Is Arnold Schwarzenegger a Perjurer?

[Hyperelastic]

@Loopydude

OK, sorry about the blanket-suspicion assumption, by why does an active desire to keep dual citizenship automatically connote conflict of interest? Again, I just don’t see why it’s necessary to assume a negative motive. If I had dual French/US citizenship, It might make getting a job in France much easier. What if I wanted to work in France some day? Is that bad? If I think it would be cool to be Governer of Rhode Island this year, and when my term is up, move to France and be the Mayor of Nice, why is this a problem?

It’s not a problem for you, it’s a problem for the French! Why would they want a mayor who could just up and leave if things got sticky? Or a mayor who could get a nasty visit from the IRS if he did something the U.S. government wasn’t happy with?

Again, I’ve yet to hear of one conceivable thing that the Governator might get out of dual US/Österreich citizenship that would cause a conflict of interest.

Some Austrian politician wants to revoke S’s Austrian citizenship because a guy was executed in California with S’s approval. To the extent S values his Austrian citizenship, Austria can exert political influence on him. You can argue that if push came to shove, S would just say to hell with it, I don’t want to be an Austrian citizen any more, but the question is, would he? If he values his Austrian citizenship, he shouldn’t have it, because it can be used to pressure him. If he doesn’t value it, he should have no problem renouncing it now.

Do you accept that the United States and Austria are two separate countries and therefore necessarily have different interests? If so, S having Austrian citizenship is a classic conflict of interest. Then again, you might not accept that. The SDMB is full of people who think the nation-state is just a quaint diplomatic fiction and that cultural differences amount to nothing more than how spicy you like your food. Some of those people have already posted to this thread.

[Loopydude]

Well, I must concede you do have a very good point, vis. Arnie’s recent troubles with the Death Penalty, at least in principle. In practice, he seems uninfluenced by Austrian sensibilites. Clearly, though, the Österreichers certainly aren’t happy about it, so there’s a conflict, sure enough.

[ruadh]

@Hyperelastic

Likewise, if someone actively pursues, or refuses to renounce, foreign citizenship, there must be a reason.

One of the reasons (because it makes getting through immigration easier) has already been mentioned. Another reason may be that they simply see no reason to renounce it. It doesn’t mean they feel loyalty or allegiance to that country.

[Giles]

@ElvisL1ves

Um, I do believe the country in question is Austria. Two A’s, no L.

I know very little about the Constitution of Austria: I was quoting from the Australian Constitution. Nothing to do with Governor Schwarzenegger, except that it might be a model for what you might add to the US Constitution if you deleted the requirement for the President to be a natural-born citizen.

[Hyperelastic]

@Loopydude

Well, I must concede you do have a very good point, vis. Arnie’s recent troubles with the Death Penalty, at least in principle. In practice, he seems uninfluenced by Austrian sensibilites. Clearly, though, the Österreichers certainly aren’t happy about it, so there’s a conflict, sure enough.

There was a thread around here claiming that nobody ever convinces anybody of anything on the SDMB. I am happy to see that it’s now happened at least once!