(Not) Understanding the Seperation of Powers

Blocked again in the midst of a discussion

Carlos criticized me on a previous post about focusing too much on the not-too-distant past (the 2000 election), suggesting that I should just put it behind me and move on. Well, TA, may I suggest that you put the Bill Clinton presidency behind you. The comparisons are so... well, pre-9/11. I mean, I guess it's okay to molest children, just so long as you do it under the auspices of religion. And maybe your parental rights should be subject to a foreign country's laws. Just hope you're wife doesn't die while in another country with your kids, 'cause who knows who'll get 'em since you seem to be for observing those laws, rather than your own.

No, let's talk about the countless children, both here in the US and the vastly higher number in Iraq who have lost parents, let alone those that have been killed and maimed, and the approximately 5,000 per month dying simply because they can't get clean drinking water, in Iraq. And how about all those refugees that have fled from Iraq to Syria, Egypt and elsewhere. Kind of makes the 21 who died as a result of their parents' religious zealotry pale in comparison, doesn't it?

Carlos, where are you coming up with this crap about Pelosi thinking she's running the war? Or did you forget that it was James Madison's famous quote regarding the power of the purse, a separation of power as enumerated in the Constitution? But I have to give you props for working Alice in Wonderland into a reply, however lacking in eloquence. Maybe you don't understand the meaning of your reference better than anyone else.

Allusions to literature aside, it is the insanity in the White House that is leading us down this path, towards a Constitutional crisis. This administration cabal is not unfamiliar with actions leading to a showdown, having started out under cloudy circumstances (oops, there I go again), and proceeding to lies, deceit, corruption, obsfucation, negligence, incompetence, and who knows how much criminal behavior. After all, in this presnit's government, the people don't deserve to know what's going on. It's not their government... anymore.

Coleman throws in towel, Klobuchar supports our troops

Indeed, “with the arrival of General Petraeus we have changed course.” We’ve pushed the violence out of Baghdad and into Mosul, Diyala and Kirkuk. Oh wait, unless you count the ever-present violence in Baghdad, where 11 people were killed including 3 soldiers on Wednesday, and then we have… no change. (And they wonder on Fox & Friends why McCain’s campaign is going up in smoke.)

But let’s turn to someone with first hand experience:

Salah Muhamad Amin, a retired army general from Baghdad said: “To be fair to the government, security has slightly improved since the implementation of the surge; however, it is not only about security.

“I am preparing myself to leave Baghdad, because I am not able to cope with day-to-day requirements. I am 70-years old and my wife is 62. We do not have enough electricity and we cannot tolerate the hot weather any more.”

He said his family has to daily manoeuvre through army checkpoints and barricades until they reach petrol stations where the queues can run for several blocks - all in the hope of securing fuel for the generators.

He said: “We are fed up with having to risk our lives every time we need to go and get our pensions, so I will sell my house and leave to a country where I can live normally.”

So, what small change has come, at least to Baghdad, has brought a new set of problems. Did this administration cabal foresee and account these changes? Of course not. We’re talking about the Bushes here. Even McCain admits that if we give the surge more time, he doubts that we can be successful there (”even if I could convince Americans to give General Petraeus the time he needs to determine whether we can prevail, that we will prevail in Iraq.”). So, we’re just supposed to continue shedding blood and spending $12 Billion a month (I hope the grandkids have their charge cards handy!) for how long? Almost nobody knows, because nobody has planned for anything in Iraq. I say almost nobody, as Bush is just running out the clock, and “AQI” is prepared for this to go on forever. That is their plan.

Would that we had a plan for winning the war in Iraq. We haven’t from the beginning, and we still don’t. What do you expect from a presnit who, to repeat your test of Middle Eastern IQ, can’t name the capital of Diyala (or have you forgotten that Bush didn’t even know who Pervez Musharraf was prior to January 20, 2001)?

In the end, this vote was a good move for the Democrats. We now have, for the record, the names of 52 senators who support the troops, and the 47 who, at the cost of our soldiers lives, support the failures of the Bush cabal. That alone is worth the price of admission. The icing on the cake is the “get into Congress free” card that Norm Coleman just handed Al Franken.

ACLU v. NSA reversed, Gross Gloats

The ACLE v. NSA ruling was reversed not because of the merits of the arguments at the heart of the case, but rather, that the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring the case. Don't make this out for more than it is; the arguments still hold water, and if not the ACLU, then some other group or individual may certainly step forward to bring this case, and this time, clearly with standing.

What is it about conservatives that they hate our freedoms? Why gloat, and why oppose a fight that is for some of our most fundamental rights? Why conflate international and domestic intelligence gathering (as though the separate agencies hadn't been in place for a reason)? Its not like anybody said the government shouldn't investigate and survey suspicious characters; there already is that mechanism and system under the FISA courts, which you ironically quote and twist their argument to support this, frankly un-American concept.
History seems to have to repeat itself, as we go through yet another cycle in which individual rights are curtailed by the government, only to have the rights restored with an even greater understanding of why they should not be curtailed, and the ensuing regulation and law that comes with further guarantees. Commenter Carlos continuously accuses me of wanting a huge "guvmint" that coddles every citizen, when this is case-in-point that I want the government out of my private life, along with shedding the huge bureaucracy required to perform this level of domestic spying!

Meanwhile, the chatter that has been reported is being compared to the level the Summer before 9/11. Al Queda is issuing statements of "spectacular" attacks. I suppose that despite these warnings, it will be a big shock that no one was paying attention, and we can attribute it to the liberals fighting domestic spying terrorist surveillance.

And not the fact that we're creating enemies faster than we can kill them.