Posted inNational

New York State Board of Elections Continues to Misinform on Presidential Eligibility

by Sharon Rondeau (Dec. 10, 2023) — A decade and a half after discovering the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE) to be misstating a requirement for U.S. presidential candidates, New York resident Robert C. Laity found on Sunday the website continues to misinform the public on that point. Consulting the “Running for Office” […]

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Bing AI Claims “Consensus” on “natural born Citizen” Definition

by Sharon Rondeau (Nov. 30, 2023) — On Sunday, legal scholar and frequent P&E contributor Joseph DeMaio queried Bing Artificial Intelligence (AI) about the meaning of the U.S. Constitution’s “natural born Citizen” clause, one of three requirements the Founders placed in Article II for the President and Commander-in-chief of the new nation’s military forces. The […]

Posted inEditorials

Foolish Consistency, Little Minds and Hobgoblins

by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (Aug. 21, 2023) — As a preface to what follows, noted American author and philosophical thinker Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”  Stated otherwise, Emerson was contending that pursuit of consistency for the sake of […]

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Twitter User Asks Why Presidential Eligibility Requirements “Ignored”

by Sharon Rondeau (Jun. 1, 2023) — A Twitter user brings attention to the U.S. Constitution’s “eligibility requirements” for the president and vice president by describing them as “ignored.” “Patriotess” features the hashtag “naturalborncitizen” in her account header and asks, “WHY is Constitution Eligibility Requirements for POTUS/VP IGNORED?” The reference is to Article II, Section […]

Posted inEditorials

Revisiting the Heritage Guide to the Constitution

by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (May 13, 2023) — Introduction Recently, your humble servant addressed the flawed reasoning of the “Heritage Guide to the Constitution” (“Guide”) set out in its explanatory analysis of Art. 2, § 1, Cl. 5.  This, of course, is the Constitution’s “natural born Citizen” (“nbC”) presidential Eligibility Clause, the source of increasing scrutiny […]

Posted inEditorials

The LoC Kissing Cousin to the Heritage Guide

by Joseph DeMaio, ©2023 (May 8, 2023) — Introduction In addition to the Heritage Foundation’s digital “Guide to the Constitution,” recently discussed by your humble servant here, a “kissing cousin” to that think tank’s explanation exists.  Specifically, the U.S. Library of Congress (“LoC”) maintains a similar website purporting to “explain” what the Eligibility Clause of […]