About
Frank Salvato
Frank Salvato is the Executive Director and Director of
Terrorism Research for
BasicsProject.org a non-profit,
non-partisan, 501(c)(3) research and education initiative. His
writing has been recognized by the US House International
Relations Committee and the Japan Center for Conflict
Prevention. His organization partnered in producing the original
national symposium series addressing the root causes of radical
Islamist terrorism. He is a member of the
International Analyst Network. He serves as the managing editor for The New
Media Journal. Mr. Salvato has appeared on The O'Reilly Factor
on FOX News Channel and is a regular guest on talk radio
including on The Right Balance with Greg Allen on the Accent
Radio Network and on The Captain's America Radio Show catering
to the US Armed Forces around the world. His opinion-editorials
have been published by The American Enterprise Institute, The
Washington Times & Human Events and are syndicated nationally.
He is occasionally quoted in The Federalist. Mr. Salvato is
available for public speaking engagements.
Frank Salvato,
Managing Editor
Why the POTUS Needs to
Be a Natural-Born Citizen December 3, 2008
The Founders and Framers were incredibly
intelligent people. In fact, they operated, intellectually, at a grade
24 level, grade 12 equating to the senior year in high school.
Therefore, it shouldn't come as any surprise that each Article and
Amendment – each tenet – in
The Charters of Freedom was painstakingly examined, debated,
reviewed and, finally, included. Article II, Section 1 of the United
States Constitution – the Article that clearly states the qualifications
for holding the office of President of the United States – is no
different.
To be clear, I have no decided position on whether or not
President-Elect Barack Obama is a natural-born citizen or otherwise. I
believe that we – as a people – need to base our understanding on any
and every issue on the facts. But in the case of Mr. Obama’s status of
natural-born citizenship there are too many unanswered questions and not
enough transparency where the facts are concerned. For a candidate who
ran his presidential campaign on the promise of transparency, Mr. Obama
has proven in the earliest moments of his executive tenure that
transparency is subjective.
The most troubling of the troublesome questions is why Mr. Obama didn’t
immediately release his vaulted, original birth certificate for
examination. This act would have not only eliminated a potential
stumbling block for his campaign, but it would have certified his
eligibility for the office of President of the United States and saved
the taxpayers the cost of judicial intervention. Instead, under the
pretext of visiting an ailing grandmother in Hawaii just days before the
2008 Presidential Election, Mr. Obama had his vaulted, original birth
certificate sealed by Hawaii’s governor, Linda Lingle (R).
On Friday, December 5th, 2008, the full compliment of the United States
Supreme Court will hold a Rule of Four Conference hearing on the issue
of
Donofrio v. Wells; a lawsuit alleging that New Jersey Secretary
of State Nina Mitchell Wells was delinquent in disqualifying ineligible
candidates for President of the United States from the November 4th,
2008 General Election Ballot. The US Supreme Court Rule of Four states
that before a case is put on the docket, four out of the nine Supreme
Court justices must agree in conference to hear the case. If four out of
the nine Supreme Court Justices agree, Donofrio v. Wells will be
heard by the full United States Supreme Court and our nation will stand
on the brink of a Constitutional Crisis.
There are many reasons why someone running for the office of President
of the United States should be a natural-born citizen but four come to
mind as the most immediate: Allegiance, Sovereignty, Foreign
Intervention and the Safeguarding of The Charters of Freedom.
Allegiance
It is important that anyone aspiring to the office of President of the
United States have a steadfast allegiance to The Charters of Freedom and
the country, without reserving any allegiance to any foreign power,
entity or potentate.
Because the President of the United States serves as Commander-in-Chief
of the United States Armed Forces it is essential that the person
holding this position, and the authority to unleash the power of the US
military, not be compromised of allegiance. And because the President is
the Chief Executive -- the administrator to all Executive Branch
authorities and departments -- it is paramount that this position be
limited to those who would dedicate themselves to "country first."
A person holding dual allegiance – or dual citizenship – would be put in
the position of having to choose between those allegiances and would,
therefore, compromise his oath of preserving, protecting and defending
the United States Constitution.
Sovereignty
In an age when there exists a substantial number of federally elected
officials who believe the United States should take its seat as an equal
in a one-world, globalist order, it becomes critical that the person
elected to serve as President of the United States have an unwavering
dedication to our nation’s sovereignty.
With the advent of organizations such as the "World Court” and an
ever-advancing encroachment of United Nations authority upon our
sovereignty, it is important that our national sovereignty be protected
at all cost. Allowing someone who does not satisfy Article II, Section 1
of the US Constitution to ascend to the office of President facilitates
an opportunity for globalist ideologues to position themselves to do
harm to the Charters of Freedom at the hand of world opinion and at the
expense of the Rights as enumerated in The Charters of Freedom.
When one takes into account many of the extreme laws governing free
speech, property rights, taxation and personal and religious freedom
that exist throughout the world it becomes clear that to bow to the will
of the world community, to trade our sovereignty for universal national
equality, serves to diminish the freedom and liberty mandated by The
Charters of Freedom, liberties and freedoms paid for with the blood and
treasure of patriots.
Foreign Intervention In the youthful existence of the United States of America our nation
has come up against many individuals, nations and organizations who
would revel in our demise. To permit a non-natural-born citizen to rise
to the office of President would be to invite nefarious forces to
manufacture a
Little Nikita in the hope of bringing about the actualization of
Nikita Khrushchev’s declaration that the United States will fall with
nary a shot being fired.
To believe that organizations like al Qaeda, ideologues like Hugo Chavez
and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or nation states like Russia or China wouldn’t
embrace the chance to – through the legitimate means of our electoral
process – install an operative in the Oval Office is to be naïve. Each
of these entities devote resources to affect the demise of the United
States of America including military, economic and ideological (read:
propaganda) resources.
Because the President of the United States is entrusted with the
execution of authority of all Executive Branch departments and the
command of the US military, it is vital that anyone aspiring to the
office have a complete appreciation and devotion for the American way of
life. Failing to vet those who do not possess natural-born appreciation
or our uniquely American philosophy is to invite an ideological siege
upon our nation and to compromise the ability to bequeath Americanism to
future generations.
Safeguarding of the Charters of Freedom Chief among every American President’s duties is to safeguard the
Charters of Freedom. The
Oath of Office of the President of the United States reads:
"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.”
Some add, "So help me God” to
punctuate their commitment.
Without a solid, unwavering dedication to preserving The Charters of
Freedom the President of the United States is ill-prepared to advance
the freedoms and liberties mandated therein to future generations. Those
who would usurp the genius of our Founders and Framers by diminishing
the importance of natural born citizenship as a requirement for
President do so at the expense of generational safeguards.
Those who engage in this national apostasy should be thoroughly
scrutinized for any ulterior motive.
Today, as we await the decision of the United States Supreme Court on
the issue of President-Elect Obama’s requirement to satisfy Article II,
Section 1, our nation stands at a crossroads that runs adjacent to the
abyss. Today, there is no provision in the US Constitution for a
mechanism to enforce Article II, Section 1 but for US Supreme Court
action. On Friday, should the US Supreme Court abdicate its
responsibility to the US Constitution, the full Charters of Freedom and
the American People, we will stand smaller in the eyes of our Founders
and Framers and in the eyes of all who died in pursuit of the
preservation of our freedoms and liberty.
While it is true that many who have come to be naturalized American
citizens exhibit a deeper love of our country than many who take
citizenship for granted, one of the few ways to assure that Americanism
and The Charters of Freedom survive for future generations is to
stipulate that those aspiring to become President of the United States
be American. When we "rationalize” that requirement to the ash heap of
history we can all rest assured that our freedom and liberty will soon
follow.
