American Political System: Difference between revisions
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[[File:beltway_231.jpg|frame|Caution: Reality outside 495 may differ from reality inside 495.]] |
[[File:beltway_231.jpg|frame|Caution: Reality outside 495 may differ from reality inside 495.]] |
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There is a feeling among some Americans that there may be a reality distortion field of some sort that follows the outer edge of the Capital Beltway (a highway that circles DC). Attempts to prove this fail to obtain federal funding. |
There is a feeling among some Americans that there may be a reality distortion field of some sort that follows the outer edge of the Capital Beltway (a highway that circles DC). Attempts to prove this fail to obtain federal funding. |
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One can be born anywhere on Earth (or space) and still be a "natural born citizen" of the US if at least one of your parents is an American citizen who has lived in the US for five years. A person born within the territorial boundaries of the United States is a natural-born citizen regardless of parentage, unless said person's parents are foreign diplomats or members of an invading force. 2016 Republican Primary candidate Ted Cruz was born in Canada, but had US citizenship at birth because his mother was an American citizen and was generally considered, though was challenged on this, to be eligible. |
One can be born anywhere on Earth (or space) and still be a "natural born citizen" of the US if at least one of your parents is an American citizen who has lived in the US for five years. A person born within the territorial boundaries of the United States is a natural-born citizen regardless of parentage, unless said person's parents are foreign diplomats or members of an invading force. 2016 Republican Primary candidate Ted Cruz was born in Canada, but had US citizenship at birth because his mother was an American citizen and was generally considered, though was challenged on this, to be eligible. |
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The only two Presidents that have actually been challenged in any way under the terms of eligibility to date are Barack Obama and Chester A. Arthur. Challengers to Obama claim that he was actually born in Kenya, and that his Hawaiian birth certificate and newspaper birth announcements were forgeries, a claim |
The only two Presidents that have actually been challenged in any way under the terms of eligibility to date are Barack Obama and Chester A. Arthur. Challengers to Obama claim that he was actually born in Kenya, and that his Hawaiian birth certificate and newspaper birth announcements were forgeries, a claim which was earliest recorded from perennial (Republican at the time) candidate Andy Martin in 2004, got circulated by a couple of Clinton staffers during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary<ref>They were let go, but leaked DNC emails in 2016 included some discussion of the possibility of spreading rumors that Bernie Sanders was an atheist, so clearly there were still some in the organization who considered [[Abomination Accusation Attack]]s against primary opponents fair play.</ref>, but was much more enthusiastically taken up thereafter by the political right<ref>We say 'political right' rather than 'Republican Party' because, while lots of talk show hosts and pundits were quite up-front about accusing Obama of not being a natural-born citizen, no major member of the GOP actually stated a belief that he was not eligible to be President -- although some were certainly quite happy to talk about his eligibility as if it were an open question.</ref> (including, funnily enough, [[Donald Trump]], who succeeded Obama eight years later). He eventually got so annoyed with this that he released his long-form birth certificate, then [[Crowning Moment of Funny|splashed it on a mug with the slogan "Made in the USA"]] and [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|killed]] [[Osama Bin Laden]] about two days later, which effectively shut up all but the [[Vocal Minority|noisiest]] of the "birther theorists." |
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Chester A. Arthur was accused by Arthur Hinman of being born in Ireland. No one took up that story, so Hinman then accused Chester of being born in Canada. Nobody could decide which was worse, so they elected Chester Vice President. |
Chester A. Arthur was accused by Arthur Hinman of being born in Ireland. No one took up that story, so Hinman then accused Chester of being born in Canada. Nobody could decide which was worse, so they elected Chester Vice President. |
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