The "birther" issue, which raised its ugly head in 2011 regarding the birthplace of President Obama, is stirring from its two-year slumber to once again involve itself in American presidential politics. This time, it appears that Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) is in its laser beam.
As with President Obama, this is a false reason prevent an American citizen from holding our nation's highest office. In both cases, these men were born of American mothers, which by itself, satisfies Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5, to wit:
"No person except a natural born citizen, or citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to hold the Office of President; neither shall that person be eligible to hold that office who shall not have attained the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States."
This issue was raised previously in 1968 when Governor George Romney ran briefly in some of the Republican primaries. He was born in Mexico of two American-born parents, who were there, as Sen Cruz' parents were, due to job considerations. It was deemed at that time he was eligible to run for office.
In addition, on Tuesday, it was reported that Sen Cruz had produced his birth certificate showing that his mother was born in Delaware and his father was born in Cuba. He stated that he came here when he was three and has only possessed an American passport.
Finally, the Senator is preparing to renounce his Canadian citizenship, although dual citizenship with Canada is permitted.
While I have not made any decision who I may want to have run against Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden or any other contender for the Democrat nomination, this is once again a non-issue that needs to be discarded and discredited now. It is a false and destructive argument.
The media needs to focus on real issues that concern all Americans, not just those which sell papers or enhance ratings.
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