I have a confession to make: I could never become President of these divided states of A-mery-ca. Why? Because I was born in the land of the good collie weed and Red Stripe Beer, that's why. And thus I would not qualify to be president under our current Constitution.
Now it seems that Mr. Morton (because he is always salty) wasn't born within these borders either. Some folks are even questioning whether he should be eligible to run for president. Seems Mr. Morton was born in a place called Coco Solo, on a military base in the Panama Canal Zone. The consitution states that one has to be a "natural born citizen" to become president.
Natural born citizen and what is its true meaning is the question here. This question is not as cut and dry as some folks might think. One professor who studied the situation even told the New York Times that it wasn't a "slam dunk." That may or may not be true, but in my humble opinion the Obamaholics should leave this one alone. There is just no there there, and I think the rethugs would welcome this battle.
This one goes to Mr. Morton from where I sit. U.S. Military bases and Embassies are considered A-merry-can soil, and the base Mr. Morton was born on in 1936 (damn he is old) was clearly under U.S. military control when baby McCain came popping out. And then there is this:
USC TITLE 8 > CHAPTER 12 > SUBCHAPTER III > Part I > § 1403"Any person born in the Republic of Panama on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States employed by the Government of the United States or by the Panama Railroad Company, or its successor in title, is declared to be a citizen of the United States." Besides congress passed a law way before my time saying that children born to U.S. citizens are natural born citizens.
So it would appear that my man is safe. Again, it would be a bad political move for the democrats to even make this an issue. McCain was born to military parents who were ordered on that base, and we are all aware of his own personal sacrifice as a Naval pilot. Still, I think it's interesting that this base in the Panama Canal was considered U.S. soil, but the frat boy's administration wanted to suspend the constitutional rights of those prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Hmmmmmm.
You really have to wonder though. If this was the "O" man, and he found himself in a similar situation, would A-merry-cans react the same way? Would we be getting all the cries of this is a non issue that we are getting now with McCain? Somehow I don't think so.
