More Citizenship Games

The question of whether John McCain is a "natural-born" citizen of the United States will go up before a federal judge here in California today--presumably, since the article doesn't specify when. To recap, McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone in 1936 while his father, a Navy officer, was stationed there (along with his mother, of course). At the time, the PCZ was owned by the US until President Jimmy Carter gave it away during his one seventies term--a done-deal in 1999.

A two-page complaint filed March 6 in U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif., argues that a judge should step in because the constitutional language is not precise, opening questions about the Arizona senator's standing.

The complaint was filed by Andrew Aames, 52, a Riverside lawyer who has dabbled in local politics, including volunteering for a Democratic congressional campaign. He said he is a registered Republican but previously was a Democrat. [SNIP]

Columbia University Law School professor Richard Briffault said he saw little room for debate over McCain's status — he qualifies.

"I find it hard to believe it's really an issue," Briffault said. The Canal Zone "was a territory when he was born there. Why is it any different from the District of Columbia?"

Former Solicitor General Ted Olson will be examining the case for the McCain campaign. Readers already know what I think about the situation, but here's a more learned take on it from the Volokh Conspiracy--one which reminds us that our laws are based on precedent and not on the whims of definition.

If the drafters of the Constitution had wanted to require that presidents be born in the United States, they could have done so. Instead, they invoked the then-standard idea of natural citizenship as reflecting natural allegiance to the king or the state.

(Emphasis mine.)

You know, of course, that taking this nonsense further will cause the usual suspects to make things up about whether Barack Obama is a citizen or not, right? Because when it comes to politics, even the idiotic can be used as a weapon and even the childish excuse that "they did it first" can be uttered without shame.

This election year is so much fun.