AMERICAN CONSERVATISM IN 2008 AND BEYOND

US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said on BBC Radio 4 that since these methods are not intended to punish they do not violate the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution, barring "cruel and unusual punishment", and as such may not be unconstitutional.[39]

You haven't demonstrated any awareness let alone knowledge of the subject. You have nothing of substance to offer this discussion so you resort to attacking my character and posting nonsensical dribble.

Torture is torture regardless of the identity of the perpetrator. Both our civilian and military authorities are prohibited from torturing detainees.

You use offenses by civilian police officers as precedence for calling for prosecuting military personnel. Show me where this has occurred, if you are able.

After all, isn't precedent in cases a major part of the law? You are using this as precedence, yet you fail to follow up with case examples. This is sloppy thinking, isn't it?

I'll ask you the same question I asked Deb: Civilian police officers are also not allowed to clear rooms in buildings by tossing hand grenades. Using a case with police officers to set military standards is pretty silly, isn't it?

Both our civilian and military authorities are prohibited from torturing detainees.

Sure, but waterboarding is not considered torture by ‘everyone’, and in your emotional rants you have not showed me where it is. Other than using the opinions of others, of course.

One of the many things I hate about the right is its campaign to denigrate government. They feel, and rightly so, that if you repeat a lie often enough, many people will believe it to be fact. Please see:

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2009051904/government-good

Since you don't understand Article 3, that means you don't understand Art 1 or 2.

We do not have to go to Article III of the Constitution. Article I:

Quote:

Section 8. The Congress shall have power
To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

In very simple English for almost anybody to understand if a) they learned the English language, and b) if they learned anything in our grade schools about US History.

ican has not shown where congress and this administration has broken any laws.

THE 545 PEOPLE
RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL
OF AMERICA'S WOES

BY CHARLEY REESE

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out of the 235 million - are directly, legally, morally and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all but the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislation's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY

Don't you see how the con game that is played on the people by the politicians? Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of Tip O'Neill, who stood up and criticized Ronald Reagan for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating appropriations and taxes.

O'neill is the speaker of the House. He is the leader of the majority party. He and his fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetos it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE SCOUNDRELS

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 235 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in Lebanon, it's because they want them in Lebanon.

There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take it.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people and they alone are responsible. They and they alone have the power. They and they alone should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided they have the gumption to manage their own employees.

This article was taken from the Orlando Sentinel Star newspaper
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/woes.htm