McCain's Canal Zone Birthplace Raises Eligibility Questions

please tell me he is ok to run. nothing like a war hero that bombed women and children in that other illegal war to run for president. you know we are imperialists when even the other candidates from the other party calls him a war hero.

god bless america the country that calls thier soldiers war heroes for participating in illegal wars based on lies and deception.

the the worst of the war mongers the evangels. go figure.

mc war or is it mc pain is still pissed off that he lost that other illegal war so he wants a war so bad to win. he will sell his soul to get to be president to get his war and he will flip flop more than kerry. the folks in ohio will give him a win. they love a good screwing. they will soon have a choice work at war mart as a greeter or sign up for mc war's coming war.

Hey, we all came from the birth canal zone, except those delivered by Caesarian, except Bush who crawled out of a petrie dish filled with shit. Oops, can I say that?

The best way to figure out if Mr. McCain can Constitutionally become President would be to tell members of the Right-Wing Fringe that Mr. Obama was born in similar circumstances... and see what they say.

McCain IS a Canal Zone.

Why don't we just let him be President of the Panama Canal?

I just noticed he's not wearing a flag lapel pin in that picture. That proves he's not a patriotic American!

*No, not really. It's just that right wing talking points are so much fun to use.

How can we ask our parents-to-be to serve abroad if we are going to spurn their children. Nobody should question the fact that John McCain is American. That family has served our nation to the point where any consideration of ambiguity of nationality should be dismissed out of hand.

/Obama '08

it does make the conversation a little more interesting when your talking with the Hanity crowd.

Hanity Crowd guy, "Barack Hussein Obama"!

Me, "at least he's not from Panama"!

lol

The term "natural born" citizen has a long history in British common law.In fact, a law passed in 1677 law says that "natural born" citizens include people born overseas to British citizens. This usage was undoubtedly known to John Jay, who had children born overseas while he was serving as a diplomat.( It also appears to have been employed by the members of the first Congress, who included many of the people who had participated in the Constitutional Convention. To be specific, The Naturalization Act of 1790, which was passed by this Congress, declared "And the children of citizens of the United States, that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens; Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident of the United States."




This is fom the Constituion.

I an not a fan of McLoser but he is an American.

JUST TYPE IN ALL CAPS, IT'S MUCH EASIER TO READ!

According to 8 USC 1401(c), McCain't really IS a natural born US citizen, as he is "a person born outside of the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are citizens of the United States and one of whom has had a residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, prior to the birth of such person."

Let's now focus on why his platform makes him unqualified for the presidency.

There is a distinction between citizenship and nationality.

John McCain is clearly a US citizen, but depending upon the legal status of the Panama Canal at the time of his birth, his nationality may in fact be Panamanian rather than American.

Most of us don't make the distinction, because most of us are born in the territorial US to parents who were also born here, but our citizenship derives from the fact that we were born on US soil...not to American parents...

Again, the distinction can be confusing but the Founding Fathers made it when considering who should be eligible for the presidency and it's why they added a particular eligibility clause to the constitution.

This is more than an academic question: what is a "natural-born citizen"? Must a child be born on U.S. soil to be such a citizen? What about Americans working abroad for the State Department --are their children born overseas U.S. citizens automatically?
Same for military personnel: for example, are children born to American soldiers stationed in Germany "natural-born citizens"?, or do they go through some bureaucratic ritual to become naturalized?
And what about American business men and women working for private U.S. companies in Asia or Europe or Africa: are their children born away from U.S. soil considered to be "natural-born" citizens of the United States?
And what about people born in the outer marches of the American Empire? Could a Puerto Rican-born person become President? Guam-born? American Samoa? U.S. Virgin islands?
We now know the murkiness of Panama John McCain's situation. Can you image if Hawaii Barack Obama had been born a few years earlier--before Hawaii became a state-he might not be eligible to run for the Presidency?
Enough questions to fill the Supreme Court's docket.

Sooo.... Panama was McCain's birth Canal?

JP

Ollie?

Ollie?

Oxenfree?

give me a break ---- the mans father was in the navy, and on a US base at the time ---- as far as i'm concerned that's American soil ---- this is a non-story --- just another slap in the face for an American hero ---- whats next, he cant raise his hand above the shoulder to take the oath ......

Hola, Juan MCain.

Now, I hate McCain as much as the next guy, but this a stupid article. Any person born to an American Citizen anywhere is a natural born citizen. Period. Now onto something with real news value, please.

This has been such a surprising election year.

Who would have thought that "Panama John" McCain would turn out to be much less American than Barack Obama?

It's ironic, and perhaps deserved given the unjustified attacks the Republican right have made on Senator Obama and his patriotism.

So, this would mean that my two daughters, both of whose parents are American citizens and were citizens at the time of their birth in Channai, India, and who have been American citizens all their lives and never of any other country, are "natural-born," and not eligible to be president.

On the other hand, a child of citizens of other countries, born on U.S. territory, is "natural-born" as well as eligible for U.S. citizenship, and could be elected president.

This is ridiculous. This whole thing. Drop it.

The New York Times long ago stopped being a news organization. Stop reading it.

I am very concerned about John McCain's childhood in Central America and the effects that "Panamanianism" have had on him.

John McCain is a foreigner trying to present himself as something he is not - a natural-born American. Would McCain engage in so much corruption, lying, and deceit if he were really an American?

I think not.

Me too. This new format is too small to read.