If we lose birthright citizenship, all our other rights are in danger too.

backscatter712

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Fri Aug-06-10 09:58 AM
Original message

If we lose birthright citizenship, all our other rights are in danger too.

Edited on Fri Aug-06-10 10:02 AM by backscatter712

Something that occurred to me.

The way the SCOTUS has interpreted rights, especially under the Roberts Court, assuming that the court allows rights to be granted at all, which it is loathe to do, is to grant those rights only to American citizens.

So say the GOP gets what they want and repeal the birthright citizenship clause in the 14th. What do they replace it with?

Well, if they're able to get 2/3 of Congress and 3/5 of state legislatures to agree to this, then this country has moved so far right that they can pretty much replace birthright citizenship with whatever they want. Maybe it would be according to your lineage. Or maybe something far more arbitrary.

What would happen if the Rethugs decided that they can start taking citizenship away from people? They still have to lampshade it somehow, which means that citizenship loss would be a penalty for lots of crimes. Starting with drug crimes. Maybe if you "resist arrest", you could lose your citizenship. If you're liberal, or gay, or a minority, you'll definitely be targeted - they'll be looking for excuses to revoke your citizenship.

See where I'm going?

If you're not a citizen, you have no rights. The Bill of Rights does not apply...

That's what the GOP wants.

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mkultra

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Fri Aug-06-10 10:03 AM
Response to Original message

1. Military service garuntees citizenship

Want to learn more?

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backscatter712

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Fri Aug-06-10 04:01 PM
Response to Reply #1

4. For all the problems I had with the movie version of Starship Troopers...

I got a kick out of the propaganda newsreels!

Too bad the movie didn't have the powered exoskeleton battlesuits that were in the book...

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Cant trust em

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Fri Aug-06-10 10:06 AM
Response to Original message

2. They're never going to get 3/4 of the state legislatures. nt

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backscatter712

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Fri Aug-06-10 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #2

3. If they did, this country would be beyond repair.

You're thinking the same way I am - it would take a hell of a surge of right-wing sentiment to get a Constitutional amendment, and if we have a surge that big, we're fucked.

Fortunately, that's unlikely. Even today.

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TheKentuckian

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Fri Aug-06-10 04:21 PM
Response to Original message

5. If we "lose" birth citizenship it should be over our dead bodies and at a very hellish cost

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