That is where I draw the line. If Dubya even suggests this, ping me and I will admit you were right. I don't think it is going to happen.
What if, and this is a very real possibility Dad, he decides that he's going to require the services of your son, daughter, or both, and they should hustle into the post office to register for the draft, which is forthcoming. What then?
What if...what if...what if. It is not a real possibility.
Where's the line between blind trust and patriotism for you?
It's not blind trust. I trust Dubya based on his performance so far as President. How about a question for you? Where's the line between paranoid delusions of persecution and rational caution for you?
Now, you are out of gas in terms of logic or the facts, since you've decided that the Constitution of the United States is nothing more than a set of suggestions more than the foundation of our system of laws, and that very short term political calculation takes precedence.
I am misunderstood. The Constitution retains all the power that the people of America instill it with. If the people believe the Constitution allows a right to privacy, and therefor a right to abortion and buggery, then that is the law. If the people believe that the right to free speech does not include campaign money then that is the law. We have had Social Security for 70 years. Can you find the clause in the Constitution that provides for a government controlled retirement account? I hope SS isn't "unconstitutional" because I've been paying into the damn thing since I was 18.
Even in dictatorships, power is in the hands of the people, no matter what official looking declaration of legal control the dictator has written up. When the people of the USSR got tired of communism they rose up and took power, and a new constitution was written. It is not the paper...it is the people.
Another knock on GWB: All he had to do is say the word and Frist would have dropped the Nuke in the Senate to put a stop to the improper filibustering of Judges.
Why do you suppose Dubya hasn't done this? You say it is easy. You say all he has to do is "say the word." Why do you suppose Johnson didn't do this when Chief Justice Earl Warren retired? Johnson offered up Justice Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice and the Senate filibustered the nomination. Because of this Nixon got to choose the Chief Justice in 69. Maybe President Johnson, President Bush, and all the other Presidents who have ever faced filibusters throughout our history just ain't as smart as you.
We'll simply do anything we have to in order to retain power. That is exactly what you are suggesting we do.
You must first have power to change anything. Goldwater stuck to his principles in 1964. Mondale stuck to his principles when he told the American people he was going to raise taxes. Principles are important, don't get me wrong, but losers with principles are still losers and they don't change things. I have principles and where I come from (Wisconsin) many people think I'm a far right conservative. I swallow my principles when I go to parent/teacher conferences. If I spouted off and told the teachers what I think of the curriculum my children would pay the price. There are times when principles must take a backseat in the name of actually accomplishing something. In order to get testing and standards for education Dubya had to sublimate some principles. If Dubya said "I want everything and I want it now," he would get nothing. That is exactly what you are suggesting we do.
One more thing: Stop telling me what the American People demand. You don't know anymore than I do. They don't demand anything except to be safe in their person and their property - that we know. That much we have figured out. You are just pounding the table when you do that - invoking some imaginary crowd swelling behind you as you make your pronouncemnts
People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. - Soren Aabye Kierkegaard (And the crowd swells behind me once again!)
Clinton has been excellent for you and for your party. He has made possible what was impossible for 40 years - an R Congress and R Presidency. Anybody more effective, and where do you think we'd be right now?
By the way, it took Newt Gingrich invoking the party to stick to its principles in order to take the country back.
Wow. I can't believe you actually put these 2 paragraphs together. Which is it? My party is the majority party because Clinton stuck to his principles or was it Newt? Or did Clinton not stick to his principles, signed welfare reform, and lost the election for Gore? In 2002 the Republican party gained 3 seats and the majority in the Senate, more seats in the House, more state legislators, and control of more state legislatures...bucking the historical trend for off year elections. Could it be that the voters were voting for the Bush tax-cuts and military success? Or was it still Clinton - 2 years after his term ended, or Newt 4 years after he resigned for sticking his principles in his secretary.
It takes a pretty disjointed mind to have 2 completely opposing assertions in just 4 sentences. That has got to be some kind of record even for a paleo-con. You are lucky this thread is mostly dead. I'm embarrassed for you.
Clinton was a bad and very liberal President. He was not nearly as awful as Johnson who gave us the Great Society. Clinton failed to socialize medical care, and his great achievement was welfare reform. We both know Clinton didn't want to sign welfare reform but the people demanded it(crowd swelling again!) So what is the real difference between 1964 and 2004? The people have slowly gotten more conservative. The people sometimes make the wrong decision. Sometimes they want CFR and prescription drug plans. Eventually the people correct their mistakes...like slavery or welfare reform. I would rather put my faith in the American people then a principled dictator. Dictators follow their principles and ignore the will of the people. People like you pray for a strong dictator to do what you want over the objections of the majority, but if your opinion ever strays from the opinion of your savior tyrant you will be the first against the wall. To paraphrase you "People like you scare me." I will always choose a servant of the people like Dubya over a strong despot.
"We the people"