Happy Constitution Day! Enjoy the blessings of liberty! ❤️🇺🇸
A series of pics for the day. Debating:
Independence Hall. Philadelphia.
The rising sun chair Washington sat in to preside over the convention. You can see it in Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
George Washington. Father of our country. He gave up power after two terms, saying: “I did not defeat George III to become King George I.” George III in response said: “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”
Thomas Jefferson. He called the convention “an assembly of demi-gods.” He was serving at the time as our Ambassador to France.
James Madison. 4th US President. Called the “Father of the Constitution” for his significant role in the drafting of it & the Bill of Rights, & for promoting ratification of the Constitution by the states.
John Marshall. 4th Supreme Court Chief Justice. A Virginia delegate to the convention, he was also instrumental in having Virginia ratify the constitution.
Ben Franklin. The oldest delegate, he urged all to consider carefully others views. On the last day he was ill, but his speech was read including this line: “Thus I consent, Sir, to this Constitution because I expect no better, and because I am not sure, that it is not the best.”
Alexander Hamilton. A tireless advocate for the Constitution, he was a delegate from New York. He was a principal author of “The Federalist Papers,” a series of articles explaining the Constitution to the people & urging ratification.
Gouverneur Morris. An often overlooked Founder, he wrote the beautiful Preamble to the Constitution. His other stylist changes made the document readable & flowing.
These were just men w/flaws & failings. But they fought for & created a system in which people rule themselves instead of being ruled by a despot who can beggar or kill anyone. These men were geniuses & heros. W/o them, especially Washington only the Almighty knows where we’d be.
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1. To each their own. 2. So what. 3. Not my problem. 4. Doesn’t affect me. 5. Mind your own business.
Get used to thinking like that. Because for 85% (at least) of things - that’s the right answer.
Step 2: Make a list of the issues in the 15% of things where those aren’t the right answers.
Like protecting the vulnerable from bullies & predators & minority view holders from majority tyrants; free speech, freedom of conscience; US sovereignty; etc.
It’s a short list really.
Step 3: Prepare for what you’re willing and able to do to speak or act when those 15% of issues come up.
Otherwise, roll out the sayings in Step 1.
If we all acted more in a libertarian way in every day life, we’d all be better off & half our problems would disappear.
DOJ had gotten indictments on Comey & James. And I’m personally satisfied that both are likely guilty (based on the available known facts at this moment) & that their prosecutions are justified & warranted.
That by no measure means that they will be convicted. They could easily be acquitted or the cases dismissed for legal reasons not related to guilt.
There are issues with both cases. (There are issues with nearly all criminal cases.)
They have or will have good defense lawyers. There are factual and legal defenses and/or difficulties for the prosecutors in both cases. (Comey’s more than James’.)
Federal judges have become so used to issuing opinions & orders that invalidate federal agency actions that they no longer recognize where the line is drawn signaling the end of their power & so they fail to see that they blew past that line miles ago.
Any federal judge thinking they can personally enjoin the POTUS (or the Congress as a body either) has totally lost the plot.
Nor does a federal court have ANY power to dictate what/how the POTUS as Commander in Chief directs active duty military personnel, esp beforehand.
It does not matter that a prior order says that POTUS cannot federalize a state National Guard. POTUS has the power to direct already federalized Guardsman from other states to assist in the carrying out of federal law. That’s not an end run around the earlier ruling.
As we discussed on the Spaces last night, I’ve been going back and forth in my mind on this question ever since the indictment dropped. There are competing considerations, but I’ve finally concluded that the answer is yes, he should have been.
It goes without saying that both the lawfare & the coup against Trump were totally unacceptable. And Comey is partly responsible for both. That makes him a traitor to the republic. It doesn’t necessarily mean he broke any federal criminal laws in doing so, although he might have.
Mostly tho, the federal criminal law is not designed to address that conduct. We haven’t needed criminal statutes in the past to tell people not to undermine the duly elected POTUS. Thank goodness, in a way.
The EO banning no cash bail in DC may be legal but doesn’t address the real problem.
DC law permits judges to detain anyone who’s violent/a risk to others or a flight risk. No cash bail is only for people who aren’t. The problem is w/juveniles, not adults getting no cash bail.
And the EO may not be legal actually either. I’d need to go back and look at the authorities closely.
But the fact that the feds have power over DC doesn’t necessarily mean the federal executive branch can do whatever it wants.
Congress has the constitutional power over DC.
Congress definitely has the power to override any DC law. In fact, DC laws don’t go into effect until the Congress either exercises its right to amend them or passes on that.
So, I’m not sure that the POTUS has the authority to override a law that Congress has approved.