(Pat) Robertson defends Liberian president; blames US State Department

MSNBC / Washington Post ^ | 7.10.03 | Alan Cooperman

[theFIRMbss]

>Where in the US Constitution does it say that the US has a duty or even jurisdiction to remove every horrible leader in the world?

"To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;"

[Article 1, Section 7]

Nobody would say
the Feds have to police the world
but by doing so,

they are within the
bounds of the Constitution;
(and, getting rid of

overseas psychos
helps us "secure the blessings
of liberty" here,

knowing the psychos
we eliminate won't be
sending bad guys here...)

[ppaul]

Interesting.
But how would one argue that Liberia is committing piracy on the high seas?

[theFIRMbss]

>"To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;"
>>But how would one argue that Liberia is committing piracy on the high seas?

Piracy was just
one word in that bunch of words.
I think the point's clear:

Our founders wanted
the government empowered
both to "define" and

to "punish" people
who engage in "offenses"
against the "Law of

Nations." The writers
of those words could have either
been more specific

or less. The word choice
they settled on makes it hard
to argue they dreamed

isolationist
dreams of a US afraid
to assert itself.