A 10 year old girl is trying to change the Constitution so she can be president
If you’re like me and have been rewatching Parks & Rec , then you’re probably wondering where all the real life Leslie Knopes and Pawnee Goddesses are.
Well, at least one of them is living in Massachusetts and has her sights set very high when it comes to affecting change at the governmental level: 10-year-old Alena Mulhern wants to change the U.S. Constitution.
Yup, 10-year-old Alena wants to change one of the most ironclad documents in American history at least partially for her personal benefit. See, Mulhern was adopted from China when she was only 10 months old and has pretty much been a U.S. citizen ever since. But according to Article II, Section I, Clause 5 of the U.S. Constitution, she can never hold the office of president simply because she wasn’t a citizen from birth.
“No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President,” reads the Constitution. “Neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.”
That’s a whole lot of red tape. But Alena Mulhern doesn’t seem fazed by any of it: This month, she appeared before a committee of the Massachusetts State House to plead her case. “We should all have the opportunity to run for president,” she told the committee. “I know that I am an American first and foremost. Just think of all the great candidates that would not be able to serve our country because of a law that came into existence more than 200 years ago.” Preach, girl.
Here’s hoping her pleas eventually reach the ears of the highest serving members of our government, i.e. those serving in Congress, where an amendment could very quickly do away. American is American is American and if someone is thoroughly qualified and passionate about these United States of ours, why shouldn’t they at least have an opportunity to lead the nation?
Keep at it, Future President Alena Mulhern.
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[Images via Twitter]
