Okay birthers, I'm open to the speculation, educate me for a second to two...

04/13/2011 | TMMT

[pepsionice]

I believe this is kinda simple. He was born “Barry” to start with, and continued with his English name until he ended his California college years (unfocused, bad grades, etc, etc). Then he dumped the college and moved to NY City....Columbia College, and he suddenly became focused....and he suddenly became Barak. Why? Like Mr Clay who became Mr Ali, and Lew Alcindor becoming Mr Abdul-Jabbar....he became Muslim. Every year, thousands of men in America undergo this transformation and they tend to get this period of calm and transformation.

He’s not foreign born or anything unusual like that. He simply started out as plain Barry, which is listed on the birth certificate, and then became a Muslim. He would prefer that you not figure this out and ask some stupid questions. Based on political help and insistence....he’s pretended he’s still Christian....just to get to the top. Nothing wrong with that...but it’s probably not a trait of honesty.

[Eye of Unk]

I think he is the reincarnation of Malcom X and the Superhero of the re-birth of Communism in America.

He has every indication of being the son of Malcom X and was bred by the very best to step in daddies shoes.

But the Communist Godfathers had to keep a lot of it hidden so he could sing his song of “Hope and Change”.

[bigoil]

Trump has been hired by ‘Top Management’ to do a little ‘dry work’.

Don’t focus on Hillary! or you’ll miss the overall.

Think Global...What country would benefit the most from the exposure and removal of the Kenyan Usurper?

[spetznaz]

Nobody using a US Passport would have been able to enter Pakistan during the time that Obama went there.

Why not? I am quite curious to get your reasoning. At the time, even more than now, Pakistan was a strong US ally in the region. Currently the relationship is under a lot of strain, primarily due to Islamabad not doing much to fight against the growing radicalism in the nation, plus Islamabad's growing ties with Beijing (not to mention Washington's growing ties with Delhi), but back then during the Cold War the relationship was exceptionally strong. The US was Pakistan's main backer, with the former USSR backing India (how things change).

Thus, the premise that 'nobody using a US passport would have been able to enter Pakistan during the time that Obama went there' doesn't seem to be veritable. Maybe you are confusing Pakistan with Iran, another US 'ally' that, following the '79 revolution, made it increasingly difficult for a US passport holder to visit.

This is a problem I always find with the Birther movement ...exposing oneself to easy rebuttal. I think people continue to say things that are patently not correct, and in doing so they give the other side a lot of ammunition. In essence, all a 'debunker' needs to do is focus on the incorrect stuff, and totally IGNORE the other information the Birthers have that is actually true and potentially damaging to the President. The enemy/otherparty/etc will always focus on the low hanging fruit, and the Birther movement has consistently been doing that.

This is the reason that I am extremely happy Trump is following up on this (even though I do not necessarily trust his motives). Trump will do it in a professional way, he will focus on facts and investigate those facts at a comprehensive level, he will not simply parrot stuff he read on email that can be easily rebutted (think of all the 'breaking news' the Birthers have come up with, ranging from fake birth certificates and scanned copies with promises of releasing the real Kenyan BC ...all of them being broken promises), and MOST importantly, presenting a serious face (unlike Orly whoever, who just seemed like a crazy woman). Trump, for all his faults, simply cannot be ignored, and that makes him the biggest proponent for the Birther movement. Finally the issue is being heard, it is being heard from a serious person (not some clown like Orly), it is being heard from a factual basis (not non-existent inabilities to get into Pakistan, or fake Kenyan BCs ....which was interesting because I was born in Kenya, and I could tell in a second that BC that was being shown on FR quite some time back was fake ...and easily fake ...only to be told by 'experts' on FR I didn't know what I was saying even about simple things like when Kenya got its independence). Trump is the biggest threat to the whole Obama BC issue, and I am sure he is causing the Administration some sleepless nights.

However, I do wish the rest of the Birther movement would get the facts straight. Isn't there some sort of central website where all the real facts (and there are a number of interesting facts that have not been properly explained by the Administration) can be put together so that people do not end up posting (rather weird) inaccuracies?

Oh, and it is a good thing Orly is no longer in the picture. The worst thing that can happen now is for her to try and 'join' Trump in his crusade. I have always believed that Orly was working for the other side. She almost single-handedly turned an issue that was serious into a running joke.

The Birther movement has a point that is being openly ignored by the Administration, and Trump is easily putting a lot of extra excess heat on the Administration. He may be the one who makes the Administration have to provide something solid. However, the Birther movement also needs to ensure it keeps its facts straight. It is so easy to discredit something real by focusing on aspects that are silly errors. I also think people hear something on talk radio, or read something on the web, and (thinking it is gospel) go around spreading information that is not true.

Imagine if a leading Birther had said no one could get into Pakistan with a US passport at that time ....the MSM would have torn him or her apart, and the Birther movement would have had an open and public humiliation on national TV. The kingdom lost for the want of a nail.

[Jonty30]

Probably the biggest reason why the MSM is so entrenched in defending Obama is less ideological and more related to legality. to have to admit, after three years, that they messed up because a black man was finally going to become president is too much to have to admit. A lawsuit based on this could bankrupt most of the networks.

[stilloftyhenight]

“... why do we think that Trump will find what they couldn’t?”
Raum Emanuel’s brother is Trump’s agent. Perhaps Raum isn’t happy about being drubbed out of the administration. He would know where the bodies are buried. Perhaps Trump’s contribution to Raum’s campaign is part of the deal.

Revenge? It’s the Chicago way. Just sayin.

I don’t know what the problem is, but it is obvious there is one. No sane person spends millions to fight lawsuits to keep it hidden when a $12 copy would do.

[Eye of Unk]

The place with all the “real” facts is hidden deep underground and requires the secret handshake.Just kidding.

Myself I was very much involved in the blossoming early stages of the birther movement, and I watched the growing army of advancing obots tirelessly invading FR like robotic assassins.

I watched the disappearances of certain FReepers, some that just changed names and maybe some that truly did just stopped coming around.

And I too was attacked in certain ways.

So for the time being I know that the accumulative false history of Obama is safe with very very trustworthy people and that Mr. Trump has patriots of the highest order conferring with him on approaches of tactically removing Obama or exposure to the degree that Obama is compelled to resign.

[healy61]

Excellent response on your part. Someone with secret loyalties could ruin a nation from the White House. In TMMT above, Obama is called Osama three times. Was this sloppiness or an intended sarcastic point?

[tsowellfan]

Nobody using a US Passport would have been able to enter Pakistan during the time that Obama went there.

It's unlikey. At the time Pakistan was on the No Travel List and it was highly discouraged.

Obama needs to release his documents and prove his eligibility. Period. There are doubts among the American and people even worse among our men and women uniform. There should never be any doubt among the ranks of our military that their Commander In Chief is legit.

Officer questioning eligibility faces new threats from Army

[EQAndyBuzz]

“This is not Kenya. Furthermore, you cannot be President if a parent was not a US Citizen at the time of birth.”

If I understand this statement correctly, if a parent was born outside the USA but became a citizen before his child was born, that is ok. Correct?

With that being the case, what we really need to find out is whether Obama’s father, whoever that is had US citizenship.

For all intents and purposes, Obama isn’t hiding whether he was born here. He is hiding whether his father, whoever that is was a US citizen before Obama was born.

[meadsjn]

Keep it up. It really ticks off the people who despise the US Constitution.

---

Obama’s Eligibility: The Big Con

 - Lawrence Sellin  Monday, April 11, 2011

Ordinary Americans could be forgiven for believing that the Democrat political effete elite and the main stream media (MSM) have been working in parallel to dismantle the Constitution and create a permanent left-wing, multicultural majority in the United States.

Their apparent goal is to transform our republic into a collection of simultaneous arguments, where the only thing we have in common is our differences.

If you’ve been wondering how things got so bad, then you haven’t been paying careful attention to their shenanigans, which is exactly what they hope, would happen.

A major part of that ongoing effort by the left-wing and the MSM involved a political deception to sidestep the Constitution and permit Barack Hussein Obama to run for President.

According to Article II, Section I of the Constitution, Obama has never been eligible for the Presidency because he is not a natural born citizen i.e. someone born in the US of citizen parents at the time of birth.

Over the last thirty years, there have been numerous attempts by Congress to change the Article II natural born requirement to “native born”, which is, born in the US regardless of parentage or just “citizen”, whether native or naturalized (good news for Arnold).

By electing Obama without an Amendment, the Constitution has been undermined and a precedent has been established to eliminate the term “natural born” from Article II, Section I.

One could claim that the “set-up” of the con began with the fabricated controversy, bolstered by the MSM, questioning the eligibility of Senator John McCain for President under the same Constitutional provision. McCain was born while his Navy officer father was serving at a US military base in the Panama Canal Zone.

It is interesting to note that those who questioned McCain’s eligibility were not called derogatory names like “birther”. They were deemed serious people asking valid questions related to the Constitution.

The details of the McCain controversy are less important than the means it created to hoodwink voters into thinking that Obama was also eligible for the Presidency. It all was conveniently written into the Congressional Record.

On April 30, 2008 Senate Resolution 511 resolved that John Sidney McCain, III, is a ‘‘natural born Citizen’’ under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States.

SR 511 had no recorded vote, is not legal or binding

The core argument of SR 511 was the legal analysis co-written by Laurence H. Tribe and rumored conservative Theodore B. Olson.

Tribe is a professor at Harvard Law School and a leading liberal scholar of constitutional law. He was an active supporter of and a legal adviser to Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign.

(I am grateful to Linda A. Melin for her thorough and thought-provoking research  on the subject of natural born citizenship from which I liberally pilfer.)

SR 511 had no recorded vote, is not legal or binding, but cleverly expresses the opinions of those who stand to benefit from them, that is, to sanitize Obama’s ineligibility to be President.

In his memorandum to the Senate, Tribe makes selective arguments, which seem more to serve the interests of Obama than McCain, particularly in the statement:

“These sources all confirm that the phrase ‘natural born’ includes both birth abroad to parents who were citizens, and birth within the nation’s territory and allegiance.”

The citation Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783, 790-91 (1983), which Tribe uses, actually comes from the dissenting opinion of Justice Brennan, who argued that “the Constitution is not a static document”

The reference Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 655 (1898) is cited without Minor v. Happersett 21 Wall. 162, 166-168 (1874), which was the guiding case for the Wong Kim Ark decision. In Minor, the Court cited the “Law of Nations” and clearly established who was a “natural born citizen” beyond any doubt, a definition that does not include Barack Hussein Obama.

Not surprisingly, Tribe, being an expert on the subject, claims that the Framers of the Constitution relied on British common law. To a casual observer, it would seem odd that the Founders would choose a legal model from which they were trying to free themselves.

Tribe is, quite simply, wrong. The 1st commentaries on the Constitution and a plethora of other historical references all point to the Law of Nations as a guiding force, not British common law.

The McCain eligibility controversy and SR 511 were the Congressional equivalent of “I’m ok, you’re ok”, both seemingly meant to divert attention away from Obama’s Constitutional ineligibility.

The “hook” of the con was the June 2008 release of Obama’s “birth certificate”, more aptly described as the “Certification of Live Birth” (COLB). It was accompanied by the circulation of many carefully-worded, official statements of verification, all of which sounded more like legal escape hatches.

Dr. Ron Pollard aka Polarik has produced informative and entertaining videos arguing that the various versions of the COLB, which appeared on pro-Obama websites, are all forgeries.

Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4

Sometimes the facts make it difficult not to believe in conspiracies.

---

Lawrence Sellin

Lawrence Sellin Most recent columns

© Canada Free Press 2011

Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a recently retired colonel with 29 years of service in the US Army Reserve. He is a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq.

[vanilla swirl]

“He has every indication of being the son of Malcom X”

?
Granted he doesn’t look like Obama senior but X?
I think he looks more like Frank Marshall Davis (uncle Frank).
BTW I agree with the rest of your premise.........

[meadsjn]

Think Global...What country would benefit the most from the exposure and removal of the Kenyan Usurper?

Definitely the USA.

[tsowellfan]

With that being the case, what we really need to find out is whether Obama’s father, whoever that is had US citizenship.

Exactly! I think that's the hidden reason why Trump wants the long form released. What Obama had released only gives the name and race of the baby's parents.

The document that Obama's keeping out of public is the form that also includes the place of birth and nationality of the parents.

[Just mythoughts]

Well ‘threatening’ to run as Independent pretty much destroys whatever Trump’s hunt turns up. Trump has not had to spend a dime on all this campaign publicity over the past life of the current president. So I am NOT seeing this as pure and a good deed that was initially presented.

We have a big enough bully in the White House right now, we do not need to switch riders. Questioning the hidden documentation of a person’s origins does nothing to demonstrate ‘conservative’ principles.

[Eye of Unk]

I just have a gut feeling Malcom X is quite the person originally involved here.

[truthfreedom]

I don’t trust Donald Trump as a Republican. He could be sent by Democrats to do some stunt that would discredit birthers.
We’ll just have to see, I guess. I’m not saying that I don’t like hearing it. I do. But the birth certificate message is a popular one and someone like Herman Cain might want to carry it, or Bachmann, or Palin. Palin attacking Obama was the political highlight of summer/fall 08.

Would you like to see Palin up there calling Obama a Kenyan? Or an Indonesian. Or so just say “we don’t know his real name. I’m gonna call him Barry Soetoro. Because that was his real name when he was an Indonesian Muslim.” And they’ll freak. But you’re going direct right in to that really weak spot in Obamas background. And there’s that picture of that Indonesian school form with Soetoro and Islam on it.

I just don’t think Donald Trump and President go together. I’ll take Mark Cuban instead.

[DaveTesla]

McCain had to testify before a U.S. Senate committee and produced his long-form birth certificate.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.RES.511:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?r110:1:./temp/~r110ZvBjaT::

JOHN S. McCAIN, III CITIZENSHIP — (Senate - April 30, 2008)

[Page: S3645] GPO’s PDF
-— Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 715, S. Res 511.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.

The legislative clerk read as follows:

A resolution (S. Res. 511) recognizing that John Sidney McCain, III, is a natural born citizen.

There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the resolution.

Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today we are considering a bipartisan resolution to express the common sense of all in this Chamber that Senator McCain is a ``natural born Citizen,’’ as the term is used in the Constitution of the United States. Last week the Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to report this resolution to the Senate. I urge Senators to come together to pass this bipartisan resolution without delay.

Our Constitution contains three requirements for a person to be eligible to be President—the person must have reached the age of 35; must have resided in America for 14 years; and must be a ``natural born Citizen’’ of the United States. Certainly there is no doubt that Senator McCain is of sufficient years on this Earth and in this country given that he has been serving in Washington for over 25 years. ``However, some have raised the question whether he is a ``natural born Citizen’’ because he was born outside of the United States.

John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American Naval base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936. His father was serving in the Navy at that time.

It is possible that at the time of our Nation’s founding, the Framers of our Constitution could not imagine how pronounced our commitments overseas would become but it would make no sense to limit the careers of children born to military families simply because they were stationed overseas. Similarly, it would not make sense to punish children born to foreign service families or Ambassadors stationed overseas or children born overseas to American missionaries. They are all American citizens at the time of their birth.

Numerous legal scholars have looked into the purpose and intent of the ``natural born Citizen’’ requirement. As far as I am aware, no one has discovered any reason to think that the Framers would have wanted to limit the rights of children born to Americans abroad or that such a limited view would serve any noble purpose enshrined in our founding document. Based on the understanding of the pertinent sources of constitutional meaning, it is widely believed that if someone is born to American citizens anywhere in the world they are natural born citizens.

It is interesting to note that another previous Presidential candidate, George Romney, was also born outside of the United States. He was widely understood to be eligible to be President. Senator Barry Goldwater was born in a U.S territory that later became the State of Arizona. Certainly those who voted for these two Republican candidates believed that they were eligible to assume the office of the President.

Because he was born to American citizens, there is no doubt in my mind that Senator McCain is a ``natural born Citizen’’. I recently asked Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, a former Federal judge, if he had any doubts in his mind. He did not.

Former Solicitor General Theodore Olson and Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe also analyzed the issue and came to the same conclusion—that Senator McCain is a natural born citizen eligible to serve as President.

Our bipartisan resolution would make it clear that Senator McCain, born in 1936 on an American Naval base to U.S. citizens, is a ``natural born Citizen. We should act today on a bipartisan basis to erase any doubt that Senator McCain is eligible to run for President because of his citizenship status.

I ask unanimous consent that the legal analysis of Theodore Olson and Laurence Tribe be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:

GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP,

Washington, DC, April 8, 2008.
Re legal analysis of question whether Senator John McCain is a natural born citizen eligible to hold the office of President.
Hon. Patrick J. Leahy,
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.

DEAR CHAIRMAN LEAHY: Pursuant to a request received from the staff of your Committee, I enclose for your and your Committee’s consideration a copy of my and Professor Laurence Tribe’s analysis of the question whether Senator John McCain is a natural-born citizen eligible, under Article II of the Constitution, to hold the office of President of the United States. Professor Tribe and I are in agreement that the circumstances of Senator McCain’s birth to American parents in the Panama Canal Zone make him a natural-born citizen within the meaning of the Constitution.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance in this matter.

Very truly yours,
THEODORE B. OLSON.

— GIBSON, DUNN & CRUTCHER LLP

Washington, DC, April 8, 2008.
Re legal analysis of question whether Senator John McCain is a natural born citizen eligible to hold the office of President.
Hon. Arlen Specter,
Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. Senate, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC.

DEAR SENATOR SPECTER: Pursuant to a request received from Democratic Committee staff, I enclose for your consideration a copy of my and Professor Laurence Tribe’s analysis of the question whether Senator John McCain is a ``natural born citizen’’ eligible, under Article II of the Constitution, to hold the office of President of the United States. Professor Tribe and I are in agreement that the circumstances of Senator McCain’s birth to American parents in the Panama Canal Zone make him a natural born citizen within the meaning of the Constitution.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance in this matter.

Very truly yours,
THEODORE B. OLSON.

— March 19, 2008.

We have analyzed whether Senator John McCain is eligible for the U.S. Presidency, in light of the requirement under Article II of the U.S. Constitution that only ``natural born Citizen[s] ..... shall be eligible to the Office of President.’’ U.S. Const. art. II, §1, cl. 5. We conclude that Senator McCain is a ``natural born Citizen’’ by virtue of his birth in 1936 to U.S. citizen parents who were serving their country on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone. The circumstances of Senator McCain’s birth satisfy the original meaning and intent of the Natural Born Citizen Clause, as confirmed by subsequent legal precedent and historical practice.

The Constitution does not define the meaning of ``natural born Citizen.’’ The U.S. Supreme Court gives meaning to terms that are not expressly defined in the Constitution by looking to the context in which those terms are used; to statutes enacted by the First Congress, Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783, 790-91 (1983); and to the common law at the time of the Founding. United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649, 655 (1898). These sources all confirm that the phrase ``natural born’’ includes both birth abroad to parents who were citizens, and birth within a nation’s territory and allegiance. Thus, regardless of the sovereign status of the Panama Canal Zone at the time of Senator McCain’s birth, he is a ``natural born’’ citizen because he was born to parents who were U.S. citizens.

Congress has recognized in successive federal statutes since the Nation’s Founding that children born abroad to U.S. citizens are themselves U.S. citizens. 8 U.S.C. §1401(c); see also Act of May 24, 1934, Pub. L. No. 73-250, §1, 48 Stat. 797, 797. Indeed, the statute that the First Congress enacted on this subject not only established that such children are U.S. citizens, but also expressly referred to them as ``natural born citizens.’’ Act of Mar. 26, 1790, ch. 3, §1, 1 Stat. 103, 104.

Senator McCain’s status as a ``natural born’’ citizen by virtue of his birth to U.S. citizen parents is consistent with British statutes in force when the Constitution was drafted, which undoubtedly informed the Framers’ understanding of the Natural Born Citizen Clause. Those statutes provided, for example, that children born abroad to parents who were ``natural-born Subjects’’ were also ``natural-born Subjects ..... to all Intents, Constructions and Purposes whatsoever.’’ British Nationality Act, 1730, 4 Geol. 2, c. 21. The Framers substituted the word ``citizen’’ for ``subject’’ to reflect the shift from monarchy to democracy, but the Supreme Court has recognized that the two terms are otherwise identical. See, e.g., Hennessy v. Richardson Drug Co., 189 U.S. 25, 34-35 (1903). Thus, the First Congress’s statutory recognition that persons born abroad to U.S. citizens were ``natural born’’ citizens fully conformed to British tradition, whereby citizenship conferred by statute based on the circumstances of one’s birth made one natural born.

There is a second and independent basis for concluding that Senator McCain is a ``natural born’’ citizen within the meaning of the Constitution. If the Panama Canal Zone was sovereign U.S. territory at the time of Senator McCain’s birth, then that fact alone

[Page: S3646] GPO’s PDFwould make him a ``natural born’’ citizen under the well-established principle that ``natural born’’ citizenship includes birth within the territory and allegiance of the United States. See, e.g., Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. at 655-66. The Fourteenth Amendment expressly enshrines this connection between birthplace and citizenship in the text of the Constitution. U.S. Const. amend. XIV, §1 (``All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States. *.*.* ‘’) (emphases added). Premising ``natural born’’ citizenship on the character of the territory in which one is born is rooted in the common-law understanding that persons born within the British kingdom and under loyalty to the British Crown—including most of the Framers themselves, who were born in the American colonies—were deemed ``natural born subjects.’’ See, e.g., 1 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 354 (Legal Classics Library 1983) (1765) (``Natural-born subjects are such as are born within the dominions of the crown of England, that is, within the ligeance, or as it is generally called, the allegiance of the king.*.*.* ‘’).
There is substantial legal support for the proposition that the Panama Canal Zone was indeed sovereign U.S. territory when Senator McCain was born there in 1936. The U.S. Supreme Court has explained that, ``[f]rom 1904 to 1979, the United States exercised sovereignty over the Panama Canal and the surrounding 10-mile-wide Panama Canal Zone.’’ 0’Connor v. United States, 479 U.S. 27, 28 (1986). Congress and the executive branch similarly suggested that the Canal Zone was subject to the sovereignty of the United States. See, e.g., The President—Government of the Canal Zone, 26 Op. Att’y Gen. 113, 116 (1907) (recognizing that the 1904 treaty between the United States and Panama ``imposed upon the United States the obligations as well as the powers of a sovereign within the [Canal Zone]’’); Panama Canal Act of 1912, Pub. L. No. 62-337, §1, 37 Stat. 560, 560 (recognizing that ``the use, occupancy, or control’’ of the Canal Zone had been ``granted to the United States by the treaty between the United States and the Republic of Panama’’). Thus, although Senator McCain was not born within a State, there is a significant body of legal authority indicating that he was nevertheless born within the sovereign territory of the United States.

Historical practice confirms that birth on soil that is under the sovereignty of the United States, but not within a State, satisfies the Natural Born Citizen Clause. For example, Vice President Charles Curtis was born in the territory of Kansas on January 25, 1860—one year before Kansas became a State. Because the Twelfth Amendment requires that Vice Presidents possess the same qualifications as Presidents, the service of Vice President Curtis verifies that the phrase ``natural born Citizen’’ includes birth outside of any State but within U.S. territory. Similarly, Senator Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona before its statehood, yet attained the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 1964. And Senator Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961—not long after its admission to the Union on August 21, 1959. We find it inconceivable that Senator Obama would have been ineligible for the Presidency had he been born two years earlier.

Senator McCain’s candidacy for the Presidency is consistent not only with the accepted meaning of ``natural born Citizen,’’ but also with the Framers’ intentions when adopting that language. The Natural Born Citizen Clause was added to the Constitution shortly after John Jay sent a letter to George Washington expressing concern about ``Foreigners’’ attaining the position of Commander in Chief. 3 Max Farrand, The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787, at 61 (1911). It goes without saying that the Framers did not intend to exclude a person from the office of the President simply because he or she was born to U.S. citizens serving in the U.S. military outside of the continental United States; Senator McCain is certainly not the hypothetical ``Foreigner’’ who John Jay and George Washington were concerned might usurp the role of Commander in Chief.

Therefore, based on the original meaning of the Constitution, the Framers’ intentions, and subsequent legal and historical precedent, Senator McCain’s birth to parents who were U.S. citizens, serving on a U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, makes him a ``natural born Citizen’’ within the meaning of the Constitution.
LAURENCE H. TRIBE.
THEODORE B. OLSON.

Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements be printed in the Record.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The resolution (S. 511) was agreed to.

The preamble was agreed to.

The resolution, with its preamble, is as follows:

S. Res. 511

Whereas the Constitution of the United States requires that, to be eligible for the Office of the President, a person must be a ``natural born Citizen’’ of the United States;

Whereas the term ``natural born Citizen’’, as that term appears in Article II, Section 1, is not defined in the Constitution of the United States;

Whereas there is no evidence of the intention of the Framers or any Congress to limit the constitutional rights of children born to Americans serving in the military nor to prevent those children from serving as their country’s President;

Whereas such limitations would be inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the ``natural born Citizen’’ clause of the Constitution of the United States, as evidenced by the First Congress’s own statute defining the term ``natural born Citizen’’;

Whereas the well-being of all citizens of the United States is preserved and enhanced by the men and women who are assigned to serve our country outside of our national borders;

Whereas previous presidential candidates were born outside of the United States of America and were understood to be eligible to be President; and

Whereas John Sidney McCain, III, was born to American citizens on an American military base in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That John Sidney McCain, III, is a ``natural born Citizen’’ under Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution of the United States.

---

[DaveTesla]

Therefore, based on the original meaning of the
Constitution, the Framers’ intentions, and subsequent legal
and historical precedent, Senator McCain’s birth to parents
who were U.S. citizens, serving on a U.S. military base in
the Panama Canal Zone in 1936, makes him a ``natural born
Citizen’’ within the meaning of the Constitution.
LAURENCE H. TRIBE.
THEODORE B. OLSON

[Spaulding]

Good summary Vendome. There is a bit of sophistry in SR511 which is worth noting. “Whereas the term ‘natural born citizen’ ... is not defined in the Constitution.” There are very few terms defined in the Constitution. Not being defined in the Constitution is the norm. The intent by our framers is that the Constitution be understood by citizens. To do that there was care taken to use the common language at the time. Madison told us, as did Morrison Waite in his repetition of the Vattel definition “At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar,”. Madison (p37 of Liberty and Tyranny) told us that not using the language of our framers rendered the Constitution meaningless.

There was another reason. If ideas are to be preserved, but the authors have no idea how the language will change over time, how can one express them? In mathematical logic one would create a synthetic language. But then only mathematicians would understand. The common law and common language is the mechanism to preserve meaning. Morrison Waite told us; John Bingham told us; John Marshall and even Horace Gray, because he cited Waite, told us, who were natural born citizens.

So Larry Tribe or Ted Olson were tricking you, as they did in numerous places in their commissioned essay. Larry, of course, was on Obama’s campaign committee, and was Obama’s Constitutional Law professor, as well as his adviser, at Harvard. Larry was also protected from having plagiarized a book by Obama SCOTUS appointee, Elene Kagan, who muffled a trial and further legal action by creating a committee of famous lefties to stall until the issue was forgotten. Larry wasn't even scolded by Harvard for lifting whole chapters from someone else's work.

I don't disagree with you. It was a setup. And so was SR 511. Don't forget SB2678, the bill “To Insure that Foreign Born Children of Military Citzens are Eligible to The Presidency” sponsored by McCaskill and Obama. The 2008 election was theater for the proletariat.

To see similar sophistry from presumably conservative pundits read the National Review articles by Mathiew Franck lambasting anyone who thinks citizens have standing to question an elected president's eligibility. He appears to be setting up a defense for McCain, should McCain have won, and be challenged. This is our ruling class. http://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/51018/citizenship-and-judicial-supremacy/matthew-j-franck

Good work.