Washington Post Decides To Question McCain’s Citizenship

The Messiah issued a decree saying it’s time to move past the Wright controversy, and the folks at the Washington Post are all too happy to comply with today’s article (mimicking the New York Times’ efforts from two months ago) questioning whether or not McCain is an actual US citizen.

Article II of the Constitution states that “no person except a natural born citizen . . . shall be eligible to the office of president.” The problem is that the Founding Fathers never defined exactly what they meant by “natural born citizen,” and the matter has never been fully tested in court. At least three pending cases are challenging McCain’s right to be sworn in as president.
Jurists on both sides of the political divide, consulted by the McCain campaign, insist that the issue is clear-cut. They argue that McCain is a natural-born citizen because the United States held sovereignty over the Panama Canal Zone at the time of his birth, on Aug. 29, 1936; because he was born on a U.S. military base; and because his parents were U.S. citizens.
But Sarah H. Duggin, an associate law professor at Catholic University who has studied the “natural born” issue in detail, said the question is “not so simple.” While she said McCain would probably prevail in a determined legal challenge to his eligibility to be president, she added that the matter can be fully resolved only by a constitutional amendment or a Supreme Court decision.
“The Constitution is ambiguous,” Duggin said. “The McCain side has some really good arguments, but ultimately there has never been any real resolution of this issue. Congress cannot legislatively change the meaning of the Constitution.”

I don’t really think the Constitution is ambiguous at all, but given that liberals somehow managed to read a right to an abortion into the founding documents it’s perhaps not surprising that they’re not understanding this.
A “naturally born citizen” means nothing other than someone who was a citizen at the time of birth. Meaning you were not a citizen of any other country prior to being an American citizen. Thus, one who is naturalized cannot be President but one who was a citizen from the first minutes of their life forward can be. This isn’t exactly rocket science.
And does the left really want to push this line of argument? After all, we’d have reached a pretty dark day in America when a veteran who served his country as McCain did and was born on a US military base to two American citizens one of whom later became a Navy Admiral (and was himself the son of a Navy Admiral) isn’t considered an American.
If the liberals push this it’s going to backfire, because all it will do is unite conservatives (who haven’t exactly been paragons of unity of late) in defending McCain against this nasty attack.

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  • http://Array Pilgrim

    Someone at the post must have been cleaning their birdcage and pulled out an old copy of the NYT and noticed the story.

  • Jay

    Petty and stupid. I wish people would just stay away from this crap.

  • http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

    Why would the leftards go down this road? I thought they were so confident they could beat McCain that now they are trying to say that he isn’t A real American? They might want to tread lightly on this one.

  • Bat One

    OK, I have a question. In view of McCain, would Hillary be such a bad President?

    Gene,

    Damn right she would! There are four major issues facing the next administration: National Defense and the war on Islamist terrorists; taxes, federal spending and the US economy; judicial appointments, including a likely 2 to perhaps 4 SCOTUS openings; and illegal immigration. Only on the last can it be said that McCain and Hillary are on the same page.

    To be sure there are other issues, such as tax reform, unfunded federal liabilities (SS, Medicare, and PBGC), international trade, but even here Mrs. Clinton has to be considered far more liberal and far more likely to opt for an expanded government solution than would McCain.

    Sadly, the best way for conservatives to view this is that McCain as president is less likely to be a disappointment than would either Clinton or Obama. We may not like all that we get with McCain, but there will be less to dislike, particularly where national defense and taxes and the economy are concerned, than with either Democrat.

    It is a measure of just how far to the radical Left the Democrats have moved, that McCain, who would have been a pluperfect JFK/”Scoop” Jackson Democrat back in the day could find no place in today’s Democrat party if he wanted to. Just ask Zell Miller or Joe Lieberman.

  • http://northerngleaner.blogspot.com/ Gene

    The Messiah issued a decree

    I love it. OK, I have a question. In view of McCain, would Hillary be such a bad President? I watched her on O’Reiley. Maybe I was sucked in. I’m a little easy.

    I’m just asking. And McCain reminds me more and more of Bernie from weekend at.

  • http://sayanythingblog.com/readers/author/Anna/ Anna

    Wasn’t his citizenship already dealt with and clarified legit?
    I say, Done and over with.
    Move along leftards

  • http://waxingpoetically.today.com/ Michael LaPenna

    “Natural born” needs explaining only to people who shut off their brains.

    By the way, I’m a new blogger. Please check out my link below and show support if you like my blog.

    Be Well,

    Mike

  • Bat One

    Professor Duggin is being coy in all but inviting a legal challenge over McCain’s citizenship.

    Of course, the last time the Left decided to go to court over a presidential election, the results were (from a liberal perspective) an unmitigated disaster. Anyone who’d seriously think the chances of success would be any better this time around with this particular issue has no business operating machinery.

  • http://ndgoon.blogspot.com/ goon

    Anna said: Wasn’t his citizenship already dealt with and clarified legit?
    I say, Done and over with.
    Move along leftards

    Yeah this is a non-story…

  • docdave

    It’s not “easy” Gene, it’s liberal. Which is why you STILL refuse to see the Huckster’s a con artist.

    Liberalism is the ‘sirens’ call to self destruction because everything it poses sounds so good. After all who wouldn’t like to live in utopia? Rule: It it sounds to good to be true, it is a false.

  • http://www.fred08.com/ Winghunter

    In view of McCain, would Hillary be such a bad President? I watched her on O’Reiley. Maybe I was sucked in. I’m a little easy.

    It’s not “easy” Gene, it’s liberal. Which is why you STILL refuse to see the Huckster’s a con artist.

    Clinton said that she would leave Iraq because we have other problems elsewhere which means making Iraq INTO another problem…snatching certain defeat from victory is a special dysfunction usually demonstrated by those who never really had their clocks cleaned when they needed it.

    Having said that, if there’s anything I can ever do for you, don’t hesitate to ask.

    “At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child – miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill disciplined, despotic, and useless. Liberalism is the philosophy of sniveling brats.” – P.J. O’Rourke

  • ollie-B

    Once again our press corps stirs up another pot of bull.

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