My definition relies on disclosing whether his birth was vaginal or Caesarian.
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No Canadian of woman born shall out Sen McBeth (R Helsingor)
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Clinton and Obama jointly sponsored the resolution for McCain. Iâm sure theyâd be overjoyed to do the same for Cruz. Only Trump and Carson make Cruz look like a viable candidate by comparison, and thatâs not saying much.
Heck, if Trump keeps questioning Cruzâs eligibility, Iâll bet that Clinton will publicly lead Democrats to sponsor just such a resolution whether Cruz wants it or not. Just to watch Republicans vote against it.
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My thoughts are as follows: Was the person elected in a free and fair election? They can be president. If it says otherwise, the Constitution is wrong. Period. The only restriction should be that they cannot also work or be head of state/royalty for another nation in any capacity. Itâs a democracy, weâll decide if theyâre eligible.
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There is a school of thought that the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment nullified the ânatural bornâ part when it took effect in 1868. But the only way to definitively answer that question would be to argue the case all the way up to the Supreme Court, and thatâs a daunting proposition for a major political party because nobody wants to throw all their weight behind a candidate who might not be legally eligible for the job.
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Iâm certain that enough constitutional lawyers on Cruzâ payroll will sort through the confusion and make it undeniably legal very soon, but regardless of the technicalities, Iâll be very curious to see if the fact that Cruz was born in Canada and held Canadian citizenship up until 2013 will affect his standing in the polls as the campaign rolls along. For a hard-core Tea Partier to be associated with the Commie Socialist North (land of European-style free health care! They speak French!!) would make his followers blanch in horror, Iâd think.
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So, by the first definition, heâs also a natural-born Cuban and also a natural-born Canadian. Should a natural-born Cuban be eligible to be the president of the United States? And it was only 20 months ago that he was a Canadian citizen.
Iâm with @daneel â unsure if eligible, but not fit.
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Iâm sure they would blanch in horror if they didnât like Cruz. But if they like him then theyâll just admire him for seeing the light even though that Canadian Commie fog. Itâs not like the people who support Cruz are going to be long on consistency.
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[quote=âActionAbe, post:25, topic:72011, full:trueâ]
My thoughts are as follows: Was the person elected in a free and fair election? They can be president. If it says otherwise, the Constitution is wrong.[/quote]
Limiting the Presidency to natural-born citizens is a measure against another country from coming in and setting up a puppet government. Or at the very least, to ensure that the Presidentâs first loyalty is to America.
It seems fair to raise this point regarding someone who only just dropped his foreign citizenship in 2014 as he started his Presidential election campaign.
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Out of curiosity just looked up the order of Presidential succession. Treasury is 5th and Homeland Security 16th. Go figure. Interesting that a Speaker has never ascended, thereâs been cumulatively a number of years that there was no VP at all.
The whole debate is idiotic as there shouldnât be any legal restriction on holding presidential office other than citizenship. If enough people want to vote in somebody who immigrated, they should have the legal right to do so.
The oilâs not in Calgary anyway, so it would be a waste of time.
Speaking as a Canadian, you can have him. Even if he canât be president, we donât really want him back.
Our head of state (Governor General) a few years ago was a Haitian born dual French & Canadian citizen. Somehow we survived, though the more recent Conservative government felt compelled to quickly install a couple of the underrepresented white Christian male demographic.
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Doesnât this cut both ways? I seem to remember something about Boris Johnson having to renounce his US citizenship if he wanted to be Prime Minister - something about Americans not being allowed to be the head of government of a different country?
(although I think Johnson was really trying to avoid big tax bills, and I have half a suspicion he only talked about doing it, and didnât actually go through with it).
Donât worry⌠close enough. We donât do that much research when we invade a country.
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The answer to this would surely depend on whether the majority in the U.S. Supreme Court took an originalist or a more nuanced view of constitutional interpretation. Ironically Cruz and his party support what they believe is an original framersâ thoughts that they magically know is the truth forever.
So: if Cruz wins and becomes president and stuffs the court with fuckwits who believe that U.S. Law should be decided to mean what a bunch of slave owners thought was a good idea centuries ago: no. If rationality wins, and progressive voices are a majority in the court: yes.
Which is kind of funny for foreigners.
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Boris Johnson leading a country (shudders) it would be like if Cameron had brains.
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No itâs not. Another country cannot simply install a president with the ease and grace you imply. We can still impeach and convict a president of high crimes and misdemeanors, so itâs not like weâre going to suddenly be helpless in the event we have a president that acts against American interest. There are other countries that donât have this requirement, and I have yet to hear of this paranoid hypothetical happening.
Also, I knew a guy who was born in the US, had US citizenship, and spent his whole life in Jordan with his Jordanian family. Are you telling me that when he comes back and spends fourteen years as a resident, he should be more eligible for the presidency than Ted Cruz? Gimme a break.
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We should probably deal with the âenough peopleâ part first and have popular election of the president first, but I agree I think.
Thatâs not how puppet governments work. You get yourself a loyal traitor posing as a patriot doing the best for his or her country that really loves them the country. A true patriot quisling traitor.
Have a quick look at the puppet governments of the countries invaded by the U.S. They tend to be ruled by traitors from those countries donât they? Everyone did it that way. Romans, whoever.
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