My View of "It": Constitution

Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts

Jan 28, 2008

Cheney pushes to make eavesdropping law permanent

I found this video at Inside Rod's Head. Cheney is pushing to make the eavesdropping law permanent. Will Bush's illegal wiretapping be made legal? What do you think?

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Dec 27, 2007

PBS FRONTLINE: CHENEY’S LAW

Watch the documentary and then tell me if you still believe we live in a 'free Country.'

Thanks Saboma

Related Information:

The case for impeachment of President George W. Bush
From SourceWatch

"At the Federal level, the House of Representatives has the sole power of impeaching the President, Vice President and all other civil officers of the United States.
Officials can be impeached for: 'treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.'
The United States Senate has the sole power to try all Impeachments.
The removal of impeached officials is automatic upon conviction in the Senate."—Wikipedia.

The case for impeachment of President George W. Bush is outlined below in books, websites, documents, articles, and SourceWatch Resources related to what are believed to be Bush's impeachable offenses.

Also see Efforts to initiate the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney and Congresspedia article on efforts to initiate the impeachment of President George W. Bush.

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Dec 2, 2007

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE - (Rewritten)

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Read More ^

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Nov 26, 2007

Libertarians Are Terrorists, Says the State of Alabama

The Alabama Department of Homeland Security (ALDHS), established in June of 2003, has recently constructed a website that defines Domestic Terrorists as those who oppose gun control and a strong federal government.

Under the heading “Anti-Government Groups”, the site displays a flag that is widely considered one of the first symbols of American patriotism and reads, “In general, these terrorists claim that the U.S. government is infringing on their individual rights, and/or that the government's policies are criminal and immoral. Such groups may hold that the current government is violating the basic principles laid out by the U.S. Constitution…”

Aug 20, 2007

Bush said what?

“America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home – the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.”
Vice President Cheney, Mr. Chief Justice, President Carter, President Bush, President Clinton, reverend clergy, distinguished guests, fellow citizens:
On this day, prescribed by law and marked by ceremony, we celebrate the durable wisdom of our Constitution, and recall the deep commitments that unite our country. I am grateful for the honor of this hour, mindful of the consequential times in which we live, and determined to fulfill the oath that I have sworn and you have witnessed.
At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.
We have seen our vulnerability - and we have seen its deepest source. For as long as whole regions of the world simmer in resentment and tyranny - prone to ideologies that feed hatred and excuse murder - violence will gather, and multiply in destructive power, and cross the most defended borders, and raise a mortal threat. There is only one force of history that can break the reign of hatred and resentment, and expose the pretensions of tyrants, and reward the hopes of the decent and tolerant, and that is the force of human freedom.
We are led, by events and common sense, to one conclusion: The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world.
America's vital interests and our deepest beliefs are now one. From the day of our Founding, we have proclaimed that every man and woman on this earth has rights, and dignity, and matchless value, because they bear the image of the Maker of Heaven and earth. Across the generations we have proclaimed the imperative of self-government, because no one is fit to be a master, and no one deserves to be a slave. Advancing these ideals is the mission that created our Nation. It is the honorable achievement of our fathers. Now it is the urgent requirement of our nation's security, and the calling of our time.
So it is the policy of the United States to seek and support the growth of democratic movements and institutions in every nation and culture, with the ultimate goal of ending tyranny in our world.
This is not primarily the task of arms, though we will defend ourselves and our friends by force of arms when necessary. Freedom, by its nature, must be chosen, and defended by citizens, and sustained by the rule of law and the protection of minorities. And when the soul of a nation finally speaks, the institutions that arise may reflect customs and traditions very different from our own. America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to help others find their own voice, attain their own freedom, and make their own way.
The great objective of ending tyranny is the concentrated work of generations. The difficulty of the task is no excuse for avoiding it. America's influence is not unlimited, but fortunately for the oppressed, America's influence is considerable, and we will use it confidently in freedom's cause.
My most solemn duty is to protect this nation and its people against further attacks and emerging threats. Some have unwisely chosen to test America's resolve, and have found it firm.
We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend that jailed dissidents prefer their chains, or that women welcome humiliation and servitude, or that any human being aspires to live at the mercy of bullies.
We will encourage reform in other governments by making clear that success in our relations will require the decent treatment of their own people. America's belief in human dignity will guide our policies, yet rights must be more than the grudging concessions of dictators; they are secured by free dissent and the participation of the governed. In the long run, there is no justice without freedom, and there can be no human rights without human liberty.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.
Today, America speaks anew to the peoples of the world:
All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know: the United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.
Democratic reformers facing repression, prison, or exile can know: America sees you for who you are: the future leaders of your free country.
The rulers of outlaw regimes can know that we still believe as Abraham Lincoln did: "Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it."
The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know: To serve your people you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.
And all the allies of the United States can know: we honor your friendship, we rely on your counsel, and we depend on your help. Division among free nations is a primary goal of freedom's enemies. The concerted effort of free nations to promote democracy is a prelude to our enemies' defeat.
Today, I also speak anew to my fellow citizens:
From all of you, I have asked patience in the hard task of securing America, which you have granted in good measure. Our country has accepted obligations that are difficult to fulfill, and would be dishonorable to abandon. Yet because we have acted in the great liberating tradition of this nation, tens of millions have achieved their freedom. And as hope kindles hope, millions more will find it. By our efforts, we have lit a fire as well - a fire in the minds of men. It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress, and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world.
A few Americans have accepted the hardest duties in this cause - in the quiet work of intelligence and diplomacy ... the idealistic work of helping raise up free governments ... the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our enemies. Some have shown their devotion to our country in deaths that honored their whole lives - and we will always honor their names and their sacrifice.
All Americans have witnessed this idealism, and some for the first time. I ask our youngest citizens to believe the evidence of your eyes. You have seen duty and allegiance in the determined faces of our soldiers. You have seen that life is fragile, and evil is real, and courage triumphs. Make the choice to serve in a cause larger than your wants, larger than yourself - and in your days you will add not just to the wealth of our country, but to its character.
America has need of idealism and courage, because we have essential work at home - the unfinished work of American freedom. In a world moving toward liberty, we are determined to show the meaning and promise of liberty.
In America's ideal of freedom, citizens find the dignity and security of economic independence, instead of laboring on the edge of subsistence. This is the broader definition of liberty that motivated the Homestead Act, the Social Security Act, and the G.I. Bill of Rights. And now we will extend this vision by reforming great institutions to serve the needs of our time. To give every American a stake in the promise and future of our country, we will bring the highest standards to our schools, and build an ownership society. We will widen the ownership of homes and businesses, retirement savings and health insurance - preparing our people for the challenges of life in a free society. By making every citizen an agent of his or her own destiny, we will give our fellow Americans greater freedom from want and fear, and make our society more prosperous and just and equal.
In America's ideal of freedom, the public interest depends on private character - on integrity, and tolerance toward others, and the rule of conscience in our own lives. Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self. That edifice of character is built in families, supported by communities with standards, and sustained in our national life by the truths of Sinai, the Sermon on the Mount, the words of the Koran, and the varied faiths of our people. Americans move forward in every generation by reaffirming all that is good and true that came before - ideals of justice and conduct that are the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In America's ideal of freedom, the exercise of rights is ennobled by service, and mercy, and a heart for the weak. Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love. Americans, at our best, value the life we see in one another, and must always remember that even the unwanted have worth. And our country must abandon all the habits of racism, because we cannot carry the message of freedom and the baggage of bigotry at the same time.
From the perspective of a single day, including this day of dedication, the issues and questions before our country are many. From the viewpoint of centuries, the questions that come to us are narrowed and few. Did our generation advance the cause of freedom? And did our character bring credit to that cause?
These questions that judge us also unite us, because Americans of every party and background, Americans by choice and by birth, are bound to one another in the cause of freedom. We have known divisions, which must be healed to move forward in great purposes - and I will strive in good faith to heal them. Yet those divisions do not define America. We felt the unity and fellowship of our nation when freedom came under attack, and our response came like a single hand over a single heart. And we can feel that same unity and pride whenever America acts for good, and the victims of disaster are given hope, and the unjust encounter justice, and the captives are set free.
We go forward with complete confidence in the eventual triumph of freedom. Not because history runs on the wheels of inevitability; it is human choices that move events. Not because we consider ourselves a chosen nation; God moves and chooses as He wills. We have confidence because freedom is the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul. When our Founders declared a new order of the ages; when soldiers died in wave upon wave for a union based on liberty; when citizens marched in peaceful outrage under the banner "Freedom Now" - they were acting on an ancient hope that is meant to be fulfilled. History has an ebb and flow of justice, but history also has a visible direction, set by liberty and the Author of Liberty.
When the Declaration of Independence was first read in public and the Liberty Bell was sounded in celebration, a witness said, "It rang as if it meant something." In our time it means something still. America, in this young century, proclaims liberty throughout all the world, and to all the inhabitants thereof. Renewed in our strength - tested, but not weary - we are ready for the greatest achievements in the history of freedom.
May God bless you, and may He watch over the United States of America.
Lots of pretty talk here but did he mean any of it? I think not based on his record and his lack of respect for the Constitution. He has become the tyrant he claimed to want to rid the world of.

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Aug 1, 2007

Bill Clinton - Vice President?

I have been thinking long and hard about the upcoming Elections. Truth be told, I don't like any of the Candidates.

What do you say we get them to re-write the Constitution (Bush has shredded it anyway) so that Bill Clinton can run again. After all the worst thing he ever did was forget to tell Monica to swallow.

The 22nd Amendment says that no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.
Perhaps he could run and be elected Vice President? There would be nothing illegal about this. It is not prohibited by the 22nd Amendment. While the 22nd Amendment says that he cannot be elected to the office of president again, there is nothing that says that he cannot run for or be elected as vice-president.
Hmmmm....who is the oldest Candidate running in for the '08 Elections?

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Jul 24, 2007

WTF!! Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement

This latest executive order criminalizes the peace movement.
What has happened to the Constitution and specifically, in this case, the Fifth Amendment?

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

George W. Bush on the Constitution
"You need to have a president who understands you can't win this war with legal papers. We've got to use every asset at our disposal." --May 13, 2003, ABC News' Nightline.
"GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions" of the Patriot Act "could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
"'I don’t give a goddamn,' Bush retorted. 'I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.'
"'Mr. President,' one aide in the meeting said. 'There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.'
"'Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,' Bush screamed back. 'It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!'" --Reported in Capitol Hill Blue, December 9, 2005.

Read More Here:
Goodbye Fifth Amendment and Bush Outlaws War Protests- Also, Goodbye Fifth Ammendment

Sea Eagle said...
Hi Carol -I'm sure that Tricky Dicky and Amnesiac Alberto are working overtime to find a way to keep their stooge in power past January 2009.
The situation does scare me.
I was reading earlier that Cheney's working with the Israelis for them to launch a small strike on Iran.
If Iran retaliates, then the USA will come to the defence of Israel and the feared war with Iran will have begun.
Very scary stuff - I don't think I have been so nervous since the Cold War days.
In fact I'm more nervous as the fear of war between the USA & USSR was tempered by the fact that MAD would make it very unlikely.
But Iran has no nuclear arms to hit America with if America hits it.
I think I will stop calling Bush & his cronies "The Administration" and start referring to them as either "The Regime" or "The Junta" from now on.
They are much more apt descriptions.

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Jun 12, 2007

A Voice of Reason - Finally!

It appears that at least the Federal Appeals Court has a voice of reason in these days of Dictator Bushs' Regime.
Judges Say U.S. Can’t Hold Man as ‘Combatant’
The court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, said a fundamental principle is at stake: military detention of someone who had lawfully entered the United States and established connections here, it said, violates the Constitution.

“To sanction such presidential authority to order the military to seize and indefinitely detain civilians,” Judge Motz wrote, “even if the president calls them ‘enemy combatants,’ would have disastrous consequences for the Constitution — and the country.”

“We refuse to recognize a claim to power,” Judge Motz added, “that would so alter the constitutional foundations of our republic.”

We know, based on Bush's record that he has little regard for the Constitution so it is refreshing to hear that the Courts still place some value on the Constitutional Rights of our people.
I once again call to mind the era of "McCarthyism" when all one had to do was point an accusing finger and lives were ruined.

Suspicions were often given credence despite inconclusive or questionable evidence, and the level of threat posed by a person's real or supposed leftist associations or beliefs was often greatly exaggerated.

Can we really stand by and allow Bush to return us to such paranoia and prejudice?

On the Flip Side:

Senators Block Vote on Gonzales
Republicans Thwart No-Confidence Bid
By Paul Kane

The Senate yesterday rejected a bid to conduct a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, as Republicans declined to defend the embattled presidential confidant but rejected the effort as a political stunt.
On a 53 to 38 roll call, Democrats fell seven votes short of the 60 needed to invoke cloture and begin the debate on a resolution condemning Gonzales. Seven Republicans broke with the administration and refused to support the attorney general.

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May 17, 2007

Imperial Presidency and Some Food for Thought

The United States, today, suffers from a plethora of public ills. Most of them can be traced to the militarism and imperialism that have led to the near-collapse of our Constitutional system of checks and balances. This got me thinking about what this Presidency has been all about.
Bush and Cheney have had the most secretive Presidency since Nixon.
Below are several articles that I have been looking at and found to be interesting and thought you might to.

I know that this Presidency is almost at an end, thankfully, but do you really think that this upcoming election and the resulting new President is going to change anything? I don't think it really is going to change much at all.

In My View of It we have allowed the President's since JFK to have entirely too much power, almost like we have been lulled and hypnotized by our own apathy, I doubt if that is going to change as we move forward. Have you heard any of the Candidates talk about bringing this Country back to the Constitution because I sure haven't.

"The aim of the party out of power is not to cut the presidency down to size but to seize it, not to reduce the prerogatives of the executive branch but to regain them."

Imperial Presidency
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Can We End the American Empire Before It Ends Us?
By Chalmers Johnson, Tomdispatch.com

Brilliant historian and essayist Chalmers Johnson argues that unless we face up to the tremendous strain our empire is having on America, we will lose our democracy, and then it will not matter much what else we lose. Read more »

Can the President of the United States arrest any American he suspects of being a terrorist and toss him in a military brig, deny him a lawyer, omit to bring any charges against him -- yet indefinitely keep him imprisoned nonetheless?
Can the President kidnap foreigners charged with violating federal law, and bring them to the United States to stand trial? How about Osama bin Laden, for starters?
These are only a few of the issues raised by cases now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court that will examine the limits of presidential powers. As David Savage, the legal writer for the Los Angeles Times, has noted, this is a remarkable collection of cases.
How President Bush Is Testing the Limits of His Presidential Powers

Read a Related Post by Ev Nucci Here: What Bush, Cheney, Blair, Wall Street and business could learn from Aristotle and Einstein. Admit your mistakes you idiot!

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Apr 19, 2007

Real ID - Real Nightmare

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Gregoire signs bill rejecting national ID card
Governor calls it too expensive, threat to privacy

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Apr 18, 2007

Constitution Takes Another Hit

One more Constitutional Right down the tubes, at least for women.
The Supreme Court's conservative majority upheld a nationwide ban Wednesday on a controversial abortion procedure in a decision that sets the stage for additional restrictions on a woman's right to choose.

"The 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy said the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act that Congress passed and President Bush signed into law in 2003 does not violate a woman's constitutional right to an abortion."

The law is constitutional despite not containing an exception that would allow the procedure if needed to preserve a woman's health, Kennedy said. "The law need not give abortion doctors unfettered choice in the course of their medical practice," he wrote in the majority opinion.

"This ruling flies in the face of 30 years of Supreme Court precedent and the best interest of women's health and safety. ... This ruling tells women that politicians, not doctors, will make their health care decisions for them." She had argued that point before the justices. Said Eve Gardner of Planned Parenthood.

Reacting to the ruling, Bush said that it affirms the progress his administration has made to defend the "sanctity of life."

If that isn't the biggest bunch of bullshit I have heard! Bush cares about the sanctity of life? Since when?

http://webpages.charter.net/micah/mccainad.png

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Apr 16, 2007

Pelosi's diplomacy: She speaks only for herself

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has taken it upon herself to launch diplomatic missions to several Middle Eastern nations and act not only as an official spokesman and representative of the United States, but as a messenger between hostile countries. This is more than foolish, it is dangerous.

Pelosi has made it clear that her reason for pretending to be secretary of state is because she disagrees with the Bush administration's handling of Middle Eastern affairs. So by its very nature her trip sends conflicting messages to our allies and enemies, weakens our position overseas and undermines the administration, which, by the way, is constitutionally entrusted with conducting foreign affairs. But since when has Pelosi been concerned about obeying the Constitution?

This is an excerpt out of my Hometown Newspaper the Manchester Union Leader and I find it hysterical that anyone would be concerned about Pelosi obeying the Constitution when our own President doesn't "obey" it. Sheesh!

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Apr 9, 2007

We The Sheeple

From the August 2001 Idaho Observer:
We the Sheeple...
by Joe Larson
In the following re-write of the Preamble to the Constitution rests my assessment of the true message being delivered to an apathetic American public by the global socialists.
***
We the sheeple of the United States, in order to form a more socialistic, humanistic government, establish true social justice, insure politically correct speech, provide for the complete disarming of all Americans, promote the general welfare state, and to secure the blessings of servitude to our beloved government forever do hereby decimate and subvert the Constitution of the United States.
Because ...we hold these truths to be self evident, that;
1. We are no longer a Constitutional Republic
we are a true democracy [mobocracy].
2. We are no longer a Christian nation
we are a human secularist society
3. We are no longer rugged and self-reliant
we are too self-absorbed
4. We are no longer responsible for our actions
we are victims
5. We no longer want individualism
we want group approval
6. We no longer want self-determination
please tax us, regulate us and control us
7. We no longer want religion and morality
we crave diversity, perversity and acceptance
8. We are longer capable of self government
we have grown soft, ignorant and dependant
9. We are no longer fearful of government (i.e. the Founding Fathers)
we demand to be taken care of
10. Alexis deTocqueville was right!
[We] “The American People are so enamored of equality that they [we] would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom.”
***
Joseph Larson is chairman of Restoring America (restoringamerica.org). Larson's organization is spearheading a major effort to network groups of Americans from all over the nation that are fighting for the peaceful restoration of our rights to life, liberty and happiness. Restoring America is also in the process of building a comprehensive and user friendly website that is designed to integrate, by category, information most vital to the restoration of our Constitutional Republic.

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Feb 4, 2007

Bush on the Constitution: "Just a goddamned piece of paper"

"I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."

By DOUG THOMPSON
Dec 9, 2005, 06:39
Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court."I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.""Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.""Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"I've heard from two White House sources who claim they heard from others present in the meeting that the President of the United States called the Constitution "a goddamned piece of paper."The record shows the Bush Administration, the Constitution of the United States is little more than toilet paper stained from all the shit that this group of power-mad despots have dumped on the freedoms that "goddamned piece of paper" used to guarantee.Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, while still White House counsel, wrote that the "Constitution is an outdated document."Put aside, for a moment, political affiliation or personal beliefs. It doesn't matter if you are a Democratic, Republican or Independent. It doesn't matter if you support the invasion or Iraq or not. Despite our differences, the Constitution has stood for two centuries as the defining document of our government, the final source to determine - in the end - if something is legal or right.Every federal official - including the President - who takes an oath of office swears to "uphold and defend" the Constitution of the United States.Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia says he cringes when someone calls the Constitution a "living document."""Oh, how I hate the phrase we have-a 'living document,'" Scalia says. "We now have a Constitution that means whatever we want it to mean. The Constitution is not a living organism, for Pete's sake."As a judge, Scalia says, "I don't have to prove that it's perfect; I just have to prove that it's better than anything else."President Bush has proposed seven amendments to the Constitution over the last five years - a record for any modern President, including a controversial amendment to define marriage as a "union between a man and woman." Members of Congress have proposed some 11,000 amendments over the last decade, ranging from repeal of the right to bear arms to a Constitutional ban on abortion.Scalia says the danger of tinkering with the Constitution comes from a loss of rights."We can take away rights just as we can grant new ones," Scalia warns. "Don't think that it's a one-way street."And don't buy the White House hype that the USA Patriot Act is a necessary tool to fight terrorism. It is a dangerous law that infringes on the rights of every American citizen and, as one brave aide told President Bush, something that undermines the Constitution of the United States.But why should Bush care? After all, the Constitution is just "a goddamned piece of paper."

another source: http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp12142005.html All sources lead back to the same article so I have no way to confirm or deny this story. I can tell you that if it is true it is outrageous and just goes to further my complete direspect for Bush and his so-called "Christian" beliefs. What about the Oath of Office?
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Perhaps this is why he has so little regard cause he doesn't respect the Constitution.

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Jan 18, 2007

Gonzales Questions Habeas Corpus

In one of the most chilling public statements ever made by a U.S. Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales questioned whether the U.S. Constitution grants habeas corpus rights of a fair trial to every American.
Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn’t explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended.
“There is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution; there’s a prohibition against taking it away,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales’s remark left Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican, stammering.
“Wait a minute,” Specter interjected. “The Constitution says you can’t take it away except in case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there’s a rebellion or invasion?”
Gonzales continued, “The Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn’t say that. It simply says the right shall not be suspended” except in cases of rebellion or invasion.“Wait a minute,” Specter interjected. “The Constitution says you can’t take it away except in case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there’s a rebellion or invasion?”
Man these people just keep talking more and more out of their asses!

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Dec 25, 2006

Liberal democracy

Liberal democracy is a form of government. It is a representative democracy in which the ability of the elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law, and usually moderated by a constitution that emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals, and which places constraints on the leaders and on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised against the rights of minorities (see civil liberties). Hence, liberal democracy is a qualified type of democracy where the expression of the power or will of the people is limited. In practice, these elections are nearly always won by groups who support liberal democracy; thus the system perpetuates itself.

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Dec 2, 2006

Human Rights

UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.

http://www.efc.ca/pages/law/un/un-rights.html

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Hmmm..think Bush ever read this??

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