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Natural Born Kandidates
Author: TriSec    Date: 01/16/2016 12:29:31

Sorry, TriSec is going there.

But I think it's important enough that it's worth a look from a less hysterical point-of-view.


There's a wee passage in that little document called the Constitution that states the following:


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; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.


Since Mr. Obama ran for office, much has been made of various candidates and their "eligibility' to run for same. It's unfortunate that we've had to argue about it for 8 years, but Mr. Obama's claim is the sturdiest of the three we're looking at today. He was born in Hawaii, to an American Citizen. Whether or not somebody accepts his birth certificate as "legitimate" is secondary. He was there; his mother was there. Hawaii is a state. That should be the end of the discussion, but it goes on due to the prevalence of the noisemakers.

Four years later, we went through this exercise again. Only this time, it was for the other side, and Mr. McCain. We're all probably aware that the Senator was not born in the United States. As the son of a (not-yet) four-star Admiral, he was born where his father was serving at the time - Coco Solo Naval Air Station, in the Panama Canal Zone. In 1936, this was under the control of the United States of America and was technically considered "US Soil". So while not physically born in the United States of America, the candidate essentially got off on a technicality, and no more doubts were raised.

Which now brings us to today's target - Rafael Edward Cruz. You're probably aware that he's not actually an American. Mr. Cruz was born in Calgary, Alberta Canada to an American-citizen mother and a resident-alien Cuban father. His parents owned a company that was involved in the oil industry, but how they came to live in Canada at the time isn't clear. On its face, that would seem to rule out compliance with the "Natural Born Citizen" provision. As much as some expansionists would like it to be, Alberta isn't the United States. Ted himself makes the argument that because his mother was an American citizen, he is too. I would presume that like all Republicans, he's unclear on how female bodies work - the simple act of emerging from the birth canal without mechanical assistance doesn't count as "Natural Born", but I digress.

Let's move on. Mr. Cruz's birthday is in 1970. This is the one that floors me - I always think of Presidential Candidates as reserved old men. Mr. Cruz is the same age as my baby brother. I guess it's true - I am getting old. But this is minor. The next point requires that candidates be fourteen years a resident of the United States. Note the term - resident. Mr. Cruz qualifies on that count. His parents suddenly separated in 1974 and his father went to Texas - the family reconciled shortly thereafter and followed the elder Cruz to the Lone Star State later in 1974. So for the ensuing 41 years the Canadian ex-pat has happily resided in these United States of America.

But not a citizen. Mr. Cruz went to school, got jobs, started in public service, and slowly but surely climbed the ladder of power. It wasn't until 2005, yes - you read that right, 2005 - that he finally became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 2012, Mr. Cruz ran for Senate from Texas, and won - and has been a steadily rising star in the Republican Party ever since.

Not bad for a wily Canadian, eh?
 

2 comments (Latest Comment: 01/16/2016 19:10:23 by Will in Chicago)
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Comment by BobR on 01/16/2016 14:29:41
So is he a Canadadate or a Klandidate?

Comment by Will in Chicago on 01/16/2016 19:10:23
Quote by BobR:
So is he a Canadadate or a Klandidate?


Let me quote Vorlon Ambassador Kosh Naranek: