An astute reader sent in an e-mail yesterday responding to my a href="http://2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com/2009/08/calling-all-tim-murphy-constituents.html"request/a for a copy of the letter Congressman Murphy sent out - the one that Rachel Maddow quoted.br /br /This is what my astute reader sent in:blockquoteThank you for taking the time to contact me to express your concernbr /regarding President span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_0"Barack Obama/span's qualification to serve as presidentbr /under span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_1"Article Two/span of the span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_2"Constitution/span. It is good to hear from youbr /and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.br /br /Article Two sets forth the principal qualifications for serving asbr /president. A span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_3"presidential candidate/span must be a natural-born citizen ofbr /the United States, be at least thirty-five years old, and have been abr /permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.br /br /Before being elected president, then span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_4"Senator Barack Obama/span was plaguedbr /with questions about whether or not he is a "natural-born citizen" ofbr /the United States, as the Constitution requires. To refute thesebr /claims, the Obama campaign in June of 2008 released a "span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_5"Certification/spanbr /of span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_6"Live Birth/span" stating Barack Obama was born in the state of Hawaii inbr /1961, and is therefore a native citizen of the United States andbr /eligible to serve as President.br /br /Since that time, numerous lawsuits have been filed challenging thebr /president's eligibility to serve as president under the Constitution'sbr /"natural born citizen" clause. Some lawsuits maintain span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_7"President Obama/spanbr /is not a natural born U.S. citizen because he was born in span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_8"Kenya/span, notbr /Hawaii. Before span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_9"giving birth/span, the suits claim, President Obama'sbr /mother traveled to Kenya with his father but was prevented from flyingbr /back to Hawaii because of the late stage of her pregnancy, andbr /therefore gave birth to the President in Kenya. At the time of birth,br /the suits contend, President Obama's father was a Kenyan citizenbr /subject to the jurisdiction of the span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_10"United Kingdom/span, thus handing downbr /span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_11"British citizenship/span to the President, while his mother was a minor atbr /the time of his birth, too young to confer span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_12"American citizenship/span.br /Moreover, critics argue his grandmother claims to have been present atbr /his birth in Kenya. Under span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_13"United States naturalization laws/span,br /citizenship can be conferred when both parents were U.S. citizens atbr /the time of the child's birth and at least one parent lived in thebr /United States prior to the child's birth. The lawsuits contend thesebr /requirements were not met.br /br /Other suits claim that even if the President was born in the Unitedbr /States, he lost his citizenship when he was adopted in span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_14"Indonesia/span.br /These suits point out the President's move to Indonesia when he was abr /child and his attendance at a school where only Indonesian citizensbr /were allowed. As a historical matter, U.S. citizenship can bebr /forfeited upon the undertaking of various acts, includingbr /naturalization in a foreign state.br /br /Critics argue that the President can easily end the debate by simplybr /producing his original span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_15"birth certificate/span, rather than the Registrationbr /of Live Birth document he has provided thus far. They argue if thebr /president is a natural born citizen, then producing this documentbr /should not be a problem.br /br /The Constitution is the span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_16"supreme law of the land/span and I unconditionallybr /agree that the Constitution must always be upheld to the full extent.br /Still, in our system of government, the span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_17"Supreme Court/span is the finalbr /arbiter of constitutionality. To date, many of the lawsuits have beenbr /dismissed for lack of jurisdiction and standing, while others remainbr /pending in the judicial system. The phrase "natural born citizen" isbr /not defined anywhere in the Constitution and its interpretation hasbr /never been the subject of a span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_18"U.S. Supreme Court ruling/span. While thisbr /issue is currently before the courts, I will keep your views in mindbr /and continue to monitor the situation carefully.br /br /Please do not hesitate to contact me with further questions orbr /concerns. If you are interested in receiving my email newsletterbr /describing important votes and key committee activity, I invite you tobr /visit my website at a href="http://murphy.house.gov/" target="_blank"span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_19"http://murphy.house.gov/span/a and sign up.br /br /Sincerely,br /br /span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1249385589_20"Tim Murphybr /Member of Congress/spanbr //blockquote All this in response to a question as to whether Murphy thinks President Obama was born in the United States.br /br /You'll note that he doesn't actually answer the question. He could, of course, have given a one-word answer in either direction - but he didn't. Saying yes and going with the evidence (i.e. reality) risks offending a hard core segment of his party. Saying no and going with teh crazie (i.e. the birthers) and he risks getting tagged as crazie himself.br /br /Given the overwhelming evidence to the "Yes" answer, Congressman Murphy's equivocation is confusing.br /br /I mean he DID a href="http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2009/roll647.xml"vote in favor/a of a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-hr593/text?version=ihamp;nid=t0:ih:14"H.Res.593/a a resolution that declares the President was born in Hawaii.br /br /So why the equivocation?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/8213262-8131150700649720852?l=2politicaljunkies.blogspot.com'//div
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