Would I Pardon?

...no, not at all. I think that if someone is in jail, they should stay in jail. It doesn't matter what kind of crime they committed, they're in jail for a reason, and they should be punished for their crime. If I, as president, were to pardon someone, I would put the legal system to shame by saying "well, even though you convicted him, I think he should not be in jail...so I'm going to utilize my seniority over everyone." The president is a person just like everyone else, and I don't think that one person should have authority over any other person.

The "Pardoning" predicament also gives friends and family of The President an easy way out. Granted, I doubt that anyone closely related to The President will do anything illegal, but there is one black sheep in every family right (...George Bush)? If you had the power to pardon someone in your family, wouldn't you feel obligated to? Not only does it give the people closely related to the president an extra incentive to do something wrong, but it also puts The President in an awkward position in that if he does pardon that close person, it will be all over the news because he only pardoned that person, and if he does not, it will be all over the news that he wouldn't even pardon his family member, which I don't think is fair.

Equal Oppotunity to Govern

After reading about the "equal opportunity to govern" predicament, I have to say that I lean towards the "no" category. Call me old fashioned, but I don't want someone who was born out of this country to represent our country. Someone from Nigeria would not represent Italy, and someone from Italy would not represent Nigeria. To me, it is unethical, and people might look at America differently because of it. If a native of China were to become president, then China might try to gain some influence because there is now common ground between countries.

Also, I don't think that this is as big of an issue as people make it out to be as of now. In the future, it might be different, but as of now, I don't see what the big issue is. Sometime down the road, if the amendment needs to be changed, then let it be changed. But as of now, I'm pretty sure that everyone has been (mostly) happy with past presidents (excluding Nixon and Carter, of course...), so why change something that has worked?