Just a bit of rambling... thinking out loud... to start the day off...
I've often criticized presidents - both Democrat and Republican - for pushing (and at times shredding) the envelope when it comes to exercising only their constitutional powers and none beyond these.
It's the nature of the beast - human nature - to be given an inch and seek to take a yard. Some individuals have more self-control than others, but the temptation is always there.
Extreme example? Presidents ordering the assassinations of American citizens. (No trial... no judge in a black robe... no jury... no martial law declared... no legal state of war declared...)
Obviously I'm talking about President Obama here... but let's not forget President Bush. He took it upon himself to claim "authority" to declare American citizens "enemy combatants" and thus declare their constitutional civil rights to be limited to... well... whatever he said they were. (Throw 'em in cells forever? Why not! After all, he was acting as "Commander-In-Chief.")
I could go on and on, citing the misuse and abuse of "executive orders" and of course various "presidential" wars and military actions unapproved (and in a couple cases disapproved!) by Congress. Indeed, whether I were to interview the foremost liberal scholars of and experts in the Constitution and specifically presidential powers or the most conservative, one thing I can guarantee you all of is that both sides would point to specific authorities claimed by various presidents which simply don't pass constitutional muster!
The same applies to Congress...
The same applies to the Judicial Branch...
So here's my point... raised in the form of a rhetorical question: Do any of you suppose that there is one single presidential authority claimed by Obama... Bush... Clinton... Bush... Reagan... and so on and so forth... that Mitt Romney would declare to be not within his powers should he become our nation's next president?
How about Speaker Boehner? (Or Mitch McConnell should he become Senate Majority Leader come January?) Do you suppose either man would identify the excesses of his predecessors... declare "This stops now!"... and self-limit himself to only those legitimate constitutional powers he truly believes the Founders meant for him and his colleagues to exercise?
As to Judges... well... aside from Clarence Thomas and perhaps Alito... (*SIGH*)
Do you see where I'm going with all this, folks?
My point is simple this: Republican or Democrat... Left or Right... "We the People" are led by men and women who by and large care not a fig for the Constitution nor for the Rule of Law. In this sense... it doesn't really matter who we elect... whom we put in office... which party controls which levers of governmental powers. No. In the long run all roads lead to more powerful government and more loss of liberty suffered by "We the People.
But here's perhaps the worst of it, folks...
Speaking of "We the People." (*SIGH*) "We the People" have let this happen. We've greased the rails.
Here's the dirty little secret of America 2012: "We the People" want a president who "rules" rather than presides. Some of us want "King Barack." Others (hopefully a majority) want "King Mitt." We like "Queens" as well... Queen Hillary... Queen Michelle.
As for the Constitution... (*SIGH*)
Americans pay lip service to the Constitution, but let's be honest... while the average American may have been exposed to it... may have read it... back in middle school or high school... that's about as far as it goes. We're certainly not a nation of constitutional scholars! The average American is no doubt more knowledgeable concerning the rules of baseball, basketball, and/or football than he or she is concerning the enumerated (let alone implied!) powers of government as legally delegated via our Constitution.
Anyway... just another rambling rant, folks; this one relatively "calm" and reflective of my deep depression when it comes to thinking upon America's future.
And now... on to today's newsbites!
5 comments:
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/senator-obamas-immigration-policy-provides-safe-harbor-to-criminal-aliens.html
Fox News has obtained an internal document detailing how the Dept. of Homeland Security plans on implementing what critics say amounts to an amnesty policy for what could be more than one million illegal immigrants.
President Obama’s new immigration plan will provide safe harbor to criminal aliens and will lead to a “capitulation to lawlessness” that could threaten public safety, according to U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).
Sessions said aliens convicted of felonies or misdemeanors under “state immigration laws” may be granted deferred action.
* OK. IN OTHER WORDS NEGATING STATE AUTHORITY. NOTHING NEW HERE.
Aliens who have repeatedly entered the United States illegally will also be eligible.
* NOW THIS IS SOMETHING NEW!
And traffic violations will not be considered a misdemeanor.
* I'D LIKE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IS MEANT BY "VIOLATION" AS OPPOSED TO MISDEMEANOR. IS DRIVING WITHOUT INSURANCE A VIOLATION OR MISDEMEANOR?
“It is a direct threat to the rule of law and to the demonstrated desire of the American people for a lawful system of immigration,” Sessions said. “I believe this administration has utilized this policy to basically undermine and negate the ability of the law officers to do what they have been hired and paid to do.”
Sessions told Fox News that according to his understanding of the implementation documents, aliens who are using stolen or fraudulent Social Security numbers in order to gain employment will not be charged with a crime.
* JEEZUS FRIGGIN' CHRIST...
It can also be reasonably stated, given the multitude of exemptions for criminal history, that even a conviction for fraudulent document usage would not disqualify someone from amnesty, Sessions told Fox News.
Sessions said the implementation plan goes well beyond the individuals who were supposed to be covered in the DREAM Act.
“Individuals who assert they are under thirty are eligible for work authorization and legal status,” he said. “And while the administration purports that applicants for amnesty must have entered the country prior to the age of 16, it is a completely unenforceable and unverifiable standard. It will have a dramatic and adverse effect on ordinary enforcement activities. (In other words, thousands of simple deportation proceedings will be converted into prolonged trials over the age of entry...)
“The administration has no plan, and will not attempt any serious effort, to prove when a person actually entered the United States and at what age. Clearly, a 40 year-old could, with a few documents, fraudulently assert they were thirty years old and were brought to the US at age 15. Practically, there is no effective way to dispute such a claim. This action, at bottom, is a prosecutorial policy not to enforce plain law.”
(*NOD*)
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
Fox News has already learned of at least two instances where this has already happened.
In El Paso, an illegal immigrant injured an Immigration & Customs Enforcement agent during an attempted escape. The illegal was not charged and was released because he was not considered a priority target by the administration.
* JEEZUS...
In Newark, Del. a veteran ICE agent is facing a three day suspension after he refused orders to release an illegal immigrant driving without a license. The 35-year-old illegal also had ten previous traffic violations. He was eventually released.
* YOU'VE GOTTA BE FRIGGIN' KIDDING ME...!!!
The Alabama lawmaker said President Obama has “debilitated enforcement – placing every officer in a conflict between his duty to enforce the law – and the policies of his supervisors.”
ICE agents said morale is “in the toilet.” Others said they are trying to keep their heads down – fearful they could lose their job and their pension simply for doing what they were hired to do.
“It is a devastation of any hope for effective law enforcement,” he said. “If this stays in effect, I’d say this ends the ability to have effective border security.”
The Dept. of Homeland Security was given the opportunity to respond to specific questions about the implementation plan. They refused to do so – referencing instead a recorded conference call where staff members explained portions of the plan.
The deferred action plan will [officially] go into effect on Aug. 15th. However, senior officials acknowledge that some deferments have already been granted. More than 1,200 illegals whose cases were either pending or were about to be deported have been granted deferrals.
“I cannot overstate the tragedy of this,” Sessions said. “The pieces had come together to put America in a position to make dramatic progress against the lawlessness. This was within our grasp. We had made some progress.”
http://www.washingtonguardian.com/obamas-video-secrets
The White House has hired an official videographer, but won't say how much it's costing taxpayers.
* JEEZUS FRIGGIN' CHRIST! THESE BASTARDS IN WASHINGTON ARE SUPPOSED TO BE CUTTING COSTS, STREAMLINING GOVERNMENT - NOT CREATING NEW TAXPAYER FINANCED POSITIONS DEDICATED TO THE PERSONAL AGGRANDIZEMENT OF THEMSELVES!
Officials are mum on many of the details about the newest weapon in the White House messaging machine, declining repeated requests from the Washington Guardian to say how much the new operation has cost since it was started in 2010 or to identify the exact federal budget line it is being charged to.
* SON... OF... (*GNASHING MY TEETH*)
But the videographer's early work - a "West Wing Week" package summarizing Obama's work week complete with feel-good music and footage of enthusiastic crowds - has some wondering whether taxpayers are footing the bill for what they say amounts to a political ad.
* YA THINK!
The two people who have held the job both worked for Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.
(*SIGH*)
And some of the weekly videos match the messages of the Obama re-election campaign ads or the week's political events.
* WELL, IMAGINE THAT... (*SNORT*)
Arun Chaudhary, who served as the first White House videographer, told the Washington Guardian in an interview that he was paid as a federal employee. But neither he nor his successor appear on the official White House staff salary list made public each year, in the Office of Personnel Management employee database, or in the General Services Administration contract database.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-blames-state-and-local-governments-congress-141-percent-black-unemployment_649505.html
In an interview with Black Enterprise magazine, President Barack Obama blames state and local governments, as well as Congress, for over 14% black unemployment.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment in the month of July was at 14.1%.
(*SIGH*)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/three-nato-troops-killed-in-double-suicide-attack-in-afghanistan/2012/08/08/fd8e2e44-e146-11e1-ae7f-d2a13e249eb2_story.html
Three NATO troops were killed Wednesday when two suicide bombers targeted them as they walked to a meeting of Afghan officials in Konar province, officials said.
* "NATO" TROOPS...???
NATO did not identify the troops who were killed, but an Afghan official said he believed they were Americans...
* FOURTH PARAGRAPH, FOLKS... (*SIGH*)
* UNDERSTAND, FOLKS... THIS WHOLE "NATO TROOPS" BUSINESSS IS DELIBERATE MANIPULATION (OR RATHER ATTEMPTED MANIPULATION) MEANT TO "SOFTEN" THE NEWS WHEN AMERICANS ARE KILLED AND WOUNDED.
* YEP. THREE MORE AMERICANS KILLED. AND FOR WHAT? IT WON'T CHANGE THE OUTCOME IN AFGHANISTAN. THEIR LIVES DIDN'T SAVE THE LIVES OF OTHER AMERICANS. THE SAD TRUTH IS... THEY DIED FOR NOTHING. THEY DIED FOR OBAMA AND HILLARY CLINTON'S MISGUIDED AND POLITICIZED FOREIGN POLICY.
The area is a bastion of strength for Taliban-led insurgents, who increasingly are launching suicide strikes and roadside bombs in a campaign against the U.S.-led war, now in its 11th year.
* AFTER 11 YEARS THE TALIBAN STILL HAS "BASTIONS OF STRENGTH." THEY'RE STILL LAUNCHING SUICED STRIKES AND ROADSIDE BOMBINGS AND ENGAGING U.S. TROOPS IN FIREFIGHTS AS CORRUPT AFGHAN LEADERS RAPE THEIR OWN COUNTRY FROM WITHIN.
* FOLKS... THIS IS SICK! IT'S FUCKING SICK! AND "WE THE PEOPLE" ALLOW IT TO CONTINUE. WHAT A DISGUSTING COUNTRY WE'VE BECOME...
Post a Comment