The Constitution Says Obama Can't Be President. And Neither Could Reagan.

Comment #21

jim695 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:02:53 GMT

Here's one bizarre example: Indiana has never ratified the Fourteenth Amendment so, even though Indiana is what's called a "Shall Issue" or "Must Issue" state (when speaking of handgun licensing), the courts here have long held that the Second Amendment cannot be implemented by individuals desiring to own and/ or carry firearms. Therefore, State, County or Local police can take our weapons (and our civil rights) any time they want to, and they're NOT required to justify their a... [ More ]

Comment #20

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:15:20 GMT

And yes, even though some of the fathers were agnostic or whatever, the mind set back then was supported with christian beliefs and idealisms. @ Konane, I didn't mean the victim having a tire iron, I was referring to a criminal using any kind of weapon if all the weapons including ones in the black market were to magically disappear. Criminals would still find other ways to overcome the victim. They can use a can of hairspray and a lighter. Anyways, the debate wasn't... [ More ]

Comment #19

konane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:31:32 GMT

Understand when applying for a carry permit you have to be fingerprinted and those prints are sent off to the FBI for screening, background check before that permit is issued. Also understand it's legal to keep a shotgun or rifle in ones home to be used to counter deadly force if necessary. Going to hit a perp over the head with a tire iron, fire poker or stab him with Jarasan's butter knife if they kick in your door brandishing an assault weapon or Glock full auto hot off the... [ More ]

Comment #18

jarasan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:10:13 GMT

http://books.google.com/books?id=K6dIvTFsDMkC&dq=gun+rights+books&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=E7R3StGYH8eltgfLitSWCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=11#v=onepage&q=&f=false copy/paste read the intro

Comment #17

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:39:45 GMT

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Comment #16

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:34:08 GMT

Do we really have to take everything to the letter of the law no matter how out of date it is? Should we still stone folks for crimes commited, since the founding fathers took credence in the Bible

Comment #15

konane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:26:27 GMT

We may have evolved past needing militias but definitely need self protection given an increase in home break ins, carjacking, home invasions, murders, armed robberies. Perps don't acknowledge or obey gun control laws in case our genius government hasn't noticed.

Comment #14

jarasan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:19:57 GMT

The right to bear arms is to protect against the likes of the national guard taking up arms against the citizens! The second amendment is to protect against an oppressive govt.! How in the world do you think Chavez took Venezuela? Or the Chinese control a billion people? They took the peoples weapons away! If you take the 2nd amendment away only criminals and the govt. will have the ability to subjugate and terrorize the citizens. The police and govt. can't protect everybody all of the time.... [ More ]

Comment #13

Rick G — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:15:22 GMT

Don't worry about gun ownership. Your elected official is likely to do you much more harm.

Comment #12

konane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:11:09 GMT

I'm was independent voter when voting for Perot both times because he told the truth and I do believe has the best interest of the nation at heart. Am lots more politically savvy now and ready for new people to be elected.

Comment #11

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 03:08:40 GMT

Does that logic apply to slavery too? We no longer have the need for militias. We have the National Guard. Why should the constitution be exempt from adapting? Times change. Laws should change without making the basic principles compromised. But quirks and ideology morph throughout time. A set of events may or may not be applicable 200 plus years into the future. But the issue here is not semantics, at least through my eyes. To me it implies t... [ More ]

Comment #10

jarasan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:58:23 GMT

WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. Not what the f'ing congress and president want. This the preamble: 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,[1] 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.

Comment #9

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:57:14 GMT

Look, even you say in your reply above that both parties are at fault. <br

Comment #8

konane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:52:23 GMT

Comment #7

konane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:48:24 GMT

Both parties have had at it in the past 30 years undoing perfectly good laws .... one example Glass-Steagall Act of 1939 .... so that greed could run behind the scenes ponzi schemes unimpeded which are responsible for tanking our economy. Multiply the above actions a thousand fold and you have an unprecedented world economic crisis. All of them were holding it when it broke

Comment #6

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:44:44 GMT

OK, I get your point. Do you happen to have any explanation on the "Right to bear arms" law? I'm not trying to be cute. I like learning and welcome new ideas. So far I've learned that I don't know everything..lol, and I'm just curious to see some explanation because to this day I haven't read anything satisfactorily. I think my point is that the mere fact that we're even debating the issue of interpretation leads me to believe that if it was so cut and dry, we wouldn... [ More ]

Comment #5

jarasan — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:26:39 GMT

â€¢choose and follow; as of theories, ideas, policies, strategies or plans; "She followed the feminist movement"; "The candidate espouses Republican ... â€¢take up and practice as one's own â€¢assume: take on titles, offices, duties, responsibilities; "When will the new President assume office?" It means adopt from this day foward. Once it becomes our set of rules, this is how the game goes.... [ More ]

Comment #4

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:25:14 GMT

Opps...double post...I'm all thumbs today...lol

Comment #3

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:21:40 GMT

Just like the right to bear arms. It specifically said a "Militia" not individuals. Yet despite over whelming evidence, special interest groups manage to stupify millions. Incredible !. I'm sure you can agree that when it comes to any agenda's need to justify itself, laws are broken every single day of the week. One is the government no longer needing a warrant to search your home......all under the guise of"' Homeland Security". If one wants to break hair... [ More ]

Comment #2

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:21:23 GMT

Comment #1

konane — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:56:08 GMT

Interesting argument, however this phrase seems to set a benchmark of time when it comes into effect and carries forward so long as the United States of America is in existence...... "at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President..."

Original Blog Entry: The Constitution Says Obama Can't Be President. And Neither Could Reagan.

joker17 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:43:13 GMT

Barack Obama's birthday is tomorrow (or is it?)and in the spirit of gift giving, I've got something for the 28% ofRepublicans who don't believe Obama was born in America: An invitationto common ground.

Here's the first place we can agree: It would be nice if thepresident would ask Hawaii to release his original, long form birthcertificate.

There are all kinds of perfectly good moral, legal and politicalreasons why he shouldn't, but, frankly, I'm still tuckered out from allthe perfectly good moral, legal and political reasons Hillary Clintonwouldn't release the Rose Law Firm billing records.

I'm not going through that hell again.

Here's the second place we can agree: The rule of law is a good thing.

Lincoln said:

As the patriots of seventy-six did to the support of theDeclaration of Independence, so to the support of the Constitution andLaws let every American pledge his life, his property, and his sacredhonor; let every man remember that to violate the law is to trample onthe blood of his father, and to tear the character of his own and hischildren's liberty. Let reverence for the laws be breathed by everyAmerican mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap - let itbe taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges - let it bewritten in primers, spelling books, and almanacs - let it be preachedfrom the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced incourts of justice.

That goes double for me. Can't get enough of that Constitution andLaws. When it comes to the Constitution and Laws I'm right there,lisping and prattling like Glenn Beck.

My children may not have primers, spelling books or almanacs --because they go to school in California -- but they understand that wecan't pick and chose which laws we obey and which we don't. If we actedlike that, we'd be no better than wild animals in the jungle or DickCheney.

Here's the third place we can agree: If the Constitutionsays Barack Obama is ineligible to be president, he's ineligible to bepresident.

The Constitution is always right because the Framers wereinfallible, even about slavery and not letting women and Indians vote.The Constitution means what it says and says what it means, not unlike Horton Hatches an Egg, if it had been written 230 years ago by 55 guys.

The Constitution says:

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen ofthe United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution,shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Personbe eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age ofthirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the UnitedStates.

And that's what it means.

I'm sorry, but I don't think we can get Obama on the natural born part. I don't know what it means and neither do you, and neither didthe Founding Fathers. I think it had something to do with not lettingLouis XVI be president or black people vote, but your guess is as goodas mine. And guesses don't count.

The only person I'm absolutely certain is a natural born man is Bo Diddley.

Luckily, we don't have to interpret what they were getting at. That's why God created Originalism and sent us Antonin Scalia.

Originalism forbids interpretation. (Which could lead tothinking.) It says the document is what it is. We'll never know whatthe Framers meant, so the safest thing to do is exactly what they say.

So we can agree: Every word in the Constitution, no matterhow oblique or arcane, is there for a reason and any president whoviolates it is gone, or our system collapses, strangers steal our mail,and our sons start playing with dolls.

Good. Now let's talk about the phrase a Citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution.

Six simple words that mean exactly what they say. No spin. Accordingto the clear letter of the law of the United States Constitution,Barack Obama can't be president, even if he was born in Hawaii, becauseHawaii wasn't a state when the Constitution was adopted.

In 1788.

For their own impenetrable but absolutely unambiguous reasons, theFramers made a rule that says you can only be president if you wereborn in one of the original 13 colonies.

Sorry Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford,Richard Nixon, Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower, Ulysses Grant,William McKinley, James Garfield, William Howard Taft, Harry Truman,Herbert Hoover, Harding, Harrison and Hayes. A rule's a rule. Get out.

What are you smiling at, Abe? Kentucky didn't join the Union until1792. Take your almanac, your primer and your lisping baby and scram.

Wait a second. I just had a thought. What if Article 2,Section One of the Constitution couldn't possibly mean what itliterally says?

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of theUnited States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shallbe eligible to the Office of President...

Read it again. It's not just about where you were born. It says you can never be president unless you were alive in 1788.

That leaves out everyone but Robert Byrd.

I'm not saying we can't nullify the election. I'm just saying wecan't do it without interpreting the Constitution. And we can'tinterpret the Constitution, because then we'd be no better than one ofthose horrible activist judges who legislates from the bench.

Next thing you know, we'd be feeling empathy.

Chris kelly,

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