And it just gets better. This is so funny that I just had to share it with you.
I discovered that one of “my” senators is up for re-election in 2012. So I went to her opponents website to learn a little more about him and read up on his platform. I really liked what I saw so I did what I do normally and sent a campaign contribution.
The morning I got an email (a very nice email) from the person who manages these things for his campaign thanking me for my contribution but also saying that I was “red-flagged” because of the foreign address. So she rather apologetically asked for two things from me:
1. confirmation that I am a US citizen or Green Card holder
2. A US address.
Whoa! The first I think I can sort of understand but not the second. From what I understood from the mail the reporting for the FEC does not allow them to enter a foreign address connected to a campaign contribution (can anyone confirm that?)
I’m not angry at the candidate or his campaign team – on the contrary the person who wrote to me handled it very well. It was also a good opportunity for me to write a mail back talking about Americans abroad and what issues were of heightened interest to us in this election year. My contact promised to pass it along to him.
That said, it is another glorious example of how Americans abroad find barriers to participating fully in the homeland political process.
Amazing.
@tiger- it actually accords with the teaching that the citizen does not hand over all of his sovereignty to the government but retains some sovereignty to himself.
The U.S. position on citizenship denies that any residual sovereignty remains in the citizen.
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@recalcitrant Once again, the idea that “the citizen does not hand over all of his sovereignty to the government but retains some sovereignty to himself.” is perceivable in the 9th Amendment: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”.
@Tell Nice Argument Center clip. It is like VDP: you expect to have a big argument, but get diverted somehow to the head-bashing department and then have to opt out only to go back to the argument department all the same. But sometimes I would just break down and use one of the most interesting words in the English language today (like Eddie Murphy’s barber character did in your other post above).
Now all we need to do is find the Knights Who Say “Niiii” and present them with a shrubbery.