|
|
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
|
The Constitution Says Obama Can't Be President. And Neither Could Reagan.
|
|---|
| Parent(s) |
Candidate
|
| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Aug 03, 2009 04:48pm |
| Logged |
0
|
| Category | Humor |
| Author | Chris Kelly |
| News Date | Monday, August 3, 2009 12:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | The Constitution is always right because the Framers were infallible, 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 of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
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 did the Founding Fathers. I think it had something to do with not letting Louis XVI be president or black people vote, but your guess is as good as 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 to thinking.) It says the document is what it is. We'll never know what the Framers meant, so the safest thing to do is exactly what they say.
So we can agree: Every word in the Constitution, no matter how oblique or arcane, is there for a reason and any president who violates 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." |
| Share |
|
|
2¢
|
|
| Article | Read Full Article |
|
| Date |
Category |
Headline |
Article |
Contributor |
|
|
