Welcome to day three of our journey! Lesson two dealt with the Legislative Branch of government outlining the duties and requirements of Congress, and restrictions placed on it. As you know, our founders created three equal branches of government: The Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch.
Today’s reading involves the Executive Branch, the presidency. The text below represents the original spellings, and punctuation.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United 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.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Although we’ll be reading the various amendments as we go, I think it’s important to point out that Section 1, Paragraph 3 is superseded by the 12th Amendment. This has to do with the election of the President and Vice President:
AMENDMENT XII
Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. --]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
*Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.
The 20th Amendment further refines the presidency and vice presidency as it pertains to terms and eligibility. The part referenced above, highlighted with the asterisk, is superceded by the text below:
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
While duties and responsibilities are outlined, most of Article II deals with qualifications and the election of the Executive. The founders left the Executive quite a bit of room to govern.
As you probably know, there has been some concern whether Barack Obama meets the qualifications to actually serve as President. This is centered on Section 1, Paragraph 5:
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.
The controversy settles around two issues. The first is transparency, Though Obama campaigned on it, we know that was a joke, and his regime operates almost completely in the dark. Most activities that Americans are accustomed to seeing disclosed are hidden from the American people by the regime.
The other issue is Obama’s personal history. Of course, the media has worked over time not covering issues such as his radical associations and shady business dealings. It’s quite remarkable, in fact, to note the lengths the regime’s media partners will go to not report on things, and cover up others.
It’s Obama’s life before the presidency that is a real blank. Unlike every other President, all of Obama’s records, from his birth certificate, to college transcripts, selective service documents, law records, medical records, even his Illinois Senate records have been judged completely and totally off limits. To use a word Obama seems to love, it’s unprecedented in American history. No other high profile official, let alone President has gotten away with this sort of thing, until now.
It’s the "natural born citizen" requirement that is causing some to have issues. We have now gotten into the Clinton era definition of what "is" is.
When Barack Obama and John McCain first became candidates, long time democrat operative, Phil Berg, filed a lawsuit against each man. Berg contends that neither Obama nor McCain are "natural born citizens." and thus neither man is eligible to be President.
The story with McCain is simple. Senator McCain comes from a long line of Navy men. His father, a Commander at the time, was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone. To complicate matters, Senator McCain was not born on the naval base, he was born in a civilian hospital on Panamanian soil.
Of course, as both parents were American citizens, Senator McCain was indeed an American citizen, and since both of John’s parents were "natural born" themselves, this was not a real issue. In fact, McCain produced a file copy of his original birth certificate, and the Senate even passed a non-binding resolution declaring McCain a "nature born citizen." Not that it actually carries any legal weight. But it was done, at any rate.
The problems with Obama are many, and frankly we think he has purposely keeps the controversy going, as a way to discredit adversaries. Pretty easy to label someone a "birther" a loon, and dismiss everything they have said.
Now rumors have Obama being born in Kenya. This sort of thing isn’t helped because some Kenyan officials, probably hoping it will help tourism or something, have also claimed Obama was born there. So has some of his family. Hard to prove.
This is further complicated by the insane Hawaiian laws regarding "certificates of live birth." Under Hawaiian law at the time, you could have been born on Mars and your parents could have been given a "certificate of live birth," which is different than a birth certificate.
Making this even more complicated is the fact Obama’s half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who we know, for sure, was born in Indonesia to Obama’s mother and step father, also has the very same Hawaiian "certificate of live birth" as Barack.
BTW, Obama has spent a little more than a million dollars through his attorneys Perkins Coie, fighting the dozens of cases challenging his eligibility in court. It costs roughly $15 to get a certified vault copy of a Hawaiian birth certificate.
Again, in our opinion Obama enjoys this controversy, because it immediately neutralizes a large portion of Americans who oppose his regime.
We feel he was most likely born in Hawaii, as advertised, but honestly, who knows!
This is not the only problem with Obama’s eligibility though, and this is where we get into what the meaning of "is" is.
Our founders meant for our President to be "natural born." Just being a citizen, even a person born on American soil, was not good enough. They rightly understood the American President must have allegiance to America and to America only. We couldn’t have a "citizen of the world" as our leader, for obvious reasons. One can be true only to the United States. Our nation demands 100 percent loyalty from it’s President.
We see the many complications brought about by a "post-American" presidency unfolding before our eyes! Barack Obama holds no allegiance to America, or her people. He is a strict ideologue. Only his ideology matters to him.
Unfortunately, the Supreme court has refused to hear cases challenging Obama’s eligibility, even though dozens are out there and several have made it to the Court.
Now again, we do believe Obama was born in Hawaii and only uses this issue to his advantage. We feel the Obama regime keeps this issue alive as a way of defusing other issues and
de-legitimizing those who would raise them. It’s a win-win for him, and no one is ever going to call him on it. No one.
However, the place of his birth is not nearly a contentious of an issue as is the birthplace of his father, Barack Obama Sr. You see, Obama Sr. Was born in Kenya and as Kenya was a British colony at the time Obama Jr was born. In many scholars opinion, Obama Jr. actually holds a duel U.S,/British citizenship, by virtue of his father’s British citizenship. This would render Obama ineligible.
We find this an interesting concept and really think the court did America a grave disservice by refusing to hear these cases, based on this theory, and once and for all defining who, exactly, is a "natural born citizen." It would be nice to know, in the future, just who is and who isn’t eligible. .
We seriously doubt this will ever be resolved one way or the other.
Of course, Barack Obama and John McCain aren’t the only two who have ever faced these questions. When Barry Goldwater ran for President he faced the same questions. You see, when Goldwater was born, Arizona had not yet achieved statehood! So as you see, the opportunity for Congress, or the Court, to further define who is and who isn’t a "natural born citizen" has been with us for some time, but Congress, and the Court, have passed on this opportunity.
We find the whole thing interesting and complicated by the fact that Barack Obama has no particular allegiance to the United States or the American way of life. In fact, it’s his desire to destroy the American way of life, as we know it, that has prompted all of us to rise up in protest, and go on the journey of relearning our First Principles, and our founding documents.
Although we mention it here, because it is interesting, and most definitely an unsettled question, we urge readers to focus on more pressing issues and not get too bogged down with the "natural born citizen" question. Legal scholars have tried to get a ruling on this, and have been denied at the highest level.
Better to put in a solid effort toward defeating the Obama regime and the progressive-Marxist ideology at the ballot box. Defeat the Marxist-democrat Congress, thus neutralizing the Obama regime, and then defeat Obama in 2012.
Defeat every progressive, for every office, at every level, and the issues with Obama and his regime will take care of themselves!
OK, back to the Constitution and Constituting America, as always, feel free to discuss this amongst our readers and visit Janine’s website, and join in on the discussion, here.
Tomorrow we’ll read Article III which deals with the Judicial Branch of government.
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