John McCain and Me: Natural Born Somethings

It turns out that John McCain and I have more in common that I thought.

And yes, it's more than just a rapidly receeding hairline, extremely pale skin, and a complexion that suggests bad taxidermy.

It seems John McCain was born outside the U.S. (in Panama), which got some folks to wondering if he was even eligible to become President.

His answer: Yes, because the Constitution says only a "natural-born citizen" may serve as president, not that the person must be born in the U.S.A.

McCain says the issue was put to rest in 1964 when fellow Arizonan Barry Goldwater ran for president. Goldwater was born in Arizona when it was a territory, not a state.

Well, John McCain is right.

Children born in other countries who are Americans at birth, and who are not naturalized, are also "natural-born citizens."

That would include George Washington (born in the U.K. of America). And me. I was born to U.S. diplomats in Harare, Zimbabwe (then called Salisbury, Rhodesia) back in the era before jets. And I was a caesarian section no less. And yes, my mother is tough; she can kick your mom's ass, guaranteed.

So the good news is that I too can become President. Why do you shudder at that thought? What's with the Xanax? Woah! Five is a lot! Slow down. I have no intention. I promise.

By the way, it turns out that the lawyer giving John McCain the good legal advice on this matter was none other than Ted Olson.

In the small-world department, Olson was the lawyer for the defense in the Allison Engine case I watched before the Supreme Court on Tuesday (see yesterday's post), and his wife was one of the passengers on Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Ted Olson also represented George W. Bush in the 2000 Supreme Court case that gave Bush the presidency, and he is partners with Eugene Scalia, son of conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher.
.