Dec 06 2008
Constitutional Crisis Looming over a Dual Citizen Candidate?
On Friday, Dec 5th, 2008, around 50 concerned Americans gathered outside the US Supreme Court in a vigil, attempting to show their concern about possibly overturning the 200 yr old tradition of a “natural born citizen”.
Of course, there are numerous suits all over the US, calling into question the eligibility of the candidates to have their names put before the Electoral College on December 15th.
You see, prior to common knowledge, there are several steps in the selection of the President of the United states, namely a popular election on November 4th, next the Electoral College and, third the ratification of the Electoral College by the Congress on January 6th. All of that precedes the final step, which is the Inauguration on January 20th. You can read more about this process in the Government Archives. All of these processes were put into place to protect the Republic.
Now, the lawsuit that compelled this vigil was not the ordinary “show me your birth certificate Obama” garden variety lawsuit, but Donofrio v Wells. This lawsuit goes to the heart of the qualification to be President of the United Sates.
Let’s take a look at what the 1st Chief Justice John Jay of the U.S. wrote to George Washington in July 1787; “Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Commander in Chief of the American Army shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen..”
Now, for those of you familiar with Barack Obama, he openly admitted that he was born of a British father, since Obama Sr. was from Kenya and at that time Kenya was a protectorate of the United Kingdom. Therefore, Barack Obama was born with dual allegiances, and nothing can alter that. Hence, he is not, and never can be a “natural born citizen.” Additionally, Mr. Donofrio also maintains that war hero Senator John McCain is not “natural born” either, because he was not born on American soil, but in Panama.
Now, at this moment the case has finally reached the Supreme Court for a conference during which the Justices will decide whether the case will move forward for a full hearing. It is called a “rule of four” conference, meaning that it only requires the assent of 4 Justices to grant a writ of Certiorari. Mr. Donofrio has actually requested a Stay of the Election until the issue of “natural born citizen” can be clarified.
There are numerous reasons, of course, why the Framers wanted the Presidency to be held only by one with unquestioned allegiance to the United States, without a taint of any dual nationality or foreign influences.
As of now, the Court has not announced its decision and the whole world is waiting for its decision. If you want to stay updated you may go to naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com.
Mr. Donofrio has also provided us with some history of the Presidency and information about several of our former presidents whose “natural born” status was questioned.
