God and the Constitution

Mike Huckabee: “I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do, is to amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than try to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.”

  W3IAI

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. -- Aristotle

When fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross. -- Sinclair Lewis

Bill Moyers

If you didn't get a chance to catch it on TV, try to watch these episodes of Bill Moyers Journal:

Sanford Levinson on a new constitutional convention.

Benjamin Barber on how American capitalism has become consumerism and is destroying democracy.*

And Bill himself sees the baseball steroid scandal as a metaphor for our national socio-political situation.

*You can donate to LifeStraw here.

New Rule!

Bush White House pre-empts Congress. Again.

Bush administration officials unveiled a bold new assertion of executive authority yesterday in the dispute over the firing of nine U.S. attorneys, saying that the Justice Department will never be allowed to pursue contempt charges initiated by Congress against White House officials once the president has invoked executive privilege.

[...]

Mark J. Rozell, a professor of public policy at George Mason University who has written a book on executive-privilege issues, called the administration's stance "astonishing."

[...]

"What this statement is saying is the president's claim of executive privilege trumps all."

[...]

Waxman added: "I suppose the next step would be just disbanding the Justice Department."

  WaPo

For all practical purposes, Mr. Waxman, I'd say that's already been done.

It's like playing a game with my older brother when we were kids. He'd make up games and add rules as situations arose where he needed coverage.

These guys just make up shit as they go along. We don't have laws in this country, we have Constitutional suggestions. The (rhetorical) question is, will Congress let them keep getting away with this crap?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

P.S. And you thought Paul Craig Roberts was just being shrill.

Update to add the cartoons: I wish I'd thought of this when I first posted, but I'd forgotten all about Calvinball. Thanks to Bob for the comment...

Calvinball

Yes, We Still Have a Constitution

And laws. Regardless of Cheney Bush's trampling of them. They still exist. And it's always good to see courts upholding them.

The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the government should charge Ali al-Marri, a legal U.S. resident and the only suspected enemy combatant on American soil, or release him from military custody.

The federal Military Commissions Act doesn't strip al-Marri of his constitutional right to challenge his accusers in court, the judges found in Monday's 2-1 decision.

"Put simply, the Constitution does not allow the President to order the military to seize civilians residing within the United States and then detain them indefinitely without criminal process, and this is so even if he calls them 'enemy combatants,'" the court said.

  Yahoo

Oversight?

The word does sound vaguely familiar.

Later today Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, will hold the first in a series of oversight hearings titled, "The Constitution in Crisis: The State of Civil Liberties in America," delving into such issues as the NSA's domestic wiretapping program.

Interview with Nadler at TPM.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.