A contributor, one Matt L, to the federalistblog.com, a priceless source of commentary on Constitutional issues/questions, replied to my posting in this way: "The most relevant and compelling sources of law (notably the relevant legal treatises penned during the colonial period by de Vattel and von Bar) appear to demonstrate that what our framers intended when they inserted the term "natural born citizen" into Art II, Sec 1 [Presidential Clause], and what the ratifiers of the original Constitution (together with the first ten amendments) understood when presented with the final document, is that the office of POTUS was unavailable to any otherwise qualified individual who cannot also show that he or she was both: 1) born on U.S. soil, and 2) born to a mother who, as of the moment the individual in question is born, was either a) married to a U.S. citizen, or b) an unmarried U.S. citizen."
He goes on to point out that, therefore, McCain, born in a Panamanian hospital, and Obama, born of a British citizen, failed prong 1 and prong 2 of the above test respectively. Thus, the unsettling and very real possibility that this year's GOP and Democratic candidates were BOTH constitutionally unqualified to be President.
As already alluded to in my previous posts, Chester A. Arthur, who assumed the Presidency after the assassination of Pres. James Garfield in 1881, was born of a British citizen and presided over the country until 1885. Mike L again raised the lingering question as to whether or not any laws, treaties and executive orders promulgatged during Arthur's presidency can be legitimately "drawn into question." Still a rather sobering consideration.
And for the sport buffs among you, Mike L relied upon this descriptive analogy to describe the ineligibility problem: "...it doesn't matter how much glory a stadium full of fans heaps on the slugger who hits the game-winning, walk-off grand slam. If you fail to touch first base on your leisurely trot around the bases, and the pitcher chooses to toss the ball to the first baseman, who then steps on the bag, you will be called out. No questions asked..."
On this subject, Matt L. lamented the silence of "luminaries and high public officials" who certainly know better, but who most likely fear scrutiny and the jeopardy of their lofty positions should they publicly raise the possibility of Obama's being ineligible for the Presidency.
I related to Matt L. that I had studied this issue and am deeply concerned about its ramifications for the country. I also pointed out that "I have also been discussing this issue with some friends who are either unfazed, perplexed, burdened with the belief that all is lost anyway, those who are fearful of the consequences in the streets should the issue be seriously raised, and those who think early dementia is setting in on my part."
I went on to say that while I might admit to possible dementia, "I won't admit that so many bright, stable guys, as Mike L, are nincompoops, blindly partisan hacks or deeply troubled conspiratorial theorists either. It is a burning issue which deserves the full light of day." And I still believe this to the very marrow of my being.
As I commented to Mike L, in the malaise in which our country now finds itself, it clearly appears that the Constitution is no longer sacrosanct. It's a prop for those seeking high office and privilege. "Oaths to uphold the Constitution have become empty the-ends-justify-the-means words. Power alone is their God; that I see it day in and day out on the news channels and C-Span; that my stomach is in knots watching and listening to our political leaders double-speak and obfuscate."
I, for one, have contacted my congressinal "reps" and asked them to openly question the constitutional eligibility of Obama, not yet the President-elect, to assume the Presidency on January 20th. If but one Senator and one Congressperson step up, the issue can be dealt with head-on--and constitutionally--before inauguration on January 20th. But, again, I don't see that level of courage present in those once honorable and venerable halls of Congress.
An even-handed, bi-partisan approach to this issue is needed. And, therein lies the challenge for the power elite in D.C.
In one's headlong pursuit of power these days, it seems now that nothing is sacred. Nothing is off-limits. Unfortunately, that cynicism is rampant on both sides of the proverbial aisle.
So, where do little guys like you and I turn? What recourse do we really have? Those are the truly burning questions for me and others who sincerely care about America's roots from which we have derived our liberties, and without which we could never have become the bulwark of freedom, industry and prosperity in the world--Mankind's greatest political achievement.
Take away the roots, gut, erode or otherwise abandon the sanctity of the Constitution, and we can kiss America good-bye. It's really that simple.
("The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men." Samuel Adams)