La. voters oust indicted Rep. William Jefferson

http://www.google.com/ ^ | Dec 6th, 2008 | By CAIN BURDEAU

[Maelstorm]

Unofficial results showed Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao denying Jefferson a 10th term.

Republicans made an aggressive push to get rid of the 61-year-old incumbent, who has pleaded not guilty to charges of bribery, laundering money and misusing his congressional office.

Cao won a predominantly black and heavily Democratic district that covers most of New Orleans. He will become the first Vietnamese-American in Congress.

He came to the U.S. as a child after the fall of Saigon in 1975. He went on to earn degrees in philosophy, physics and law.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

-—But that is IRRELEVANT. America’s system is Jus soli (Latin for “right of the soil” or, somewhat figuratively, “right of the territory”), or birthright citizenship. It is a right by which nationality or citizenship can be recognised to any individual born in the territory of the related state.

Jindal was BORN IN BATON ROGUE. Therefore he is a natural born citizen of the USA according to our current laws.

We might want to change this in the future because too many illegals are using this system to have children here, but it STILL is the law of the land. That makes Jindal a NATURAL BORN CITIZEN of the USA and therefore, ELIGIBLE to be President.——

---

Sure been a lot of people arguing differently on this issue around this place lately.....But this is the way I was always taught it.

[SoCalPol]

Hawaii has different laws for overseas birth.
When he went to Pakistan in ‘81, it was out of bounds
for Americans. What Passport did he use.
He did’t get an American Passport until much later.
With O’s various friends in Chicago and the Clinton Justice Dept. in the 90s not that big of a deal to obtain a passport.

[RouxStir]

IMO, with all of this “bailout” crap going on in Congress, the whole lot needs to be ousted.

[Marie2]

Don’t forget McClintock won his seat in California. . . not all the news is bad!!

[farfromhome]

My understanding is in order to be VP, you have to be able to become prez if needed. I.E. the qualifications for VP are the same as for president.

[Maelstorm]

It will be interesting to see if there is a change in attitude after the election of Barack Obama. It is hard to say the game is rigged against your race when someone of your race has just won the Presidency. I’ve never voted for or against someone because of race and I find it unfortunate that so many minorities have felt that they need to.

[Tamar1973]

I missed your earlier post. You are right. Since his parents were not citizens he can not run for President. He certainly is a great Governor!

That's not true. If he was born here, it doesn't matter where his parents were born or whether they were US citizens themselves at the time of his birth. If Jindal was born in Baton Rouge, he's a natural born US citizen, period.

[Tamar1973]

There’s only 2. Either you were born here or you chose to be citizen. The only time where your parents citizenship is an issue is if you were born overseas (like John McCain in the Panama Canal zone).

[Chet 99]

Maybe he can run for the senate in 2010 if Vitter steps aside.

[trumandogz]

My guess is that Obama has had a U.S. Passport since he was a kid and travelled back and forth from Indonesia and the U.S.

As for the two passports, lots of people have more than one passport. I have two and qualify for another two. There is nothing illegal about holding two passports.

I hold a passport from the country of my birth for my work (oil field services) which has taken me to countries where Americans may not be welcome.

[dennisw]

Leo Denofrio says bullshit ...go read his case

[freeangel]

Now, if only his “peers” would send him to jail—but we know that won’t happen. And in the meantime, maybe charlie rangel will let him stay at his place out of the country rent free.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

You are exactly right...it is amazing how many people here are ignorant of basic laws of the land. However children born to ILLEGAL parents should not be awarded citizenship. Jinda’s parents were here legally and therefore there is nothing to deny him “natural born” US Citizenship.

Thank you, and I agree with you. The citizenship of the child ought to be contingent upon the legality or lack thereof of the parents. Jindal is a good fellow, and I'd reckon his legal immigrant parents are the sort of immigrants who helped to make this country great, just as their son hopefully will continue to do as President starting 15 Jan 2013!

[SeekAndFind]

Leo Denofrio says bullshit ...go read his case

And I say Denofrio's case is BS and I am DEAD SURE HE WON'T WIN.

[hoosiermama]

I distrinctly remember that answer. I answered two as did the majority of my classmates...We were all marked wrong. There ARE two for we common folks, but the POTUS must meet a higher level, both parents citizens and ALSO born here....Natural Born Citizen....We had quite a discussion even back then.....and the teacher won.

[dennisw]

Denofrio's case is BS

Based on what? Seems like there is tons of unsettled law here

McCain showed his birth certificate. Did everything he could to authenticate his birth and satisfy people
While your Obama likes to play games. Why? Is he a nut case and this is fun and games for him?

[dennisw]

I am DEAD SURE HE WON'T WIN.

Yes,  I'm quite impressed by your defeatist attitude

[Eagle Forgotten]

The Louisiana voters. Doing the jobs Pelosi and her ‘RATS don’t want to do.

This is an unfair attack. In 2006, even before Jefferson had been indicted, Pelosi asked him to step down from the Ways and Means Committee. When he refused, she took the matter to the Democratic caucus, which voted to strip him of his committee assignment.

That fall, the voters in his district re-elected him. The House Dems nevertheless continued to keep him off the committee. Pelosi said that he'd be restored to the committee if his name were cleared, such as by a decision not to charge him or by a charge followed by aquittal.

I don't know whether any Congressman, Republican or Democrat, tried to get Jefferson expelled, which would take a two-thirds vote of the entire House. Expelling an elected Congressman on the basis of mere allegations that haven't been tested in court is a dubious step, in my mind. It's better to leave it to the electoral process. That method has now succeeded. It's disappointing, though, that Jefferson was re-elected in 2006, just as it's disappointing that Jindal has voiced his support for David Vitter.

[SeekAndFind]

Yes, I'm quite impressed by your defeatist attitude

Let's not confuse two separate issues.

If the desire is to prove that Obama isn't qualified to be president because his father is a non-citizen now and when he was born, THAT IS A NON-ISSUE THAT ISN'T GOING TO FLY because THAT IS NOT A CONSTITUTIONAL and LEGITIMATE ARGUMENT.

If the issue is Obama WAS NOT A CITIZEN AT BIRTH BECAUSE HE WAS NOT BORN IN THE USA, then yes, this is a legitimate case.

Of course it has to be proven beyond reasonable doubt that he was not born in Hawaii. Good luck doing that.

If you want to defeat him and his party, creating a lame non-issue isn't the way to do it. Th left is suffering from Bush derangement syndrome by drumming up non-issue after non-issue. Let's not go down to their level. We're better than that.

[SeekAndFind]

I am basing my statement on post #53 above which states :

Donofrio’s theory is that neither Obama or Jindal are qualified based on the fact that their fathers were not American citizens at the time of their birth.

If that is Donofrio's theory, then he doesn't have a case.

The issue is NOT Obama's father's citizenship. it is WHERE Obama WAS BORN. Donofrio should concentrate on Obama's PLACE OF BIRTH, NOT HIS FATHER's CITIZENSHIP.