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Ted Cruz Not Eligible To Be POTUS, According to Most Plausible Interpretation of Constitution
Hot Air ^ | 2/10/16

Posted on 02/10/2016 1:55:32 PM PST by drewh

With Ted Cruz the victor of the first contest of the GOP nominating calendar, we can no longer avoid the question mischievously posed by Donald Trump: Is Cruz ineligible to be president? Cruz was born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father. The Constitution says that only a “natural born citizen” can be president. Is Cruz a natural born citizen? (You may recall that before he attacked Cruz on this front, Trump spent months flogging a ludicrous version of this critique against President Obama, who was actually born in the United States, unlike Cruz.)

The words natural born citizen, and their original meaning at the time that this constitutional clause was crafted, go a long way to answering this question. In founding-era America, like today, a person could be a citizen by virtue of birth on American territory; a citizen by virtue of a statute that granted citizenship to him at birth; a “naturalized” citizen, meaning one who entered the country as an alien but later obtained citizenship via a process determined by law; and a foreigner.

A natural born citizen cannot be a foreigner. Foreigners are not citizens. A natural born citizen cannot be a person who was naturalized. Those people are not born citizens; they’re born aliens. Most important for the purposes of the Cruz question, a natural born citizen cannot be someone whose birth entitled him to citizenship because of a statute—in this case a statute that confers citizenship on a person born abroad to an American parent. In the 18th century, as now, the word natural meant “in the regular course of things.” Then, as now, almost all Americans obtained citizenship by birth in this country, not by birth to Americans abroad. The natural way to obtain citizenship, then, was (and is) by being born in this country. Because Cruz was not “natural born”—not born in the United States—he is ineligible for the presidency, under the most plausible interpretation of the Constitution.


TOPICS: Editorial; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Illinois; US: South Carolina
KEYWORDS: birther; birtherama; canadian; cruz; cruznbc; ericposner; ineligible; lies; tinfoilhat
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1 posted on 02/10/2016 1:55:32 PM PST by drewh
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To: drewh

Yawn.


2 posted on 02/10/2016 1:57:37 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (TED CRUZ 2016)
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To: drewh

One is NATURALLY a US citizen when one cannot be anything else.
Born here of citizen parents.
Natural born citizen.


3 posted on 02/10/2016 1:58:00 PM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Know Islam, No peace - No Islam, Know Peace)
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To: drewh

Jeez, not this crap again.


4 posted on 02/10/2016 1:58:57 PM PST by Blood of Tyrants (Liberals are the Taliban of America, trying to tear down any symbol that they don't like.)
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To: drewh

They don’t care about the Constitution in this case. They just want their Teddy Bear. He is the only Consistent Conservative. ;-)


5 posted on 02/10/2016 1:59:13 PM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR!)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

BINGO!


6 posted on 02/10/2016 1:59:46 PM PST by ASA Vet (Jus Soli + Jus Sanguinis = NBC)
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To: drewh

..bring a lawsuit then, and see what happens...


7 posted on 02/10/2016 2:00:05 PM PST by WalterSkinner ( In Memory of My Father--WWII Vet and Patriot 1926-2007)
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To: drewh

I’ll be sure to read this if I have trouble falling asleep tonight.


8 posted on 02/10/2016 2:00:07 PM PST by GodGunsGuts
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To: drewh

I’ll be sure to read this if I have trouble falling asleep tonight.


9 posted on 02/10/2016 2:00:07 PM PST by GodGunsGuts
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To: drewh
Oh, good grief.
Been settled already Cruz is eligible.
Trump supporters really need to get over it, oh wait they are afraid.
10 posted on 02/10/2016 2:00:32 PM PST by svcw (An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man is a subject)
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To: drewh

Lol, the cult is one trick pony.


11 posted on 02/10/2016 2:00:42 PM PST by one Lord one faith one baptism
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To: Lurkinanloomin

12 posted on 02/10/2016 2:02:07 PM PST by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: drewh

Was his Mother a US Citizen? Yes.

Ergo, Ted is a US Citizen regardless of what hospital the event took place in.


13 posted on 02/10/2016 2:02:12 PM PST by Dead Corpse (A Psalm in napalm...)
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To: drewh

You actually expect me to waste my time reading this? LOL. Good one.


14 posted on 02/10/2016 2:02:32 PM PST by Durbin
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To: WalterSkinner

Every time brought, every time ruled Cruz is eligible


15 posted on 02/10/2016 2:02:51 PM PST by svcw (An armed man is a citizen, an unarmed man is a subject)
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To: SubMareener

They dont care about the Constitution in this case. They just want their Teddy Bear. He is the only Consistent Conservative. ;-)


Its not just that they dont care about the Constitution... they dont care that this issue can and will be used in the general election in such a way as to slam the door in the face of the Republican nominee.

Its almost like the Cruz supporters are YEARNING for 1964 all over again.

I mean, nostalgia is a great thing, but seriously folks, I am TIRED of nominating sure losers. Dole, McCain, Romney... ENOUGH ALREADY!


16 posted on 02/10/2016 2:03:22 PM PST by samtheman (Elect Trump, Build Wall. End Censorship.)
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To: svcw

Oh? It’s been settled? Did some court rule on this?
Or is it “settled” because Cruz supporters want to ignore it?


17 posted on 02/10/2016 2:03:30 PM PST by Pravious
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

This horse has been beaten to a bloody pulp.


18 posted on 02/10/2016 2:03:33 PM PST by windsorknot
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To: ASA Vet

So what happens if China declares Hillary a Chinese citizen by birth? Or what happens if Canada does have born on soil citizenship?


19 posted on 02/10/2016 2:03:45 PM PST by for-q-clinton (If at first you don't succeed keep on sucking until you do succeed)
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To: Cboldt

Fyi


20 posted on 02/10/2016 2:04:06 PM PST by hoosiermama (Make America Great Again by uniting Great Americans!)
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