FRIENDLY FIRE - We may all be missing the real constitutional issue hidden in the birther distraction by looking only at the place of birth. This false focus, as applied to Obama, is both silly and noxious.
It's silly because no one would plant a long-term mole with the name Barak Hussein Obama as a Muslim secret agent and have the foresight to have two birth announcements in two Hawaiian papers. It's noxious because it plays to racism and xenophobia. What it isn't, however, is unique in our politics.
The issue of compliance with the constitutional requirement of being a natural born American citizen has come up before. In the past it was always raised by Democrats! Barry Goldwater's bona fides were examined on this issue because he was born in Arizona when it was still a territory and not a state. So, was he a natural born citizen? After posing the question, the Dems sensibly dropped it.
George Romney's qualification was questioned when he ran for the Republican nomination and it was revealed that he'd been born in Mexico. Since both his parents were citizens and he wasn't nominated, this wasn't pursued further.
The Dems next tried it as a trial balloon against John McCain who wasn't born in the continental United States but in the Panama Canal Zone while his family was stationed there in the Navy. Again, it was dropped. Maybe out of common sense and decency or, since he was running against Obama, as a mutual understanding not to disturb the political process with questions of the legitimacy of both candidates.
Obviously the anti-Obama folks did not get the memo and keep playing this silly and distracting card that speaks only to those already highly unlikely to vote for Obama. In the end, it's probably a wash--it excites some hard right but turns off some moderates. Romney looks weak with his diffidence and particularly having allowed himself to be adumbrated on the day he won the nomination by the bloviating ignoramus that is Trump. How would he do against Ahmadinejad if he can't handle Trump?
Everyone may have missed the real issue in the Constitutional qualifications. Maybe we should examine all our candidates on the language of the pre-requisites for being president. It says: Natural born American citizens.
Natural born? Perhaps any candidate born by caesarian section should not be able to serve?
Anyone, as Shakespeare put so well, who was "untimely ripped from his mother's womb" might not be fit to serve.
And it could get worse. Personally, as a product of Berkeley in the 60s, we would consider anyone not brought into this world by natural childbirth to be, well, unnaturally born. If mom had anesthesia, you're out!
I think that if we are to take part of the qualifications seriously, we ought to pursue the rest with the same passion, diligence and deep foolishness.
(Jonathan Dobrer is an op-ed contributor to the Daily News and Friendly Fire and is a syndicated columnist. This column was posted first at Friendly Fire. More on Jonathan and his books at www.Dobrer.com)
-cw
Tags: Jonathan Dobrer, Barack Obama, birthers, John McCain, Barry Goldwater, George Romney
CityWatch
Vol 10 Issue 44
Pub: June 1, 2012
