>> Court: 'Dirty bomb' suspect can be held
>
> After reading this as part of the opinion, I'd have to agree:
>
> The Congress of the United States, in the Authorization
> for Use of Military Force Joint Resolution, provided the
> President all powers necessary and appropriate to protect
> American citizens from terrorist acts by those who attacked
> the United States on September 11, 2001.
>
> The question becomes: does anyone in Congress realize what a blank
> check they signed; and further, do they care? You would think that
> the one, non-partisan, idea that every Congresscriter would bathe in
> is that they have and can exercise power.
But that's not what's happening. Sen. Byrd also suggests the difference between the wars we are authorizing now, terrorism, Iraq et al and wars like Vietnam...
The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution contained a clause that allowed congress to, in a bipartisan vote, recind it. No such thing now, and Robert Byrd thinks the Senate, both sides, has sold the farm... The whole enchilada. He claims the Senate lost "control of the purse strings", and has only limited control over the spending and scope of agencies like DHS. He's Appropriations Commitee since... 1959? He'd know.
(Byrd also speaks quite affectionately of Paul Wellstone. High Praise.)
I recommend his book, Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency, (Norton) it's not superb writing, but some of the anecdotes are priceless, and it's easy to tell that he's a very, very angry constitutionalist.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0393059421/ref=sib_dp_pt/102-2963248-5542542#reader-link
>
> I mean: what were they thinking?
>
They aren't. That's the problem with reaction to crisis. No time to think.
Some interests have learned to... use that. Adbusters asks: http://adbusters.org/the_magazine/62/Creeping_Fascism.html ?
Leigh www.leighm.net
Have you seen my newsfeeds?: http://leighmdotnet.blogspot.com/ Got RSS?: http://www.furl.net/members/leighm/rss.xml