They're both natural born citizens.

First Congress, on March 26, 1790, approved an act that declared, "The children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond sea, or outside the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural-born citizens of the United States." That would seem to include McCain, whose parents were both citizens and whose father was a Navy officer stationed at the U.S. naval base in Panama at the time of John's birth in 1936.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalization_Act_of_1790
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural-born_citizen

^I was going to point out the same thing. I still upvoted, only to dispel the lie that somehow a man born in the 50th state AFTER it became a state is NOT a U.S. citizen.

I don't think the video is trying to make the claim that McCain isn't really a natural born citizen. It's just a smartass response to those who would question Obama's status as a natural born citizen.

^You're probably right about that. I guess I should be thankful that they brought up McCain's birth record, if only to send the brains of the red-meat Republicans into a tailspin.

The Panama Canal Zone, in 1936. Jesus. Was it even finished then?

Whats the point of this video? "Fact-checking" some random McCain supporter's statement? wow, gotcha, you random ignorant fundie with 10 days left till your candidate will lose the election.

Leave them alone.

>> ^BicycleRepairMan:
Whats the point of this video? "Fact-checking" some random McCain supporter's statement? wow, gotcha, you random ignorant fundie with 10 days left till your candidate will lose the election.
Leave them alone.


Well, I think it comes down too if you cannot beat him, erm...try to disqualify him? I was kinda surprised some people thought this would carry some weight...but it seemed to be making enough buzz to post here....

>> ^burdturgler: considered as natural-born citizens of the United States.

What's with the extra "as"? Do we treat them as if they were, or are they? Since natural-born status is only legally relevant in running for president, for all practical purposes for any citizen-by-birth they will be treated as if they were natural-born, but this is the one special case where "as" vs. "is" makes a difference.

It's certainly debatable, attacking Obama on this issue is like W's campaign trashing Kerry for being a rich elitist, accuse your opponent of your own greatest flaw, and nobody will look at you.

>> ^BicycleRepairMan:
Whats the point of this video? "Fact-checking" some random McCain supporter's statement? wow, gotcha, you random ignorant fundie with 10 days left till your candidate will lose the election.
Leave them alone.



It's an accusation that gets tossed around a lot by the extreme McCain supporters. A lot of people listen to, and believe, Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage. And they've been levying worse accusations than this in recent weeks.

I really can't see how it could be misinterpreted. I also don't see how you could use "is" in that sentence. "considered is natural-born"? It was written over 200 years ago but it seems pretty clear to me that it's defining that children born outside of U.S. territory to parents that are citizens are to be regarded with the same natural-born status as those born within.


>> ^dgandhi:
>> ^burdturgler: considered as natural-born citizens of the United States.
What's with the extra "as"? Do we treat them as if they were, or are they? Since natural-born status is only legally relevant in running for president, for all practical purposes for any citizen-by-birth they will be treated as if they were natural-born, but this is the one special case where "as" vs. "is" makes a difference.
It's certainly debatable, attacking Obama on this issue is like W's campaign trashing Kerry for being a rich elitist, accuse your opponent of your own greatest flaw, and nobody will look at you.

We can only hope that one day soon, Arnold Scwarzenegger will also be declared a natural born citizen

I'm not sure if that woman was one of them, but there's a section of the McCain base that believes the birth certificate provided by Obama is a forgery because a printed version was never presented - or something along those lines.

There's even a lawsuit in the works from Phillip Berg. He's the guy behind the Obamacrimes.com website. When the case is immediately thrown out of court and he's calling for appeal after appeal, it really shows how delusional people can be..

I'm sure this woman just hear hannity or limbaugh mention this though and now thinks it's seriously an issue.

I was listening to Sean Hannity a few nights ago, and he had her on. Sure enough, she's claiming that this trip to visit his ailing grandmother is nothing but a hoax so that he can search for this birth certificate. Just, wow.

Ha! As if he would go there personally for that. If several top aids suddenly went to Hawaii after the lawsuit was brought, I might believe that. Maybe.

I suppose the farthest you could take this is call Barrak Obama an expat. But even that would be stretching it, wouldn't it?

Hello?!? You don't need to "search" for a birth certificate. It is not some magic original document proving anything. YOu can just go to the town clerk or whatever and get a copy.

FYI, the Supreme Court threw out Sleazy-Lawyer-Man's lawsuit over Obama's natural born status for standing.

You cant be a candidate unless you are a citizen.

You know... towards the second golden years of Roman Empire (not the republic age), most Emperors of Rome (particularly the 5 good emperors) were of non-native descent, meaning born and raised outside of Italia.


Trajanus - Born Southern Spain

Hadrianus - Born Southern Spain

Antonius Pius - Born Southern France

Marcus Aurelius - son of Praetor, Spanish descent

Pertinax - Son of Freed slave, Gaellic descent.

Septimius Severus - Born in Lybia

Caracalla - Born in France

etc etc...
Also interesting to note that in their books, famous historians like Gibbon and Machiavelli argued that succession of power by blood was the the mark of Roman empire's downfall (*COUGH BUSH COUGH*)

>> ^legacy0100:

etc etc...
Also interesting to note that in their books, famous historians like Gibbon and Machiavelli argued that succession of power by blood was the the mark of Roman empire's downfall ( COUGH BUSH COUGH )


By that "logic" the US has been in a downfall since the 6th president (COUGH ADAMS COUGH)

>> ^burdturgler:
defining that children born outside of U.S. territory to parents that are citizens are to be regarded with the same natural-born status as those born within.

So let us assume, as you claim, that the 1790 act, "makes" citizens-by-birth natural-born-citizens. two problems:

1) no reason to do that unless it was understood that they were considered distinct under the constitution.

2) it's not a constitutional amendment, and so can't be used to modify the rule or intent of the constitutional provision.

The 1790 act is evidence against your position.... like I said, it's debatable.

Conspiracy theory of the year!

http://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Barack_Obama#Hussein_Obama.27s_Birth_Certificate_Number

^jasephilip

Those historians weren't trying to set a magic formula to predict when empires go down.

They were criticising and exclamating a particulary bad method to choose an heir of a nation.

Read the books. They're a good read.