Archive for October 7th, 2004

2004.10.07

A Foreign President

Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has put forth legislation proposing a Constitutional Amendment allowing non-native born American citizens the possibility to become President. (link to a more detailed article).

Bad idea. While the limitation was originally imposed to prevent a resurgent monarchy, I still believe that the nation’s highest office is best represented by an American, born and raised. The claim that the limitation is “discriminatory” is as stupid as saying the drinking age should be abolished, that one has to be a certain age to run for certain federal offices, or that people with less than perfect vision can’t be fighter pilots.

In a certain irony, my attitude is more conservative than the person proposing the Amendment, and I’m not even a conservative. I am very dubious of anyone proposing Constitutional Amendments, anyways, and always question their real motivations. I wonder who convinced him this was a good idea?