The requirements for President are that one must be at least 35 years old, a "natural born citizen" of the United States, and a resident for 14 years. John McCain has the first requirement down twice, but the second one could be called into question. by Bob Nightingale
(libertarian)
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Sure, I knew that John McCain was born in the Panama Canal. His parents were American, so should he. Right? That's birthright by blood, Jus Sanguinis. Or so I thought.
His father was in the U.S. Navy and his mother was American. I figured that was good enough for him to be an American citizen. True, but does that make him a natural-born citizen, not just a naturalized citizen?
I figured that Panama was just like Puerto Rico or Guam. Like many Americans, I had my history wrong. Actually Panama was its own country then and now, ever since its independence from Columbia in 1903, which was assisted by the US. The Panama Canal Zone was leased to the United States for the purpose of building and operating the canal.
According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, this question of McCain's citizenship isn't settled. In its article about Natural-Born Citizens, the section regarding "Children born outside the United States to American Parents" discussed three recent presidential candidates who may not have been Natural-born citizens: Barry Goldwater, George Romney (Mitt's father), and John McCain. Goldwater was born in a territory that was a US possession. Since Goldwater didn't become president, no one really pushed the issue. George Romney was born in Mexico, but didn't get the Republican nomination. But if McCain gets elected president, how many lawyers do you think will descend on him then? Look what happened in Florida after the 2000 election. Democrats don't like to lose. Nobody does. I'm sure they have a dossier and a lawyer in the wings ready to pounce on this, if necessary.
This question isn't cut and dry for me. I was born in a Naval hospital north of Chicago. Had my father been stationed in South Korea or West Germany, would that have made me less American? Why should that disqualify me from becoming President?
When you're in the military, you go where you're told. If you can bring your family with you, you do. And if you need to have a baby, it can't wait.
This is what is so troubling about the 14th amendment, granting citizenship to children of foreign-born parents. Somehow it's not right for a child to get more rights if his parents are in the country for five minutes than the child of American citizens, one of whom is a Naval officer, who happen to be out of the county on business for the country. It wasn't their choice, and certainly not the child's. I believe a child's citizenship should be that of his parents, until proven otherwise. But that isn't the law.
As much as I dislike John McCain's politics, the right way to keep him from becoming President is in the voting booth, not in the court room.
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As far as I am concerned this is a non-issue. As long as your parents are US citizens, you could be born in Timbuktu or Mars and still be a citizen. Same with those born on US soil no matter where their parents are from. That's the way the law is today, folks, and the way the Supreme Court has defended it.
This is one of the minor points I don't align with R Paul. The son of illegal residents can not be blamed or made to suffer the sins of the father. Imagine how you would feel if the government told you that because of this technicality, you were no longer a citizen? What if you had never even been south of the border and truly loved and considered only the US to be your country? Forget about it: The courts will never let this pass.
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