Right Wing Four Year Talking Point: Obama not a Citizen

I rarely deal in tin foil hat conspiracies churned by the right wing nut press and blogs, for reasons that are obvious. Yet the issue here has touched me personally: My old best friend and conservative born again, is yabbering about it now incessantly, calling me at least twice a day to see what I might have turned up in my research.

Not only is the following down the rabbit hole, and crazy to boot, it’s funny as well. So enjoy this “news” story from the conservative voice, the Sonoran News, whatever the hell that is.

Foreign national certified as presidential candidate: On Wednesday, Nov. 19, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas distributed Leo C. Denofrio’s renewed application for a stay of the election for conference on Dec. 5. If four of the nine justices favor review, a hearing will be scheduled. His first application was denied by Justice David Souter on Nov. 6. However, rules of the court allow for the renewed submission to a justice of choice.

Beginning in October, Denofrio made his way up through the ranks of the courts until his constitutional question as to the meaning of “natural born citizen” reached the Supreme Court.

He submitted an application for an emergency stay to prohibit the use of what he called “defective ballots” in the state of New Jersey because they contained ineligible candidates for the office of President of the United States, and asked that the court order New Jersey Secretary of State (SOS) Nina Mitchell Wells to remove the names of Republican candidate John McCain, Democratic candidate Barack Obama and Socialist Workers Party candidate Roger Calero from New Jersey ballots.

According to Denofrio, the three candidates are not “natural born citizens,” as required by the Constitution to hold the office of President of the United States.

I know, it’s crazy over the top stuff, but this is what you get when you go deep into the upside down thinking of people who still believe there’s a war on Christmas and Democrats are aiding the terrorists. Now for the "facts," as they’re presented by Denofrio:

Denofrio contends Obama, even if it were proven he was born in Hawaii, because his father was born in Kenya, having been born with split and competing loyalties, is not a ‘natural born citizen’ as required by Article 2, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution.” The Naturalization Act of 1790 stated, “… the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens ...” However, Denofrio points out the Naturalization Act of 1795 specifically repealed the 1790 act and replaced it with the same clause except with the words “natural born” deleted.

Denofrio states, “McCain is in the class of citizens who obtain their citizenship at birth, but not from the Constitution, but rather federal statute.” The Foreign Affairs Manual also addresses the issue of eligibility for president as such: “It has never been determined definitively by a court whether a person who acquired U.S. citizenship by birth abroad to U.S. citizens is a natural born citizen within the meaning of Article II of the Constitution and, therefore, eligible for the Presidency.”

This isn’t the first time someone has tried to use this Act to discriminate against political parties. Who could forget the Aliens and Sedition Act or:

The Naturalization Act of 1798 permits Federalist President John Adams to deport foreigners deemed to be dangerous and increases the residency requirements to 14 years to prevent immigrants, who predominantly voted for the Republican Party, from becoming citizens. In 1802: The Jefferson Administration revises the Naturalization Act of 1798 by reducing the residency requirement from 14 to five years-Harvard.edu

Oh, and who’s Leo C. Denofrio: He retired his license to practice law to become a professional poker player. Picture above.