Tag: Citizenship

The Question Of Citizenship

Now here is a question for the day.

These days there will be all sorts of items in this debate….but since this is an civics post let’s look at the Founders and their chore of writing a document for all Americans.

Our politics is currently overwhelmed with identity. Rights, votes, participation, all understanding of one’s place in the country is said to be based on one’s “identity.” The one identity that people shy away from is that of the American citizen. Who precisely is this person?

The American Constitution speaks in the voice of “We the People,” but never defines who that people might be, even if they already existed in 1787, even before the establishment of a “more perfect Union.” Who are these Americans? Who, as an individual, is an American? On the one hand, this is a simple question to answer. There is a legal definition of citizenship based on birth or naturalization, and some people simply are Americans and others are not. It is a matter of paperwork.

On the other hand, it is not so easy to answer, as we can see from the history of this country. Whether someone is a citizen and how that might be defined has been the source of the most contentious controversies. For instance, Dred Scott appealed to his status as a citizen of Missouri to argue for his freedom from slavery. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney, in his infamous decision, denied the possibility of citizenship to Scott and all those whose descendants were forcefully brought to this country – a denial Abraham Lincoln would ferociously challenge.

https://www.realclearpublicaffairs.com/articles/2021/12/22/american_citizenship_caught_between_creed_and_clan_808724.html

About 4 years ago I wrote a post covering the phenom of the division of American into ‘tribes’….

Tribes

This country has been slowly dividing along tribal lines since 1980 and came to more pronounce with the emergence of the Tea Party in 2010 and this country has descending into chaos every since…..and nothing has occurred that would change the direction of our society….and it seems to be getting worse with each passing day…..fed by lies and disinformation

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“Lego ergo scribo”

American Citizen In Detention

Closing Thought–04Mar19

Our president is always going on and on about the “hostages” he has helped release from countries like North Korea…..and yet an American citizen is being held in Saudi Arabia and he is silent and prefers to deal with it with inaction……


A US citizen has been detained and tortured in Saudi Arabia and may be on his last leg, sources tell the New York Times. Walid Fitaihi was apparently held against his will in November 2017 at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh, where guards blindfolded, stripped, slapped, and bound him, then shocked him with electricity for about an hour. A friend says the Harvard-trained doctor was whipped so badly he couldn’t sleep on his wounded back for days. “It is believed that Dr. Fitaihi has been and is tortured at least psychologically during his imprisonment,” his attorney Howard Cooper wrote the State Department in January, per CNN. Cooper described his client as “physically deteriorated” and “emotionally broken.” Now American friends of Fitaihi, 54, are pressing Washington to address his case and criticizing President Trump’s inaction.


And Fitaihi isn’t alone: The dual American-Saudi citizen is one of hundreds of eminent Saudis detained, and at times apparently tortured, in a 2017 crackdown led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Fitaihi’s friend says he was likely tortured for information about Adel Fakeih, a relative by marriage and an ex-senior aide to the crown prince. Al Jazeera notes that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, himself a murder victim of Saudi agents, tweeted about Fitaihi in 2018: “What has happened to us?” he wrote in Arabic. “How can someone like Dr. Walid Fitaihi be arrested and what are the justifications for it?” Meanwhile, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with the crown prince this week, but it seems Fitaihi’s imprisonment wasn’t discussed. Trump says he has successfully extricated 20 US citizens held abroad.

Once again we can see how this president puts personal gain over the lives of his fellow countrymen……

Birthright: An American Idea

Yep we are having one of those political moments that comes around ever so often….we had it when Muslims were coming get us all…then there was that Mexico was gonna pay for a wall…..and now it is the 14th amendment…..all were used for political gain and not one was heard of again….that is they were filed away until needed again.

I read a pretty good piece in the American Conservative that until the era of Trump was considered a pretty mainstream conservative publication…..my my how things change….but I digress…..TAC offers their conservative opinion on the issue of birthright citizenship……

The 14th Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution 150 years ago in July of 1868. Among other things, it enshrined our traditional common law practice of granting citizenship to those born in the United States who are subject to its laws—specifically it guaranteed that the recently freed slaves and their descendants would be citizens. The 14th Amendment also applied to the children of immigrants, as its authors and opponents understood at the time.

President Trump’s immigration position paper, however, famously endorsed an end to birthright citizenship. Michael Anton, a former national security official in the Trump administration as well as a lecturer and researcher at Hillsdale College, pushed such a move recently in the Washington Post. Anton argued that President Trump should use his pen and his phone to exclude the children born here to noncitizens, with little thought of what would happen were such a policy enacted.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/birthright-citizenship-an-american-idea-that-works/

I have said the the challenge to the 14th could open up more challenges to some amendments like the 2nd and the 1st…maybe others…and those are not debates we want to have….so all this is probably just posturing for a vote.

Closing Thought–31Mar17

The Expatriation Act of 1907

You guys know that if there is a way I will give a historical perspective….I want to educate even if it means do so while all are kicking and screaming…..

This month is Women’s History Month so a little history cannot hurt, right?

The year is 1907…….if an American woman had married a foreign national they she lost her citizenship….say what?

In March of 1907, Congress passed the Expatriation Act, which decreed, among other things, that U.S. women who married non-citizens were no longer Americans. If their husband later became a naturalized citizen, they could go through the naturalization process to regain citizenship.

But none of these rules applied to American men when they chose a spouse.

“It’s as though she walks under his umbrella. He puts his arm around her and poof! she’s a citizen,” says Linda Kerber, a professor who teaches gender and legal history at the University of Iowa. “She has had the good sense to come out from these monarchies and opt for an American. She’s a sensible woman, we adore her.”

“Whereas an American-born woman who marries a foreign man, oh my goodness, she is disloyal,” Kerber said.

Source: That Time American Women Lost Their Citizenship Because They Married Foreigners : Code Switch : NPR

This is for real….here check out the whole act……

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of State shall be authorized, in his discretion, to issue passports to persons not citizens of the United States as follows: Where any person has made a declaration of intention to become such a citizen as provided by law and has resided in the United States for three years a passport may be issued to him entitling him to the protection of the Government in any foreign country: Provided, That such passport shall not be valid for more than six months and shall not be renewed, and that such passport shall not entitle the holder to the protection of this Government in the country of which he was a citizen prior to making such declaration of intention.

Source: Expatriation Act of 1907

Thank God Trump is ignorant on history…..or this could be on his agenda as well……..

 

Where’s The Proof?

Now this news ought to make for some interesting posts and keep the mentally deficient busy…..

There are conspiracies around every issue in this country these days…some are pretty clever and others are just from the stupid side of thinking.

Remember back in the day when Trump was a “birther”….he spent every minute of an interview railing against Obama as a Muslim or not born in this country…and demanded proof of his citizenship….remember those days?  (That question is for normal people not Trump supporters)

Anyway I read a piece in the WaPo (let me say here that I do not use them often as a source but from time to time they do have some interesting articles)……

First, a history refresher: For the past nine years, a smattering of Americans, most recently led by our now president-elect, have insisted that Barack Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya.

For years, Donald Trump was unrelenting in his insistence that Obama prove beyond existing proof that he was born in Hawaii and not in the African country of his biological father. That Obama said he is a Christian wasn’t enough to persuade Trump’s followers, who apparently know a Christian when they see one.

Source: If Obama is a Muslim, is Trump a Russian spy? – The Washington Post

Okay this is a bit much but so was the total bullshit about Obama.

How long before someone takes all of Trump’s defense of Russia as an indication that he is a secret Russia agent?  (Think Manchurian Candidate, the original not the cheesy re-make)

After writing this draft news broke……

CNN is reporting on bombshell classified documents presented to Donald Trump and President Obama last week. The intelligence documents allege that Russian operatives have—or at least claim to have—compromising information, both financial and personal, on Trump. The documents have been circulating since before the election—Mother Jones actually reported on them in October—and took on “a kind of legendary status among journalists, lawmakers, and intelligence officials,” according to BuzzFeed. US intelligence officials have now investigated the former British intelligence operative behind a lot of the information, as well his sources, and determined them to be credible. The FBI is investigating, and intelligence agencies want Trump to know that these allegations are out there.

The details inside the documents haven’t been verified, but BuzzFeed has published the documents in whole “so that Americans can make up their own minds.” The documents claim Russia has been “cultivating, supporting, and assisting” Trump for years. They state Trump surrogates and Russian government intermediaries met continuously to exchange information during the campaign and that Trump accepted intelligence on political rivals from the Kremlin. The documents also state that Russian operatives claim to have enough dirt to blackmail Trump, including “perverted sexual acts” recorded by Russian intelligence. The Trump campaign has not commented on the documents.

CNN?  Aren’t they the least trusted news site?

Donald Trump vehemently denied allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russia. Trump turned to Twitter to decry reports by CNN and BuzzFeed, calling it a “witch hunt” by the media.

“Fake news – a total political witch hunt!” the president-elect wrote after CNN reported that intelligence leaders had presented a two-page summary of a collection of memos claiming Russia had compromising information about him. The report also claimed that members of his team continued to pass information along to Russia.

Okay this is driving the news cycle for now….is that what it is suppose to do?  Divert attention?  If so from what?

Keep in mind none of this, like the “birther” bullshit, is confirmed……

So just as Mr. Trump asked those years ago….where’s the proof he is not a Russian spy?

Take This Crap And Shove It!

I read this piece over at my friend at “The Militant Negro” and found it a fascinating turn of situations…..

It appears that Americans are abandoning a sinking ship more quickly than normal….Americans are giving up their citizenship….but why?

Two main reasons:

The first group consists of people who just can’t take it anymore. Constant warfare, intimidation, and the steady erosion of freedom have pushed them to their breaking points.

They look around and think, “This is NOT the country that I grew up in.” And they renounce their citizenship in protest of a government they no longer want to be associated with…….(read more)…….

Source: Americans renouncing US citizenship soars to yet another record high | The Militant Negro™

An interesting stat that we have heard NOTHING about…..apparently the MSM does not want us to know that these people are out there…..or the reasons they want to leave.

Dual Citizenship: WTF?

Opinion from the desk of the Editor:

I have written about this occurrence before…..and I still have a problem with it.

Back in the days following the end of the American Civil War, the president of the CSA, Jefferson Davis, was exiled from his own country for leading an uprising against the duly elected government of the United States of America…….and there have been occasions when Americans working as mercenaries or as they like to be called today security consultants, lost their citizenship because that fought in a foreign war that the Us was not involved in at the time……

I know you want to know where I am going with this, right?

It seems that in the most recent war on Gaza two Americans have been killed serving in the IDF………

Two Americans who were soldiers for the Israel Defense Forces were killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Stuart Steinberg confirmed the death of his son Max Steinberg, 24, to The Associated Press on Sunday. Steinberg, whose family lives in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley, was a sharpshooter for the Golani Brigade. He was one of 13 Israeli soldiers and 65 Palestinians killed in fighting Sunday during the first major ground battle in two weeks of fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Earlier Sunday, the IDF said in a statement that Sgt. Nissim Sean Carmeli, 21, was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip. Carmeli was from South Padre Island, Texas, said Deputy Consul General of Israel to the Southwest Maya Kadosh. She said Carmeli moved to Israel four years ago and added that the consulate helped his family get a flight there Sunday.

Sorry for the families loss….but these men were Americans first that happen to have Israeli dual citizenship………Gaza is not an authorized war for the US and I do not give a crap how many citizenship these guys had……either they are Americans or Israeli….but in the time of war it should be American or they give up their citizenship and go Israeli full time…..both interests cannot be served by dual alliances…….if they feel the necessity to wear a uniform the US military would be glad to oblige them.

What would happen if I was an Iraqi-American and I was fighting in Iraq…..would I be allowed the honors and such that these people will be allowed?  Of course not!  I would be a terrorist and have NO rights in the US…..so should these people or anyone that chooses another country over their own.

This country needs to sack up!  We are allowing too many breeches in our country in the name of “defending democracy”……..Israel is NO democracy…..elections do not a democracy make!

Dual citizenship is a bullshit policy that desperately needs revision.

Dictator In Waiting

Have you had enough of Christie doing what he does best….covering his ass?  Then if you have I will give you a little info that may not have made it through the grapevine to your pc……

We all know, well most of us know, that the new head of the Fed is a woman named Yellin…..but did you know that there will also be a couple new vice chairs of the Fed (another name for dictator in waiting)?

Thanx to ABC News for the update…….

President Barack Obama intends to nominate Stanley Fischer, a former head of the Bank of Israel, to be vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, replacing Janet Yellen, who is ascending to the central bank’s chairmanship.

Fischer, a dual citizen of the United States and Israel, is considered a leading expert on monetary policy. He was a long-time professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Departing Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was one of his students.

Not a big deal. right?  WRONG!

I do not think this person should be allowed to hold the position….why?  Simple…he holds dual citizenship and was the head of the Bank of Israel…..dual citizenship?  Pick one!  This should not be allowed.  Will he oversee policies that will effect Israel?  If so, will he be biased in their favor?

If you cannot have dual citizenship to be prez then it should be unacceptable to have it if you lead one of the most powerful entities in the world……personally, I think we ought to flush the Fed down the toilet but as long as we must have it then the people running it should be above reproach…….this guy cannot say that as long as he retains citizenship in another country…..

Thoughts?