Quote :

The President's power to use military force domestically in violation of the Bill of Rights applies equally even if the actions are ordered against American citizens on U.S. soil:

Could not paste the reference to the hypothetical case of "armed" men demanding secession from the good ole USA.

The original 13 colonies who formed the USA believed in states rights. The union was understood to be based on the consent of each state to be part of the union with rights to withdraw such consent and leave the union at any time.

As such, Lincoln waged an illegal war against those states who wished to secede.

Yoo seems to agree that such insubordination and self-determination should not be tolerated.

Such elitist arrogance from a punk (as is George Bush) who is now a college professor demonstrates the danger of putting extraordinary powers in the hands of ordinary (read: all ) men and women.

Such is the need to maintain the balance of powers and resist the smallest efforts to "weaken" any one of the 3 branches.

The weakness of ordinary men and women is why secrecy of any kind within the govt cannot be tolerated.

Punks and vermin will act like such and they must not be able to hide their behavior.

The underlying credo or belief of journalists should be that the govt cannot be trusted (a mantra which should be repeated over and over again to first graders in the educational system).

The fact is that power corrupts the personality types that choose politics as a career.

The tasks of journalists, as regards the govt, is to investigate the day to day activities of the govt and reveal there findings to the public who are supposed to be their wards.

It is therefore corruptive to think that journalism and govt are anything but antagonists.

That does not mean that interactions cannot be restrained and respectful but one must always question the truth of any statement made by govt representatives.

Corporate control and corporate interests have destroyed journalism and the so-called "Fourth Estate".

Most media assets are now used to distribute entertainment rather than disseminate information to an apathetic public euthanized by an electronic coliseum.

Meanwhile, the Goths and Vandals and Ghenkis Khan's of America ...... the true terrorists, are the corrupt govt institutions and the greedy amoral capitalists who have bought them.

Our journalist and commentators have become "society page" gossip hounds ........ pimps for their favorite politician .....licking the balls of their masters for a pat on the head.

Like a poor child standing outside of the gates of a mansion, watching the carriages arrive for the grand ball, they will sell their souls to get a chance to shake hands with the rich and powerful ....... syncophants all.

I have a feeling people like Yoo use the word "scum" often in private ........ secessionist scum ...... libertarian scum ......liberal scum ......progressive scum ....... scum who believe they have inherent rights as human beings (as opposed to only the rights the govt says they have).... scum who think

the govt needs the consent of the governed ..... scum who believe they should have meaningful democratic processes available to produce real change ...... and the worse ..... scum who thinks the truth has any play in real life (that's all a fairy tale don't you know).

I find it foreboding and revealing that Yoo is now at UC Berkeley ...... the bastion of liberal and progressive thought in the 60's.

The students then would have raised hell if a Nixon sycophant/collaborator was teaching on campus.

We've lost ground as the public now cares more about how much they can consume ..... rather than how free they can be.

Obama is a gifted orator, but that has nothing to do with political experience and the confidence it produces.

A few years as a senator is just not enough.

At this point, I believe he is probably a bit frightened, although as a politician he has learned the skills of an actor and is able to present a "confident" image to the public.

FDR had been in public service and politics since 1910.

So it was that when he became president in 1932, he had the confidence and experience to choose widely from all sectors of society, those whom he thought would most truly represent the interests of various groups in his more populist government.

Obama instead chose "professional" politicians and career "civil servants" ........ because he knew that he did not have the experience to "go it alone" ....... he just didn't "know the ropes" well enough.

I think this was unwise from a "change" viewpoint, but he probably had little choice if he was going to quickly create a functioning administration.

I must say Obama's behavior on this issue is inconsistent with his campaign rhetoric.

Many possible reasons have been given by posters here ....

In a sense, the Congress is itself accomplices of all that has happened the last 8 years .... perhaps they fear self-incrimination.

Perhaps Obama is afraid of the shadow govt or the moneyed interests connected with Bush and the republican party?

FDR didn't have to contend with a military-industrial complex or a semi-private intelligence organization like the CIA.

Perhaps criminalizing a former president is just seen as too radical.

By resigning, Nixon insured that he would not be pursued or prosecuted for any crimes.

Not much help ..... but only time will tell.

Yeh, pop that milk-filled tit right into my mouth baby!

Sergeant Joe Friday

"The facts, mam, just the facts."

At a time when the Republican Party needs to expand its vision and its world, it pathetically now lets itself be defined by the smallest of entertainment/political worlds .... the mind of Rush Limbaugh.

They are committing suicide.

When we have ENTERTAINMENT ...... the electronic Coliseum.

Only what is given to them by others .....

The problem is not Limbaugh (who loves the attention and the money) ..... the problem is a segment of the american people who agree with him.