'There Is Nothing More American'

Let's be clear that the chances of the 14th Amendment being repealed are zero to none, but that has not kept the usual right-wingnut Republicans from spouting the mantra that just because you are born on U.S. soil doesn't mean that you should automatically be a citizen.

And you can bet your sneakers that if the amendment hadn't been passed as part of post-Civil War Reconstruction aimed at uplifting former slaves and its repeal would impact most severely on non-white immigrants it would not be the GOP cause of the moment.

As shameless partisan politics go, the repeal initiative is a lulu. First of all, it was a magnificent achievement of the early Republican Party in the wake of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Secondly, the initiative comes from the same crowd that demands strict adherence to the Constitution when it suits its recidivist needs. Strict constructionists, my ass.

But what makes the initiative so shameful is that the Constitution is the global model of good governance and respect for human rights, and tampering with the 14th would be a travesty.

Then there is the reality that the initiative is an Arizona immigrant law in disguise in so much as eliminating birthright citizenship would require all Americans to produce proof of citizenship, a bureaucratic nightmare that would cost gadzillions of dollars. As well as further advance the Republicans' jihad against Latinos.

As the Kansas City Star noted in an editorial, "There is nothing more American than a child born here and that’s the way it should remain."