Pennsylvania Affirms Dubious Proposition That Ted Cruz Is a Human
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court this week affirmed Ted Cruz’s eligibility to appear on its GOP primary ballot, indicating that a group of judges were able to conclude that the Canadian-born Cruz is both a citizen of the United States and a sentient human being.
At issue was whether Cruz, whose mother is a U.S. citizen, qualifies as a natural-born citizen as defined under Article II of the Constitution. So far, judges in Illinois and New York have declined to rule against Cruz on the issue, which has never been defined by the Supreme Court. But the conclusion that Cruz is a citizen of the United States also requires accepting the dubious notion Cruz is not, say, a rat king dressed in an ill-fitting skin suit.
Either way, at least one person had some fun with the case: Pittsburgh retiree Carmon Eliott, who brought the suit. Eliott, who is not a lawyer, represented himself pro se and engaged in a bit of soul searching along the way.
“This is not a political issue,” he told the Post-Gazette earlier this month. “Although I guess I have asked myself, would you be so preoccupied if the candidate who was born outside the country been a Democrat or a progressive? I might not have had quite the enthusiasm that I’ve had.”
And he was very enthusiastic, in a savage way—according to McCall, he paid to have a process server arrive “several hours early” at a campaign stop in Atlanta in order to shake Cruz’s hand before serving him.