More than sixty groups call for revocation of presidential secrecy directive

[ms]

More than sixty groups call for revocation of presidential secrecy directive

John Byrne
Raw Story
Thursday, Nov 13, 2008

More than 60 organizations called on President-elect Barack Obama Wednesday to revoke President George W. Bush's executive order on presidential secrecy and lift the veil in numerous areas of governmental furtiveness.

The groups' recommendations demand efficiency and openness from the Freedom of Information Act process, reforms in the classification system to reduce overclassification and ensure that presidential records are handled in accordance with US law and congressional intent.

Among the groups include the National Security Archive, OMB Watch -- a watchdog group of the White House Office of Management and Budget -- and the Radio Television News Directors Association.


 

"President-elect Obama can make a difference on Day One in the way his administration relates to the public," National Security Archive's general counsel Meredith Fuchs said in a release. "Secrecy got out of control in the last eight years, but a few focused directives will go a long way towards reopening the government."

Among the proposals include requests for Obama to:

* Issue a memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act that establishes a policy of maximum possible public disclosure of government records and directing an attorney general memo that reinstitutes the presumption of openness under FOIA, calls on agencies to use technology to engage with and inform the public, and commits to creating a more collaborative and less adversarial relationship with the public on issues involving access to information.

* Revoke President Bush's executive order on the Presidential Records Act, which undermined the PRA by purporting to create new constitutional privileges for the family members and descendents of former presidents and for former vice presidents; commit to working with NARA and Congress to ensure necessary oversight for the transfer and processing of the Bush presidential records; and establish a policy for the new administration to preserve all presidential records of administrative, historical, informational, or evidentiary value.

* Issue a presidential directive rejecting prior abuses of the classification system and tasking the relevant executive branch agencies to develop a new executive order on classification that will reduce overclassification, add internal mechanisms to prevent classification abuses, ensure consideration of the public interest throughout the lifecycle of classified information, and improve the declassification process and information sharing.

President Bush has acted to withhold governmental information from the public.

"In early 2002, then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft issued a memo to government agencies urging them to reject requests for access to public documents allowed under the Freedom of Information Act if they could find a legal argument against the release," the Washington Post reported Tuesday. "It was a reversal from the Clinton administration's stance, which assumed that records were public unless government proved otherwise."


 
 

[deltecs]

Obama could not possibly do this.  Too much evidence of potential and I believe true evidence of his birth in Kenya would be exposed.  What about his revenue from what source for college?  What about associations with known and admitted terrorists.  No, he will no even consider opening that can of worms.  He'll implement the Fairness Doctrine so any leaks broadcast by conservative talk shows will be rebutted by his propaganda machine by law, thus nullifying any shock reaction from the populace.

[ms]

MS...think it will ever happen ... ?


..TM7

Hell no!

[wareagleguy]

What is the deal with Obama being born in Keyna.  Even if he was he still can be president.  He can be born ANYWHERE in the world and is still a natural born citizen of the U.S.  Only way he would not (maybe) if his mother revolked her citizenship BEFORE he was born.

This if/is Obama a citizen is just chasing your tail.  If you want him out this is not the route to get it done. 

[LaOtto222]

The way I understand it, the President must be born within the United States, not just be a citizen of the United States when born. John McCain came under scrutiny because he was born on a military base out side of the United States, but they considered the military base to be part of United States soil, so he was an electable candidate.

[Mike Britton]

Carry on............

[deltecs]

What is the deal with Obama being born in Keyna.  Even if he was he still can be president.  He can be born ANYWHERE in the world and is still a natural born citizen of the U.S.  Only way he would not (maybe) if his mother revolked her citizenship BEFORE he was born.

This if/is Obama a citizen is just chasing your tail.  If you want him out this is not the route to get it done. 

Fortunately, this statement is incorrect.  In order to be a natural citizen, one must be born on US soil, military base, territory, embassy, US flagged ship, or State.  A person born from illegal immigrants usually do and can be, natural born US citizens.  However, just because ONE parent is a US citizen, does not automatically make his/her child a natural born citizen, although the child might be a US citizen much like a NATURALIZED CITIZEN, who is not eligible for Presidential office.  So, if Obama was born in Kenya, having one US parent, and not meeting all the rest of the natural born citizen qualifications, then Obama is prohibited from Presidential office.  

[wareagleguy]

Show me where is says you must be born in the US?  It only says “Natural Born” which means that as long as one parent is a citizen, birth can be anywhere.

[wareagleguy]

Read this boys and girls.

US constitutional definition
The special term "Natural-Born Citizen" is used in particular as a requirement for eligibility to serve as President or Vice President of the United States. Section 1 of Article II of the Constitution contains the clause:

“ 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 been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States. ”

Additionally, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution states that: "[N]o person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides an additional source of constitutional doctrine stating that birth "in the United States" and subjection to U.S. jurisdiction at the time of birth, entitles one to citizenship:

“ All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the Jurisdiction thereof, are Citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. . . ”

However, the full text of the fourteenth amendment does not mention the phrase "natural-born citizen," nor does it address Presidential qualifications. The phrase "natural born Citizen" is not defined anywhere in the Constitution.

Section 8 of Article I confers on Congress the power "to establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization..." This power has been construed to include defining the characteristics of a "natural born citizen", as well as the conditions of "naturalization".

The 1790 Congress, many of whose members had been members of the Constitutional Convention, provided in the Naturalization Act of 1790 that "And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens." In addition George Washington was president of the Constitutional Convention and President of the United States when this bill became law. If Washington disagreed with this definition, he could have vetoed this bill.

It is thought the origin of the natural-born citizen clause can be traced to a letter of July 25, 1787 from John Jay (who had been born in New York City) to George Washington (who had been born in Virginia), presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention. John Jay wrote: "Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government; and to declare expressly that the Commander in Chief of the American army shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen." There was no debate, and this qualification for the office of the Presidency was introduced by the drafting Committee of Eleven, and then adopted without discussion by the Constitutional Convention. (43 of the 55 delegates had been born in the Thirteen Colonies, and the others had been born on British-occupied soil: Ireland, England, Scotland, and the British West Indies.[1][unreliable source?])

The 2003 Equal Opportunity to Govern Amendment, a proposed amendment to the US Constitution, would, if adopted, have removed the prohibition against naturalized citizens holding the office of the President.

[wareagleguy]

"And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens."

As I said.  This issue is a dead end.  If you want him out this is not the way.

[deltecs]

"And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond the sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born citizens."

As I said.  This issue is a dead end.  If you want him out this is not the way.

This quote is only part of the whole story.

Natural-born citizen

Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?

The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.

Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"

Anyone born inside the United States
Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.

Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example. 

It is documented that Obama's claimed father was not a US citizen.  It is documented that Obama's mother lived in Kenya prior to his birth.  It is documented that his mother was 18 at the time of Obama's birth.  As posted elsewhere documented law at the time of Obama's birth states according to FindLaw.com. the requirements that were in force from Dec. 24, 1952 to Nov. 13, 1986, encompassing the time of Obama's birth, state, "If only one parent was a U.S. citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least 10 years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16."   It is impossible for Obama's mother who moved to Kenya prior to Obama's birth, then gave birth to Obama at 18, and lived inside the US for 5 years after the age of 16, qualifies  Obama, thus inelligible according to the Constitutional provisions of natural birth as a US citizen to be President.  Just because a person having one parent as a US citizen does not qualify his citizenship, as a one of natural birth qualified to run for President. 

[Swampman]

MS...think it will ever happen ... ?


..TM7

I hope not.