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Jonathan Turley is perhaps the top constitutional law expert in the United States (and a liberal).
Turley told MSNBC that Obama is worse than Bush or Nixon in launching unilateral, unconstitutional wars:
Other constitutional experts agree.
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What else do you expect...the Savior himself received a NOBEL "Peace" prize after having done nothing at all to promote and actually impact World Peace.
Really.
And more than Half of you all voted for the dude.
Shit, next time at least vote for the guy who Admits he will open the can of whoop ass.
Americans, and a lot of peolple here on ZH, seem to think there is some magical utopia awaiting if the US just stops doing sh!t all over....Thats a FALSE dream. Terrorists or not, the disgusting sick reality is this: Poverty abounds...and we in the US, even the "poor" folks, are RICH compared to 70% of the world...the sick fact is, that this is a classic example of the "Haves" and the "Have Nots"...we HAVE. And others must suffer.
If they dont suffer, and things "balance" you all wil become truly poor.
its gross...but its the way it is, and so the real agenda here is this: Keep Americans rich, well fed, bright eyed, and driving their cars, at the expense of others.
It you dont like that agenda, Move to a poor country, and attempt to built the same lifestyle you have in the US...it wont happen. It cant. We have more, they dont, and anything else is a pipe dream.
The thing is, 99% of americans CANT admit nor accept this reality because it is gross, and it conjures up great guilt. Anyone who thinks the entire world can be rich cant do math, and isnt thinking rationally. Jesus hasnt come yet, and this isnt the Mellinnium.
When/If everyone is "Rich" or everyone has $1M - Then Everyone has..nothing. Its only when some have more, and most have less, that you get to see ANY form of increase in standard of living.
Peolple play this same BS mentality with education...once EVERYONE has the degree...NOBODY has a degree...yet we lie to our kids and tell them "education" is the only way...HAHA...ok...Yeah. Go lok at Saudi Arabia and see how that worked out for them...most degreed nation in the world...also least amount of job positions even requiring a degree...so they are unemployed, or work the cash register with an engineering degree...BRAVO!
Get over it, and enjoy your fucking lives as Americans.
What the hell are you talking about? This video did not talk about the standard of living. It talked about engaging in war without the proper legal protocol being followed per the Constitution. It talked about those self serving bastards/bitches in Congress giving up their duties so as not to jeopardize their next election. It talked about how Obama said one thing as a candidate and has diverged 180 degrees from that position. Nowhere in this video does it equate illegal aggressive military action with our standard of living. If you are saying that our standard of living will be diminished because those who profit in the military industrial complex will be without work. Perhaps, so be it.
Do Americans really enjoy their fucking lives? Let's see- in absolute numbers we have more people in prison (many private) than any other nation on earth. In absolute numbers we have more people on prozac and other anti depressants than any other nation on earth. We have more children with autism than any other nation on earth and our children are medicated more heavily for a variety of issues than any other nation on earth. We pay the highest health care costs etc, etc.
So don't tell me to enjoy my fucking life as an American when I see the nation in its current condition as an abject failure. My life is not enhanced knowing that my tax dollars are killing Muslims who could care less about my freedoms. They want us to back the fuck out of their countries and stop grabbing their resources in the name of spreading democracy.
As far as education- you seem just the type to discourage someone from becoming educated. Let's face it- you can screw a person a lot easier if they do not understand finance, the law, and what it takes to be an engaged citizen in a Republic.
P.S. To the courts- I do have standing- they use my money to engage in this created, phony war on terror. Obaminator- I would tell you to go fuck yourself but you probably can't reach your dick over that mound of an American gut.
This screams of Gross Concept Error.
NO, it screams of americans in general not being able to ADMIT that our living standard is largly the product of other people's plight and poverty.
It works like this:
CEO - $100,000,000 salary+proft shares - but Can only be 1
BOARD Members $10,000,000 salaries+profits - But can only have maybe 10
Upper Managers: $1,000,000 salaries - Can only have 100 of them
Department Managers: $100K salaries - 1000 of them
We are now at $400,000,000 in salaries...the company make $500,000,000 per year, this leaves $100,000,000 for the remaining 3 to 5,000 actual workers.
Actual workers: $25-$50K salaries - 5,000 of them...
See...if it was equaled out, there would be no company, because the CEO and board would have no incentive to invest or take risk.
Its similar in natons...but MUCH bigger, and just like in the OLD DAYS of past...People and nations get slaughtered for the plunder of the victor...its how natons were built in the first place - Conquer and divide and gobble it up...
otherwise we wouldnt even have nations, in which case technoligy wouold never have sprouted like it has.
wake up.
you are uneducated; you understand nothing. you are merely another mouthy fool in love with sound of your own voice.
You are vastly oversimplifying.
This is not an "on/off" switch. You claim that Americans are dumb for not seeing that poverty and wealth are flip sides of the same coin. This is a facile argument. Life does not have two choices. It is an infinite spectrum. There are degrees of wealth disparity. Societies that have been the most functional in history have found a range within that spectrum where while those at the top benefited and had more than those at the bottom (and at the expense of those at the bottom, absolutely), it was only to a degree that the strong majority found acceptable when they went to sleep each night. Those societies seem to pop up periodically in history, and then devolve into the more extreme versions like our current situation.
More importantly, however, you are ignoring that there are reasons differences among the different societies arise in the first place. The "wealth" you talk about didn't just appear in the hands of the countries that have ended up on top. The majority of that wealth was created (not money, I mean real tangible wealth that took effort and/or creativity to generate). And the creation of that wealth was made possible by a set of rules (and more importantly a group enforcing those rules) that allowed the majority of people to get about their business without a lot of external interference, not even "for the children!!" It was that freedom to just live and try to do things for themselves that allowed prior generations in this country to create such a large amount of wealth.
You're correct that wealth is never evenly distributed. Life is not fair. That is a platitude. It is also absolutely true. But there are ways of structuring societies that work better and ways that don't work as well. Just throwing up your hands and saying "We're rich. It's just the way it is!" is not helpful.
The wealth of these countries you say was "created?" No my friend it was largely stolen from others (colonies) and built on slavery and slaughter. And you assert there was some guideline of "a set of rules". Well walk through history. You say the "majority of people to get about their business"?....yeah as long as you were white and had a gun.
Look at India. Look at colonial Africa, Look at the slaughter (and glorification) of American Indian tribes, Look at the opium wars, Look at Rhodes and South Africa...look at the arbitrary carving up of the Middle East by arrogant nations. Prior generations may have had opportunities but these were built on far darker policies of racist nations.
Thats not what Im saying at all...What I am saying is that for every person with XXXX whatever, there must be mutitudes of peolple with only XXX and XX and X.
Not agreeing at all with the policies...However, anyone who argues that the unfairness must be equalized is asking for their own literal destruction. sadly.
Can things be less unequal...HELL YES...and dramitically so. But at 7 billion and growing, unfortunately this problem we are seeing will only get worse...which is a whole other debate.
Im just sick of seeing Utopia-seeking people blast comments left and right...Im sick of all the ANTI-American posts, and the Pro-Russian Pro-Syrian, Pro-whomever crap...
To all of them, I say "GIVE UP YOUR life, go over there and live what they preach." They cant, and they WONT - more importantly they willing choose to NOT do so...
Im not saying we should "brag" about our wealth, Im saying we need to step back and lok at reality, and look at the facts, and the fact is...we did a whole helluva lot RIGHT in the past 200 yrs...and a LOT of that stuff involved blowing a whole helluva lot of other people into dust...right or wrong, The Alternative is THEY turn us to Dust and Live like we live now. Plain and "Simple"...its dog-eat-dog in real life, and any form of weakness will be exploited...
Does anyone not think for one milue China or others would LOVE to have the US land and resources? At Our populations expense? - anyone who thinks otherwise is Naive
Whoever "NEG"d me on this is one of the people who thinks Everyone can be equal, and that there is a UTOPIA out there.
I dont agree with killing people, I dont like it, I dont agree with 90% of our foreighn policy, and I believe there is a way for the US to "stay on top" in terms of living standards WITHOUT doing much of what we do.
However...in the current realm of things, where Federal Gov spending accounts for 1/5th of the GDP, and the past sins already committed, it is what it is.
Perhaps a better system would simply be the way it was from 1800-194X - and that was "We have technology here, we have clean water, we have Energy, and we are RICH, 90% of the world still is using picks and hoes to plant crops, where we industrialized, we have a better life, you all dont, and it BENEFITS US."
The end result is much the same: One party Thrives at another parties Expense...Any other way leads to ALL parties suffering...do a little math, and see what happens when everything is "equalized".
"I dont agree with 90% of our foreighn policy...."
And I don't know what that little box with the ABC and a check mark does either.
wow...cool...your more interested in spell check than the content of the debate. I type about 200-250 wpm, and I dont give one cows ass lick if some of the words are mis-spleled (haha spelled)
Next pleze. (shit, another one)
Now, do go on.
no one types at 200wpm; you're a liar and a fool.
"Whoever "NEG"d me on this is one of the people who thinks Everyone can be equal, and that there is a UTOPIA out there."
No, they probably downvoted you because you're a puerile simpleton with a big mouth and they're pissed that they wasted 5 seconds of their life reading your drivel.
Oh...did me saying "IT" like "IT" is upset someone...
Big Mouth...look at your post.
Im not CONDONING the actiosn of the US, Im saying that NOT EVERY FUCKING PERSON CAN BE EQUAL CUZ THEN WE'DE ALL BE BROKE ASS POOR.
If you actually think that the rest of the world can live the SAME lifestyle or even remotely similar, and you still be able to AFFORD a keyboard and eat the way americans eat, I have some beachfront property in Arizona I can sell you.
Your reply is precisely what I am talking about...and its no SIMPLE matter...Its just sick, gross, disgusting facts that in order for YOU to have the ability to live in a country that allows YOU to own all that YOU do as well as post all the comments YOU post, MULTITUDES OTHERS MUST BE FAR BELOW THAT LEVEL.
Bullshit- there is no utopia. Everyone is not created equal. I gave you a down vote because you are someone who gives up. Rather than face the issue- the illegal war- you make excuses- you justify we are a happy people here in America based on some 50's view you can't let go of. We are spied on, lied to, people are killed using our money and in the name of our safety and you accept it. It is people like you who obviously have the brains that need to step up. Have you tried to change things or is making comments on ZH the extent of your efforts? Don't tell me to enjoy the descent of the nation because I have so much shit. In the grander scheme of life is that really enjoyment or enslavement? Do we work hard because we know for a fact all these things will bring us happiness or are we conditioned to believe it? When you are near death will you be grieving for the iphone you didn't get or the people you didn't spend enough time with. What makes a person happy- keeping up with the Joneses or living the life you design? I am sorry about the comment at the end. I am just angry when people avoid the issue- this is not about making everything equal- its about letting people alone. We cannot save anyone but ourselves. The government has no business bombing Syria and Iraq. They made the mess on purpose- don't expect them to clean it up by bombing. They are only making more terrorists. I have no interest in singing Kumbuyah around a campfire with all the marshmellows evenly distributed. I will get what I need- I don't need the government to bomb anyone to keep me safe.
Today, while at lunch, I had an Epiphany of sorts, which may better explain what I am attempting to communicate:
A) The idea and argument I am putting forth is ABSTRACT, not Absolute and not tangible. and
B) A better way of explaining what Im getting is this: If the US doesnt do these things, such as blast Al Q, IS/IL/ISIS, et al, and also in the process secure certain extremely FINITE resources that literally ENABLE our way of life, then 1 of two things will happen:
1) Other People far more Evil, less tolerant, and with far greater force WILL DO IT. In the process Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia etc Would Fall, just as the Persian Empire is now called IRAN. In this case, the autracities everyone is crying that the US is currently doing would seem like children playing with matches. Utter devastation to the entire area as well as a completel loss of US interest in those energy supplies casuing our verry way of life here in the US and Europe to Cease to exist as it does today. Period. -or-
2) ISIS would continue on their Rampage and in the process we could all sit back and watch millions of people beheaded, slave trade, women trade, and watch Syria, Iraq, Jordan, S.A. and the rest fall into these people's hands - the carnage would make what we are doing seem like a mosquito bite, and the same end result, ISIS or whomever in control of vast energy reserves and the ability to buy the means by which to target US Soil.
Either way THEY Loose far worse, and We LOOSE exponentially worse.
But perhaps thats what some people want? I for one dont, and so if that means blowing these idiots to shreds to I can tyype to those arguing with me, and having you also the ability to have stabil electricy to insult me...so be it...the alternative is you and I living a rather bleak and completely different life than we do now...once which people living in slums in mexico know all too well...walk to work...cuz driving is for the elite.
I doubt that you had an epiphany. Judging by your incoherent ranting I would suspect bi-polar disorder or untreated syphilis.
ISIS is a tiny limited little force, created and funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the CIA; it can be de-funded and de-populated at a moments notice; it is merely a propaganda device. You are an uneducated fool.
ISIS and Ukraine and on and on and on are funded by US. Regimes that are created and destroyed by US,
So pardon but do some reading yourself.
Saudi's are oil whores and an extemely dogmatic, controlling regime. How come all the regular beheadings in Saudi Arabia don't make your personal press awareness?
Right right...no problem...just excuses.
Wait..I didnt make any excuses...in fact I did the opposite.
I simply stated the facts...and the facts are, that if we dont do this, someone else WILL, and at some point, we find the USA under someones GPS guided missiles and our people fleing our cities.
But that concept is something americans cant stomach.
Look south of the US border...a little taste of what "equality" in a nation looks like that doesnt take care of business that impacts itself...like its souther neigbors...
cant go there right?
You can't go there; I can. it's a very nice place; south of the border. naturally, you're not going to run to the well-advertised turf of the drug war-lords; why would you? Aside from that; it's very beautiful.
And with all that said...I guess now is the time to bring out the rest of the Nay-Sayers who claim there are NO pelple in this earth who would, could, or have the ability to damage the US...nope...they dont exist.
Or maybe they have been turned to dust and their offsprint rise as fast as we can smoke them?
dont go on some 9-11 bash either...thats a whole different story, smoke and mirrors, but make no mistake...there are massive forces which would Lung at the chance to Cut you very head off and your childrens at their first chance.
The rest is all bullshit from all sides.
Im just glad I happen to be on this side of the fence...those of you who hate america so much, just go live somewhere else for 6 months...then get back to me. I will even give you a hug and a tissue.
My real life experience of living in Mexico, Australia, and Austria; is that it is infinitely preferable. the paranoia goes away, the futile grinding of millions of useless wooden brain gears is not heard anymore as a background; respect for life and humanity becomes evident and palpable.
My experience with law at the local level is that a gov't body can do whatever it likes.
Statutory requirements mean nothing anymore.
It does no good to appeal to the state gov't agencies and bodies that are supposed to enforce the statutes and regulations.
There's something really bizarre going on in this country. And it isn't just the gov't that gets away with flouting the law. It's also corporations like the banks, and political friends of the gov't officials,like Jon Corzine.
There's irony to be found in the fact that everybody now gets away with anything, and at the same time our prisons have never been so full.
I have been saying over and over again lately to any who find themselves stuck in a room with me that our society has gone insane. I genuinely am no longer sure that this is Earth. I'm not sure when it happened (feels like maybe I woke up some morning after having died?), and I don't know what we all did in our past lives to earn this, but this ship appears rapidly to be approaching Hell, and it just keeps getting worse, day after day after day after day after day after day after day... We've gone beyond reality at this point. All there is left to do is observe with silent wonder.
I recommend "Closing Time" by Joseph Heller to any who have not read it. In the recent chatter about DUMBs, another of our creative minds' visions of future dystopian hell may be proven real. If there is one thing I am still sure of, it's that if those DUMBs exist, and if there is cause to use them, those who die on the surface are 100% and with total purity better off than those "lucky" people who would be stuck in such an underground concentration of the filth of humanity. There are many things over which death is preferable. An infinite number, in fact.
The right people get away with anything -- the little guy, nothing, if caught.
Yes, the effect of principles is a bit attenuated these days. Statutory law and the vast swamp of precedent that every half-wit judge and his dog have pee'd into can nearly always be shaped to service the highest bidder- very sad.
Well said.
The purpose of "law" is to protect the lawmakers, from the law-abiding.
purpose of law? effects of corruption, I'd say.
From an outsider's constitutional point of view, the US is running version 1.27, where version 1.10 is from 1789
Now the whole issue could be easily solved by a 28th Amendment,
then the constitution itself states in Art. 1, Clause 11 that "[The Congress shall have Power...] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water",
so a new 28th Amendment would just have to state: "No armed forces may be deployed outside the borders of the United States without previous authorization of the Senate. No armed forces outside the borders of the United States may be engaged in combat without declaration of war by Congress, except for self defense", or something very similar, to the point that most people would ask: what? is this not already so?
Interestingly, one of the reasons why corruption has blown a leak in the constitutional principles is Roman Law, in particular unwritten Roman Law. All our republics are based on principles of the Roman Republic, and there any magistrate had the power to conscript, deploy, attack. after all, communication was flimsy at best, and hordes of barbarians could invade anywhere, which gave ample reason to fight first, and explain later
BUT, and this is a big one, if he did so, he faced the possibility of being vetoed by a collegue and he faced automatic criminal charges after the war... IF he did not consult the Senate beforehand, and get approval, so that he was not exerting his powers (aka Imperium) without the authority of the Roman Senate (aka Auctoritas)
So if you would take an ancient Roman and put him here and now, his first two questions would be:
A) Where is the collegue of this incredibly powerful elected magistrate you call President? Is there nobody that can veto him? If yes, what's their take? Alternatively, why do you elect only one chief magistrate? Do you know how we called a single chief magistrate, to be appointed (only for six months) in extreme cases?
B) Where is the criminal court after the military engagement, when this magistrate (i.e. elected executive in modern speak) engages in war without auctoritas? so that a court can judge if this unilateral use of Imperium (i.e. power in modern speak) without Auctoritas (i.e. not authorized in modern speak) was or was not in the interests of the People?
The second reason why there is this "leak" is that Congress could flatly prohibit the President to do this or that in the realm of war, based on Art. 1, Clause 11. But this is a different story, and leads back to... corruption
The third reason is that the Framers of the Constitution could not even imagine a world like the one we have, which leads back to the thing that it's based on version 1.10 from 1789, meaning it's one of the oldest republican constitutions in the world. compare to France, where they have model 5.0 from 1958. That's a difference of a couple of centuries, and a very strange thing, in the context of the rest of the world
The fourth reason... is in culture, particularly when it comes to international borders. Simply stated, Americans have an exceptional view on them, and for good or bad few cross them regularly, and many have never seen one. Even more simply stated, they are not part of the American Way of Life. So all in all, public interest in this matter is... low
We had a Constitution but it was not strong enough to stand up to a majority.
The majority want stuff, the kind that only an unconstrained government can give them...so it is...
I hear the Constitution is now sponsored by Charmin. Slogan is "Charmin, for a more pleasant morning constitutional".
Pres Sambo is also the blackest Pres as well.
Yes, but TPTB intentionally pick teleprompters-in-chief who will distract the masses. Hillary Clinton is a woman, and so a lot of women will like her in a knee-jerk fashion.
Eventually, they will run a parapeligic gay dwarf for president so people will think they are voting for someone who is "progressive".
I think the gay dwarf needs to be a cross-dresser as well. Someone who adopted 5 off-shore orphans.
Dr.S...... We can't call moon pie "black", we prefer "Smoked chokes on nuts" or "Dark brown nanna up the bum" or just "Crack purple with a 18 gargle handy cap". s'il vous plaît
Apparently now Even FOX...
stick a fork in any semi-unbiased news...its a one-size-fits-all from here on out.
How about a
Lesbian Eskimo Midget Left-Handed Ninja Albino ???https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9DSWxtsgU (WARNING: Dead Milkmen derived cacophony)
She bit me once, right here, left a mark.
Hee hee,
;-D
No shit John!
And how many times do we have to keep reminding ourselves of that fact without taking any real risks in order to stop it?!!!
But the dollar is in danger! Did the founders not see that coming? Sarc off
Democrats and liberals still love Obama dearly.
Sad thing is.....Obama is only amping up the extremist precendent set by L.B.J. during the Viet Nam war. Nixon amped it up his way.....and on and on it goes.
Bush II (Shrub) REALLY put the pedal to the metal....and Obama is simply cranking the knob to 11.....ripping it off and jamming it up America's ass.
Can't wait for the next President in 2016. No TELLING what he/she/it will do.
But I've got a fresh supply of Jiffy Pop and Beer ready to enjoy the continuing saga of the Decline and Fall of the United States.
After the year 2020......shit will get REAL !
"The Cause" my friend, it is all about "The Cause"
What is "The Cause"? : Only Liberals can dole out our tax $$ in the most effective and fair way.
What about these wars? I'm sorry, I have a committee meeting right now, we'll do lunch soon!
At least Obama can say he is better than Lincoln was.
So far.
In fact, just about the only one of Lincoln's crimes that Obama hasn't repeated - again, so far - is to provoke and wage war on US civilians. All the other stuff is either moot (due process?? heh... what a laugh) or handled by his minions (control of the press... no longer needed).
Given that, he could get closer to #16's record if he unilaterally declared Puerto Rico a State. And of course his upcoming (Second) Emancipation Proclamation will count there as well.
."In fact, just about the only one of Lincoln's crimes that Obama hasn't repeated - again, so far - is to provoke and wage war on US civilians"
Bush did that with the Patriot Act. And Obama has only expanded on that. I consider that war on US civilians. Lincoln would be proud.
Precedents of the US: warmongers-puppets, all (eh, cYa, most) !
Do you think the dem/lib fruit kids will get a bye on the draft or go to canada like their daddys did?