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Posted on 01/15/2012 2:32:16 PM PST by lechtellhavel
Chinese proverb: “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” We seem as a country to be in denial as to the implications of these laws and policies. Whether we are viewed as a free country with authoritarian inclinations or an authoritarian nation with free aspirations (or some other hybrid definition), we are clearly not what we once were.
(Excerpt) Read more at jonathanturley.org ...
When you have to get a permit so your kids can legally have a lemonade stand the days of “land of the free” are long gone...
An excellent article. Not only do the Chines have a proverb about wisdom, but so does the Bible. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. Psalm 110:10
The land of the brided and the home of the freeloaders. The UnUnited Sad Sacks of America.
Please add to your list:
Alcoholic beverage excise tax.
Toll road tax
Social Security tax
What was it..oh yea, that 10th Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
And where in the Constitution is polygamy forbidden?
The most important thing about this article is that it was published by the WASHINGTON POST.
“Anwar al-Awlaqi deserved to die in spades!”
I am certainly not condoning or siding with terrorists, but I gotta ask: according to who? I know he was accused of running a subversive website and posting to it. Last time I looked, that concept was proudly protected in our first amendment. People can run websites and post crap that we don’t agree with. Even heinous crap. To condemn someone to death without due process for running a website is an abomination to our rights.
If a citizen “deserves” it, have a trial (in absentia if need be) and convict him on the evidence. Otherwise whoever is currently in charge can kill anyone just on his say so.
How would you like it if Bill Clinton had started killing constitutional militia members a few years ago? All he would have had to do way say they were terrorists and a threat to the US. And he ALREADY SAID THAT!
Will Munny: It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he’s got and all he’s ever gonna have.
The Schofield Kid: Yeah, well, I guess they had it coming.
Will Munny: We all got it coming, kid.
What if I don't like you and just SAY you helped the enemy?
President Obama has claimed, as President George W. Bush did before him, the right to order the killing of any citizen considered a terrorist or an abettor of terrorism. Last year, he approved the killing of U.S. citizen Anwar al-Awlaqi and another citizen under this claimed inherent authority. Last month, administration officials affirmed that power, stating that the president can order the assassination of any citizen whom he considers allied with terrorists. (Nations such as Nigeria, Iran and Syria have been routinely criticized for extrajudicial killings of enemies of the state.)
Some years ago a young man from a totalitarian state was explaining to me how important it was for him to bind himself to an American family that was 'powerful' to add to his safety. I laughed - and said it's not 'who you know' that matters - what matters is the law. When countries go authoritarian - it starts becoming 'who' you know - who you can bribe - who you can trade favors for... What a nightmare that this would happen to our children and grandchildren... and that we've been powerless to stop it.
Was married years ago to a young woman from Communist China. After a few years here she remarked that she had more freedom back in China. She eventually went back.
Social Security can be looked on the same way.
Your analysis is correct. As Karl Denninger of The Market Ticker notes - it is about the math. Our deficit spending has been rising much faster than our production since the 1980s. These are diverging exponential functions and simply cannot continue. The question is not if the system will collapse, but when.
Yep. You can’t have indefinite linear growth and exponential spending increases. You can’t beat the math.
To be fair the guy did type in Other politicians rationalize that, while such powers may exist, it really comes down to how they are used. This is a common response by liberals who cannot bring themselves to denounce Obama as they did Bush.
and this
The indefinite-detention provision in the defense authorization bill seemed to many civil libertarians like a betrayal by Obama. While the president had promised to veto the law over that provision, Levin, a sponsor of the bill, disclosed on the Senate floor that it was in fact the White House that approved the removal of any exception for citizens from indefinite detention.
If you are in a position of military authority, I better hope that its pretty obvious to the most casual observer that you’re wrong.
It would be incredibly easy to dash those hopes. As easy as it is to steal identity info use it to subscribe to an ISP then build a website supporting and linking to any of a couple of dozen Al-Qaeda connected terrorist groups. There won't be any observers military or otherwise. Just the three man panel that makes its judgement and passes its recommendation to the TOTUS. er, POTUS.
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