17 September 2007
Yes, We Have the Body
There is a new bill being routed through the Senate that aims to undo the harm to The Constitution done by an earlier bill during the 109th Congress. Senators Leahy, Dodd and several others are co-sponsors. Here is the YouTube recorded speech by Senator Leahy:
Supposedly that video just played for you.
Even if it didn't, this bill should have been the first legislation of the 110th Congress instead of the Minimum Wage bill. When the Bush/Cheney Junta drove the Military Assistance Act through a compliant, Republican-controlled Congress, the core of English-American juris prudence: the Magna Carta that King John was forced to sign in 1215 AD, beginning the basic right of habeas corpus--the right to inform others that one has been arrested or confined against one's will by the State. At least that's how I understand habeas corpus. Yet, the Military Assistance bill allows the President to declare a person "an enemy combattant" thereby denying that prisoner to the right of habeas corpus. For a "nation of laws," as our current President keeps referencing, Messrs Bush and Cheney act outside the fundamental, Constitutional laws with the accordance of Congress or without.
The Presidential Signing Statements blatantly state the President's attitude toward the legislation he signs and how he will or will not act according to the new law's provisions. When the Bills of Impeachment are drawn up by the House of Representatives, the signing statements provide explicit evidence of the extent of Bush/Cheney's government's illegal and un-constitutional actions. It's Nixon's tapes all over again. I cannot understand why Congress doesn't ignore those Signing Statements and require the Executive Branch to comply with the legislation signed into law by the President.
Are we reliving the Weimar Republic's slippery slope into totalitarianism that began when von Hindenburg (as did our Supreme Court in 2000) and appointed Hitler chancellor. von Hindenburg dies, the Reichstag burns down and Hitler takes control of Germany to rid it of its communist, mentally ill, non-Aryans like the Jews and the Gypsies (Romanies) and other unconventional Germans. Hitler laid the chaos of the Weimar Republic'a decadence of undesirables living in Germany. Could Bush/Cheney do the same here? If Rumsfeld and Gonzales were still in the Cabinet, I'd say "without a doubt." The 2006 popular vote, however, that gave the Democrats control of Congress weaken any Bush/Cheney potential to act, then the replacement of Rumsfeld by Gates brought rational leadership back to the Defense Department followed by the vote of 'no confidence' and resignation of Attorney General Gonzales disseminated the Junta.
The Bush/Cheney Junta's legacy still exists in the radical legislation rammed through a pliant Congress and there are two new justices on the Supreme Court who believe that in wartime, the President has the power to decide anything without the involvement or consent of the Congress.
Now, let's begin to dismantle the Patriot Act's provisions that undermine the checks and balances of the Constitution. Then, disable domestic spying by federal agencies like the CIA, NSA and the Defense Department that operate without judicial participation. Then, get our combat troups out of Iraq by having the international community with the United Nations and return foreign affairs to the oversight of the State Department.
The only way I can see this happening is if the Democrats unite with this agenda and refuse to let those who would enable the President's power grab by consistently voting against such attempts. Put impeachment right in the center of the table, Ms. Pelosi, and get on with it.
Have a nice day, everyone.
Supposedly that video just played for you.
Even if it didn't, this bill should have been the first legislation of the 110th Congress instead of the Minimum Wage bill. When the Bush/Cheney Junta drove the Military Assistance Act through a compliant, Republican-controlled Congress, the core of English-American juris prudence: the Magna Carta that King John was forced to sign in 1215 AD, beginning the basic right of habeas corpus--the right to inform others that one has been arrested or confined against one's will by the State. At least that's how I understand habeas corpus. Yet, the Military Assistance bill allows the President to declare a person "an enemy combattant" thereby denying that prisoner to the right of habeas corpus. For a "nation of laws," as our current President keeps referencing, Messrs Bush and Cheney act outside the fundamental, Constitutional laws with the accordance of Congress or without.
The Presidential Signing Statements blatantly state the President's attitude toward the legislation he signs and how he will or will not act according to the new law's provisions. When the Bills of Impeachment are drawn up by the House of Representatives, the signing statements provide explicit evidence of the extent of Bush/Cheney's government's illegal and un-constitutional actions. It's Nixon's tapes all over again. I cannot understand why Congress doesn't ignore those Signing Statements and require the Executive Branch to comply with the legislation signed into law by the President.
Are we reliving the Weimar Republic's slippery slope into totalitarianism that began when von Hindenburg (as did our Supreme Court in 2000) and appointed Hitler chancellor. von Hindenburg dies, the Reichstag burns down and Hitler takes control of Germany to rid it of its communist, mentally ill, non-Aryans like the Jews and the Gypsies (Romanies) and other unconventional Germans. Hitler laid the chaos of the Weimar Republic'a decadence of undesirables living in Germany. Could Bush/Cheney do the same here? If Rumsfeld and Gonzales were still in the Cabinet, I'd say "without a doubt." The 2006 popular vote, however, that gave the Democrats control of Congress weaken any Bush/Cheney potential to act, then the replacement of Rumsfeld by Gates brought rational leadership back to the Defense Department followed by the vote of 'no confidence' and resignation of Attorney General Gonzales disseminated the Junta.
The Bush/Cheney Junta's legacy still exists in the radical legislation rammed through a pliant Congress and there are two new justices on the Supreme Court who believe that in wartime, the President has the power to decide anything without the involvement or consent of the Congress.
Now, let's begin to dismantle the Patriot Act's provisions that undermine the checks and balances of the Constitution. Then, disable domestic spying by federal agencies like the CIA, NSA and the Defense Department that operate without judicial participation. Then, get our combat troups out of Iraq by having the international community with the United Nations and return foreign affairs to the oversight of the State Department.
The only way I can see this happening is if the Democrats unite with this agenda and refuse to let those who would enable the President's power grab by consistently voting against such attempts. Put impeachment right in the center of the table, Ms. Pelosi, and get on with it.
Have a nice day, everyone.
