Albright Backs Foreigners for Presidency

[Khephra]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday that foreign-born citizens should be allowed to run for president, a reform that would require amending the Constitution.

"We are a country of immigrants. I think that it would be not a bad thing to try to figure out how to allow foreign-born people to become president," Albright told the Little Rock Rotary Club while in town to attend the opening of Bill Clinton's presidential library.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-brf-albright-presidency,0,7522153.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[aquart]

1. Too damn bad.

[barb162]

47. ditto, let the current rule remain, be born here.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

54. Agreed wholeheartedly. If they change this I really MAY move...-nt

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

2. Sun Myung Moon agrees

[Tempest]

3. So does Rupert Murdoch

Rightwing Australian soon to become an American citizen.

[rooboy]

9. Soon to become??? He's been a US citizen for years. n/t

[denverbill]

14. You are correct. Amazingly, he somehow got very lucky.

Normally, a person needs to get kinda lucky to become a US citizen. Apply for a visa, apply for citizenship, take a test, all sorts of stuff. IIRC it takes most people several years.

In his case, Congress passed a special law allowing him to become a US citizen without all the hassles, just so he could be allowed to own US media. Pretty fucked up.

[private_ryan]

22. all countries make expections for rich people

usually you have to wait 5 years after you get your green card, and I don't see how a man woth billions with many companies here had a problem getting a green card.

[Tempest]

19. Has he had dual citizenship?

I read a recent article where it says he's an Australian citizen.

[rooboy]

21. He gave up his Australian citizenship, I believe. n/t

[barb162]

45. and Prince Charles can talk to us about keeping our place

[Forkboy]

31. So do I

:shrug:

[DavidDvorkin]

4. Good for her

The xenophobia here at DU astonishes me.

And I speak as an immigrant.

[Metatron]

5. I don't think it is xenophobia

If the change was made, I think a lot of people expect a certain California governor to run for president in four years.

[TolstoyAndy]

12. It's not xenophobia - it's NWO worship

It's not xenophobia - it's NWO worship.

Folks, no one is more liberal than me, but this push for allowing foreigners to be president is geared towards making Ahnold pResident. Like Georgie, he is on record as wanting to be a dictator, like Georgie, he is the son of a Nazi eugenicist.

(OK: Alois Schwarzenegger may not have been a eugenicist, but he did join the Nazis when it was still illegal.)

While I basically trust my fellow DUers like DavidD and think DavidD would be a damn good prez, opening this door will be bad for the long-term good of this country. It's a way to let scum like Arnold (really, his controllers) run the US.

I'm ashamed to share my Red Sox blood with T. Kennedy, who apparently is all for his cousin in law (or whatever the relation is) becoming Monkey. Before he decided to fellate Bush on *No Child Left Behind, I still had a kernel of respect for Ted.

[sadiesworld]

25. He really is the perfect face for the NWO...

eerie.

[ilovenicepeople]

43. If the constitutional ammendment goes thru,Arnie will be "your" leader

I shouldn't say "your" leader,by 2008 Canada will be the northern sector of the Pan American Union.Speaking of Arnold check out this website PLEASE www.arnoldexposed.com

[barb162]

46. did you ever notice how he walks like he has loaded diapers?

[saskatoon]

66. whatever you call it...

I, for one want those assholes to quit messing with the CONSTITUTION goddman it

[GinaMaria]

6. xenophonbia or national security?

I think the issue has always been security, not xenophobia. How many other countries permit foriegn born nationals to hold the highest office in their governments? Not a rhetorical question. I truly wonder.

[Lisa]

7. Canada

We had a Prime Minister a few years back -- John Turner -- who was born in England.

[GinaMaria]

8. Thanks for the answer

So that's one. Anyone know of any others? I'm wondering if it's the norm for most countries to restrict the highest position in government to people born in their country or a similar restriction.

[sidwill]

10. Right....about .......NOW!

Right now, does Arnold look all that bad?

A pro choice moderate vs. the Chimperor and his potential lineage of Jeb, and who knows what other right wing wack job. I'll hold my nose and fuss all the way but I'd crawl across a mile of feces covered broken glass to vote arnie versus anybody from the Bushista ideological family tree.

[TolstoyAndy]

16. Arnie is from the Bushista tree

- Bohemian Grove attendee
- misogynist
- NWO-controlled
- brain-fucked from years of steroids

Q
Who's he gonna be beholden to in 2009 when he gets elected?
A1
Women, whom he hates, but may be convinced to vote for him b/c he's "pro-choice"?
A2
Or the Bush family connections that anointed him, that greased his path?

[John Q. Citizen]

38. Bush and Arnie hate each others guts.

That said, I don't think amending the constitution all the time for passing whims makes a lot of sense.

[liberalpragmatist]

13. India

Sonia Gandhi, Italian-born and raised, the widow of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi - she's the President of India's ruling Congress Party and the party's leader in Parliament.

She led the party to electoral victory last may and was offered the premiership, but after initially accepting the offer she backed away and instead nominated her shadow finance minister. As it is now, it's sort of a co-Premiership, with PM Singh handling policy and Sonia Gandhi handling the politics and managing the party in parliament.

This example sort of cuts both ways. She's allowed to be Prime Minister, nearly became so, and a majority of the country was okay with it. However the opposition, though a minority, was VERY VOCAL against it and she turned the offer down largely to deny the opposition a stick with which to beat her.

Personally, I favor letting foreign-born citizens run for President, provided that they have 35 years of residency and 20 years of citizenship - no DUAL citizenship. Must have been exclusive citizen of the US for at least 20 years (which would take care of Arnold - he's still a dual citizen). I think comparisons to other countries don't really apply however. The reason is that the US is a nation of immigrants unlike other countries. We have a very fluid culture and so many people were born in other countries. They're all just as American.

And it's not like being American-born makes you any less likely to be sympathetic to certain countries. Are Jews not generally sympathetic to Israel? Was Kennedy not sympathetic to Ireland?

I think it could be restricted to those who came to this country before the age of 18 or so - that way they've experienced growing up in America somewhat.

[lawladyprof]

17. I heartily concur and that 20 years of citizenship

Would make them 38 if they assumed US citizenship as an adult of 18 (after having come here as a child). I am a dual national and became a US citizen at 17 (declared as a child). But no dual nationals. They have to have given up their allegiance to a foreign state for a substantial period.

[TolstoyAndy]

18. excellent points, LP

I don't think any arbitrary # of years fixes the problem.
Eliminating dual citizenship goes a ways toward fixing it.
But I'm not touching the Israel theme with a 10-foot pole!

[KittyWampus]

23. IMO, It Should Be 50 Years As A Citizen.

[LifeDuringWartime]

64. how about 35

since thats the number of years a US-born citizen has to wait to run for president?

[Missy M]

15. At least Canada has ties to England.....

being a Commonwealth. I think it's fine for senators, governors, congress, mayors, etc. to be foreign born but the president should be American. I'm not even sure I have a rational reason for thinking this way.

[anakie]

26. Australia too

I am pretty sure. The only impediment is that they must renounce their previous citizenship.

Let Arnold run. No way would the fundy base vote for him given his pro choice views. Plus his history.

You are a country of immigrants and where one is born shouldn't matter. But it is not my country.

[atreides1]

11. Think About It

Rupert Murdoch, Reverend Moon, and Arnold still holds dual citizenship. The US has enough of it's own fanatics, crackpots and loonies, without importing them from other countries.

No offense against immigrants, but unless you have enough money to run for the office, I don't want the amendment tossed.

As for Albright, remember, she's the one who said that 500,000 Iraqi children dying was a price that she was willing to pay, to keep the sanctions in place. Besides, she wasn't born in the US either, so I can see why she would support it.

[arwalden]

20. Sorry Madeline... I Loves Ya... But The Answer Is Still NO!

[trotsky]

24. The reason the Founders wrote this into the Constitution

was not out of xenophobia, but out of a concern for national security. They did not want there to ever even be a question of the president putting the interests of another country over those of the United States. It's not racist, it's not xenophobic, it's a policy stance.

And this liberal happens to agree with it.

[jobycom]

29. It's outdated

At the time the law was made, there was a real chance someone from Britain or France would convince voters that they should reunite with England or join with France. There isn't much chance of that now.

Plus, I doubt Arnold or anyone else could compromise our security any more than Bush has, and Bush was born here. There would be so much suspicion of most foreign born candidates that I doubt they could win an election. I'm sorry, I'm just not afraid that the big, bad foreign people are so evil they will take us over. It's an old, outdated bigotry that needs to be done away with.

This liberal believes in freedom more than in xenophobia.

[w4rma]

36. It's not "liberal" to open up such a huge security hole that this would

open up.

[jobycom]

50. Show me the hole. There is no hole. It's irrational fear. nt

[trotsky]

49. I totally disagree with calling it "xenophobia"

but you are welcome to your own opinion. Convince the state legislators in 34 states to agree with you, and welcome President Schwarzenegger.

[jobycom]

51. I disagree with you not calling it xenophobia

but since you give no reasons to back up your claim, I won't, either.

I grew up in the south. I know racism. Every racist that's ever existed would say they totally disagreed with my calling it racism, but would allow me to hold me opinion. It's an old song, just a different verse.

[trotsky]

71. Racism?

Thanks for the indirect attack, by the way.

But now you've overreached.

Last I checked, there are whites, Blacks, Asians, Hispanics, and every other color of the rainbow who qualify as natural-born U.S. citizens.

For you to call that clause of the Constitution racist is pure unadulterated bullshit.

Continue to hold your opinion if you wish, but there is no avoiding that fact that it's dead wrong.

[donheld]

27. Now Bandar Bush can be our next preznit

Oh boy

[jobycom]

28. So do I, and I'm stunned DUers don't

I should have the right to vote for Jennifer Granholm for president if I want. Foreign born citizens can be governors, congresscritters, soldiers, head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, SCOTUS justices, dog catchers, etc. There's no reason they shouldn't be allowed to run for president.

DUers are afraid of one man,and they are picking and choosing which rights they want people to have based solely on their opposition to one man becoming president. We are a nation that believes in equal rights for all, yet we are so damned hatefilled and xenophobic whenever we cross our borders. Our imigration laws would make Hitler proud, our desire to make sure no one else in the world can share in our overabundant, obscene wealth, and we are afraid to allow someone who has lived in America most of their lives but who happened to be born outside of America to run for president. To me,that's xenophobia,or racism, or some form of intolerance I thought DUers were above.

If a Democrat had come up with this idea the Republicans would never go for it. But it's the right thing to do. We ought to act now, while the Republican self-interest leans towards creating more freedoms for the voters and for our foreign born citizens. Because if we miss it, and then it's our turn to run Granholm,or whomever, we'll never get the fascist party to go for it.

As for national security, Bush and Reagan turned control over to othe nations and to multinational corporations, and they were born here. I doubt Arnold or anyone else would do worse. And it wouldn't make Arnold president. He still would have to run,and if we don't have someone who can beat his gropenating ass, then we don't deserve to win.

[SKKY]

30. Call it Xenophobia or whatever you chose, but...

...unless you came to The States as a young child with your parents, and have lived here ever since, I don't support this one bit.

[sunnybrook]

72. why is that

More explanation please...

[IndianaGreen]

32. The principle is that all American citizens should be treated alike

Now, put all of your Arnold voodoo dolls away for a minute and listen to reason:

The principle is that all American citizens should be treated alike and should have the same rights and privileges of citizenship.

This means that there should be no distinctions between an American born in the US and one that was naturalized. Both should be permitted to run for President or Vice President. It also means that all consenting adult Americans have the right to marry those they love without consideration of race, age, natural origin, and sexual orientation.

[w4rma]

33. I don't really care about Arnold. I care about Murdoch and Rev. Moon and

Bandar and all the other dictator wannabes with gobs of cash to toss around, who may even have the treasury of their own nation to fund their efforts at a political coup through U.S. elections, who would LOVE to have control over the world's largest and most advanced military and economy even for just a little while.

In fact, I go a step further and think there should be a law preventing fokls like them from owning as many (formerly) American assets that they own now. I'm not happy at all about the amount of power these folks already wield within this nation while having an agenda that has nothing to do with the welfare of this particular nation.

[Forkboy]

34. "Now, put all of your Arnold voodoo dolls away..."

Dont get your hopes up.Most people can't seem to see past tomorrow :-(

[eowyn_of_rohan]

56. You make a good point but

With so much paranoia and weirdness going on since 9-11, this is NOT the time such a concept is going to be well-received, with our sense of national security so extremely shaky... Even though we now have a Mayflower descendant for a president who is doing more damage to our national security than any president in this country's history.

[Darranar]

68. Exactly. It's a basic principle of equality. n/t

[Columbia]

35. Uhh.. foreign-born citizens are NOT foreigners, they are AMERICANS

:wtf:

[Sade]

37. Thank you, yes they ARE Americans

they are not foreigners. But I still say no. Especially to the Tool-enator Ahnold.

[Gyre]

40. That's a legal fiction, I believe.

A meritorious one no doubt. A slight, but not inconsistent sharpening would say that, if one is not native, then one is a foreigner. However, where the law provides, one CAN be an American AND a foreigner at the same time (just one of the non-native variety). That would be about where we're at now.

Gyre

[Columbia]

41. How about a definition

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=foreigner

Main Entry: for·eign·er
Pronunciation: 'for-&-n&r, 'fär-
Function: noun
1 : a person belonging to or owing allegiance to a foreign country

[robcon]

39. This is a simple idea.

It's obvious that all Americans should be eligible for any office in the country. (I'd accept a minimum residency requirement, if we needed to compromise.)

[leesa]

42. Ah yes, our favorite PNAC signatory!

This woman is a Nazi and would love to have the fascist Ahnode in power.

[Zhade]

58. Now, now, let's be fair!

Madelaine "500,000 dead Iraqi children is a price worth paying to keep the sanctions in place" Albright is not a willing PNAC signatory. She's just someone who signed a letter that PNAC then placed on their site with absolutely no disclaimer that stated it did not originate from PNAC, which of course would lead anyone to think she had signed a PNAC document.

Funny thing is, neither she nor Biden have taken action to have their names removed. Their signatures still grace the non-PNAC document that still resides at the PNAC site, still without a disclaimer.

[NYC]

44. After "slashing and burning" this country,

the "president" can just go home.

I think it is bad enough that someone like Bush can devastate this country, then afford to live anywhere in the world he wants so that he doesn't have to stay here.

[ScrewyRabbit]

48. Fantastic idea! Just look at 2 great examples from history:

Napoleon and Hitler.

[NVMojo]

52. Texas radio host launches anti-Schwarzenegger campaign

SACRAMENTO - A Texas radio host launched a Web-based offensive Thursday against efforts to change the U.S. Constitution to allow Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to run for president of the United States.

Alex Jones, an Austin-based talk show host on the Burnsville, Minn., Genesis Communications Network, said the site raised $5,000 for an anti-Schwarzenegger campaign in its first two hours.

Jones, once voted Austin's favorite radio host and sometimes described as a "conspiracy theorist," said he's raising funds to run TV ads in Austin and Sacramento to counter those beginning this week by Schwarzenegger supporters hoping he'll run for president.

"This is serious," he said. "Arnold is serious. His people are serious."

more...

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/10217536.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp

[ilovenicepeople]

59. Heres a link to Alex's website

www.arnoldexposed.com

[BREMPRO]

53. i've read things about Albright that make me suspicious of her

allegiance. Her Dad was Condi Rice's mentor. Her multi-national corporate connections run deep. Does that give any context to the indirect endorsment of the ultimate hummer-hawk as president?

i don't trust her.

[sunnybrook]

74. If you are going to judge others by the sins of their fathers...

How fair is that? How many liberals on this website have conservative relatives? I do for one, and certainly wouldn't want my political intentions judged by some of the backwards, archaic notions of other family members. After all, remember "Bush's Cousins for Kerry?"

[FlaGranny]

55. Yeah!

Granholm for president, Bono for vice-president!!!

[Straight Shooter]

57. How about running the guy who drafted the Patriot Act for president?

I mean what could be more patriotic in the eyes of the GOP than someone who can actually craft a document that suppresses the rights of millions all in one fell swoop?

BTW, the "mastermind" of the Patriot Act is a Vietnamese immigrant who worked his way up in our society. Bully for him :eyes:

[drunkdriver-in-chief]

60. She was born in czechkoslovakia

Rather self-serving comment for her to make.

[Cheswick2.0]

61. Why, did we run out of filthy rich, power hungry white men of our own?

Great now filthy rich power hungry foriegn white men will be President instead. Grand Idea!

How about we pass the ERA first?

[KansDem]

65. I agree with you...

How about we pass the ERA first?

This proposal took 10 years of ratification by the states and still didn't pass...

The Equal Rights Amendment passed the U.S. Senate and then the House of Representatives, and on March 22, 1972, the proposed 27th Amendment to the Constitution was sent to the states for ratification. But as it had done for every amendment since Prohibition (with the exception of the 19th Amendment), Congress placed a seven-year deadline on the ratification process. This time limit was placed not in the words of the ERA itself, but in the proposing clause.

Like the 19th Amendment before it, the ERA barreled out of Congress, getting 22 of the necessary 38 state ratifications in the first year. But the pace slowed as opposition began to organize – only eight ratifications in 1973, three in 1974, one in 1975, and none in 1976.

........

Hopes for victory continued to dim as other states postponed consideration or defeated ratification bills. Illinois changed its rules to require a three-fifths majority to ratify an amendment, thereby ensuring that their repeated simple majority votes in favor of the ERA did not count. Other states proposed or passed rescission bills, despite legal precedent that states do not have the power to retract a ratification.

As the 1979 deadline approached, some pro-ERA groups, like the League of Women Voters, wanted to retain the eleventh-hour pressure as a political strategy. But many ERA advocates appealed to Congress for an indefinite extension of the time limit, and in July 1978, NOW coordinated a successful march of 100,000 supporters in Washington, DC. Bowing to public pressure, Congress granted an extension until June 30, 1982.

The political tide continued to turn more conservative. In 1980 the Republican Party removed ERA support from its platform, and Ronald Reagan was elected president. Although pro-ERA activities increased with massive lobbying, petitioning, countdown rallies, walkathons, fundraisers, and even the radical suffragist tactics of hunger strikes, White House picketing, and civil disobedience, ERA did not succeed in getting three more state ratifications before the deadline. The country was once more unwilling to guarantee women constitutional rights equal to those of men.

(more)
http://www.equalrightsamendment.org/era.htm

I don't think ANY amendment to the US Constitution designed to permit a foreign-born Hollywood celebrity to be President would make it through in time to be of any benefit for Mr. Schwarzenegger...certainly not before before 2008.

I mean, if the Nation can't agree on equal rights for women, why would it come together for the Schwarzenegger amendment?

[AlCzervik]

62. Anything that makes it possible for Henry Kissinger to run makes me

against it.

[Darranar]

63. She's right. All citizens 35 or older should be allowed to run. n/t

[mtnester]

67. No matter WHO backs it, it is still a TERRIBLE idea

stupid stupid stupid

[Darranar]

69. Why? n/t

[LiberalFighter]

70. I disagree with the statement that we are a country of immigrants!!

What percentage of citizens are immigrants?

When a person is born in the USA they are not immigrants even if their parents are immigrants.

[Kenergy]

73. Hitler would be proud of the progress being made here n/t

[zann725]

77. It's all happening so quick...

...so well 'orchestrated.'
:scared:

[demokatgurrl]

75. I wouldn't mind a bit if Albright ran. n/t

[IndianaGreen]

76. Newsday's inaccurate and xenophobic headline

Naturalized American citizens are American, not "foreigners" as Newsday's headline screamed. Many of those "foreigners" are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

[hangloose]

78. No amendments to the constitution!!

[Barkley]

79. If a black man groped that many white women, he couldn't run down the

street, to say nothing of running for public office no matter how popular or how many apologies he made.

Can you image the Red states voting for such a Black man for President?
but they'll vote for Arnold.

This shows the deeply entrenched racism is in America.

Arnold has never held public office and is elected Gov.
and now wants the Constitution changed so he can be President.

"Oh, no this is not just about Arnold" we're told "its about fairness..."

Please, get real!

If Arnold had been a non-white immigrant I guarantee there'd be
no talk about changing the Constitution to make him president.

I hope Barabra Streisand wakes up and runs against him in 2006
for Gov.