Martin Lewis claims that the military can arrest a President while not conducting a coup d'etat by focusing only on his role as Commander in Chief of the military...>
Posted on 08/25/2007 4:50:41 PM PDT by Laverne
The Huffington Post published a plea to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs today to arrest George Bush for "conduct unbecoming" -- essentially, a military coup against the elected government of the United States. Martin Lewis claims that the military can arrest a President while not conducting a coup d'etat by focusing only on his role as Commander in Chief of the military:
General Pace - you have the power to fulfill your responsibility to protect the troops under your command. Indeed you have an obligation to do so.
You can relieve the President of his command.
Not of his Presidency. But of his military role as Commander-In-Chief. ...
In addition to relieving him of his command as Commander-In-Chief, you also have authority to place the President under MILITARY arrest.
Lewis quotes extensively from the Uniform Code of Military Justice, but clearly his scholarship does not extend to the Constitution. The command of the armed forces follows from the president's election to office, and cannot be separated from the office itself. Bush isn't C-in-C because he got appointed to that position, but because the American electorate voted him into that role. In other words, the military cannot arrest the C-in-C but leave the President in power, and to argue otherwise is to demonstrate complete ignorance.
Secondly, the President does not serve at the pleasure of the Joint Chiefs -- and indeed, the military is subservient to the civilian command structure. They do not have arrest authority over the President -- nor over anyone else in the US other than military personnel, as the Posse Comitatus Act stipulates. Civilian oversight keeps the military from seizing power and is a long and vital tradition in this nation. It's what keeps us from becoming a banana republic, run by military strongmen.
Lewis wants to turn America into just that kind of nation. His Bush-hatred runs so deep that he would willingly see the military take control over the federal government just to get rid of him. The Left likes to talk about supposed fascism among conservatives, but the Huffington Post is literally calling for a military coup to reverse an election, not only an un-Constitutional act but also the kind of authoritarian rule they supposedly despise.
Unbelievable. (via Memeorandum)
UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! No response from the HuffPo yet, although if you read the comments on the post, Martin Lewis is very serious about this. He claims that the military can arrest Bush while leaving his "civilian" powers intact, but again, those civilian powers include command of the military as an indivisible part of his office.
Plenty of other people post at HuffPo, like Governor Bill Richardson, for instance. Does Gov. Richardson endorse his co-blogger's demand for a military coup? Shouldn't he at least go on the record as to what he thinks about it? Will he continue to blog at a site that openly calls for a military coup?
Guy sounds like a Stalinist thug.
Sedition?
Nuts!
Martin Lewis claims that the military can arrest a President while not conducting a coup d'etat by focusing only on his role as Commander in Chief of the military...>
Arrest them now.
Seems like will be a topic at the next Democratic debate, and probably will have most the candidates supporting the idea.
When people are this crazy nobody cares what they “call” for.
Why not at least wait until Hillary is President?
Lewis is not only ignorant but stupid.
I thought Martin Lewis was that black comedian guy.
Riiiiiight.
Now, now look at what Clinton-Reno was ACTUALLY doing with military forces against American citizens in Waco, and tell me what this guy proposed THEN.
They could always have him go on vacation and have a massive stroke like FDR.
Oh, right, these are special and unique rules that only apply to President George Bush. I keep forgetting that’s how liberals think.
We could just go ahead and get on with a civil war which would close down all Internet blogs and communication. My family and I stand with the President, locked and loaded.
The military would be more apt to take out a liberal president who was anti-military...not a pro military conservative!
I thought Martin Lewis was that black comedian guy.
I always get confused on Saturdays...
If there were ever a case for the military to step in and supercede civilian authority, it would have been in January 2001, if Al Gore and his fellow election thieves had managed to prevail.
I’m not too damn pleased with our President these days, but I will say that he won the 2000 (and 2004) elections fair and square, and I am thankful that neither Al Gore or John F’in Traitor ever got to utter those words “I, _______ do solemnly swear....”
Ah, yes—and liberals accuse Bush specifically and conservatives in general of trashing the Constitution. Move along, nothing to see.../sarc
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