O Returns To Constitution

Going to Congress: Obama's Best Syria Decision : The New Yorker:

President Barack Obama announced two decisions today—one his own resolution, the other potentially far more historic. It might not be immediately obvious which was which. He began by saying that, ten days after what very much appears to have been a chemical-weapons attack outside of Damascus, “I have decided that the United States should take military action against Syrian regime targets.” He spoke of the emotional reasons why (the children who died in their sleep) and what he hoped the national-security benefits would be (that part is still muddled). But note the verb: “should take military action”—not will—which set up Obama’s second, more important, and quite correct decision: “I will seek authorization for the use of force from the American people’s representatives in Congress...”

Scalia And Ginsburg

Ginsburg and Scalia’s Supreme Court complaints: Do they agree about what’s wrong with the Roberts court? - Slate Magazine:

...Which brings us to how real their respective fears really are. In spring Nathaniel Frank suggested that Scalia’s arguments about moral opprobrium and approval in the law have been disproved by time, and also overtaken by history. Whereas Ginsburg’s prediction in the Voting Rights Act dissent–that the assumption that the law works and is thus no longer needed “is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet”—has proven prescient, as Richard Hasen recently noted. The speed with which states like Texas and North Carolina sprinted to make voting more difficult in the weeks after the decision suggests that Ginsburg was correct in her assessment: The court badly misread the status quo.

The true nature of their grievances is more subtle, and reflects all the interesting ways in which both Scalia and Ginsburg are of an era that is rapidly coming to an end: Scalia longs for a time in which the courts stayed out of it. Whereas Ginsburg longs for a time in which the court could properly redress social injustices—in matters of race and of gender—with a real-world understanding of how that plays out on the ground. To put it another way, despite the fact that only three years separate them chronologically, Scalia seems to want to reinstate the legal worldview of the 1980s and Ginsburg wants to reinstate that of the 1970s. With the exception of perhaps Clarence Thomas, they are the last two sitting justices who are so completely of another era—in each case an era whose legal hopes were never fully realized. No wonder they’re both feeling so frustrated. And no wonder they’re both so willing to say it so loudly.

FISA Flaws, He Says

Former judge admits flaws with secret FISA court - CBS News:

A former federal judge who served on a secret court overseeing the National Security Agency's secret surveillance programs denied Tuesday that the judges act as "rubber stamps." But James Robertson said the system is flawed because of its failure to allow legal adversaries to question the government's actions...

Tea Bagging The 4th

Bet you didn't know that the Declaration of Independence declared your allegiance to God the King.

Tea Partiers Explain How to Properly Celebrate the 4th of July | Mother Jones:

...The Declaration of Independence means that the tea partiers can tell the rest of us how to celebrate the 4th, and we are free to utterly ignore them.

Not Quite Self-Evident

Fourth Of July - Happy Fourth - Esquire:

 Do you govern or are you governed?

It is a question that cannot be avoided. It is the question that commits us to this day as a nation, and as a people, to the ongoing creative act of building and maintaining some sort of a political commonwealth. It is the question that makes of America an ongoing experiment, and it is the question that commits all Americans to active participation in that experiment. It is a question that demands an answer and, by not answering it, you really are. Yes, you are saying, I am governed. It is good that so many of us are charitable in our own private ways to our fellow citizens, but that is not the object of the debate. That is not an answer to the question. The government is the product of our commitment to the creation of the political commonwealth. It is that commonwealth's most obvious public manifestation. It is within that government where the debate must be held. It is within that government where the answer to the question must be provided, year after year, generation after generation. If you believe that your government in this country is tyrannical, you must look to your complicity in that tyranny's development. As you are an American, then Mr. Jefferson's paragraph, cited above, leaves you no other good alibi...

Corps Are Not People Amendment

Tester’s Constitutional Amendment: Corporations are not ‘people’ | Jon Tester | U.S. Senator for Montana:

Senator Jon Tester today introduced a Constitutional Amendment clarifying that corporations are not "people," restoring the right of Congress to limit corporate influence in elections.

In introducing his amendment, Tester is heeding the call of Montana voters, who voted overwhelmingly in November to direct Montana's Congressional delegation to amend the U.S. Constitution to empower Congress to limit corporate spending in elections...

Paul Flogs Darth

Rand Paul Attacks Dick Cheney, Bush Administration For Pre-9/11 Security Failures:

...When asked to respond to Cheney's comments that the Kentucky senator was wrong to criticize the National Security Agency surveillance programs, Paul hurled criticism at Cheney.

"Really, someone should have been removed from office for that, and they should have said this is never going to happen again," Rand said on the "really, really bad intelligence" and "really bad police work," that failed to thwart the attacks.

"Instead they said, ‘oh, we need to look at the records of all the innocent Americans’ phone calls every day.' And I think you need to have a respect for the Bill of Rights, a respect for privacy and particularly a respect for the fourth amendment," he said...

No, Fetus Mastrubation Is Not Too Low

Rep. Michael Burgess Says 15-Week-Old Male Fetuses Pleasure Themselves - ABC News:

At what age do young boys begin sexual self-exploration? As early as 15 weeks in utero, according to Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas.

“Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” said Burgess, a former obstetrician-gynecologist. “They stroke their face. If they’re a male baby, they may have their hand between their legs. If they feel pleasure, why is it so hard to believe that they could feel pain?”

The tea party congressman, 62, made the awkward argument during a House Rules Committee hearing today about H.R. bill 1797, which would ban abortions 20 weeks after fertilization...

Stunner From SCOTUS

Supreme Court: Arizona law requiring citizenship proof for voters is illegal | Fox News:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that states cannot on their own require would-be voters to prove they are U.S. citizens before using a federal registration system designed to make signing up easier.

The justices voted 7-2 to throw out Arizona's voter-approved requirement that prospective voters document their U.S. citizenship in order to use a registration form produced under the federal "Motor Voter" voter registration law...

Big Pharma Loses One

Supreme Court says human genes cannot be patented - CBS News:

The Supreme Court says companies cannot patent human genes, a decision that could profoundly affect the medical and biotechnology industries.

In a unanimous decision, the court struck down patents held by Myriad Genetics Inc. on two genes linked to increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer...

Crazy In NC: Mayoral Edition

Quit Exercising Your Rights!

Texas high school silences Valedictorian's microphone during speech on Constitution, report says | Fox News:

A Texas high school silenced its Valedictorian’s microphone during his speech when he diverted from his pre-approved remarks and instead spoke about the Constitution...

Spying-- Who Should Be In Jail?

Cannonfire: "PRISM and the plot AGAINST Obama"

...The State Department cables allegedly released by Manning were mostly harmless piffle. By contrast, this sealed Search Warrant, so kindly provided by the Washington Post, may have helped Kim Jong-Un identify an American intelligence source deep within the North Korean power structure. That, my friends, is pretty freakin' important.

So why is Manning on trial in Fort Meade as we speak, while the writers and editors of the Washington Post sleep the sleep of the protected?...

Crazy In NC: Shut-up Edition

Move is afoot to make government less open | CharlotteObserver.com:

Sen. Tommy Tucker of Waxhaw said a mouthful with just 13 words on Tuesday.

“I am the senator. You are the citizen. You need to be quiet.”

It was no coincidence that Tucker’s silencing of an N.C. newspaper publisher – heard by at least three people who were there – came just after he railroaded a bill through his committee that would let government operate in more secrecy...

Payment At The Polls For Gun Vote?

Joe Scarborough: Senators Who Rejected Gun Background Checks Will 'Pay At The Polls' (VIDEO):

...Scarborough went on at length for nearly five minutes, blasting the senators who he said yielded to the NRA. He promised that they would "pay" a price for their vote, saying:

"I'm sick and tired of people on Capitol Hill that I've known for a long time that I've respected, I'm sick and tired of them insulting my intelligence, acting like I am stupid enough and you're stupid enough and 90% of americans are stupid enough to believe that this bill would lead to a national registry! I hear it all the time! Hey, the bill itself puts people in jail for up to 15 years. If they keep these names and start a national registry. It's offensive. It's stupid. And, Mika, you know what? In the long run, all of those people that voted for a more dangerous America are going to pay at the polls. Mark my words. This is going to come up and it's going to hit them in the face..."

Spook Central

NSA data center front and center in debate over liberty, security and privacy | Fox News:

...The NSA says the Utah Data Center is a facility for the intelligence community that will have a major focus on cyber security. The agency will neither confirm nor deny specifics. Some published reports suggest it could hold 5 zettabytes of data. (Just one zettabyte is the equivalent of about 62 billion stacked iPhones 5's-- that stretches past the moon...

Free Speech Disappearing On Campus

Back in the Stone Age, I was the faculty advisor to a student newspaper. When the students wouldn't back down from administrative demands to control, approve, and censor content, the nobles of this little feudal empire took a different approach-- blackmailing the student government into defunding the student newspaper. The issue was never free speech-- it was power, and I suspect that is at the root of today's neanderthal campus. The Weekend Interview with Greg Lukianoff: How Free Speech Died on Campus - WSJ.com

Busting Voter Fraud

Corporations Are Not People Amendment

Coffee Party Nation | In Bipartisan Vote, Massachusetts Senate Calls on Congress to Enact Constitutional Amendment Reversing Citizens United Decision

The Massachusetts State Senate today passed a resolution calling on the United State Congress to enact a federal Constitutional Amendment to reverse the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, and restore fair elections and constitutional rights to the people...

A Gun Control Rant

No matter which side you are on, this is well worth reading. Jason Alexander’s amazing gun rant - Salon.com