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Tuesday, June 21, 2011
WND Slyly Likens Obama to Al-Qaeda Leader
Topic: WorldNetDaily

Bob Unruh writes in a June 20 WorldNetDaily article:

Anwar al-Awlaki for president?

After all, the regional commander for al-Qaida, senior Islamic imam and alleged recruiter for terrorists was born on April 22, 1971, in Las Cruces, N.M.

And how about the al-Awlaki acolyte, imprisoned Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, as vice president on that ticket, as the defendant accused of shooting up fellow soldiers at Fort Hood was born Sept. 8, 1970, in Arlington Va.

The tongue-in-cheek suggestions come in light of the far-fetched responses from Congress to constituents questioning why Barack Obama's background never was vetted before, during or after his successful 2008 campaign to become president.

The suggestion that Obama as president is the same as a terrorist as president is unmistakable -- and deliberately offensive. But that's WND, which has no problem likening Obama to Nazis and the Antichrist.

Unruh also appears to falsely state the case for Awlaki and Hasan's eligibility for the presidency as being the same as Obama's. While both Awlaki and Hasan were born in the U.S., Unruh offers no evidence that either set of parents were U.S. citizens at the time. It's generally agreed (even if WND doesn't concur) that one parent must be a U.S. citizen for the child to be considered a "natural born citizen," which applies to Obama but apparently not Awlaki or Hasan.

Unruh also regurgitates WND's tired argument that Vattel's "Law of Nations" states that "The natives or natural-born citizens are those born in the country of parents who are citizens." As we documented, that's not a direct translation of Vattel, the term does not appear in the original French, and he translation WND apparently used was published after the adoption of the Constitution; pre-Constitution translations do not use the term "natural born citizen."

UPDATE: A reader reminds us that the only citizenship situation that requires one parent to be a U.S. citizen is when the child is born outside the United States. Otherwise, implicit interpretation over the past century is that one must only be born in the U.S. to be a "natural born citizen," regardless of the citizenship status of the parents. Since Obama had one parent who was an American citizen, he is arguably more qualified to be president than Awlaki or Hasan.

Further, Unruh's failure to make a distinction between Obama and terrorists who kill Americans is not only offensive, it's irrelevant. Just because one is eligible to be president does not mean one will ever serve as president. Unruh is eligible to run for president too, but his chances of actually getting elected are a lot closer to that of Awlaki's than Obama's.


Posted by Terry K. at 8:48 AM EDT
Updated: Tuesday, June 21, 2011 10:57 AM EDT

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