Oh Canada

Is Ted Cruz qualified to be President of the United States? Donald Trump has casually brought this up, but he's actually not the first. It has simply been ignored. I'm no legal scholar either in the U.S. or Canada, but there are a significant number of respected constitutional law scholars in our country who state that it is not a settled matter in spite of what the elite lawyer Ted Cruz says.

Let's take a look at the U.S. Constitution itself. Article II Section 1 paragraph 5 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 fourteen years a resident within the United States." The Fourteenth Amendment Section 1. sentence 1.: " All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside."

Ignore those attempting to confuse the issue by bringing up John McCain and Barry Goldwater. McCain was born in a U.S. Territory to two American citizens who were in service to their country. Goldwater was born in a U.S. Territory.

Ted Cruz was born in Canada and was a Canadian citizen until fifteen months ago when he renounced that citizenship. His father was not a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth. His mother was a U.S. citizen who was not living and working abroad in service of her country. What's more Canadian records show that both she and her husband were registered to vote in Canada which certainly suggests an intent to be a part of that society. Cruz was five when they moved to Texas.

The question concerning Ted Cruz Constitutional qualifications to run for President are valid. In fact it's questionable as to whether or not he's a citizen at all and therefore his qualification to be a U.S. Senator.

My own personal view is that any citizen should have the right to seek the Presidency regardless of their place of birth. That requires amending the Constitution, which I'm all for. It's unlikely to occur anytime soon but if we truly are a land of immigrants then the fears that formed the founders original thoughts must be washed away.

Food for thought. Eat up!