PRESIDENTIAL ELIGIBILITY, PART 1
by Joseph DeMaio
(May 30, 2011) — Sherlock Holmes once noted that the perfect crime is the one that is never detected. Those who are now finally discovering the unsolved mystery of Barack Obama’s eligibility under the Constitution as a “natural born Citizen” should read more Sherlock Holmes.
In reality, there is no mystery. Day-by-day, week-by-week and revelation by revelation, the empirical evidence accumulates that the man now occupying the White House may very well be plainly ineligible to do so. It only remains for the truth to finally catch up to him, as the truth always does. And yet legions of his supporters and sycophants are doing all they can to delay and postpone that day of reckoning.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. In order for a person to be born a “natural born Citizen” under Art. 2, Sec. 1, Cl. 5 – the “eligibility clause” of the Constitution as it was understood by the Founders under The Law of Nations by E. de Vattel, a legal scholar during the years the Constitution was conceived, drafted and executed – both such person’s parents must be, at that time, United States citizens and no U.S. Supreme Court case has held otherwise;
2. An April 3, 2009 Congressional Research Service (“CRS”) Memorandum authored by one Jack Maskell, a Legislative Attorney in the CRS American Law Division and entitled “Qualifications for the Office of President of the United States and Legal Challenges to the Eligibility of a Candidate” and intended for distribution to members of Congress either (a) innocently, but substantively, misreads, misconstrues and/or misapplies federal appellate and U.S. Supreme Court precedent, or (b) intentionally, and thus improperly (and possibly illegally), alters the meaning of precedent through substantive editing by grammatical ellipsis omission of material words, and thus facts, in two federal documents, to arrive at its conclusion that Barack H. Obama is, purportedly, eligible to be president as a “natural born citizen;”
3. A June 5, 2009 Congressional Research Service “Transmittal” message to a member of Congress from one Jerry Mansfield, an “Information Research Specialist” in the CRS “Knowledge Services Group,” misinforms the congressman by stating that questions about Mr. Obama’s birth certificate have been “ultimately resolved” in favor of his eligibility based on a series of biased and badly-skewed Internet postings;
4. A second Congressional Research Service memorandum, dated March 18, 2010 and authored, again, by Mr. Jack Maskell, and entitled “Birth Certificates of Presidential Candidates and Standing to Challenge Eligibility,” but without mentioning or referencing the April 3, 2009 memo, commits the same conceptual errors of the prior April 3, 2009 memo and thus merely compounds and perpetuates the problem;
5. The issue of Barack H. Obama’s eligibility to serve as president under the “natural born citizen” clause of the Constitution thus far remains unaddressed on the merits by the U.S. Supreme Court and, accordingly, remains unresolved as well.
BACKGROUND
As frequently noted in postings at various Internet websites, including, notably, The Post & Email – most recently in the posts appearing here (http://www.thepostemail.com/2011/05/08/too-hot-to-handle/), by one by one Tracey M. Grissom and which includes a link to an extensive work on presidential eligibility by one Stephen Tonchen first appearing in 2009 (http://people.mags.net/tonchen/birthers.htm), as well as in a post by one Antoine Francisque appearing here (http://www.thepostemail.com/2011/04/14/how-could-obama-not-be-a-u-s-citizen-if-his-mother-was-an-american/) – the core issue regarding Mr. Obama’s eligibility is not properly confined to his actual birthplace, be it Honolulu, Mombasa or elsewhere, although that is a related issue. Rather, the central focus in addition must be on the citizenship status of his mother and, in particular, his father.
The Tonchen “Eligibility Primer” is particularly comprehensive and easy to read. While it does acknowledge the existence of the April 3, 2009 CRS Memo, it does not address the various unexplained anomalies examined in the following memorandum.
In addition, the recent publication by Dr. Jerome Corsi of a new book on these issues, “Where’s the Birth Certificate? The Case That Barack Obama is Not Eligible to be President,” touches upon, but does not directly address or analyze, the noted anomalies in the CRS Memo. Thus, while the Corsi book reaches the correct conclusion – that Barack Obama is very likely ineligible to the presidency under the “natural born Citizen” clause of the Constitution – it does so without addressing the more serious problems with the CRS Memo. Accordingly, Dr. Corsi’s book, if anything, understates the severity of the problem. And, to be clear, Dr. Corsi and/or his researchers cannot be faulted for the oversight, because the anomaly in the CRS Memo is extremely difficult to discern, at best, unless one is specifically looking for it.
Although the Constitution itself does not define the term “natural born Citizen,” these exists a wealth of information and authority (for those willing to review and consider it) bearing upon what the Founding Fathers understood the meaning of the term to be and what their intent was through its incorporation into the Constitution between 1776 and 1789, the years leading up to the drafting, signing and ratification of the Constitution.
Specifically, the writings of the Swiss-German legal philosopher, Emmerich de Vattel in his 1758 tome on international law – The Law of Nations – in particular bear heavily on the issue. In the preface to the 1999 digital edition of The Law of Nations, and commenting on the 1883 edition by Joseph Chitty, Esq. (http://www.constitution.org/vattel/vattel.htm), is found the following:
“This 1758 work by Swiss legal philosopher Emmerich de Vattel is of special importance to scholars of constitutional history and law, for it was read by many of the Founders of the United States of America, and informed their understanding of the principles of law which became established in the Constitution of 1787. Chitty’s notes and the appended commentaries by Edward D. Ingraham, used in lectures at William and Mary College, provide a valuable perspective on Vattel’s exposition from the viewpoint of American jurists who had adapted those principles to the American legal experience.” (Emphasis added)
In Book I, Chapter XIX, § 212 of The Law of Nations, addressing the issue of what constitutes the citizens and natives of a country, de Vattel notes as follows:
“The citizens are the members of the civil society; bound to this society by certain duties, and subject to its authority, they equally participate in its advantages. The natives, or natural-born citizens, are those born in the country, of parents who are citizens. As the society cannot exist and perpetuate itself otherwise than by the children of the citizens, those children naturally follow the condition of their fathers, and succeed to all their rights. The society is supposed to desire this, in consequence of what it owes to its own preservation; and it is presumed, as matter of course, that each citizen, on entering into society, reserves to his children the right of becoming members of it. The country of the fathers is therefore that of the children; and these become true citizens merely by their tacit consent. We shall soon see whether, on their coming to the years of discretion, they may renounce their right, and what they owe to the society in which they were born. I say, that, in order to be of the country, it is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; for, if he is born there of a foreigner, it will be only the place of his birth, and not his country.” (Bold/emphasis added)
It is thus clear that the proper analysis in the determination as to whether one is (or even can be) a “natural born citizen” – at least under de Vattel’s articulation of the principles of law distinguishing “natural born citizens” from “native born citizens” – is immutably fixed in time as of the moment of birth, and not at some subsequent time.
Indeed, as noted here (http://www.thepostemail.com/2010/05/03/jefferson-used-vattels-the-law-of-nations-to-write-our-founding-documents/), the Founding Fathers, including Thomas Jefferson, relied upon de Vattel in drafting both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. And since Jefferson as well as many other Founding Fathers were conversant, if not fluent, in French – including Benjamin Franklin, who served as our Ambassador to France from 1776 to 1785 – it is generally acknowledged that they knew exactly what was being stated by de Vattel in The Law of Nations.
Moreover, even the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that de Vattel’s tome was of critical influence on the Founding Fathers, stating, for example, that “[t]he international jurist most widely cited in the first 50 years after the Revolution was Emmerich de Vattel. 1 J. Kent, Commentaries on American Law 18 (1826). In 1775, Benjamin Franklin acknowledged receipt of three copies of a new edition, in French, of Vattel’s Law of Nations and remarked that the book ‘has been continually in the hands of the members of our Congress now sitting…. ‘” 2 F. Wharton, United States Revolutionary Diplomatic Correspondence 64 (1889)…” (emphasis added) See U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission, 434 U.S. 452, 462, n. 12 (1978).
And one of the Founding Fathers, John Jay – a contributing author, along with Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, to The Federalist Papers and serving as the first Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court – suggested in a July 25, 1787 letter to then-serving Presiding Officer of the Continental Convention of 1787, George Washington that it would be prudent to include, in the nation’s new Constitution, a specific restriction on who might be eligible to the national presidency. (http://www.familytales.org/dbDisplay.php?id=ltr_joj4101&person=joj). He advised Washington:
“Permit me to hint whether it would not be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of foreigners into the administration of our national government; and to declare expressly that the command in chief of the American army shall not be given to, nor devolve on any but a natural born citizen.” (Emphasis added)
Thus, while a child born of alien parents in this country may be deemed under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution to be a “native born citizen” – as the Supreme Court has frequently noted (see, e.g., United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1897)) – the child cannot, by definition, be at that time or at any other time a “natural born citizen” unless its parents are, at the time of the birth, also citizens. While the child may later voluntary renounce his or her citizenship upon reaching majority status, it cannot be involuntarily taken away.
Stated otherwise, consistent with Jay’s advice to Washington, and under de Vattel’s analysis, with which the Founders were familiar and which “… informed their understanding of the principles of law which became established in the Constitution…,” unless at the time of birth, a child’s parents both were citizens, although the child would be a “native born citizen,” the child could by definition not be a “natural born citizen.”
Against this backdrop, the putative current President of the United States (a) confirms in his autobiography, corroborated as well through the newly-released Internet “picture” of what is claimed to be his original birth certificate, that his father, Barack Obama, Sr., was a Kenyan and not a U.S. citizen; (b) refuses to release or allow the release of the “hard copy” his original Hawaiian “long form” birth certificate (assuming one exists) while contending that the image of a “certification of live birth” posted on the internet in 2009 and now, on April 27, 2011, proves he was born there, an issue only indirectly related to the legal question of whether he is a “natural born Citizen” under the Constitution; (c) ignores as irrelevant the many reports in newspapers, both here and abroad, that he was born in Kenya or even Indonesia; and (d) dismisses all questions on the point of his constitutional eligibility as “distractions.”
THE CRS AND THE BEGINNING OF THE PROBLEM
Equally troubling, however, is how the issue has been managed and manipulated by Obama’s supporters and defenders, from the mainstream media to left-wing Hollywood sycophants. The entire issue has been morphed by the left (and even by many on the not-left) into a conspiracy theory on a par with Roswell UFO’s. By metastasizing legitimate questions over his eligibility into Saturday Night Live skits, the machine thus far has succeeded in trivializing, marginalizing and, in many cases, demonizing those having the audacity to even think of asking the question. In true Orwellian form, the Thought Police are alive and well in America.
Even more disturbing, though, is the way the specific issue of the putative president’s eligibility has been addressed and seemingly – unless otherwise plausibly explained – manipulated and misrepresented by what should otherwise be an unbiased and objective arm of the United States Congress, the Congressional Research Service (“CRS”). The Congressional Research Service is a legislative agency within the Library of Congress. Its website (http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/) asserts that it
“…works exclusively for the United States Congress, providing policy and legal analysis to committees and Members of both the House and Senate, regardless of party affiliation. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS has been a valued and respected resource on Capitol Hill for nearly a century. CRS is well-known for analysis that is authoritative, confidential, objective and nonpartisan. Its highest priority is to ensure that Congress has 24/7 access to the nation’s best thinking.”
Let us test those assertions.
First, what follows is a brief analysis of a “memorandum” prepared by the CRS and issued April 3, 2009 intended, according to the memorandum’s introductory statements, to address questions “… from congressional offices…” which had been posed to the agency regarding the issue of Mr. Obama’s constitutional eligibility. The memorandum is not an indexed “report” which might otherwise be located at the CRS website (http://www.loc.gov/crsinfo/) or a parallel repository maintained by the State Department (http://fpc.state.gov/c18185.htm).
On the other hand, the full text of the CRS Memorandum has been posted on the internet and can be found here: (http://www.scribd.com/doc/41197555/41131059-MoC-Memo-What-to-Tell-Your-Constituents-in-Answer-to-Obama-Eligibility). Whether the title in the website address originated with the CRS or somewhere else is unknown, but it should give some hint of the purpose underlying the memo. It will be hereafter referenced as the “CRS Memo.”
The CRS Memo begins by stating that, without regard to its distribution to the specific but unidentified “congressional offices” requesting guidance, it was “… prepared to enable distribution to more than one congressional office,” presumably in anticipation that more than one or two members of Congress might want to become enlightened on the topic. This is a prophetic observation, given the fact that the putative president’s intransigence in refusing to put the controversy to rest by simply releasing a “hard copy” – as opposed to another image of a hard copy posted April 27, 2011 to the Internet – of his original birth certificate, assuming, again, that an original Hawaiian long-form certificate exists, has served only to attract more and more attention to the issue, and, lately, from persons of higher and higher profile.
Moreover, given the “release” by the White House on April 27, 2011 of an Internet “image” of a document now purporting to be the “original long form birth certificate,” and the contents of a second CRS memo, discussed herein later, the controversy is only exacerbated.
Second, after a brief introductory discussion about the “vetting” of candidates for the office and the purported impropriety of lawsuits seeking to challenge the eligibility of presidential candidates as lacking “standing” and being premised on “non-justiciable political questions,” the CRS Memo delves into what it terms a “Legal Analysis of [the] Natural Born Citizenship Requirement.”
It is this section of the CRS Memo dealing with the “vetting” issue which Dr. Corsi’s book seizes upon. While the issue is significant, as Dr. Corsi points out, because it confirms that candidate (and now president) Obama was, in effect, “given a pass” by the system and those charged with operating it because no federal law required the “vetting” of a presidential candidate’s eligibility under the “natural born Citizen” clause of the Constitution, it is not the end of the inquiry.
To state the obvious: just because something is not “required” does not mean that it would be unwise or imprudent to do it anyway. Dr. Corsi characterizes (at p. 295) the paragraph on the first page of the CRS Memo containing the statement that no “vetting” of presidential candidates is “required” (and which first page is included as Exhibit 124 at p. 234 of the book) as “… the most important paragraph in the document.” Respectfully, there may be an even more important paragraph farther into the document, as discussed hereafter.
The “analysis” portion of the CRS Memo is thereafter subdivided into sections addressing “Background/Summary,” “Constitutional History,” “Common Understanding of the Legal Term ‘Natural Born’ in [the] 1700’s” and “Legal Challenges Brought in 2008,” with subsections addressing challenges involving the presidential eligibility of both Senator John McCain and then-Senator Barack H. Obama.
Indeed, while the CRS Memo goes to great lengths to expound upon the fact that, for example, a well-known legal treatise popular in England in colonial times, Blackstone’s Commentaries, was “… widely known in the Colonies…” and that certain commentators believed that the “… Framers had a broad view of the term ‘natural born’ and considered all foreign-born children of American citizen parents eligible for the Office of the Presidency…,” (see CRS Memo at fn. 44 and accompanying text), the CRS Memo is devoid of any reference at all to the teachings of de Vattel, even in a dismissive way. Unlike the CRS Memo, even Blackstone’s Commentaries and the United States Supreme Court recognize de Vattel and the impact and influence of his writings on the Founding Fathers.
Moreover, the citation by the CRS Memo (fn. 44) to a law review article for the broad statement regarding the purported ambivalence of the Founders to foreign-born persons being eligible to the presidency is plainly inconsistent with the advice John Jay – clearly, a Founder – to George Washington in 1787.
On the other hand, the CRS Memo does mention and discuss Jay’s letter to Washington, but ultimately concludes that the concern over the “natural born citizen” and “eligibility” issues related to a desire to ensure the requisite chief executive fealty and allegiance to the nation and “… to prevent wealthy foreign citizens, and particularly wealthy foreign royalty and their progeny or relations, from scheming and buying their way into the presidency, or creating an American monarchy.” See CRS Memo at 6-7.
This conclusion, of course, seems to be inconsistent with the “broad view of the term ‘natural born citizen’…” espoused elsewhere in the CRS Memo. In any event, since The Law of Nations was plainly available to the Founders and “… informed their understanding of the principles of law which became established in the Constitution of 1787…,” (see U.S. Steel v. Multistate Tax Commission, ante, and Preface Comments, 1999 digital edition, The Law of Nations, ante), this omission from the CRS Memo’s “analysis” of any reference to de Vattel’s tome, substituting primary reliance on Blackstone’s Commentaries, is one that stands out like the proverbial “empty room… except for that elephant in the corner,” or, to quote Sherlock Holmes, “the dog that didn’t bark.”
At minimum, one would expect a thorough evaluation of the issues from as “…authoritative, confidential, objective and nonpartisan…” an entity as the CRS to include at least a passing reference to § 212 of The Law of Nations, with whatever explanatory, distinguishing or dismissive comments might in the author’s mind be appropriate. But the complete omission of any reference whatsoever to de Vattel is not only problematic from an objective, intellectual perspective, but could also presage a less benign motivation underlying the ultimate conclusions of the CRS Memo itself.
It would take far more time and energy than this writer presently possesses to dissect all of the components of the CRS Memo and explain why, at the end of the day, its ultimate conclusions are highly questionable and suspect, thus demanding far more examination than has thus far been expended on the issues. Suffice it to say, however, that there are certain aspects of the memo which are extremely problematic and troubling and which thus both invite and necessitate more scrutiny. Whether that scrutiny should come from official or unofficial sources or whether it should be addressed through legal action is a matter left for others to decide.
THE CORE OF THE CRS MEMO ATTACK
Specifically, in the first subsection of the “Legal Analysis” portion of the CRS Memo, it is contended that, based on the common law principle of “jus soli” or the “law of the soil” which existed in England and the Original Colonies in 1776, as well as under statutes and constitutional amendments coming into effect thereafter:
“… all persons born ‘in’ the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States ‘at birth.’ As such, any person physically born ‘in’ the United States, regardless of the citizenship status of one’s parents (unless such parents are foreign diplomatic personnel not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States) would appear to be a ‘natural born’ citizen eligible to be President of the United States [fn. 25].” (Emphasis in original)
Footnote 25 of the memorandum cites “specifically” – meaning as a primary source for the assertion being made – as the authority for that contention the 1939 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a case called Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939) and its reliance on an 1875 “letter of advice” by U.S. Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont in a matter called Steinkauler’s Case. As will be seen shortly, not only is that reference misleading – the original statement of law coming from a different case involving a different fact situation – even if not misleading, it arrives at exactly the wrong legal conclusion.
Even before going through its “analysis,” the CRS Memo thus gives one a preview of the ultimate conclusion that, without regard to the citizenship status of one’s parents, if a person is born here, that person is a “natural born” citizen eligible to be President of the United States.
Stated otherwise, the CRS Memo posits for example, that if an illegal alien (some might prefer the term “undocumented immigrant”) pregnant woman, with or without an accompanying father, lawfully or unlawfully crosses the border – whether from Canada into North Dakota, Mexico into Texas, the Pacific Ocean into San Francisco, the Atlantic Ocean into New York City or the Gulf of Mexico into New Orleans – and gives live birth here, the child will, without more, meet the “natural born Citizen” criterion of the Constitution. In effect, the CRS Memo thus eradicates any distinction between a “native born citizen” and a “natural born citizen,” conflating the two into a single, “one-size-fits-all” principle.
This point is recognized by Dr. Corsi at pp. 203-204 of his book, but without the additional analysis of why the eradication of the two concepts by their conflation into a single one is not only exactly what the Founders did not intend, but why it is something that cannot be supported under Perkins v. Elg as originally issued by the Supreme Court…, as opposed to how the Court’s opinion is paraphrased through ellipsis, yet offered up as a quote, in the CRS Memo and as discussed hereafter.
Indeed, that the “eligibility” distinction still exists between, on the one hand, a “native-born citizen” or a “naturalized citizen,” and on the other hand, a “natural born citizen” is confirmed by the Supreme Court decision in Schneider v. Rusk, 377 U.S. 163 (1964). There, Justice Douglas opined for the majority (yes, there was a dissent), 377 U.S. at 165:
“We start that the rights of citizenship of the native born and of the naturalized person are of the same dignity and are coextensive. The only difference drawn by the Constitution is that only the ‘natural born’ citizen is eligible to be President. Art, II, s [§] 1.” (Emphasis added).
Although the CRS Memo includes – oddly – several references to Schneider v. Rusk in support of its conclusions (see, e.g., CRS Memo fns. 24, 49 and its quote from Hollander v. McCain, 566 F. Supp. 2d 63, 66 (D. N.H. 2008), and fns. 51 and 66, referencing Rusk), nowhere in the CRS Memo is there an attempt to distinguish or explain away the statement (albeit denoted dictum) that “… only the ‘natural born’ citizen is eligible to be President.”
A cynic might be thus tempted to conclude that the only way of accomplishing the predetermined objective sought would be to turn to Perkins v. Elg, with its discussion of U.S. Attorney General Edwards Pierrepont’s “letter advice,” and “reverse engineer” a concocted result re-characterizing Marie Elg – who from birth was a natural born citizen – as being merely a ‘native born’ citizen, and then conflate that misleading and restrictive conclusion into what she actually was all along: a natural born citizen eligible to the presidency.
The principle to be kept in mind is simply this: all natural born citizens are also native born citizens, but not all native born citizens are natural born citizens. Stated otherwise, since Rusk notes that only a natural born citizen is eligible to serve as president, if Barack H. Obama is not a “natural born citizen,” the only way for the CRS Memo to otherwise “fudge” or “concoct” his eligibility is to morph his status as a “native born citizen” (which, if in fact he was born in Hawaii would be the case under the Wong Kim Ark decision) into a “natural born citizen” through the conflation of the two concepts. This, as the opinion in Rusk confirms, cannot be done, at least with any intellectual propriety.
Moreover, does anyone believe that the CRS Memo’s main conclusion – that a child of foreign-born, non-U.S. citizens would be eligible to the presidency – is what Alexander Hamilton, James Madison or, in particular, John Jay had in mind when writing The Federalist? Go back in this memo and read Jay’s advice to George Washington in 1787. Does anyone really believe that the Founding Fathers who signed the Constitution would have agreed that, despite the teachings of de Vattel in § 212 of The Law of Nations with which they were familiar, this was what was intended through their careful selection of the words used in Art. 2, Section 1, Cl. 5 of their newly-minted Constitution?
Does anyone who reads the unanimous decision in Perkins v. Elg as originally written – as contrasted with how it is altered and paraphrased in the CRS Memo – really believe that the Founders intended that a child born here of a mother impregnated by an al Qaeda Pakistani father would, could or should be eligible to become president? Yet that is the result posited by the CRS Memo.
Some who read the words of the CRS Memo – again, to be distinguished from the actual words of the Supreme Court decisions upon which it purports to rely for its conclusions, a matter addressed, post – might conclude in the affirmative. On the other hand, a growing segment of the population might conclude that such a result is decidedly not what the Founders of this nation intended. And yet, this clearly appears to be the logical import of the product of a federal agency touting itself as Congress’ repository of “… the nation’s best thinking.”
Really?
Stated otherwise, since the teachings of de Vattel articulated in § 212 of The Law of Nations stand in such stark contrast to the conclusion of the CRS Memo – i.e., that the “natural born citizen” status of a person may exist regardless of the citizenship status of both parents, and in particular that of the father – it is at best inaccurate to contend that only the common law principles found in Blackstone’s Commentaries should inform the debate. At worst, it is intentionally misleading.
And yet, the foregoing is not the worst problem with the CRS Memo.
The core problem with the CRS Memo takes the form of what seemingly is a conscious effort on the part of the memorandum drafters to “adjust” or “tweak” the actual language of two critical federal documents in order to arrive at a predetermined, targeted result. The documents thus victimized in the CRS Memo are (1) the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Perkins v. Elg, 307 U.S. 325 (1939) and (2) the U.S. Attorney General’s “opinion” in Steinkauler’s Case, 15 Op. Atty. Gen. 15 (1875), accurately quoted in Elg, but altered and thus misquoted in the CRS Memo. Let us hope this is an innocent mistake, for if it is not, it is a matter which should concern everyone, and in particular, 535 members of Congress.
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Editor’s Note: The second CRS memo, dated March 18, 2010, is entitled “Birth Certificates of Presidential Candidates and Standing to Challenge Eligibility” does not appear to be available to the public at the Open CRS website. The Post & Email was made aware of it by a citizen researcher. Why has the public not been informed of this additional memo which seeks to provide further cover for Obama to occupy the Oval Office?
Over a year ago, I posted a four-part series of videos that laid out exactly what the Obama conspirators were attempting to do – rewrite the Constitution without benefit of any amendments or congressional actions.
The media’s attacks on John McCain’s presidential eligibility were a part of that plan – to make McCain a test case for Obama and to detail every single nuance of the natural-born citizen statute while insisting it was a legitimate issue.
HOWEVER, what they also did was to plant in the minds of the public that it did not matter where Obama was born if his mother was a citizen – regardless of the immigration laws in effect.
The media flat-out lied about the 1790 Immigration and Naturalization Act still being in effect and pertaining to the NBC issue, as if the 1795 Act did not exist or had no impact.
The biggest perpetrator of this identity fraud conspiracy – yes, it is a big conspiracy – was Annenberg Factcheck who intentionally misdirected the public, not only on the 1790 Act, but also with the 14th Amendment which has absolutely nothing to do with the meaning of an Article II, Sec. 1 natural-born citizenship.
Factcheck’s lying POS Director, Brooks Jackson, said that the “goofiest, baseless, ridiculous, nuttiest” claims they ever “fact-checked” was that “Obama may not be a natural-born citizen.” These are his exact words.
NO mention, whatsoever, of how dual citizenship would disqualify Obama as an NBC was ever raised by anyone in the media – that was also by intention.
The fault here lies with everyone on the conservative side who let them get away with fraud in plain sight instead of protesting this crime across the nation.
The conservative media does not get it – this is not liberal bias at work, but outright criminal fraud on a national scale.
We have been way too passive here. We should be contacting our representatives at the local, state and national levels and be screaming bloody murder in their ears until they get the courage to launch an investigation into everyone involved.
It requires no brain cells on the part of the media and the Obots to call everything a “conspiracy theory.” The problem has been is the reluctance of conservatives to tell them they’re wrong.
Okay, who the h-e-double toothpicks is going to go to the WH and take this fraud out in handcuffs and throw him where the sun doesn’t shine?
How many tens of thousands are going to have to do this?
And When? What are we waiting for?
Who can do this? I want to know.
Remember If it don’t fit you must acquit ? Today it’s “It’s made so sloppy it can’t be a copy”. O.J looked for the killers on the golf course, Barry must be looking for our jobs. 70 rounds of golf and not resting til he finds them. The next President must learn these two words backward, forwards, inside and out and mean them. NO PARDONS.
More evidence Barry born in Kenya:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=303165
Mistake? Hope is for the defendant when he sits in judgment by a jury, due process need only apply to the CRS members who issued that memo but first and foremost is the duty to preserve and protect and that requires ACTION not nice words and systematic dodging and stonewalling while the evidence of fraud grows by the hour. There is now a crisis that all 535 in congress wish to ignore since their immediate culpability is known by millions. Then we have to examine the role Ms Kagan played as solicitor when she neatly hid every legal challenge headed to the supremes from ever getting there. Finally, when the court did conference the issue it never reported why it was not taken up. By then the Obama protectors, Kagan and Sotomayor had been seated yet no record of their recusal during that consideration has been offered. Let’s just say it, the fix is in, the usurpation is defended by an omnipotent government and an ultimatum must be issued in order to advance the rule of law back to its place above the rule of men.
Obama’s ineligibility: Prepare for the fall
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/37027
In the middle of the comments above, a statement is made to the effect that even Pravda knows he is ineligible, and a reply is made to the effect that the Russian language edition of Pravda never had the article.
The reason is that the English-language edition of Pravda never had the article either. The article was published by a jerk calling himself “Sorcha Faal”, which is the pen name of a disinformation specialist who publishes totally fictional articles and pretends they have been published by Pravda and other Russian publications, when in fact he is an American computer programmer by the name of David Booth who claims his articles are “satire.” I think he is a transgender wannabe; he writes as a female and talks about how he and his “sisters” are out to expose the “truth” about everything. I think he is one sick puppy.
(None of this is to detract from the factual ineligibility of Obama to the Office of President of the United States, and I think the problem is bigger than that: I don’t think the imposter infesting the White House is even Barack H. Obama, Jr. I think BHO is dead and the guy in the White House is the progeny of Malcolm Little, aka “Malcolm X,” whom he resembles far, far more than he resembles Barack H. Obama (Sr.). If you start reviewing his published “resume” and trying to verify it, you eventually give up spinning your wheels and you realize you don’t really know who this guy is — his “bona fides” are not only sealed and sequestered and hidden behind all sorts of firewalls; the fact is they don’t even exist.)
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Mrs. Rondeau replies: I know that the English version of Pravda was publishing many articles about the questions regarding Obama’s eligibility, particularly by writer Mark McGrew, in 2009 and 2010.
RE: “Mrs. Rondeau replies: I know that the English version of Pravda was publishing many articles about the questions regarding Obama’s eligibility, particularly by writer Mark McGrew, in 2009 and 2010”
Correct – Mark wrote several articles on the subject.
The Constitution – Stronger than Dirt!
Here is a question for the obots. If, back when the Founders were laying their quills to the final draft of our awesome Constitution, jus soli (birth on U.S. soil) were considered enough to qualify one as a natural born Citizen, then what would have been the need for the Fourteenth Amendment[1]?
Of course, the Fourteenth Amendment was written many decades after the Constitution and it did not address natural born Citizenship at all, so how could it inform us as to the Founders thoughts onjus soli, you may reasonably wonder? Well, let’s follow the logic:
One certainly cannot be a natural born Citizen without at least being born a citizen, right? Okay, now note that all former slaves were born jus soli totally within the jurisdiction and boundaries of the USA, yet a Constitutional amendment was required to just make some of these, our fellow countrymen, citizens. That right (and plain as can be). Many former slaves who were born on U.S. soil were being denied citizenship by certain States because they were born to non-citizen parents!
Clearly, jus soli was not enough to make them citizens (let alone natural born Citizens). That the Fourteenth Amendment exists at all is proof positive that the Founders did not consider jus soli sufficient by and of itself to confer natural born Citizenship status – blood and dirt were both required.
The above train of thought is perfectly consistent with the Founders’ expressed intent to prevent our Commander-in-Chief from having any foreign affinities, loyalties or allegiances. The natural born Citizen clause was to ensure that the facts of one’s birth would provide no natural claim by any foreign power that one be a direct subject or citizen of that power. That means that one must not be born on the soil of a foreign power (i.e., within its jurisdiction) and that the USA must not recognize either of one’s parents as being legitimately, legally claimed as subjects or citizens of a foreign power.
Blood and dirt – perhaps not perfect, but the Founders recognized it as doing the best job of protecting sovereign Citizens of our great nation from the danger of a usurper gaining the Presidency (and sadly, the danger that comes from defying their wisdom we are experiencing first hand, today).
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[1]The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted expressly to grant U.S. national citizenship to all de facto fellow countrymen who were born within the sole jurisdiction and boundaries of the USA, but were born of a special class of parents (i.e., former slaves) who, but for their enslavement, would have themselves been citizens.
Perhaps not perfect, but clearly your answer is perfectly consistent with the Founders’ expressed intent to prevent someone with any foreign allegiance from becoming POTUS/CinC.
Sadly, I have yet to meet an Obot who cared about Obama’s ineligibility…only his ideology.
Memorial Day, is supposed to be a day to honor those who have fought and died for the freedom we (until quite recently) used to enjoy; well, let me say that we are not honoring anyone while Obama (or whatever this foreigner’s name is) continue to plunder our Great Nation – and while we just continue to let it happen. How can that be honoring those who died to protect us from this sort of thing? Can someone please explain??? When Eric Holder said “that we are a nation of cowards” I was truly thinking that we would immediately prove him wrong; but by our total apathy and inaction, does that now indicate that he was correct??? I SERIOUSLY HOPE NOT !!!!!
@Bob1939 – Yes Bob, I have been thinking the VERY same thing of late, especially about mr. holder’s remarks!! Despite the fact that holder’s remarks were specifically aimed at racism, I believe that they hold true for our general and over-all attitude, specifically with our lack of any real “action” on the eligibility issue beyond our “words” of discontent! COWARDS!! Can you imagine our founding Fathers laying down and taking what we seem so willingly to take? I cannot!!
Most of those that I try to educate about this Constitutional crisis claim to be so “busy” just trying to make ends meet or distracting themselves with “entertainment” to avoid the harsh reality of what is REALLy going on. They blindly refuse to comprehend that ALL of their efforts to avoid this harsh reality will, in the end, NOT provide them ANY consolation when we finally reach the destination to which we are fast approaching!! I liken this behavior to ALL who would proclaim that we have MORE important issues and problems to resolve than having a Usurper in the WH!!
I am VERY thankful though, for the remnant that will NOT lay down or make their beds with the crooks!! God Bless them!!
However, I am grudgingly accepting the reality that this nation is probably already lost and that we need to remove the “United” part of what used to be The United States of America.
Despite my Hope Springs Eternal attitude, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America” is DOA and replaced with “I will do whatever it takes and what is good for ME and ME alone”
My true consolation comes in knowing that I am but a pilgrim here, on my way and traveling to a better place. A true utopia, free from corruption, created by my Father in heaven!
It is discouraging. Here is some uplift this Memorial Day. Two articles, first one on gratitude and second an essay a girl had to write as punishment for skipping band practice, in 1996, on Memorial Day. She had gone with her dad to a tribute aboard a submarine instead. Hope you are uplifted.
http://troopstribute.wordpress.com/
RE: “When Eric Holder said “that we are a nation of cowards”… ”
Cowards in this order:
GOP
Judiciary Branch
Congress
The COWARDS are every one in the Legislative and Judicial branches of our government from local to Federal, every active duty military Officer and every member of the mainstream-media.
Those we honored yesterday must be feeling they fought and died in vain.
ehhh yes you have no standing as a defined monster or animal… it is by the CROWN you are ruled..as a ‘ person” NOT AS A ‘ people” …. SEE THE LIGHT in your construed emancipation proclaimation ‘ACT”… you have no ” constitution.. it was replaced by”’ a bond’s man corporate…institution…want to read.. articles3/4 14th// illegally acquired/// amendment…… debtors..be we all….shackled to ”a rabbit hole” then led on by a 1912 illegally acquired 17th amendment . onward to a 1913 ” FEDERAL RESERVE ACT””….NEO OUT/
Too bad we’re not talking about something really important like baseball. Congress gets pretty upset when baseball players lie to them.
The false testimony provided by the CRS Memo is okay because it provides a means for our Representatives and Senators to avoid their sworn duty and lie to the People.
To me this says it all:
“The principle to be kept in mind is simply this:
all natural born citizens are also native born citizens,
but
not all native born citizens are natural born citizens.”
SR511 had to have played a large part in this too. The planning stages were all in effect prior to him announcing his candidacy.
We have been bamboozled; somehow Tom Fife may have been right.
I am a descendant of Emerich de Vattel and have studied his work for over 30 years in both the USA and Europe.
You seriously misrepresent both what he wrote and it’s influence on the American Constitution. In his original work, there is no mention or discussion of the term “natural born citizen”. That only appears in a translation (incorrect) made ten years after the Constitution was written.
May I suggest that you consider some more serious scholarship on my ancestor, what he proposed, and what is actually in the Constitution and Bill of Rights?
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Mrs. Rondeau replies: Can you direct us to titles and authors of the “serious scholarship” to which you refer?
Ah, I remember reading quite an interesting discussion on this topic at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Natural_born_citizen_clause_of_the_U.S._Constitution#US_Constitution_-_Law_of_Nations_referenced
Pay special attention to the arguments made by Sempi. I truly felt sorry for the guy because he was arguing against obots who were vandalizing the wiki entry on the Natural born citizen clause of the U.S. Constitution. A simple google search reveals some of the users vandalizing the article were frequenters of anti-birther sites. Heck, some of the bias slipped through in the discussion with anti-birther remarks.
Perhaps ‘Maurice Vattel-Duprez’ will explain why he has failed to use the correct name of Emer de Vattel (25 April 1714 – 28 December 1767).
Joe, just look it up:
“Emer (Emerich or Emmerich) de Vattel (25 April 1714 – 28 December 1767) was a Swiss philosopher…”
Did the requested direction to titles and authors ever arrive?
The writer claims to be a descendant but does not specify if this is by a direct line or a collateral line of descent. At a minimum he is probably one in tens of thousands of descendants after all of these years since the American revolution.
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Mrs. Rondeau replies: Never heard back from him. I had a feeling he was pulling our leg.
Here is some twisted logic for you. These creatures are Attorneys who work for the Congress who works for us right? They have deliberately (for their own purposes-or those of some unknown third party) misled their clients (ultimately us) by deliberately misrepresenting and altering quotes from other legal documents to assert a legally incorrect conclusion and cause harm to their own clients. Are they and have they committed malpractice against their “clients”? Can a Bar Complaint be filed? Just some twisted food for thought.
RE: “These creatures are Attorneys who work for the Congress who works for us, right? They have deliberately (for their own purposes-or those …. Just some twisted food for thought.”
Not so twisted. Members of Congress took oaths to protect the constitution. CRS by this communication provided incorrect advice to Congress inducing them to break their oath. They must be held responsible. But, who will do it?
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Mrs. Rondeau replies; Why not “We the People?”
“And now you know the rest of the story.” – Paul Harvey.
And the rest of the story, a second, SECRET, CRS memo, serves only to underscore the CRS’s deceitful, moreover, erroneous validation of Obama’s eligibility.
Can’t say it any better than this – excellent work Mr. De Maio. Thanks for sharing.
“Does anyone who reads the unanimous decision in Perkins v. Elg as originally written – as contrasted with how it is altered and paraphrased in the CRS Memo – really believe that the Founders intended that a child born here of a mother impregnated by an al Qaeda Pakistani father would, could or should be eligible to become president? Yet that is the result posited by the CRS Memo.”
Having just finished “Where’s the BIRTH Certificate?”, by Jerome Corsi, one becomes abundantly aware of the mangnitude that has been, and still is, behind the conspiracy of the ineligible candidate and then ineligible president.
After Obama was nominated to run, the “Big Lie” machine kicked in full gear: McCain was onboard just as much as the main stream media. If my wife and I knew that Obama was ineligible to be the president in 2008, what the heck is going on?
Well, hate to be the one to break the news, but the country has been taken over. Round #1 goes to the Muslims, Socialists, Communists, Totalitarianists, New World Order adherents. I don’t think they expected Obama to last more than six months, hence all the rush payoffs (Stimulous Money) and destructive legislation passed by “in the know” congress.
The fact that he’s lasted more than 2 1/2 YEARS with the knowledge that he is obviously ineligible (look, his father was a British Subject: end of story) by anyone that actually cares about the Constitution, goes to show that the powers that be (judges who rule “no standing”, Joint Chiefs of Staff allowing one of their own to be carted off to prison – LTC Lakin – for even suggesting that Obama is ineligible, and people having fatal “accidents”) are all powerful since they, obviously, control the Dept. of Justice and Homeland Security, to name two of many departments in the government, and the press.
An interesting note, however, is that just about every news organization in the world has reported that, according to our Constition, we have an ineligible president. One such excellent expose’ was produced by PRAVDA, ironically the Russian State news cooperative, ironic because here’s our former (and in many was still is) enemy reporting the truth about America, when our own press won’t even report the truth about the ineligibilty about our president.
As I said, round #1 goes to those who wish to trash our Constitution, and even if we did, right now, kick Obama out of the White House, we still lost round #1. Why? Because Americans lack the common sense to put what was wrong, right. I would, and there are others that would, but then we’d never make it to second base, let alone first, if we ran for president. This country is going the way of Sharia, that’s what Obama was, and is, all about. Couple of days ago I wrote about deporting ALL Muslims, and somebody responded by saying that would be “un-Constitutional”.
See what I mean? So do we all just lie down and take it? No, of course not.
If there actually is an honest election in 2012, we have to elect someone who cares about the freedom of the world, keep that in mind.
1. I like your comment One Pissed-off Vietnam Vet , but I have to disappoint you about Russian newspaper PRAVDA. I speak Russian and I was checking these articles in Pravda back then. There are two Pravdas: in Russian language and in English. I tried to find the same article in Russian language version of the newspaper, sorry, it NEVER WAS TRANSLEITED AND PUBLISHED IN IT! I have checked that many times (every time when English version came up with new ineligibility article) and again THERE WAS NOT ANY TRASLATION OF IT in Russian language. Now, how many average Russians can read the news paper in English? Not that many. Unfortunately Pravda is still the same – the Russian state’s propaganda newspaper.
To: One Pissed Off Vietnam Vet
“. . . we have to elect someone who cares about the freedom of the world, keep that in mind.”
To your statement, I say (draft) Allen West. He’s the only potential candidate who could (and will) fulfill your/our needs to right this sinking ship.
http://www.draftallenwest2012.com
Linda, Alan West is not the only one. I think there is more evidence that Ron Paul,” would and could fulfill your/our needs to right this sinking ship.” I say there is more evidence because we know Ron Paul by his voting record and his determined stand for the Constitution over a long period of time. In spite of petty ridicule over matters that mean little when compared to the problems this country is facing, Ron Paul is the man with the honesty, courage and experience as well as one who cares about freedom and the Constitution. He will make the right decisions because he has been in this fight for a long time.
I would like to reiterate something. Until a Constitutional Amendment is passed. Or a interpretation from the U.S. Supreme Court that directly addresses the Constitution’s Article 2 Section 1 and it’s Natural Born Citizen clause….no silly congressional office staff has the authority to interpret or rewrite the Constitution of the United States of America!
That fact alone that somewhere in government someone is putting out these memos that are unConstitutional, should and must be considered acts of treason perpetrated by America’s own government!
RE:”That fact alone that somewhere in government someone is putting out these memos that are unConstitutional, should and must be considered acts of treason perpetrated by America’s own government! ”
See my notes above. Problem: Who will hold them responsible?
That is a powerful article.
The conclusions of the CRS memos were pre-ordained. The people who requested the memos were members of Congress, congressional leaders…and Democrats because both houses were controlled by the Democrats at the time the memos were requested. IMO neither memo was released to the public because those involved in preparing them, and the members of Congress who received the memo, all knew the memos were highly questionable and were created to support only one ultimate conclusion, which was of course that Obama was eligible, no other conclusion could have ever occurred considering the involvement of Congress on both sides of the isle in getting an unqualified person on the presidential ballot and ultimately elected. Nancy Pelosi was especially involved with the two different certification letters for Obama/Biden, signed and notarized on the same day. One letter, sent to Hawaii mentioned eligibility, “as required by the Constitution”, the other letter, with no mention of the Constitution, was sent to the other 49 states. I know of no explanation from the DNC for this action, they simply ignore any questions that are ask as to why the wording was changed for Obama/Biden.
Indications are that many involved in the election process in 2008, both in the Hawaii Democrat Party and in the DNC, were aware of Obama’s ineligibility but determined to press on regardless. The Democrat Party of Hawaii resisted certifying Obama/Biden to be on the ballot in Hawaii and ultimately changed the wording of their candidate certification to leave out all mention of qualifications, “per the Constitution” on the 2008 Hawaii certification letter for Obama/Biden. The 2000 and 2004 Hawaii certification letters for Gore, (2000) and Kerry, (2004) contained the words, to paraphrase, “eligible per the Constitution”. The Hawaii Democrat Party has also to my knowledge refused to answer any questions about why they changed their certification form wording for Obama/Biden.
It is dismaying and almost unbelievable that almost three years later we still have a putative president who has never proven his eligibility to hold the office. That a person who is still largely unknown in so many ways is allowed to hold the office of president without ever being vetted in any meaningful way, and to be commander-in-chief of America’s military, is clearly placing our nation in great danger.
That we are supposedly on the verge of allowing an apparent illegal usurper of the presidency who is yet to prove he is an American citizen at all, and cannot prove he is a natural born Citizen as required by the Constitution, to run for the same office a second time is unbelievable and must not be allowed to happen if America is to recover from the massive damage already done.
Please pray, again, for our nation…………..
Excellent work in uncovering this 2nd CRS Memo.
The first CRS memo was first made public by my attorney getting a copy of it sent to him by express mail. I picked up a copy at his office in NJ. I uploaded it and named it at that time with the name now associated with it and then uploading it to my attorney Mario Apuzzo’s SCRIBD.com account. Since I also assisted with Atty Apuzzo’s blog, I posted it in his blog upon my return from Atty Mario Apuzzo’s office in NJ on the morning of 5 Nov 2010 at 2:33 a.m. announcing the find. As I said, I am the one who gave the uploaded document the descriptive name mentioned in your piece. This secret CRS Memo document was leaked to us in paper form. It was sent to us since my lawsuit, , i.e., Kerchner et al v Obama & Congress et al, was also suing Congress for their part in confirming and allowing the swearing in of a constitutionally ineligible person as the President and Commander in Chief of our military Here are the links to the first public disclosure of the first CRS Memo document at SCRIBD.com and at Atty Mario Apuzzo’s blog. Someone stripped off the source credit line for the scanned in copy in other copies out there in the wild. You can see the source credit line at this link where I first uploaded the original leaked copy of the first CRS Memo.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/41131059/CRS-Congressional-Internal-Memo-What-to-Tell-Your-Constituents-Regarding-Obama-Eligibility-Questions
http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2010/11/members-of-congress-memo-what-to-tell.html
The document obtained by volunteers with connections inside a Senators office trying to help my lawsuit and given to us in an effort to try to help our lawsuit. The first CRS Memo was also covered 3 days later by Dr. Jerome Corsi in his article about it in WorldNetDaily. Dr. Corsi did not mention in his book how this first CRS Memo came to be made public, i.e., through the efforts and work of volunteers helping the prosecution of the Kerchner v Obama & Congress lawsuit which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dr. Corsi also forgot to mention said lawsuit in Chapter 12 of his book.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.printable&pageId=225561
CDR Kerchner (Ret)
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Mrs. Rondeau replies: Thank you for this information, Commander.
I join Mrs. Rondeau in her thanks for the information and add my gratitude and thanks (and I am sure hers as well) for your service to the nation, both on the battlefield as well as in the courtroom.
JD
Joseph, may I post this on my site so I can then send it out to our whole membership?
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Mrs. Rondeau replies: Yes, just please provide a link back to The Post & Email and preserve the original author and formatting as much as possible. Thank you, Twana.
Thank you Sharon
Is page 2 missing from the CRS? Just an observation.
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Mrs. Rondeau replies: Thank you; you are correct. An error apparently occurred during the printing process which will be remedied shortly.
CDR Kerchner (Ret):
Ya’ “dun good” as they say and in fact the case Kerchner et al v. Obama et al is still the best, most coherent case presented to SCOTUS and it will go down in history as te greatest example of the “Roberts Court” doing “treason to the Constitution” as CJ Marshall said.
Looks like the CRS crew just can’t stop humpin’ for Barky since this second memo is as trashy as the first.
I weep as I see the self-less dedication of people such as Sharon Rondeau, CDR Kerchner, Atty Apuzzo, and the even more anonymous people working in one way or the other in challenging the usurper’s ineligibility. Lights in the darkness all.
MY sentiments, exactly!
I’ve cried for 2 years about the destruction of our country – and the usurper’s attemtps in doing so.
It lifts my heart to see your self-less efforts of the great individuals here, especially those of Sharon Rondeau, in her dedication to rightfully set our country upright.
Thanks to ALL of you.
Keep up the good work – the ” American People” WILL support you.
I know I am.
Oh my God, what in heck has happened to this Country?! My dear Father is rolling over in his grave, having fought against the Nazis in WWII. Dear friends, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but this Country has been taken over by Nazi Germany.
I am physically sick after reading that Memo. NO wonder Congress won’t listen to us or even respond in my case. Thank you Sharon for shining the light on the complicity with regards to the Usurption of the White House. No matter how sickening it is, the truth must come out.