(03/20/04)
Schwarzenegger has been in the news recently, talking about how Americans born overseas "should 'absolutely' be able to seek the presidency" if they've been citizens for over 20 years. And I agree with him. Some people really have a problem with this. Some people believe that you should be born in the U.S. so that you won't have a conflict of interest, that your loyalty will lie solely with the U.S.A. It's an attractive argument, but it's remarkably weak. I believe that the native-born requirement unfairly eliminates some of the most loyal Americans from seeking the presidency.
Ask yourself whether you love America. Many of my peers say no. Plenty of Americans absolutely hate Bush, and plenty of Americans hate the corporations, the government, and the politicians. And some of them have plenty of good reasons. But ask an immigrant whether they love this country, and most will say yes. There is a reason why people in Africa, Asia, Central and South America sacrifice so much for even a chance to emigrate to this country is that there are amazing opportunities. My parents, who are foreign born, are clearly most loyal to this country. When I was a kid, my dad used to tell me all the time what a great country this is. Immigrants know because they have a basis of comparison. Complain all you want about special interests and lobbyists, but other countries have straight up corruption. Complain about the way this country treats minorities, but many of the minorities here are better off here than they would be in their country of origin. Do you know any black people who would rather live in Ghana than Atlanta? How about Mexicans who would rather go back to Mexico City and try to make it there? There's a reason why the illegal immigrants fear deportation.
Madeleine Albright and Henry Kissinger were both born in Europe. Did anyone question their abilities or loyalties as Secretary of State? It was always clear that they served American interests first. Naturalized citizens, on average, know more about American politics, policy, and history than the average American. Now imagine that a foreign-born citizen decides to run for president. He'd have to be a badass to beat a natural born citizen, and if he's that good, he definitely deserves to be president. 20 years is a long time, anyway. Anyone who has been a citizen for 20 years is just as good an American as anyone else. You know, to be safe, it should probably be a 25 or a 30 year requirement. Not that it matters to Arnold. By the time he'd ever run for President, he'd probably already have satisfied said requirement.
Would I vote for Arnold? Maybe not. I'd have to see what he does in California first. If it appears that he panders to special interests and is fiscally irresponsible, then no. If he turns around the mess that is California politics and policy, then I would definitely like to see him in the White House. If he turns out to be the moderate Republican that I think he is, then I may want to support him further. Who knows.
Support Orrin Hatch's proposed Amendment allowing anyone who's been a citizen for 20 years and is otherwise qualified to run for president. If you can think of any reason why foreign-born American citizens can't be president, email me and I will respond to it. With that, I'm off to Blockbuster to see if they have "Demolition Man" on DVD.
