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I am not disagreeing with you. The point is the Alien and Sedition Acts were overturned and the party responsible for it disappeared from the political map. What should happen to President Bush for signing this drconian measure into law? Furthermore, I think Bush showed a clear dereliction of duty when he signed it into law. He was banking that the SC will have enough courage, more than he does, to overturn this law. That is a violation of his oath of office where he is supposed to uphold the Constitution. He overlooks his duty that he heads a co-equal branch of the govt and has as much power in interpreting the COnstitution as any other branch. The buck doesn't seem to stop in his desk, it simply starts there.

While the A&S laws were the proximate cause of the Federalist demise it was a far more complex phenomenon. There were several contributing forces including: Hamilton's attack on Adams through a private letter Burr had pilfered from the mails and circulated widely; Hamilton's self-destruction over the Reynolds affair; colossal stupidity of the electorate swinging to the Left; growth of the new states without a large federalist presence; a decade of RATmedia lies which came to be accepted as truth; blind acceptance of Jeffersonian duplicity and hypocrisy was also important.

While no supporter of this law I believe it is insignificant and certainly not "dereliction of duty" for Bush to have signed it.

While the branches of government are equal some are more equal than the rest and the Founders clearly meant to make the Legislative the most powerful. And Congress has the power under the Exceptions Clause to direct the Court that it cannot rule in certain cases. However, the branches do NOT have an equal power in interpreting the constitution THAT is left to the Court.

Nothing should happen to Bush for signing this toothless law. It simply will change little for intelligent politicians.