Good point!

Anyhow the Supreme Courts of the past have actually NEVER directly interpreted this term. And just so you know, the lower courts CAN and DO interpret the Constitution; even Congress has been known to interpret the Constitution through legislation; the Supreme Court has final word, however, on its meaning and interpretation and can of course strike down legislation, as well as decisions by lower courts.

Of course, you have the right to interpret the Constitution; we all do. But any experiences you have had with your own naturalization are not really relevant to the presidential qualification of being a “natural born citizen”; and this was my point when I stated that you do not have the right of interpretation.

I believe we have different beliefs on how the Constitution should be interpreted, you being like most on this blog, a strict constructionist; whereas I firmly believe the Framers were more for looser constructivism.

I still will not waver on the belief that both of the candidates are indeed natural born citizens and these continued Rove-like attempts to divert citizens from the issues are unacceptable.

Point 3) Any talk of Obama or McCain’s citizenship status is silly.

Point 2) If said silliness moves to scrutiny, then both candidates get equal review. ( Not at all sure who has that authority, congress is my first guess, and not untill candidates are official)

Point 1) Have “the courts” define, no wait, “interpret” what the Constitution outlines as a natural born citizen.

Which “courts”? As far as I know, the Supreme Court alone can make determination on constitutionality.

Frankly , when it comes to Constitutional “interpretation”, the SCOTUS is hardly infallible.

They have done their share of overreaching and willfuly misinterpreting the Constitution.

You said:

“Just so you know, in the U.S., citizens like you do not have the right to interpret our constitution, the courts do.”

Excuse me?

I had to go back to re-read my post in an effort to see how it could be seen as an effort on my part to interpret the whole Constitution.

For crying out loud. Entire books have been written about how to interpret the Constitution, and from about as many angles imaginable …. written by citizens and non-citizens alike.

Not at all sure what you meant by “citizens like you” perhaps it’s one of those some citizens are more equal than others things, but I wonder how the heck you can pressume to know what I’m like or dictate my rights.

Just so you know, I have endured the presumtuous dictates of a few teachers of “constitutional law” in my time. They spent far too much time attempting to shift the focus away from the written law of the Constitution to the all important question of how to handle constitutional “interpretation”.

The Constitution does include rules governing it’s own interpretation as well as application. Teacher, teach thy self.

Laughable to imagine any citizen showing up at a DMV or passport office and saying “My documents? You can view copies on the Daily Kos.”

I seriously doubt that either candidate is anything but a U.S. citizen … albeit, this apparently forged birth certificate raises questions of credibility … and plenty of speculation.

My point in bringing up McBush’s citizenship was that if we are going to discuss Obama’s citizenship issues, then we also should include McCain. In the end, the point of my post was that this talk of whether or not Obama is a natural born citizen is silly, as is any talk of McCain’s citizenship.

I don’t like McCain but at least he’s too decent to go along with the virulent right-wing spin machine that spreads virulent rumors against whoever the Democratic party throws up every 4 years. Dukakis used to go to pee parties, Clinton snorted blow and had people killed, Clinton may be a communist plant because James Baker’s State Department misplaced his paperwork, Kerry is a war villian instead of a hero … I detect a pattern here.

Why not combine elements of all these … Obama goes to pee parties where he snorts blow with Muslim extremists and he may be a Kenyan plant. I think the George Bush Sr. quote on Clinton in 1992 was something like “I’m not saying he’s a spy - I’m just saying we don’t know for sure”.

McCain of course fell victim to Bush’s push polling in South Carolina in 2000 … using ostensible phone polling to spread a rumor he had a “black baby” out of wedlock (rather tahn an adopted child from Bangladesh).

Give it up, McCain’s a natural born citizen too:

http://tinyurl.com/6of32o

Like I said, let’s talk about real issues, not nonsense.

http://tinyurl.com/5pjs4p

Can we stop talking about stupid issues now ?

That is EXACTLY how my oldest daughter is considered a US citizen. She was born abroad before her mother was a US citizen, but since I was stationed in the Philippines, while serving in the US Navy, she is considered a US Citizen born abroad. We had to submit paperwork to the US Embassy and get her US passport before she could leave the Philippines. She has a US Citizen born abroad birth certificate as well as a certificate of live birth in the Philippines.

I do not believe Obama’s mother met the criteria for the designation of birth abroad because she had not been in the states long enough. That is the sticking point here as I understand it.

McCain is a US citizen because he falls under the US Citizen born abroad scope.

The same applies to John McCain. Both of his parents were US Citizens at the time of his birth in the PCZ. His father was on official US DoD duty at the time. The US Military would have ensured that the application was made to the State Department, prior to his leaving the hospital, and finalized before his father was transferred back to the US.

People get confuse “Natural Born” with the need to actually be born on US soil. Natural Born simply means that the child’s mother be a US citizen, born or “naturalized” at the time of the child’s birth. The reason that the father’s citizenship is less important is that when the law was written, paternity was less easy to determine.

The apparent forgery of the Obama document is an important matter, though not for the reason that it might disqualify him as President. It is important because it show the lengths that his supporters will go to to try an cover up any perceived weakness, or shortcomings.

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/07/23/does-this-kill-the-obama-birth-certificate-myth/

For that matter, I highly doubt McSame’s citizenship; that is, he was NOT a natural born citizen. He was born in the Panama Canal Zone, which had been ruled by the Supreme Court as being a sovereign territory; therefore, he was NOT born on American soil, so he was not born an American citizen.”

Good point, Lake Ridge. They should both provide proof of their eligibility to serve as President. I am concerned at how quickly folks want to sweep this issue under the rug. I can provide my US birth very quickly, and I will never be president. This mentaility of “move on, there is nothing here” worries me, and really provides fuel to the fire of this controversy. Let’s definitely answer the question, then move on.

Anyway, Barry is a citizen of the world, what type of proof do you need to claim that status

You clearly do not understand the term “natural born citizen”.

I was born on foreighn soil - in India to two American citizens. The government of India issued me a birth certificate - which my father then took, along with his proofs of American citizenship, to the nearest American Consulate in order to obtain my Consular Report of Birth.

My Indian birth certificate is proof only that I was born in India … and whoever typed up the certificate saw fit to type “American” on the line indicating my caste.

My Consular Report of Birth is my proof that I am a natural born citizen. And not of India, mind you.

India never did, would or will consider me a “natual born”, or any other type, of Indian citizen.

Being born inside their soveriegn borders did not make me an Indian national. My blood ties made me ineligable. Of my five siblings, four where born in different foreign nations and none of their birth nations granted them the option of citizenship.

So, the word “natural”, as it applies to the term “natural born citizen” has everything to do with blood ties … My blood ties made me ineligable for Indian citizenship as well as confer my U.S. citizenship.

My children, born to two U.S. citizens inside the U.S. are as “natural born” as I ever was.

If they happen to someday give birth to children overseas , those children would be considered “natural born citizens”. Again, not of their parents foreign host nation, but of the U.S.A.

But, here it goes for about the fifth time in the last two weeks…….

A.J. Strata, not a liberal by any means, has been following this story for weeks now and concluded long ago, quite convincingly, that the people claiming that the birth certificate is a forgery are all wet.

Here’s his latest response to the article you linked to:

http://tinyurl.com/5l3sju

And then there’s this news story which demonstrates quite clearly just how absurd the idea that this is all a lie to hide the fact that Obama is not a citizen of the US actually is:

http://tinyurl.com/6cz8eg

It is possible that Obama conspired his way to the precipice of the world’s biggest job, involving a vast network of people and government agencies over decades of lies. Anything is.

But step back and look at the overwhelming evidence to the contrary and your sense of what’s reasonable has to take over.

There is not one shred of evidence to disprove PolitiFact’s conclusion that the candidate’s name is Barack Hussein Obama, or to support allegations that the birth certificate he released isn’t authentic.

And that’s true no matter how many people cling to some hint of doubt and use the Internet to fuel their innate sense of distrust.

I think it’s time people stopped focusing on nonsense like this and dealt with real issues.