Slightly off topic, but your rant on Sheriff Joe deciding Obama might not have been born in the U.S. brought this to mind... Even if he wasn't born in the U.S., so what? He was born to an American citizen, his mother. Being born to a U.S. citizen, even outside of the U.S., generally qualifies you as a natural born citizen.

Yeah, I know...and the whole birther thing is so idiotic that I seriously can't believe it is still discussed. I noted the other night that a big European newspaper had a headline saying Romney himself brought it back up. I'm trying to confirm that now but I haven't found a mention of it in any major US source.

It's just so sad how stupid the general public is in this country that people accept statements without thinking about them. It will be a whole different issue when some kid born to missionary parents wants to be president!

Actually, Romney was making a joke. It was a bad joke, but it was just a joke. It was something as dumb as I'd expect JB to say.

Here's one article on it. Of course, both sides are overreacting. The Dems are making a big deal out of it. The Republicans are either pretending it didn't happen or are defending it. I think there's FUD on both sides of this one.

Yeah, I found an opinion piece about it as well. I'm glad it was a joke, if a particularly bad and untimely one for his campaign credibility. I was shocked when I saw it in the foreign papers.

The same piece talks about the issue you alluded to lately about only looking at sources supporting their view and not acknowledging information that does not support it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... _blog.html

Tim Tebow? Lol. Couldn't resist.

Sure. But again, what's your point? Mine was that the first time some person who was born overseas to parents who were at the time missionaries wants to be president, there will be all sorts of cries for exceptions or reinterpretations to the rule about being natural born. The conservatives will say that such a kid is eligible.

As bp pointed out...what makes the whole birther cause so idiotic is that even if their claim is completely right that Obama was born outside the US, say in Indonesia, it makes no difference. "Natural born" is an undefined constitutional clause that Congress (yes, the republican congress in 2011) opined means entitled to citizenship at birth. That would apply to Obama if you believe the worst birther claims. So basically, these people are so dumb that they can't even form a rational and logical attack.

Personally, I don't see how children born by Ceasarean section can be considered natural born and thus eligible for the presidency. I think we ought to parade every candidate's mama up on stage at the convention to show her lack of scar. Of course when will have to be nearly naked down almost to the genitals. It's not going to be a pleasant national experience but how can we accept any less in the name of preserving our great Constitutional requirement that a president be natural born?

But, perhaps you have a point. How can we allow foreign-born (not natural born) persons to play our national sport? It is un-American! I mean, who cares if his parents were missionaries, they might have just been misguided radicals. But man-o-man, how can we have a Phillipines-born outsider on our hallowed fields? What kind of horrible values might he bring to our stadia? What kind of role model will he be to our pure sons and daughters?

I think we need a Constitutional Amendament to protect us.