(Something from FB, reposted here for personal convenience)
Ah, the Birthers. Despite ample evidence to the contrary (able documented by Politifact and many others), some people still think Obama wasn't born in the U.S. (Indonesia or Kenya are the two alternate candidates mentioned most frequently) and therefore isn't a citizen, and therefore isn't qualified to be President of the United States.
This came up on a friend's FB wall. Things got out of hand. Everything between the lines came from my aggravated response. I'm posting it here so I can quick-ref that next time I get frustrated.
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This is probably a waste of my time, but for the sake of an argument, let's suppose that contrary to every single piece of evidence that Obama was born in Indonesia. Even if this was true (hint: it's not), he's STILL qualified to be president of the United States. How?
The 5th section of the 14th amendment authorizes Congress to create laws qualifying citizenship. The current relevant law is Title 8 Section 1401 of the US Code, which among other things states that a citizen can include "Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years". Now, Obama's father was not an American citizen (hence alien), but Obama's mother was indisputably an American citizen who had lived in the US for a minimum of five years prior to Obama's birth.
As such, even if Obama had been born in Indonesia, he would still be a natural born citizen and would therefore be eligible to be President. So even if the birthers were right, they'd be wrong. Next time read the entire Constitution, not just the bits that support your argument.
Here, have some sources.
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I suppose you could then go back and try to show that his mother wasn't a citizen, but given that there's a good paper trail for her and her mother and father, I doubt that'll happen. Of course, there's a good paper trail for Obama too. As many other have pointed out, if he wasn't a white guy named O'Rourke this wouldn't be an issue.
Well, hopefully it'll give us a good laugh 60 years from now. Or it's yet another sign of the apocalypse. Take your pick.
This came up on a friend's FB wall. Things got out of hand. Everything between the lines came from my aggravated response. I'm posting it here so I can quick-ref that next time I get frustrated.
--------------------
This is probably a waste of my time, but for the sake of an argument, let's suppose that contrary to every single piece of evidence that Obama was born in Indonesia. Even if this was true (hint: it's not), he's STILL qualified to be president of the United States. How?
The 5th section of the 14th amendment authorizes Congress to create laws qualifying citizenship. The current relevant law is Title 8 Section 1401 of the US Code, which among other things states that a citizen can include "Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years". Now, Obama's father was not an American citizen (hence alien), but Obama's mother was indisputably an American citizen who had lived in the US for a minimum of five years prior to Obama's birth.
As such, even if Obama had been born in Indonesia, he would still be a natural born citizen and would therefore be eligible to be President. So even if the birthers were right, they'd be wrong. Next time read the entire Constitution, not just the bits that support your argument.
Here, have some sources.
--------------------
I suppose you could then go back and try to show that his mother wasn't a citizen, but given that there's a good paper trail for her and her mother and father, I doubt that'll happen. Of course, there's a good paper trail for Obama too. As many other have pointed out, if he wasn't a white guy named O'Rourke this wouldn't be an issue.
Well, hopefully it'll give us a good laugh 60 years from now. Or it's yet another sign of the apocalypse. Take your pick.