Posted on 12/01/2008 12:52:16 PM PST by jeffo
Well, I had written to Senator Martinez ("R"-Florida) about the citizenship issue before the election. Today I got this mind-boggling response:
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Thank you for contacting me regarding President-Elect Obama's citizenship. I appreciate hearing from you and would like to respond to your concerns.
Like you, I believe that our federal government has the responsibility to make certain that the Constitution of the United States is not compromised. We must fight to uphold our Constitution through our courts and political processes.
Article II of the Constitution provides that "no Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President." The Constitution, however, does not specify how that qualification for office is to be enforced. As you may know, a voter recently raised this issue before a federal court in Pennsylvania. On October 24, 2008, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania released an order in the case of Berg v.Obama.In that case, the plaintiff, Phillip Berg, raised the same issue that your letter raises regarding proof of the President-Elect's birthplace. Through his lawsuit, Mr. Berg sought to compel President-Elect Obama to produce a certified copy of his birth certificate.
The District Court dismissed Mr. Berg's suit and held that the question of Obama's citizenship is not a matter for a court to decide. The court further noted that voters, not courts, should decide whether a particular presidential candidate is qualified to hold office.
Presidential candidates are vetted by voters at least twice - first in the primary elections and again in the general election. President-Elect Obama won the Democratic Party's nomination after one of the most fiercely contested presidential primaries in American history. And, he has now been duly elected by the majority of voters in the United States. Throughout both the primary and general election, concerns about Mr. Obama's birthplace were raised. The voters have made clear their view that Mr. Obama meets the qualifications to hold the office of President.
After he is sworn into office, Mr. Obama will be our nation's President and I intend to bestow upon him the honor and respect due any man who holds that Office. Yet, I am certain that there will be times when I will disagree and oppose President Obama's policies. When that happens, you can be assured that I will pursue vigorously what I believe to be in the best interest of Florida and the nation.
I thank you for sharing your views with me and will keep your concerns in mind. If you have additional questions or comments, please contact me. For more information about issues and activities important to Florida, please sign up for my weekly newsletter at http://martinez.senate.gov.
Sincerely,
Mel Martinez United States Senator
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OK, so the fact that he won the election makes him qualified. Amazing
“This statement scares the dickens out of me.”
Welcome to Cuba/Venezuela-style mob rule. That’s why these people like to organize marches and vote by acclamation and “show of hands.”
Just like global warming is a “proven fact” and there were “no WMD in Iraq.”
The list will get longer.
You are being ruled, jeffo. Not governed. Get used to it.
Constitution Defers To Voters
"It don't make no mind what the Constitution says, the voters say he's eligible," says Senator.
We had some Republicans call the house today and I asked the guy about the certificate affair. He said that he sympathized with the problem, but that if Obama was improperly elected and it could be proven, he’d be impeached, that it was required. I told the guy that it appeared to me that none of the Republicans even had the cojones to ask the question. My tone was such that if they didn’t have the cojones to ask the question, they had better not have the nerve to ask me for money.
Mel Martinez may be a RINO, but it appears that the lot of them are gutless wonders.
Please, name him/her. It will be useful in tracking the origin of the form letter. Regardless of the merits of the birth certificate issue as it regards to Obama, the idea that public opinion decides a constitutional issue is outrageous.
pffft, yeah, three minute civil wars during American Idol commercial breaks.
And to think that this loser was chairman of the RNC...no wonder the GOP lost across the board!
Martinez wasn’t born here either, he couldn’t care less.
His letter, his response, and the shocking lack of understanding of the Constitution sound pretty impeachable to me.
You Florida guys should jump on this .
The only reason I voted for Martinez is.......uh, is, uh.......just gimme a minute or two.......
Lamar Alexander/Tennessee
and also a friend just south of the Georgia line got the same (I think nearly word for word) from Johnny Isaakson.
The commies are gettin uppity again, ain’t they.
Huh???? I realize I didn't go to law school and was never taught the fine art of convoluted logic but didn't he answer his own question? The qualification is enforced by not allowing someone who doesn't meet the qualifications of office to hold that office. Now in the past this was determined before the primaries but since our media and BOTH political parties were so hell bent on giving this guy a pass on everything and making sure he was elected that basic question was never answered. When someone did bring it up then the questioner was considered a [racist, right wing nut , afraid of electing a black man (fill in the blank)]. Now we're in the situation where we aren't 100% sure this guy could constitutionally hold office. Oh well its a living breathing document subject to change so who cares.
One man one vote democracy. Mob rule!
Has been so for last 40 years.
HOLY CR*P! I realized this azzwipe is a REPUBLICAN! AYFKM?? This guy is supposed to represent the interests of his party yet twists himself into a knot and takes a ridiculous position to help the RATS. He should be forced to resign YESTERDAY.
During the amnesty fiasco, I wrote my Senator Mel Martinez stating that his support for amnesty was a travesty and begged him to reconsider.
He simply sent me a request for a donation the the R.N.C.
This assclown Mel Martinez is a huge baboso and deserves an ass whoopin by a little old granny.
Crap like Martinez are why I’m hoping for a new CONSERVATIVE party instead of F-ing Dem lite.
I am working against any future run for Florida office this
jerk ever undertakes.
I had to go back and read Martinez’s response a second time. Basically, in writing, the guy tells a constituent that he has no intention of doing his duty as a US Senator and enforce and defend the US Constitution.
These people (politicians of all labels) have truly gotten to the point where they feel insulated from the citizens and can do and say whatever they want.
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