Posted on 01/16/2016 10:14:22 AM PST by conservativejoy
There's a reason the Supreme Court has never decided a case of "Natural Born Citizen." It's a Pandora's box filled with evil and second-class citizenship.
SCOTUS never decided a case of who owns real estate on the moon either, but that doesn't mean you can buy a crater. However, since there's now a lawsuit filed to determine just what a "Natural Born Citizen" is, we can ask exactly how stupid it would be to really address the question.
While former prosecutor Andrew C. McCarthy put the question to bed, legally, I kicked it around with my lawyer buddies to see exactly how far down the stupid hole this thing goes. It goes pretty far.
Jonah Goldberg put it in perspective, noting that the term only applies to one job: President of the United States.
Now imagine there are also all sorts of jobs you are barred from having. Not only can you not be president, but you can't be, say, a chiropodist or an embalmer. Pick your restrictions: You can't go to certain colleges or you can't get the best ESPN bundle. Americans born abroad can't buy basset hounds. Unless you were born here, you can't get cheese on your hamburger. Whatever. It really doesn't matter.
If the high court defined "Natural Born Citizen" to mean something besides "anything other than a naturalized citizen" (which is the only definition in use now), it would create a new category of citizenship. A second-class citizen who is technically not naturalized, but not eligible for the benefits of being "natural born," that one benefit being the presidency.
If that were the only possible application, the Court would certainly find it to be surplussage. But there are other applications which would certainly emerge in current law. If only a natural born citizen, under a new definition, is qualified to serve as president, should Congress revisit the line of succession? There's a "failure to qualify" disclaimer in the current version of the Presidential Succession Act, but what would constitute a failure?
Should Congress decide to create boundaries around succession that keeps non-natural born citizens out of the lineup? How about the Vice President, which Trump specifically mentioned? Should the Secretary of State be natural born? Speaker of the House? President Pro-Tempore of the Senate?
For that matter: Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security. They are all in line.
And then you get to the "best ESPN bundle" argument Goldberg made.
This lawsuit has terrible consequences if the courts should decide to do anything but dismiss it, because it creates a third category of U.S. citizen without fully considering the potentially massive consequences of such an act. If the only purpose of the lawsuit (which it most certainly is) is to plant doubt about Cruz's eligibility, and give Trump an excuse to pander to Rubio as a potential VP pick, then it should be heaped quickly into the dustbin of irrelevant lawsuits that don't deserve the court's attention.
And it should be done quickly, or else Trump will have accomplished what he admitted he set out to do: sink Cruz because he's rising in the polls.
P.S. One more point my lawyer friend mentioned: Nobody goes to court seeking a declaratory judgment (as Trump recommended to Cruz) for something they know isn't wrong. You don't ask permission to do something that's legal or unchallenged. Cruz is absolutely right to say he won't be taking legal advice from Donald Trump.
As evidenced by this article, the usurper is not breaking the law, as the definition of natural born citizen has been changed. So far they are getting away with it.
Inform yourself as to why Ted will never win.
Donald warned Cruz that eligibility would be an issue.
Cruz ignored him.
A Sanders supporter filed a lawsuit.
Lots of people are questioning Cruz’s eligibility.
Who is really reality challenged? Trump for warning Cruz. Or Cruz for ignoring the warning?
Donald warned Cruz that eligibility would be an issue.
Cruz ignored him.
A Sanders supporter filed a lawsuit.
Lots of people are questioning Cruz’s eligibility.
Who is really reality challenged? Trump for warning Cruz. Or Cruz for ignoring the warning?
Caps lock key stuck??
“…I am pro-choice in every respect as far as it goes, but I just hate it.”
the guy who made that statement is more than a bit conflicted and or reality challenged
that guy would be The DONNIE
If you say so. I don’t believe it has been. I think it’s being studiously ignored and the spin doctors are out in record numbers.
It is NOT necessary that the parents be "Born in the U.S.", only that they were Citizens.
"The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens." .... The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law, 1758
Unfortunately lots of men are told very loudly that they have no business having opinions about abortion because they are male and its women’s business. I think that is what was going on there and Trump decided that he was going to speak his mind after his friend’s experience rather than to continue being politically correct/avoiding attack by feminists.
That line of argument really burns me just like the “my body my choice” argument does. Someone else in the story has rights too. Leaving a stinking subject lie here rather than opining further about torturing & murdering the unborn.
I don’t want to trade one narcissistic President for one narcissistic New Yorker!!!
No, No, NO!
“Natural Born Citizen” means that those born of Caesarian section cannot be president! ;-) /s
Who is authorized to define “Natural Born Citizen” other than the Supreme Court?
It has a definition:
natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens
Excellent point.
No one is going to rule that Ted Cruz, being a citizen by nature of his birth, is not a natural born citizen.
This is a big red herring that too many freepers are chasing.
If you think Trump is the Savior of the Republic, then try to convince us by reference to his record and his positions over the years and his words and deeds.
If you have to resort to birther arguments to convince us that Trump is your political Messiah, then you have no ammunition.
“No foreign births, no foreign parents.”
Oh, except for Romney and McCain, right? ;-)
You got to red it to see what’s in it and what’s not. Try looking at the other side and where it’s been applied in other cases. Is it possible Cruz might be right?
McCain was ineligible, the fig leaf Senate Resolution notwithstanding, Mitt Romney was eligible.
“Clearly stated, to have Natural Born Status, your parents must be BORN in the US, and You must be born in the US.”
Oh, you mean like Romney and McCain, right? /s
The Citizenship Clause gives Congress the sole authority to define U.S. citizenship.
“It has a definition:
natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens”
*sigh* I get tired of typing this:
Like Romney and McCain, right? ;-)
And at the same time, no one is going to rule that he is.
What is, say, 25 Congresspeople came out and said "he's not qualified." What if 300 of them did? There is no ruling, by definition. No case in court, no electoral ballots in Congress.
Not that it will happen, but if Congress had any decency, it would telegraph its sense so as to promote good order in the conduct of an election contest.
I called my Senators and Rep. Told them about the Rogers v. Bellei case, and requested a letter telling me if Cruz is naturalized, in light of that case. They have all promised to reply.
Some police office could charge the person in Iowa, who certified Cruz qualified, with a violation of Iowa law. Today. Multiply by the number of states the GOP has certified papers with the Sec. of States.
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