Understood, but they were never intended to be more powerful than the democracy itself.


Yes, I know. Hence the problem..


That is what I was suggesting. I agree wholeheartedly.

gabagool


At the founding of this country the person with the most votes won the Presidency, while the person with the second most popular votes became Vice President..even if they were from different parties.

Why not do a little research on the various parties, as FH mentioned, there are many..The Socialist Party has picked someone who was not born in the United States, as their representative, which goes to show they do not even understand the laws of becoming President of this country..one being they must be born a U.S. Citizen, which is why the current Governor of California can not run for President (not that I would vote for him anyway)..

I may be wrong, but I don't THINK that being born here is a pre-requisite for running for the presidency. Again, I may be wrong, but I think I remember reading that as a fallacy many believe. I'll try to find it again. If I'm wrong, I'm sorry.

I did a google search, and came up with Yes, you have to be born here, I must have been dreaming. I'm sorry.

For edification, Article 2 of the US Constitution:

Article II

Section 1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.

The electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list the said House shall in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the Vice President.

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United 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 been fourteen Years a resident within the United States.

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Section 4. The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

For what it's worth, John McCain was born in Panama. Barack Obama was born in Hawai'i...

gabagool, this is incorrect. A "naturalized" citizen is ineligible for the Office since no people still living at the founding of the country are still alive.

Here are the requirements:


Age and Citizenship requirements - US Constitution, Article II, Section 1

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.

US presidential candidates born outside the US

"The constitutional wording has left doubts about whether those born on foreign soil are on an equal footing with those whose birth occurred inside the country's borders, and whether they have the same rights."[1] Though every president and vice president to date (as of 2008) has either been a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution, or else born in a U.S. state or Washington D.C.[2], a number of presidential candidates have been born elsewhere.[3]

Barry Goldwater, who ran as the Republican party nominee in 1964, was born in Arizona while it was still a U.S. territory. Although Arizona was not a state, it was a fully organized and incorporated territory of the United States.[4]

George Romney, who ran for the Republican party nomination in 1968, was born in Mexico to U.S. parents. Romney’s grandfather emigrated to Mexico in 1886 with his three wives and children after Utah outlawed polygamy. Romney's parents retained their U.S. citizenship and returned to the United States in 1912. Romney was 32 years old when he arrived in Michigan.

John McCain, who ran for the Republican party nomination in 2000 and is the presumptive Republican nominee in 2008, was born at the Coco Solo U.S. military base in the Panama Canal Zone to U.S. parents. Although the Panama Canal Zone was not considered to be part of the United States,[5] federal law states that "Any person born in the Canal Zone on or after February 26, 1904, and whether before or after the effective date of this chapter, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such person was or is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States".[6] The law that conferred this status took effect on August 4, 1937, one year after John McCain was born — albeit with retrospective effect, resulting in McCain being declared a U.S. citizen from birth.[7]

T&L


ME and YOU certainly AGREE on the IMPORTANCE these days of having a GOOD TIME...

It was SOOOOO funny seeing Obama Abortion get caught in a lie about the Iraq war. He keeps saying(you know how America LOVES a soundbite) that he voted against it...blah, blah, blah. The FACT is when it came up for a vote, Barack was a STATE Senator and had NO part in that vote. He has also voted to fund the war. So, where was his opposition???

This man is such a fraud in everything he does. His performance at the church and behavior afterwards has been laughable. Now they are accusing McCain of cheating sine HE did so well. That would mean they are calling Pastor Warren a liar.

Too funny. I guess Hussein does not trust a pastor unless they are letting rip with a racist and anti-American diatribe.

We went to Dachau, still very solemn and grievous.

:crosseyedcrazy::crosseyedcrazy: It's that kind of nit-picking attention to detail that makes all those fussbudget people keep on repeatedly claiming that Obama--how can I phrase this delicately?--isn't truthful. :crosseyedcrazy::crosseyedcrazy:

Also, I read an interesting quote from Obama's autobiography, which I can't reproduce exactly because the book is still in the car from our trip and the car isn't here. But he said himself that the some of the people in the book were "composites," that the order of some events were not necessarily told in the actual sequence in which they occurred, and basically (again, I can't give a direct quote here) that conversations in his "autobiography" didn't necessarily reflect exactly what was said, either. In other words (mine), the book was partly fictionalized. If he admits it himself, I don't see how anybody, including his supporters, can be dogmatic in arguing over reviews of his life, made by other researchers, that differ from what's in the book...when Obama doesn't say which parts are fiction and which are not.

CNN is going to be doing indepth portraits of the CANDIDATES...

I caught some CLIPS in their advertisment..

I found MCCAIN and his wife's comments about his AFFAIR with HER to be UTTERLY DISGUSTING. They got their MARRIAGE LICENSE before his DIVORCE was finalized...She was dressed all in white for her wedding..stated "I was so surprised he was interested in ME"..given our 17 year age difference.. MRS. MCCAIN expressed NO REMORSE about HER ROLE in the BREAKUP of a family..when HIS DAUGHTER was only 12 years old...She stated: "I've been a good wife and mother since then"...

I had WARMED UP to him after the PASTOR WARREN INTERVIEW...now I'm ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED...

Obama and Michelle's relationship was sooo much like my H's and mine..they were GOOD FRIENDS first...I LIKE THEM...

These are just my "feelings", T&L..I acknowledge that...

Speaking generalities here...

I'm not knocking feelings. I've got them, too. But the older I get, the less trustworthy I realize my feelings to be in the whole decision-making process. Pretty much every single stupid thing I've ever done in my life--and there's a LONG list of them--was because I listened to my "feelings" instead of my reason.

So let me acknowledge your feelings, Mimi, and recognize that they powerfully influence how you perceive reality. I'll also extend to you the courtesy, not uniformly shown on this thread :RollieEyes:, of stating my belief that when you make a political or social decision that differs from my own--perhaps even profoundly--that you do so out of conviction, after serious thought, and a consideration of the issues involved...and not because you're ill-informed, malicious, stupid, incompetent, or whatever. Would that every poster on these political threads would give those of us who disagree with THEM, the same benefit-of-doubt.

thndrnltng



I have learned the same thing.

Feelings are certainly deceiving, and they continually change like the tide.

Yup, that's exactly how I feel, too! At the moment...

John McCain was following his feelings when he divorced his wife and married Cindy.

Gotta be careful about that.

Read this yesterday:

Cindy McCain's Half Sister 'Angry' She's Hidden

Here's a link to an old article about Cindy McCain's father, James Hensley. I figured if Cindy's father was an adulterer and Cindy was an OC, that it's likely her adulterous deceased father was pretty much a dirtbag. It's no wonder she became an adulterer herself and likely conspired with her rutting adulterous mother to see that Jame's legitimate child was cut out of her father's Last Will and Testament.

Guess daughter will hook up with her old man someday...in (you no where).

Hensley & Co...This Buds for you

Despite all our differences herein...if those here in the MB community can't put partisanship to the side and LOOK logically, utilizing all our experiences and knowledge of the sickness called continuing adultery to just KNOW that John and Cindy McCain are SICK unrepentent adulterers that shouldn't be trusted to run your local gas station let alone the country...then I have great fear for this country. I can understand non-mb'er overlooking these facts...but not you guys.

LOGIC...not feelings.

Adulterers ARE sick people.

Besides, I "feel" McCain is too old anyway. We could end up with another bumbling, psychic consulting, terrorist negotiating and promoting, Christian poser/manipulator like Ronald Reagan (i.e. - the WORST PRESIDENT EVER).

Mr. Wondering

Yes, adulterers are sick people. BUT, there are worse things one can do than to have had an affair...or live in an affairage. Murdering children seems to be one of them...and Barack Abortion leads that charge.

So, Mr. W...using your logic from the post...every person on here that has had a child as a result of an affair is a dirtbag...is that correct. And what, besides luck, gets all the other FWS off that hook. Oh, well, I guess there is always abortion.

I have a lot more fear for this country when Christian's can vote for a candidate that advocates the slaughter of children. That scares me a lot.