Wednesday, April 7, 2010

where the heart is

When I saw the video of Michelle Obama referring to Kenya as her husband's "home country," I was shocked but it wasn't because I felt that it served as some sort of evidence that Barry is not a natural born citizen and therefore not qualified to serve as the President of the United States. Believe me, there are far more reasons I feel he isn't qualified for the job without opening that can of worms. I'm not sold on the birther theory, but honestly? Sealing Obama's birth certificate and then spending millions of dollars to keep it that way sure doesn't inspire a lot of faith in what the administration is expecting us to believe.

Whether Barry was born in Kenya or Hawaii, or even on the moon, is not what made me so concerned as I watched the video. You see, I am a first generation American, just like our President. My father was from Ireland and never became a U.S. citizen. My mother, first generation herself, even lived in Ireland a few times and I still have plenty of family there. I've often said that Ireland feels like home - it's full of people with whom I share a similar cultural history, has a lovely cool, green, damp environment that seems to suit me perfectly, and offers one of the best breakfasts in the world - but I wouldn't ever call it my "home country." I'm thankful I was born here...nowhere else in the world and at no other time in history has a country given such incredible opportunities for a free and happy life.

So, it's disturbing to consider that Obama might not think of the country that educated him, made him rich and elected him President, as his home...that perhaps, in private, his feelings for the United States might measure up to something other than love and that he might be anything less than proud.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should claim you are an Irish Anchor Baby!

Mulligan said...

these feelings for Ireland that you have are the reason behind the founders' use of the term Natural Born Citizen (2nd generation citizen) instead of just citizen or naturalized citizen (1st generation citizen).

the idea being that your parent(s) had to make a break from their home country and a corresponding commitment to this one by becoming citizens. This then translates into parents' desire to raise their child as a citizen of the country they prefer and have made a conscious choice to embrace.

With the power allotted to this one position the founders wanted to insure the man was not just a citizen but raised as a citizen by people who want to be citizens.

The questions surrounding Mr. Obama's citizenship should have been cleared up prior to him running for the Senate, where citizenship is the requirement.

The admitted fact that his father is not a citizen makes Mr. Obama ineligible for the office of President.

(why is it commenting on a Librarian's post always makes me wonder if I've done enough research? :P )

Pop N Fresh said...

The homophobe-aids link is what really bothered me in the speech

PPPP said...

Now, now, let's not ascribe to himself words which he himself has not uttered. This was Michelle claiming Kenya as Barry's home country, not he himself.

I'm sure he would be quick to vehemently correct, er, disavow, uh, er, suggest she used the wrong word, (Oh Bother!) agree with her whole heartedly if he was half the man he thinks he is.

PPPP said...

Breda, my dear. I dinna realize you were first generation of your family born here. Congratulations! Not, mind you, that you had any say in the matter. Still, glad you're here, and proud of you for standing up for your country. Unlike certain Obamas, who shall remain named, and despised.

BobG said...

I don't feel that Obama is culturally an American. I've known people who immigrated here and embraced this country; they acted and felt American. Obama strikes me as someone who feels himself to be more of another culture than ours.

Lissa said...

Disturbing, sure. But surprising?

Midwest Chick said...

I actually think that the Founding Fathers, when they included the 'natural born citizen' as a requirement for President, had in mind that a person needed to be raised here and imprinted on this country rather than have an allegiance-by-proxy to another country.

I think it's been proven that Obama doesn't care a fig for this wonderful country and I think that a big part of it was that we wasn't raised here--didn't spend his formative years here to develop that connection.

Rustmeister said...

The conspiracy theorist in me tells me the birther thing is being kept alive to distract from some REAL issue. =)

Kevin Creighton said...

As a Landed Immigrant to this country (eh), I couldn't agree more. Look, I love my country of birth: Always have, always will. You will never hear me mocking Canada in any way, shape or form (well, except for Quebec and most of Ontario, but that's not REALLY Canada...), and I think there's a lot that the U.S. could learn from their neighbors to the north (like how to play curling and what decent beer tastes like and why grain SUCKS as a cattle feed. I digress.).

But I absolutely adore the freedoms I have here in the U.S. No other country trusts it's citizens to live their own lives than the U.S., and that's what makes this country so great. It's freakin' AMAZING, and I can't believe how many people take this liberty for granted, or worse yet, wish to see it taken away.

But I'm still a Canadian by birth, and that conflict, that "I'm an American but I love another country, too" is exactly why Obama (and me) should not be President, and why the 14th Amendment is in the Constitution: There should never be any question as to where your Commander in Chief's loyalties lie.

Earl said...

Well, I have been wrong about Obama before, and I do know he didn't grow up in Kenya nor was raised by his Kenyan father. But on my Census form I filled out American for my Race/Ethnicity. I already told them my name and age. How does government get it so wrong? Oops, that would take a library to record... it.

B Smith said...

Very compelling, dear Breda. You have my vote.

NotClauswitz said...

I was born overseas and had to get Naturalization papers when we returned to the US. It was not an automatic thing - then we went over again. And then I went away from home back to School over there. At one point I had spent more than 1/4 my life outside the US and I thought that was pretty cool and hoped it would get me chicks - it did not, neither Foreign Chicks nor American. It wasn't cool to be an American teen overseas in the late 70's - but that was a manufactured no-win situation, because the Cold-War proxy fight was carried out in earnest in Europe and in Asia. It still is.
Barack is a few years younger than me but exhibits similar displacement symptoms - there's no dispute that he's emotionally displaced from the US. He doesn't know or care who plays for any of the Chicago round-ball teams, he wasn't ever a youth-fan. It's critical that you start that sync very young - it's not catching from a distance like Indonesia or Hawaii, and can't be manufactured afterward. I know what that's like because I had no clue about being a "fan" of anything when we returned, and was unable to foster much interest in such things - it was awkward and made me a bit of a social-reject.
What I wonder about isn't his birthplace, but who paid for his very expensive education? That's his positioning.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute...the adminstration SEALED the birth certificate? And they're trying to keep it that way?

Oh, HELL NO. I had to drag out my damn birth certificate to prove to my employer that "Why, yes, I am an American citizen. See? I was born here!"

Now I want to see his birth certificate on principle...

Anonymous said...

"and offers one of the best breakfasts in the world"

Guinness?