Why the French behave as they do

wnd.com ^ | March 5, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern | Patrick J. Buchanan

[Captain Kirk]

Thank you for the information. Yes, it is a good thing but as I said before the main goal of the Afghan invasion (which I fully supported) was never nation building. The reverse is true for the Iraq war IMHO, thus we will not entrust that task to the bumbling UN.

[Bonaparte]

"The state militias were to be called up to form a standing army if and when the U.S. is threatened or invaded (read Section I, Clause 15)."

There is no "Section I, Clause 15" in the US Constitution. You're thinking of Art I, sec 8, clause 15, which refers to the militia, not the army. These are two distinct entities. If you read Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention, you will realize this. There was indeed much distrust of standing armies, but Hamilton and friends won out on that one. That's why there has never been an adverse Supreme Court decision concerning the federal government's right to raise and support a standing army -- so long as Congress renews appropriations for it at intervals no longer than two years.

As for using the military in limited engagements abroad, those have been taking place since the 1790s, starting with John Adams who knew a bit more about the Constitution than you do. And he did so with full authorization from Congress and no declaration of war.

Lastly, your willingness to allow Cold War Soviet expansion, even into our own hemisphere (Grenada), speaks for itself. The bastards were building a military air field right there in the Carribean, but that would have been ok by you. Fortunately, Ronald Reagan was in charge of that one.

[Middle Man]

"...John Adams who knew a bit more about the Constitution than you do."

Well, gracious me, I certainly hope John knew more, 'cause I'm constantly trying to hold our public servants' feet to the fire about constitutional restrictions on their lawless actions. You see, most of them have long forgotten the oaths of office they took, which state first and foremost that they will defend the constitution, not ignore it.

Maybe you're one of those little housekeepers for the government whose livelihood depends on a perpetual standing army. This garrison state we've been living in since WWII has done our republic no good, and all this overseas mischief it keeps stumbling into is exactly the sort of "foreign entanglements" that Washington warned of. But what did he know, right?

So we invaded Grenada and thereby saved the American way of life? That's as delusional as those asylum residents who believe they're the general whose screen name you took.

And, yes, I am so anti-Reagan I voted for him twice.

[Bonaparte]

Glad to hear you voted for the Gipper -- even if you understand neither the plain wording of the Constitution nor the dangers of Soviet expansionism during the Cold War.

Now, about those "4,000 military bases" you claim we have on "amost every continent" -- I'm still waiting for your proof. (Of course, I looked it up at the DoD website before I even asked this question, so I already know the answer.)