Posted by
Mike on Sunday, October 25, 2009 8:44:55 PM
http://westernperspective.blogspot.com/
The Constitution of the United States is a quintessentially practical
document. The first thing that comes to mind in examining Article II,
Section 1 are the words "at the time of the Adoption of this
Constitution" in reference to eligibility for the office of President.
Anyone who was already a citizen of one of the thirteen several states
following the American Revolution and within the age limits could serve
as President. As to these citizens, it did not matter whether they or
their fathers were subject to a foreign power or not. As to those who
were not citizens at the time of Adoption or ratification, only those
who were "natural born" were eligible for the office of President,
meaning that they must be born in one of the states which form the
Union, and that each of their fathers must have been a citizen of one
of these states at the time of their birth. This gives our government
the power to discriminate against the foreign born and those whose
fathers were subjects of a foreign power, with regard to qualifications
for the offices of President and Vice-President as amended. Arguably,
the "natural born" requirement should also pertain to what was meant at
the time of Adoption.
The rationale for the rule is clearly to
prohibit those who may have mixed loyalties from serving in the highest
office in the land, as John Jay made clear to our first President
George Washington. Clearly, the Fourteenth Amendment's inclusion of all
persons born in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, as citizens, does not change the limitations on qualifications
for President or Vice-President, because the rationale behind the
Fourteenth Amendment was not to change eligibility for higher office,
but rather to confer citizenship on the newly emancipated freemen
following the Civil War. Using the limited formula for qualification to
be President or Vice-President, the first generation freemen would not
have been eligible to hold these offices, but this is a moot point
insofar as none of them ever became candidates.
In our history,
Chester Arthur, whose father was Irish born and a subject of George IV
at the time of Chester's birth, still got to be President because he
succeeded President Garfield who died in office. The electorate
rejected the candidacies of Barry Goldwater in 1964 and John McCain in
2008. Barry Obama is the stealth President. Could it be that Barry
Obama was elected only because neither candidate was qualified to hold
this office in 2008?