Bad week

mpbrockman · Post by **mpbrockman** » June 26th, 2007, 6:10 am

Ya know,

Between the Supreme Court's decisions concerning funding of faith-based programs and the "Bong Hits for Jesus" goofiness, as well as Cheney's apparent creation of a fourth branch of government; it's been a really, really bad week for the Constitution.

I'm truly depressed about this...

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » June 26th, 2007, 1:10 pm

Besides that time I edited mine to change the 5th Amendment to Love, when was the last good week for the Constitution?

mpbrockman · Post by **mpbrockman** » June 26th, 2007, 3:06 pm

Hmmm - the week of August 8th 1974?

That would be the last time we showed a monomaniacal administration the door.

I'll keep thinking - maybe there's been another week in there somewhere but the 1974 date is the one that first leaps to mind...

I'm hiding in Boyko's suitcase...

Brian Boyko · Post by **Brian Boyko** » June 26th, 2007, 4:48 pm

mpbrockman wrote:Hmmm - the week of August 8th 1974?

That would be the last time we showed a monomaniacal administration the door.

I'll keep thinking - maybe there's been another week in there somewhere but the 1974 date is the one that first leaps to mind...

I'm hiding in Boyko's suitcase...

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

York99 · Post by **York99** » July 3rd, 2007, 4:14 pm

Seriously, a question for you history/political afficianados:

When and where in history has this sort of thing happened before and what was the result?

I've heard comparisons to the Holy Roman Empire lately, but there must be more examples of a country swinging pretty hard to the right. Ours started with Reagan and it seems to be taking another hard tack to the right in the past few years.

LisaJackson · Post by **LisaJackson** » July 3rd, 2007, 5:37 pm

York99 wrote: it seems to be taking another hard tack to the right in the past few years.

I don't feel so much like our country (our citizens) have swung to the right as much as they are completely apathetic, I mean we've got the dems in now if you want to call that left. Yes, I think the pendulum swung when they voted Him in even the second time but it wasn't by a landslide (assuming it was all legit) and it seems like there is just no response when the Bush admin continues to do more and more crap. Like this thing with Libby. I will be utterly shocked if anything happens beyond us all bitching about it to each other. What he's done is a blatant disregard for the U.S. Justice System and it's not the first time that he has acted like he is king. The same guy who has no trouble executing a person thinks that 2.5 years is a harsh sentence? Okay, my own personal fruitless rant is over. Thanks for listening, carry on.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » July 3rd, 2007, 9:33 pm

I think that's the point of it all, though. To keep us bitching to one another about things that really, in the grand scheme, are meaningless like Libby. the Libby thing seems bad, but it really isn't. It's trumped up on every side, easy to soundbyte, and being pumped into the press as a scandal so that we'll bitch about it and not think about the other things that are even worse and harder to get one's head around like our frightening dollar policies and the potential future for the dollar if China or the oil nations shift to the Euro, the AMT creep into the middle class ranks, and the consistent erosion of fundamental rights - not by leaps and bounds - but by pinches and bits (and the lack of true education on the meanings and philosophical foundations for those rights).

mpbrockman · Post by **mpbrockman** » July 4th, 2007, 11:05 pm

York99 wrote:When and where in history has this sort of thing happened before and what was the result?

Someone, maybe even me, may have posted this before but it bears another read.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html

Overreaction? Maybe, but it's also worth keeping in mind the stories of the so-called "Good Germans". At what point does chipping away at constitutional freedoms become full-fledged suppression in the name of "state security", or "decency", or "God"?

I see things like the firing of U.S. attorneys based on political views, the erosion of the Establishment clause, suspension of habeas corpus, the recent enacting of NSPD-51 and HSPD-20 (which, among other things would give the president the power to suspend elections in an undefined "emergency"), redefinition of search and seizure laws, disregard for international law, warrantless wiretaps, the expansion of "executive privilege" etc. and I get nervous.

Alone and relatively unnoticed in the news, these things tend to slip by. Especially when buried behind articles about the latest "American Idol" winner or the "threat to families of gay marriage".

Taken together, before bedtime - takes a largish glass of water and may produce stomach upset.

mpbrockman · Post by **mpbrockman** » July 4th, 2007, 11:49 pm

LisaJackson wrote:...it seems like there is just no response when the Bush admin continues to do more and more crap. Like this thing with Libby. I will be utterly shocked if anything happens beyond us all bitching about it to each other.

I think all our bitching is actually somewhat productive and here's why - stay with me...

The media. Especially the internet.

We're in the middle of a war of ideas. This is nothing new but the scale of it is. Rather than having discussions like this with our spouses and a few of our neighbors after the nightly newscast; we can talk to each other and disseminate information and ideas all over the world almost instantly.

This is a two-edged sword - the government can spread wildly inaccurate information as well (WMD in Iraq, the "dangers" of smoking a fattie, we only tap "terrorist" phones). So can loopy religious sects (gays/feminists/teaching evolution/Harry Potter will destroy our children). Our weapon against this kind of stuff is to fire information right back (WMDs not in Iraq, dangers of marijuana highly exaggerated, gays actually nice people, creationism ludicrous, Harry Potter not the Anti-Christ).

Whether just bitching here on this forum or firing off an e-mail to the editor of the Australian News Network; an individual can express a viewpoint, debunk a myth or call bullsh*t on a politician on a scale heretofore unimagined. Maybe you can even change a mind (or have someone else change yours).

The alternative is to take up arms and go McVeigh on the country. So I say bring on the invective and bitch away... I might learn something.

Miggy · Post by **Miggy** » July 5th, 2007, 1:16 am

I agree with MBrockman. I have been simmering down some of my emotions on politics since last November (perhaps to return in the Fall '08 season), but still am dismayed by these current events.

Regardless of the relative value of these issues (which I'm not unsympathetic to your prioritization, Wes), their absolute existence remains an afront.

York99 · Post by **York99** » July 5th, 2007, 9:54 am

I like to believe in the American system. I like to think that there is a threshhold of how much BS people will take before they get pushed too far and start to act. My question is: where is this threshhold? Are we close and how can we swing back to the left (where of course the Dems will get mad with power and we'll turn into something that resembles a bland Socialist nightmare of Europe and Canada before swinging yet again to the right)?