Tuesday, July 21, 2009

An Answer to the Crazy Birthers; Amend Article II Section I













The video of Rep. Mike Castle's recent town hall meeting in Delaware is scary. Scary because Castle did not know what to do and the woman ranting was not only crazy, but intensely passionate. Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic asks, "should The GOP Take The Birther Threat Seriously?" It is obvious from this video that Mike Castle might want to take it seriously but does he have to? Castle won the seat in 2008 by 23 percentage points. Barack Obama won Delaware by 25 points. Up until a few days ago he must have thought he was safe in 2010. This seems to point that Castle could ignore these crazy folks but as Ambinder points out:

Republicans have to be extra careful. If they give credence to the birthers, they're (not only advancing ignorance but also) betraying the narrowness of their base. If they dismiss this growing movement, they might drive birthers to find more extreme candidates, which will fragment a Republican political coalition ignorance but also) betraying the narrowness of their base. If they dismiss this growing movement, they might drive birthers to find more extreme candidates, which will fragment a Republican political coalition.
This crazy issue has raised a few questions about past presidential campaigns. In the past how have presidential candidates formally expressed their natural born citizenship? Did they at all? I think that it is important. What did they do beyond the prima facie evidence that they are white. It is troubling if being white is a sign of natural citizenship.

Also, if there are going to be efforts wasted to argue both sides of HR 1503 why not shift those efforts to change Article II Section I of the constitution to allow naturalized citizen eligibility for president. Does this restriction have any meaningful purpose today?

You can look at the bill specifics here http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-1503

Here is the list of cosponsor:
Rep. Marsha Blackburn [R-TN7]
Rep. Dan Burton [R-IN5]
Rep. John Campbell [R-CA48]
Rep. John Carter [R-TX31]
Rep. John Culberson [R-TX7]
Rep. Robert Goodlatte [R-VA6]
Rep. Kenny Marchant [R-TX24]
Rep. Randy Neugebauer [R-TX19]
Rep. Ted Poe [R-TX2]
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4 comments:

Hank said...

Or, as an alternative to changing the Constitution, how about we ask Mr. Obama to simply PROVIDE HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE?

Wouldn't that be easy? Wouldn't that be transparent?

Sigh.

John said...

Hank,

The president has released his birth certificate during the campaign last summer. What else can be done to please you on the fake issue?

As far as my question what purpose does Article II Section I Clause V have today?

Thanks
John

RubyV said...

I'm one of those people who don't have a birth certificate.

I have a certification of birth. Why? That is what the state of NY provides when you need a replacement copy. It looks nothing like the long BC you get shortly after birth. It only has my name, birthday, parents names. Maybe place of birth. That's it. It looks very different from the long form. It's an official document, and it is how I got my passport, but I do get people who think that I am not a US citizen when they see it (because frankly people are stupid).

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