I'm So Very Tired of This.
I'm not touching the "Was he or wasn't he," fight with a 30m pole. People are entitled to opinions. The arguments seem misdirected though.
The issue that seems to be never mentioned is "Why should the President have a natural born requirement?" Seriously, what other job or government position requires one to be born on American soil (or whatever SCOTUS said 'Natural-Born' means). Why the requirement?
Isn't a prime belief of our system that people are equal in their opportunities, only hindered by CHOICES (like say, committing a felony). Didn't the civil rights movement show that who a person is is more important then accidents of birth? Being born in another country has ZERO effect on the ability of a person to govern. These are SEPARATE issues.
Other requirements make sense...
* Must be a citizen. Duh, electing people with foreign allegiances or felons would be dumb. I can ALMOST see an argument that a foreign born citizen would still have feelings for their old country, but we let foreign born citizens serve in the armed forces and occupy nearly every other slot in government, are they trustworthy or not?
* Must be 35, OK, an experienced person who knows something about the world.
* Must have lived in the US for the last ten years. Makes sense, to know the issues you live with them.
I understand the argument that "Obama lied, that's a crime, he shouldn't be President." That argument is valid. IF he wasn't born in the US he has lied in public, under oath (most likely) and that's a crime. However, as the accused, he is under no obligation to help his accusers. The plaintiffs would have to carry the burden of proof. And they haven't. If the plaintiffs find evidence and convince a jury (or judge, not sure how these legal proceedings would go), then we'll KNOW. Until then the most they can say is "I believe that he was born in Kenya."
This seems to me to be a bad law. It's stupidly discriminatory. It doesn't hurt anyone to have a president that was not born in the US.
Rally against Obama for his stance of ISSUES, protest him for what he has DONE. Search for that evidence that will convince a court. Speak your piece on whatever subject you like. But IMHO the "Natural Born Citizen" issue is the least worrisome wrong he has been accused of.
RGB
The issue that seems to be never mentioned is "Why should the President have a natural born requirement?" Seriously, what other job or government position requires one to be born on American soil (or whatever SCOTUS said 'Natural-Born' means). Why the requirement?
Isn't a prime belief of our system that people are equal in their opportunities, only hindered by CHOICES (like say, committing a felony). Didn't the civil rights movement show that who a person is is more important then accidents of birth? Being born in another country has ZERO effect on the ability of a person to govern. These are SEPARATE issues.
Other requirements make sense...
* Must be a citizen. Duh, electing people with foreign allegiances or felons would be dumb. I can ALMOST see an argument that a foreign born citizen would still have feelings for their old country, but we let foreign born citizens serve in the armed forces and occupy nearly every other slot in government, are they trustworthy or not?
* Must be 35, OK, an experienced person who knows something about the world.
* Must have lived in the US for the last ten years. Makes sense, to know the issues you live with them.
I understand the argument that "Obama lied, that's a crime, he shouldn't be President." That argument is valid. IF he wasn't born in the US he has lied in public, under oath (most likely) and that's a crime. However, as the accused, he is under no obligation to help his accusers. The plaintiffs would have to carry the burden of proof. And they haven't. If the plaintiffs find evidence and convince a jury (or judge, not sure how these legal proceedings would go), then we'll KNOW. Until then the most they can say is "I believe that he was born in Kenya."
This seems to me to be a bad law. It's stupidly discriminatory. It doesn't hurt anyone to have a president that was not born in the US.
Rally against Obama for his stance of ISSUES, protest him for what he has DONE. Search for that evidence that will convince a court. Speak your piece on whatever subject you like. But IMHO the "Natural Born Citizen" issue is the least worrisome wrong he has been accused of.
RGB