GOP- "Maybe We Should Amend The 14th Amendment"

In 1868 the Republican Party led the fight to grant "all persons born or naturalized in the United States" full citizenship. It was passed during Reconstruction and assured all persons born within the borders of the United States who were formally slaves that they were, indeed, American citizens. The amendment mandated that any and all persons born within the borders of the United States were born American citizens.

In 2010, some of the leadership of that party in the senate are pushing to examine the 14th Amendment's birthright citizenship, spurred on by illegal immigrants who have children born in the United States. Among those senators are Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell (KY), Lindsey Graham (SC), John Kyl (AZ), and former Republican Presidential candidate John McCain (AZ).

Jeff Sessions(AL) said the following........

"I'm not sure exactly what the drafters of the (14th) amendment had in mind, but I doubt it was that somebody could fly in from Brazil and have a child and fly back home with that child, and that child is forever an American citizen,"

Point taken Senator Sessions. But let me ask you this; if these children born in the United States of illegal immigrant parents have citizenship denied through a repeal of the 14th Amendment, then what nation are they a citizen of?

Or.....if I, an American citizen, were to father a child of an undocumented woman and our child were to be born here in good old New Jersey.....what half of him is a citizen, and what half ain't?

And there are other legal ramifications as well.....check out this video from MSNBC and COUNTDOWN.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So one could extend the question out a bit regarding Republican favorite Mitt Romney's father George, who was born in Mexico of Mormon Anglo parents in 1907 after leaving the United States to join a polygamous Mormon colony since they believed in the principle of plural marriage. So we ask....was George Romney (who later became Chairman of American Motors, Governor of Michigan, and a member of the Nixon cabinet) really an American citizen? His parents initially left America with no intention of returning, but eventually did come back during the Mexican Revolution. And that being the case.....is Mitt Romney the son of one illegal immigrant parent?

If the Republican leadership wants to open this can of worms regarding the 14th Amendment, be my guest. But be careful- the next illegal you might find could be someone in your own family.

(For the record.....family legend has it that my Irish great-grandfather jumped ship in New York in 1888. Whether it's true or not I might never know....but it makes for good storytelling).

READ MORE.....by Ben Evans, AP.

Choose the Right Tattoo

Matt has twenty-three (23) tattoos and he offered up this simple trio of letters:
The CTR represents the expression "Choose the Right," a common thread in the ideology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly referred to as the Mormon church.

In essence, Matt explained, it means "follow the right path". Its akin to a mantra eschewing sinful activities frowned upon by the church like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, and, yup, you guessed it: getting tattooed.

Matt finds great power in this tattoo because it represents an oxymoron: the letters CTR stand for a way of life that is contradicted by the fact that they have been tattooed on flesh. It would be like a Jewish person having the phrase, in Hebrew, "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or imprint markings upon you: I am the Lord" tattooed on them. As a tattooed Mormon, this is Matt's way of addressing,and coming to terms with, the disparity between faith and his love of tattoos.

This was tattooed by a friend of his in Ogden, Utah.

Thanks to Matt for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!