Anecdote vs. Anecdote: Sen. Ted Cruz Said He is "Breath of Air" Citizen

Anecdote vs. Anecdote:

Sen. Ted Cruz Said He Is A "Breath of Air" Citizen

This post is modified with corrections from a similar post on Mario Apuzzo's Natural Born Citizen blog on October 6, 2015 at 12:42 PM.

>> http://puzo1.blogspot.com/2015/07/july-4-1776-birth-day-of-nation-and.html

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Anecdote vs. Anecdote...

New Hampshire Public Radio published Sen. Cruz's response to a question about his eligibility to be president.

>> http://nhpr.org/post/cruz-opposing-planned-parenthood-where-were-other-presidential-candidates

Cruz On Opposing Planned Parenthood: 'Where Were The Other Presidential Candidates?'

By Brady Carlson • Oct 4, 2015

[...snip...]

"Cruz, like several other Republican hopefuls in this election cycle, heard from an audience member who appeared to question the origins of President Barack Obama, who was born in Hawaii to an American mother and a Kenyan father. "Is there anything in the Constitution," the questioner asked to some laughter, "that the new president can deport the last president?"

"You know, there's not," Cruz said, after a pause. "But I can tell you this. On January 20th, 2017, when I rescind every single one of Barack Obama's illegal and unconstitutional executive actions, he might just well self-deport."

Cruz's own origins came under question from a member of the audience, who asked about the constitutional requirement that presidents be natural born citizens. Cruz explained that while he was born in Calgary, Alberta, he was a US citizen because he was born to an American mother. "I have never breathed a breath of air," he said, "when I wasn't an American citizen."

Sen. Cruz's "breath of air" comment is an interesting anecdotal reference and defense that deserves dictionary analysis. Instead of simply responding with my own anecdotal comment about original birther John Jay and his original genesis original intent for underlining the word "born" in "natural born Citizen" in his note to George Washington, for fun and for those who do not have a dictionary handy, first I will refer to two American Heritage Dictionary definitions of "anecdote" and "anecdotal."

anecdote n.
1. A short account of an interesting or humorous event.
2. Secret or hitherto undivulged particulars of history or biography.

anecdotal adj.
1. Of, characterized by, or full of anecdotes.
2. Based on casual observations or indications rather than rigorous or scientific analysis.

Mario wrote on his blog on October 4, 2015 at 4:58 PM about Cruz and Minor v. Happersett:

“Cruz does not define a natural born citizen and state that he is one. Rather, he relies upon breathing fresh air. …,”

“… Rather, the standard may be found in [the] unanimous U.S. Supreme Court decision of Minor v. Happersett (1875), where the Court defined a natural born citizen as follows:

The Constitution does not, in words, say who shall be natural-born citizens. Resort must be had elsewhere to ascertain that. At common-law, with the nomenclature of which the framers of the Constitution were familiar, it was never doubted that all children born in a country of parents who were its citizens became themselves, upon their birth, citizens also. These were natives, or natural-born citizens, as distinguished from aliens or foreigners.

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Mario's use of the Cruz and Minor anecdotal evidence reflects his consistent and accurate use of “rigorous or scientific analysis” when he adduces, to use only two examples, the actual holding of the 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark Court and the actual holding of the 1875 Minor v. Happersett Court as supported by the quote above. Both Sen. Cruz and the Minor Court use anecdotal references to make their contradictory “natural born Citizen” points. Sen. Cruz uses “breathed...air” and the Minor Court uses “resort...elsewhere...common-law...nomenclature...framers...familiar...never doubted….”

Here is my point.

Original birther John Jay is also anecdotal, and is just as valid for anecdotal support to define an “nbC,” as is Sen. Cruz's “breathed...air” and the Minor Court's “resort ... elsewhere ... nomenclature ... framers ... familiar ... never doubted ….”

In my opinion, the Minor v. Happersett Court affirms John Jay's original genesis original intent for underlining the word “born” in “natural born Citizen” that was eventually incorporated into Article II Section 1 clause 5 by the framers, but Sen. Cruz's anecdotal “breathed...air” reference does not follow Jay's “original genesis original intent” presuppositional foundation for being "born" a “citizen” with the “perquisite” of being uniquely "by birth" alone “...eligible to the Office of President.” The “perk” of being “by birth” an Article II “natural born Citizen” is presidential eligibility, a “perk” that is NOT available to an Article I Representative “citizen” or an Article I Senator “citizen.”

I'm all for the primary and foundational use of the “rigorous or scientific analysis” by adducing the actual holdings of the different Courts, and secondarily, as the Minor Court did in adducing an anecdotal “event,” of which the “framers...were familiar,” I'm also for adducing analysis of historical events that support the “rigorous or scientific analysis” holdings of the Court, as the Minor v. Happersett Court did in this citizenship and voting case.

I never get a coherent “dual U.S./foreign citizenship” rebuttal and refutation when I bring original birther John Jay into the conversation, especially when I write that, according to the “nomenclature” with which Jay was familiar, Jay's “original genesis original intent” for underlining the word “born” in “natural born Citizen” for POTUS eligibility was ONLY singular U.S. citizenship ONLY by birth on U.S. soil ONLY by birth to two U.S. citizen married parents ONLY married to each other BEFORE the birth of their child.

For some reason the “nbC” new meaning neo-birthers, Democratic, Republican, Independent, Libertarian, Progressive, Conservative, Anarchist (still in the nascent stage of “cell” division), NEVER have a coherent rebuttal to the anecdotal assertion that John Jay's original genesis original intent was ONLY singular U.S. citizenship by birth on U.S. soil to two U.S. citizen married parents to be “...eligible to the Office of President.”

Art

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Here is Mario's comment on October 6, 2015 at 7:06 PM.

Mario Apuzzo, Esq. said...

Art,

Ted Cruz's argument that he is a natural born citizen because he never breathed air when he was not an American is pretty lame.

Depending on when he was born during the history of our nation, there are plenty of times during which being born under the same birth circumstances as he claims for himself, he would not have been breathing any air as an American.

Depending on when he was born, rather than breathing air as an American, he would have been breathing air as a British or Canadian subject (from his birth in the territory which today is called Canada), and Spanish or Cuban citizen (from being born to his Spanish or Cuban father).

That surely does not sound like a natural born citizen to me.