How low do we Go

There are some times that I really dislike American Politics.  This appears to be one of those times.

An anonymous commentor on a friends blog post <link> concerning the McCain speech last night has stated that a lawsuit has been filed alleging that Senator Obama is Constitutionally ineligible to serve as President.  Simon confirmed that a press release was available that confirmed that service of process had been accomplished. 

The Constitution requires few qualifications to be President.  Article II Section 1 states, “No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States”

I really do not want to dignify the allegations being made.   But certainly the case is of significant interest.  So I will provide links to a Washington Times news article dated 8/28/2008 <link here> and a purported copy of the actual complaint filed in the lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  <link here> Note that the allegations contained in the complaint are not evidence and do not prove anything.

I express no opinion of the data which I am reading – some of which I am linking for your examination.  There is no evidence being presented here.  I expressed concern last December that the archaic language of the Constitution (the reference to natural born citizen) was a time bomb which should be addressed by Constitutional amendment before our election system hosts a disaster.  There are no Supreme Court precedents and  limited data which can be used to determine what the language means.  At the time I was unable to find such language in use after about 1800.  The irony is that I was looking at the circumstances of Senator McCain’s birth at a Military Hospital in the Canal Zone of Panama while his father was a serving Naval officer.  I had not seen any of this material referring to Senator Obama until today. 

The problem, of course, is that the allegations purported to be addressed in this case have apparently been around for a while.  Senator Obama’s Fight the Smears site pages claim to show a copy of the Senator’s birth certificate in responses to earlier allegations.  <link here>

If the jurisdiction and standing issues can be satisfied for this case at this late date, then the case could have been filed during the primary season months ago.  The filing of this case at this time seems to me to be a smear on our electoral system, as well as the integrity of the Senator.  Even if the allegations are supported – I do not want to win this way.  I can only hope that a Court of competent jurisdiction reviews whatever evidence is available and renders a clear and ringing verdict as soon as possible so we can concentrate on the issues facing our society.  This is not productive, no matter what the outcome.