Ted Cruz Releases His Birth Certificate And Thereby Proves...

Which finger, Ted?

... that he is a Canadian citizen... as well as a US citizen, but hey, we didn't start the process of accusing presidential candidates of citizenship problems, and Cruz does, in fact, hold dual citizenship. Via TPM, here's the Dallas Morning News, to which Cruz released a copy of his birth certificate:

WASHINGTON — Born in Canada to an American mother, Ted Cruz became an instant U.S. citizen. But under Canadian law, he also became a citizen of that country the moment he was born.

Unless the Texas Republican senator formally renounces that citizenship, he will remain a citizen of both countries, legal experts say.

...

That's odd... when the same question arose over President Obama's birth, I don't recall any news sources printing the likes of the Dallas Morning News paragraph 1 above, saying that he was American because he was born to an American mother. I guess that only applies if you're a Republican.

What does Teddy-boy say? What do you expect... he lies about it, disclaiming the Canadian citizenship-by-birth, though he has never formally renounced it, saying there is no need for him to do so.

Far be it from me to question Sen. Cruz's loyalty to the U.S. Far be it, because I just don't know the man; I'm not wealthy enough to run in his circles. But if you think for a moment about the clause in Article II Section 1 of the US Constitution that requires a President of the United States to be a natural born citizen, the clear implication is that our founders felt that a natural born citizen is more likely to have that presumably unbreakable bond of loyalty to one's place of birth. On that basis, we have to assume Cruz's loyalties lie with Canada. Now of course that's OK; one could surely do worse than to be loyal to Canada. But we're talking about the President of the United States here, POTUS, the man who occupies the position increasingly appropriately titled Dictator-in-Chief...

As this is really a matter of law more than politics, I'm not going to push it the way "birthers" all but assaulted President Obama. It just isn't an issue with this candidate, any more than it should have been with Obama. So I will dutifully ignore the fact in the case of Ted "Ameri‑Canuck" Cruz...

Birthers And Birchers And Prayers, Oh My

Did you think that Red-baiting was soooo mid-twentieth-century? Did you think that "terrorist" is the new "Communist" as an epithet to hurl at someone you don't like? Did you think the John Birch Society (or perhaps this is a better link) no longer existed?

Think again. The chair of the Alabama GOP has not only turned birther, he is asserting that Obama's upbringing as a Communist has been "verified." I used to think that word meant "confirmed as being true," but like so many other words in GOP newspeak, apparently that's not what it means anymore... at least not to an Alabama Republican still living in the mid-twentieth century.

There's no warrior like an old warrior, and there's no old warrior like an old cold warrior. They say ignorance is bliss: I say ignorance is Republican.

(Steve wanders away, humming "If mommy is a commie, you gotta turn her in...")