, the framers of the Constitution put it there for specific reasons. It is entirely reasonable.

But like much of what we see going on in government, there are no penalties for ignoring the Constitution. Nobody in the elected bodies care or have the guts to say anything.

You are only as much of a valid constitutional republic as the willingness of the elected officials to follow the rules outlined in it. And they are routinely ignored. So we aren’t much better than a banana republic now.


34 posted on 01/17/2016 4:49:45 PM PST by rlmorel ("Irrational violence against muslims" is a myth, but "Irrational violence against non-muslims" isn't)
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To: BenLurkin

Not only that but they did not want foreign interference in the presidential selection process. There had been numerous wars in europe, and elsewhere, as one country tried to put is favorite prince on the throne of another country.


35 posted on 01/17/2016 4:50:09 PM PST by AndyJackson
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

Should Queen Noor’s kids be able to be our president?

I don’t think so.


36 posted on 01/17/2016 4:50:22 PM PST by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: Oceander; Cboldt

Wow you were the one who stated you wanted “something rational and reasonable.
THAT change is NOT Original intent. It falls under the category of living document. ( the liberal democrat preference )
Once part of it goes the remainder will be open to adjustment also

Others with more legal authority might explain it better


37 posted on 01/17/2016 4:50:32 PM PST by hoosiermama (Make America Great Again by uniting Great Americans)
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To: John Valentine

Is an “anchor baby” a citizen by birth?


38 posted on 01/17/2016 4:50:40 PM PST by moonhawk (What would he do differently if he WAS a muslim?)
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

No. Pray to God no. We need to tighten requirements for public office.


39 posted on 01/17/2016 4:50:49 PM PST by amihow (l)
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To: BlackFemaleArmyCaptain

I am not going to have people, including Ann Coulter, pulling this crap. When we pointed out that Barack Hussein Obama is not a natural born citizen, we were called loonies, cranks, and birthers. Now people who are communists or impressed by the bulge in Trump’s pants (I mean his wallet for Ann Coulter) do what they excoriated people such as me for. There is no Constitution anymore. We live in a post Constitutional society and we need a principled Conservative to get us back. That means a Ted Cruz or the army taking over and having a Pinochet style figure put in charge.


40 posted on 01/17/2016 4:50:58 PM PST by Stepan12 (Our present appeasementof Islam is the Stockholm Syndrome on steroids.)
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