The Mighty Third

Does it count as “quartering of soldiers” if we let Lillian’s brother stay with us when he’s on his military training weekends? Naw. That’s voluntary, not mandated.

*sigh*

Poor, sad Constitution.

Pelosi also decreed that henceforth the Sun shall rise in the west and set in the east. That’s about how effective these pronouncements are since impeachment was taken “off the table.” I’m sure I disagree with most of Ron Paul’s stands, but damn if the man isn’t right about this one.

Adam, I hate to pick nits (or, as they said in my favorite movie, “Let’s not bicker and argue about who killed who …”), but I’d take issue over the first point.

The Constitution says only Congress can declare war. This notion of granting some open-ended “authorization” to go to use military force without a specific declaration of war is highly questionable from a constitutional point of view, particularly when the President alone (in the case of Iraq) was given the power to determine whether sufficient justification existed to exercise the “authority” without further Congressional involvement. Nothing in the language of Article I, Section 8 says Congress can delegate that power to the President. Even the War Powers Act (which is no substitute for the Constitution itself) requires the President to go to Congress to ask for authority to use force, and it’s Congress, not the President, which decides whether sufficient justification exists for using force in a particular set of circumstances.

In the Iraq situation, the AUMF was given without Congress even making a determination that the use of force was justified; rather, Congress said the President was authorized to use force if he - and he alone - determined it was appropriate. That’s not a minor deviation from what the Constitution and the War Powers Act require; it’s a wholesale abrogation of Congress’ powers - and it’s responsibility - under Article I, Section 8.

And just because the President and a cowardly majority of Congress said it was okay, that don’t make it so.

(That, in case Mitt Romney is interested, is what his lawyers oughta tell him when he asks ‘em whether he can go to war with Iran … that is, if his lawyers wanna abide by that oath to uphold ‘n defend th’ Constitution ‘n stuff.)

Another nice weekend excursion into the Northeast Kingdom! And I stand corrected, the leaves were both fluorescent and iridescent. The apple cider wasn’t too bad, either, but there was too much of it. Oh, my head is still throbbing.

This one’s fun. Enjoy. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/cartoonsandvideos/toles_ main.html?name=Toles&date=10152007&type=c

cooper — congrats on the Eagle Scout. What would really be funny would be if his service project was getting the church recycling program organized and he d arranged for a big yipping dumpster for the cardboard.

But Cooper, my dad always said I should learn to rely on my mirrors instead of looking over my shoulder! I’m so confused.

Absolutely true Dave but what Adam wrote was that Bushco *sought* congressional approval — not that the blank check congress wrote him would actually pass a constitutional test.

Reminds me of the old campaign slogan ‘Bush/Cheney, In Your Heart You Know They’re Technically Correct’… (actually they gave up even trying to pretend to be technically correct some time ago).

sharon, a Volvo P1800? Way cool car, and sounds like an ok then-boyfriend.

cooper, in addition to congrats on the Eagle Scout (Let the eagle soar, dumpsters and all?), a little proxy blogwhoring: go to hedera’s blogspot and read and react to her commentary on inadvertently watching NASCAR at the fitness center.

Quite right, Gary, and I’m not really taking issue with what Adam wrote; it just galls me beyond belief that people think these inane resolutions comply with the Constitution and the War Powers Act. (And by “people” I mean Bush supporters, members of Congress, media idiots who parrot whatever the administration says, etc. …) It’s particularly galling, since it seems likely that the administration will ask for another “authorization” with respect to Iran sometime before his criminal enterprise, er, I mean “term of office” runs out …

Since at least the Nixon administration, the Republican Party has been trying to invert the Constitution, to take away powers that are vested in Congress and somehow transfer them to the President (line item veto, anyone?). But it doesn’t take a legal scholar to see that virtually all the powers of the federal government belong to Congress. Aside from the veto power, the power to make certain judicial and executive appointments and the power to enter into treaties (the latter two, of course, being subject to the Senate’s approval), the President’s job is to enforce the laws Congress passes.

And, of course, with the Bush II administration in particular, their desire to stand the Constitution on its head reaches its most absurd extreme when it comes to these mythical “war powers” that the President supposedly possesses. (Or, my favorite term … “inherent powers.” Oooooh, sounds important don’t it?)

Hey, I got yer inherent powers right here.

Oddly, though, Congress seems to lack the will or the ability to put these idiots in their place.

David, as you rattled of that litany of characteristics, I almost expected you to say “fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, and an almost fanatical devotion to the pope …”.

God, it’s scary to think I still remember Monty Python skits verbatim.

Every time I come back to this I keep reading the title as “The Mighty Thud” Which is not a bad description, either. I wish I knew who has the pictures of Nancy Pelosi smoking weed with her lesbian lover in Havana, because that’s the only thing I can think of that’s keeping her from lighting the fire under congress to assume its rightful Constitutional role.

FA is even better through the vision tinting of a bottle of Three Philosphers, a Belgian ale my sister left here. It apparently has more alcohol than your average brew.

Dve, so how would the folks who costumed MONTY PYTHON AND THE FLYING CIRCUS costume a blog pimp? I gotta know.

dee, what do you think the real motivation for illegal wiretapping, which Cheney/Bush was hot for before 9/11 was all about? It seems reasonable to me to assume that these good folks have out J. Edgared J. Edgar. And why are their panties in such a twist over Larry Craig? They thought J. Edgar was the second coming, for Lobster’s sake.

This link from NEWSWEEK was forwarded to me, and I must say I think Christopher Dickey is onto something here:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/53461/page/1

Damn, no more Three Philosphers in the fridge.

David, you’d better be careful how complimentary you are about my blog, or I may begin to get the insane notion that I can write…

cooper must not be reading here, though, as I haven’t seen him on the NASCAR post yet.