[written in collaboration with Judy Parejko]
A most unusual thing is happening in – and to – this country but only a few people have taken note.
During the past year, the two candidates elevated to the race for President both had infirmities regarding eligibility to serve as president.
The Republican candidate – Senator John McCain – was born in Panama to two U.S. citizens and this problem was supposedly ‘cured’ by an act of congress. Whether such a correction can be made to a person’s circumstances at birth is questionable.
Senator McCain actually may have heaved a sigh of relief about losing the race given the problems the country now faces. But, beyond the issue of the economy’s downward spiral, the shadow-issue of eligibility-to-serve continues to dog the election and threatening to grow in the coming days and weeks.
As the story goes, the winning contendor, whose formal name is “Barack Hussein Obama, II,” was born of a mother from Kansas (his mother is always mentioned first) and a father from Kenya. Senator Obama’s campaign promoted his diversity as a positive attribute, with his multi-ethnic and multi-national background woven into a ‘great American story’ that typifies America and would be used to fill air-time to make up for his thin voting record.
When the campaign needed a shot in the arm, his childhood story would be rolled out to show the “audacity” of his national rise to fame, considering the brokenness of his childhood. He even made a joke about himself while discussing the choice of a family dog, and whether to get a purebred or a shelter dog. He spiked the story with an amusing personal reflection: that “a lot of shelter dogs are mutts, like me.”
Was Obama poking fun at his past or was he playing to our sympathies? When we look back on his comments, we may view them in a different light if one of the eligibility-challenges ripens anytime soon.
An obscure 43-year-old “retired” lawyer named Leo Donofrio has asked the US Supreme Court to address the issue. On a recent radio show, Donofrio said he is 43 years old and prefers poker championships to practicing law. But, he’s taken on a big task and seems to have the capabilities including history-research skills . His goal is to have the justices evaluate whether Senator Obama is elgible to serve, and for them to put it on rush in order to prevent foul-pay at the upcoming meeting of the electoral college on December 15th, where delegates from every state will cast their votes and finally turn the Senator into the President-Elect. And, if that doesn’t happen, there’s still time before he takes the oath of office on January 20th.
Mr. Donofrio claims that, to not settle this matter could set in motion a frightening chain of events that could be far worse for the country, with Senator Obama becoming a “poseur” or imposter serving as President, which would mean that his signature on any treaties or other national business would be considered null.
The US Constitution is the bedrock of this nation, ensuring the liberties we take for granted. Have you listened to the words of America the Beautiful recently? This is the last half of the second verse: “America, America, God mend thine every flaw; confirm they soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law.”
On Friday, December 5th, Mr. Donofrio’s petition was considered in full conference of the justices of the Supreme Court. But, they have not yet announced what they plan to do.
Please don’t take any more lessons from this blog. Instead, go to Mr. Donofrio’s site where he tells a very interesting parallel story about the 21st president – Chester Arthur – whose actual eligibility-infirmity was obscured by a lesser issue: the controversy about his place-of-birth, when it was actually his father’s citizenship-status that was the real problem. Mr. Donofrio claims that President Arthur told lies to contain the real issue, because he must surely knew what “natural born citizen” meant, since the 14th amendment on citizenship rights was being ratified at that time and he was a lawyer.
Mr. Donfrio sees striking parallels between then and now, with the citizenship of Senator Obama’s father being the more serious issue – not the Senator’s actual place of birth. Senator Obama has spoken proudly about father’s ties, and has even traveled to Kenya to help his cousin’s bid for office.
No one has been looking squarely at this story, but an obscure lawyer from New Jersey, out of his love for the Constitution, has taken his concerns to the high court, asking the justices to resolve this matter before things get even worse.
America’s Founding Fathers set up “rules” that sometimes become inconvenient, or are hard to decipher. We hope this matter will finally be resolved one way or the other – sooner than later.
Leo Donofrio’s weblog is at http://naturalborncitizen.wordpress.com/
