McCain is ineligible to be President of the United States.

according to wikipedia (as retarded as that sounds): "The Panama Canal Zone was under United States sovereignty between 1903 and 1979", which apparently makes mccain a legitimate candidate, at least according the cited source.

i pass 90% of my college classes because of wikipedia. It must be true...

to further hoodskiers argument, from the same title and chapter of the Immigration and Nationality Act:

Sec. 301. [8 U.S.C. 1401] The following shall be nationals and citizens of the United States at birth:

What it actually says is "From 1903 to 1979 the territory was controlled by the United States of America".

Maybe it was changed or you got that from an article other than the one about the Panama Canal Zone, I dunno. But the lease agreement they had in no way gave the US soveirgnty or made it part of the US. That is a fact.

 

wow i havent seen solid evidence for either natural born or naturalized.  but im def leaning toward naturalized.  some body needs to bring this shit out to the public

Section 1403 - Persons born in the Canal Zone or Republic of Panama on or after February 26, 1904

"Any person born in the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States."

It merely claims that those people are citizens.

AND IT WAS MADE EFFECTIVE NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER McCAIN WAS BORN.

http://wyomcases.courts.state.wy.us/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=189964

I think this issue should go to the courts when McCain is nominated.

McCain is eligible to become president of the united states:

"Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

• Anyone born inside the United States
• Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
• Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
• Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
• Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
• Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
• Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
• A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.

Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example."

Source: http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html

So IcePointa as you can clearly see mccain is eligible to become president because both of his parents are US citizens and at least one of the them had lived in the US for at least one year, therefore making him  a natural born citizen, and thus eligible to become president

So as you can clearly see the law that allows that to happen was...

MADE EFFECTIVE NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER McCAIN WAS BORN.

Section 1403 - Persons born in the Canal Zone or Republic of Panama on or after February 26, 1904

"Any person born in the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States."

Effective 1952

fuck you, go bama

Three major candidates have sought the Presidency who were born outside the United States: Barry Goldwater (ran in 1964) was born in Arizona while it was still a U.S. territory, George Romney (ran in1968) was born in Mexico to U.S. parents, and John McCain (ran in 2000 and running in 2008) was born in the Panama Canal Zone to U.S. parents. Barry Goldwater's case among these three is unique in that although Arizona was not a state, it was a fully incorporated territory of the United States, making it debatable whether or not he was born "outside" the United States. The Panama Canal Zone was under United States sovereignty between 1903 and 1979.[8] Neither Goldwater nor Romney was elected, so it has never been fully addressed whether children born to Americans overseas are "natural-born citizens" and thus eligible for the Presidency. However, McCain is currently seeking the 2008 Republican nomination for President.
Not entirely sure about whether or not McCain is eligible per se, but the law obviously isn't as clear as it could be...

All persons born in the United States, except those not subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. government (such as children of foreign diplomats) are citizens by birth. There is some debate over whether other persons with citizenship can also be considered citizens by birth, or whether they should all be considered citizens by law (thus "naturalized"). Current US statutes define certain individuals born overseas as citizens by birth. One side of the argument interprets the Constitution as meaning that a person either is born in the United States or is a naturalized citizen. Thus, to be a "natural born citizen," a person must be born in the United States; otherwise, they are citizens by law and are naturalized. Current State Department policy reads: "Despite widespread popular belief, U.S. military installations abroad and U.S. diplomatic or consular facilities are not part of the United States within the meaning of the 14th Amendment. A child born on the premises of such a facility is not subject to the jurisdiction of the United States and does not acquire U.S. citizenship by reason of birth." To others, the statute that grants citizenship to American children born overseas exempts them from the term "naturalized" and thus, as with the 1790 law, they are to be considered "natural born citizens" eligible for the Presidency. Examples of persons who become citizens at birth (whether "naturalized" or "natural born") would include: birth to Americans overseas, or birth on U.S. soil, territories, or military bases overseas.

It seems to be a matter of how the Supreme Court would rule on the topic. However, I don't think the fact that McCain was born in Panama versus the continental US would affect his policy making at all. I would be surprised if the courts thought differently.

This would fall soley on the interpretation of the courts on the matter. The laws are not clearly written and leave room for interpretation when it comes to "Natural Born Citizens".

Either way, I never see this matter making it that far. I cannot legitimately see someone bringing this matter to the courts.

This issue has JUST come up in the New York Times today.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/us/politics/28mccain.html?ref=politics

While the author displays doubts about the liklihood of sucess in blocking him through legal channels, this is probably a sign that this isn't the last time you'll hear about this.