Legal Commentary

Was John McCain Born In The US?

By Big Tent Democrat

I have generally avoided the birther issue because it is so monumentally stupid. I know it helps Democrats in painting the GOP as extreme (and thus understand why Democratic blogs are pushing the story), but I think it actually provides great insight into how uninformed the American People are in general. Consider this blog post from PPP on its preliminary polling on the birther question in Virginia:

In a result making me want to bang my head against the table, the first round of calls for our Virginia poll this afternoon founds voters in the state almost evenly split on whether they thought the President was born in the US. We're polling North Carolina next week, and I am almost definitely going to throw a question on there asking people whether they think Hawaii is a state or not.

(Emphasis supplied.) I would also throw in a question asking whether they believe John McCain was born in the US. Because he wasn't. Now, I know the birther legal theory posits that US law makes the question relevant for Obama but not for McCain, but the reality is the Constitutional question makes this less than clear (Congressional law can not conflict with the Constitution.)

In the end, neither McCain nor Obama are naturalized citizens so the entire question is supremely stupid. But it does provide a window into the ignorance of the American People.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 03, 2009 (boomark / email).