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Jul. 11th, 2008 | 09:21 am

More legal questions regarding McCain's constitutional eligibility to be president.

Look, I'm not a particular fan of McCain, and I can think of many, many good reasons not to vote for him. But as I've said before, this is a ludicrously stupid argument. McCain wasn't just born overseas; he was born on a U.S. military base; his parents were both U.S. citizens; Congress stated that children born to U.S. citizens in the Canal Zone were citizens.

I can't remember any political campaign taking such an interest in candidates' birthplaces before, but here's a thought: can we focus our attention on what Obama, McCain, and Barr are doing and saying, instead of where they were born?
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Comments {20}

液晶

(no subject)

from: [info]liquidjewel
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 02:42 pm (UTC)
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Oh no, I'm quite pleased. Of course, the media's Republican, but Obama's got weird-lookin' non-white skin, and so he must be some foreigner, probably from Manchuria. I hope the countermeme gains traction, because while Obama's birth certificate is real, McCain can actually be disqualified on a technicality.

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Frank Di Vincenzo

(no subject)

from: [info]lordsnotrag
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 03:35 pm (UTC)
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The media is Republican? That's pretty funny.

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 04:29 pm (UTC)
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Can we agree to classify the media as Incompetent?

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Frank Di Vincenzo

(no subject)

from: [info]lordsnotrag
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 08:24 pm (UTC)
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Yeah, I can accept that as an axiom. But then, they do tend to gear towards the lowest common denominator.

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液晶

(no subject)

from: [info]liquidjewel
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 04:55 pm (UTC)
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It's not actually very amusing. But they're clearly his base - McCain has no scandals, nobody in the media goes after them. Owned by the filthy rich elite, Republicans, and misinforming the working man. For example, McCain just said the recession is all in people's minds, and that they're being whiny for complaining about losing their jobs and livelihoods. Big story, right? Apparently not.

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Frank Di Vincenzo

(no subject)

from: [info]lordsnotrag
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 08:23 pm (UTC)
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You mean like this story?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/10/mccain.gramm/index.html

You know, the one that was right on the front page of CNN's web site yesterday. The one that, incidentally, shows your facts to be flawed as to who said what, by the way.

Perhaps you prefer MSNBC:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25628205/

Perhaps you'd prefer Obama's response to it on abcnews.com:

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=5350099&page=1

CBS, perhaps?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/10/politics/main4248758.shtml

NY Times?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/politics/11campaign.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

Time?

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1821708,00.html

Or, maybe, you should actually research your drivel before spitting it out. Just saying...

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液晶

(no subject)

from: [info]liquidjewel
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 08:34 pm (UTC)
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My bad for not following this as extensively as I should have - I saw it breaking, then going ignored.

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Z.S. Adani (Sophy)

(no subject)

from: [info]alaneer
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 02:51 pm (UTC)
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I agree.

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foms

(no subject)

from: [info]foms
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 03:00 pm (UTC)
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This is interesting. I never bothered to do any research but I was raised to believe that I was ineligible for the presidency even though I’m a full citizen by birth.

The common wisdom was that the rules for eligibility made explicit that, to be eligible, a person must have a) been born a citizen (not naturalized) and b) been born physically within the USA. Thus, it was a too-bad-so-sad sort of thing if you were born while your mother was on vacation elsewhere. Not in the club. All technicalities counted.

I need a more majestic middle name if there’s any chance of running for that august office.

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 04:35 pm (UTC)
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Usually I'd agree with the "too bad your mother was on vacation" argument, but in this case, McCain wasn't born at a Panamanian resort, but on a U.S. military base.

On a sidenote, I'd be willing to amend the Constitution to get rid of the "born in the U.S." rule. I understand why it was put into the Constitution in the first place, but I think that reasoning is outdated now.

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Edward H.

(no subject)

from: [info]cardinalximinez
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 03:07 pm (UTC)
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can we focus our attention on what Obama, McCain, and Barr are doing and saying, instead of where they were born?

No. What are you, some kind of elitist America-hater?

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 04:36 pm (UTC)
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No. What are you, some kind of elitist America-hater?

Only now, at the end, do you understand :)

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Edward H.

(no subject)

from: [info]cardinalximinez
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 05:41 pm (UTC)
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Palpatine, FTW!

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Les

(no subject)

from: [info]fizzgig_bites
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 07:20 pm (UTC)
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Didn't we beat this to death several months ago? I guess not...

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 07:25 pm (UTC)
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I thought we had, but it's apparently the argument that refuses to die. Unlike, for example, media attention to McCain's discussions of Social Security, which seems to die quite easily.

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Les

(no subject)

from: [info]fizzgig_bites
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 08:37 pm (UTC)
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That and birth control.

I just read this and found is sad and entertaining at the same time.

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 08:45 pm (UTC)
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Yeah.

I honestly think presidential campaigns, or at least the media coverage of presidential campaigns, are designed to make me cynical and depressed.

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 11th, 2008 08:47 pm (UTC)
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Oh, and on the birth control thing -- I can understand why he wasn't prepared for that -- women's issues have never been his thing. But since he's positioning himself as a foreign policy expert, I'd like him to be at least as informed as I am on the current political relationship (or, um, lack thereof) between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Actually, he should be considerably better informed, come to think of it.

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Erisian Saint

(no subject)

from: [info]bayushi
date: Jul. 12th, 2008 12:09 am (UTC)
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Anyone who doesn't know the difference between a Sunni and Shiite is not a goddamned foreign policy expert. Couldn't they come up with one GOOD Republican candidate? I know they're out there, if sadly lacking in this last election. Maybe someone who doesn't believe that throwing everyone below a certain salary level to the dogs is a good thing? I know there are some good Republicans out there who believe in fiscal responsibility, and that since, in government, less is more, so why legislate marriage. Someone who doesn't believe that we should let a President get away with breaking the law just because he's of the correct party.

Or am I dreaming The Impossible Dream again?

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Mari Ness

(no subject)

from: [info]mariness
date: Jul. 12th, 2008 12:47 am (UTC)
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I think it's as possible as my hope of getting the Little One to stop trying to make friends with a cat who just does not like him.

Sorry. I just had another cat separation moment....

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