The Citizenship Wars (UPDATED)

From this missive at Political Gateway--a press release from a blogger(?) named Andy Martin--one might conclude that the McCain story below is a bit of return fire, if an ineffective volley:

“For our ‘Obama Week’ leading up to Barry O’s announcement on Saturday that he feels qualified to lead the free world, ContrarianCommentary.com unleashed a worldwide team of constitutional law experts to delve into Kenyan law and the question of Obama’s citizenship. They were also participating in our CIA-style psychological profile of Obama that will be released Saturday in Chicago. And what we discovered was amazing, a political blockbuster,” says Executive Editor Andy Martin.

“Under the Independence Constitution of Kenya, Obama became a Kenyan citizen on December 12, 1963. He has never renounced his Kenyan citizenship. On his senate web site, Obama tap dances around his own dual nationality when discussing his father. Obama obviously knows, because his father told him, that he also held/holds Kenyan nationality.

Having been born under the exact same circumstances as Obama (native-born American, American mother, Kenyan father) and in the same year (1961), does that mean that I'm a citizen of Kenya? I'm sure that the United States Air Force--who granted me a security clearance once upon a time--would be interested to know that.

A few years back, my father suggested that I petition for dual citizenship--something I'm eligible for by Kenyan law, having one Kenyan parent--but I declined for both loyalty and practicality reasons. However, the fact that I would need to apply for it suggests that the citizenship isn't a done deal for someone who wasn't born in Kenya and who has never lived there.

More:

Obama obviously knows [that he is a citizen of Kenya], because his father told him, that he also held/holds Kenyan nationality.

“Once again, we find Barry O concealing fascinating information about his identity. There is nothing unusual about dual nationality. Indeed, ancient Roman Law doctrines of jus sanguini and jus soli come into play, because both Kenya and the U. S. recognize dual nationality. Once again, the issue is not ‘legality.’ The issue is the cover-up; Obama’s concealment of his own identity. From us, and most of all from himself.

Really? The idea that Obama was concealing such an obvious thing from the public is an interesting conclusion for Mr. Martin to come to. See, from personal experience, it would have never occurred to me to mention such a thing to the public unless someone else brought it up. Like now. It is simply a non-issue because I am an American and have never thought of myself as anything else and neither has my government.

If Mr. Martin is questioning Obama's citizenship, then he is questioning the citizenship of all native-born Americans whose parent(s) were born and/or have citizenship in other countries; countries where the citizenship rules are different than those in this one. Like the NYT with the McCain non-story, such people are banking on ignorance and hitting collateral targets.

Addressing these whisper campaigns is like playing "Whack-a-mole." Get to the issues!

(Thanks to one of Dan Riehl's guests)

UPDATE: (Via Hot Air) Jim Geraghty takes note of the battle.

Some would argue that by virtue of having a Kenyan citizen as his father, Obama "became" a Kenyan citizen back in 1963, even though he was in Hawaii at the time and did not visit the country until much later in his life. Others would argue that that would only apply to those born in the UK or its colonies (and I have no idea whether the United States qualifies as a UK colony under Kenyan law).

Of course, Barack Obama has never claimed to be a Kenyan citizen, nor has he, to the best of anyone's knowledge, ever claimed dual citizenship.

Having said that, a serious effort to argue that McCain is disqualified from being president will attempt to establish that a child of one American and one foreign-born parent is eligible for the presidency, but a child of two Americans, one a serving member of the U.S. Armed Forces, born in a U.S. territory (Coco Solo Air Base in the then-American-controlled Panama Canal Zone) is not.

Dear Democrats, please go down this road; Team McCain would like to ensure that their candidate's share of the military and veteran vote goes from 90 percent to 100 percent.

As I said in the comments at HA (not directed at Allahpundit or Geraghty), are we conservatives suddenly in favor of following International Law when it damages our opponents?