Constitutional Crisis

[David Van Os]

The country is in a real Constitutional crisis over the warrantless wiretapping and spying on Americans. George W. Bush proclaims he is going to do whatever the hell he wants to do and the Constitution be damned. He has declared open war on the Bill of Rights. We're in the showdown that has been inevitable ever since the Bushites were allowed to get away with their Florida coup d'etat. This is the beginning of the fork in the road we've all feared but known in our hearts for the last 5 years was going to happen. Bush is daring the country to stop him from claiming unlimited executive power. If he gets away with this, our republican democracy will hereafter exist in name only. Many pundits will treat it as "just politics" and many of your friends and co-workers will be inclined to do the same. We can't let that happen. The people of America must rise up on this. Each of us now, is a minuteman (the real ones of 1776, not the semi-Klansmen who recently stole the name). Be Paul Revere; raise the alarm.

[Czolgosz]

1. k & r

[MagickMuffin]

2. I believe I went on a rant about this very issue!

Back in 2000, we were being told that if we didn't choose a president by such and such date we would be facing a constitutional crisis. It was being broadcast every day and night with the newly formed Bush/Rove Alliance Media.

Sad thing is that was the beginning of our Constitutional Crisis. It has been sliding into the dark ages ever since. Some of our Bill of Rights were already eroding due to the war on drugs, however it has gotten worse under the Bush regime. No doubt about it.

We need to express our outrage every chance we get, which is what I have been trying to do through my Com•Log•ic blog. It tries to inform people with as much humor as I can muster.

When we stand up together it makes it harder to bring us down.

Listening to the BushMoFoBot tonight proved to me that he is outta touch with the American people. If BushMoFoBot is not living in a bubble, then he has his head up his or someone else's A**.

[lvx35]

4. Good words, good words. :)

Especially the part about everybody doing what we can...maybe for you its humor, for somebody else its something else. All of this is important in the direct minute men sense, because these little things can have such huge impact. I mean think of Tim Berners-Lee, who created the Internet, and all the other people who did their little part in making it a reality. What an awesome tool against tyranny from a computer science nerd! Its all of us doing our part in what we can that is going to lay the foundation for a just Constitutional america in the 21st century.

[MagickMuffin]

9. Exactly

I mentioned the RNC protest last year which I watched on c-span. It was like being there for me except with a totally different perspective.
It was amazing to see all the unique signs, t-shirts, people chanting. I get goose bumps just thinking about it, I happened to have recorded all but a hour or so and it always makes me feel hopeful.
I also recorded and watched all the protest before and during the Iraq fiasco.

So, yes having technology has given us the tools to fight back, to have our voices heard. I have been using my skills to try and make a difference, and like you said if people can harness their talents together and independently we can make a difference.

[Poet Lariat]

3. Constitutional Crisis indeed...

Thank you David for posting this. The title of your post reminds me that our Constitution and Bill of Rights were created out of the written word – unambiguous words which were the building blocks of the concepts embodied in them.

As you stated just a few weeks ago, these concepts were written by our founding fathers, with the intention that they would last forever.

I think they are now in serious jeopardy.

Like every American, I support legitimate activities by our Government to protect us from future terrorism. That is its mandate and most fundamental of responsibilities under our constitution.

Certain tools have been provided to facilitate this “responsibility” to protect Americans, one of which is the use surveillance under certain guidelines and with special judicial oversight.

Unfortunately, the Bush Administration has taken it upon itself to act on a “new interpretation” of these words to fashion itself new constitutional authority. As we have learned, this has been happening for several years now but without the required judicial oversight or the oversight of anyone but themselves.

Let’s take a look at George Bush’s words from last week. Since this two sentence pronouncement was the vehicle by which Americans were informed of this change to the Bill of Rights, I think dissecting it is a worthwhile exercise.

GWB on wiretapping..."I have re-authorized this program more than 30 times," he said. "I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat from al Qaeda and related groups."

Look at the wording of the over-broad term "related groups". It says a lot.

Note that it does not say "groups related to al Qaeda", it simply states "related groups". With such a broad brush of a statement, I can only assume that he's referringng to a "broad range" of perceiveded threats all the way from terrorists (who he is supposed to spy on) to protesters, innocent citizen activists, political enemies, etc. (who he is not).

"I intend to do so for as long as our nation faces a continuing threat" tells us that he intends for this practice to continue indefinately - until all threats to our nation are removed.

Then consider what many countries were told by this Administration after 9/11 and what has been conveyed in no uncertain terms to many Americans ever since then: Everyone who is not “with us” is considered “against us”.

When you consider Bush’s current disapproval ratings at 60+%, those whom he may consider to be a threat could encompass the majority of the voters in this country. Some may say that this is a giant leap. I contend that the leaps have been made by Bushco and his Neocon cronies.

This same administration after 9/11 told us that the War on Terror was at its beginning and may be with us for many years into the future.

I can only surmise then that:
(1) With the revelations over the past few days of who is now considered a threat.
(2) With the public pronouncement of their new constitutional authority
(3) With the statement that this will essentially continue indefinitely
(4) With the administrations previous and ongoing “irresponsible” use of sensitive intelligence
(5) With the lack of any reasonable oversight
(6) With the track record of lies, misappropriation, corruption and lawlesness of this administration...

Anyone who believes in the rule of law, must see that we are truly in a Constitutional Crisis, one which must be remedied before it is taken even further.

These are my words and there's nothing ambiguous about them:patriot:

[MagickMuffin]

6. Well said Poet

You really took the time to dissect what is happening within the Bush Regime. They have always used mixed messages within their messages. The whole Orwellian themed DoubleSpeak. That is something they are very good at when it comes to rhetoric they are the pros.:crazy:

If anyone remembers last year during the RNC convention, hundreds of people were arrested and detained in unsafe conditions (an old bus depot) and held for over 48 hours, without the proper procedures that are put in place for our protections against this kind of behavior.

They were practicing their Constitutional Rights to assemble peacefully! Hell some people arrested weren't even part of the protest just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We can only hope that whoever is responsible for exposing all the inner workings of this regime will continue to do so, otherwise we will be left in the dark, and I for one don't like the darkness. :scared:

[Freedom_from_Chains]

12. I have been saying for some time on this board

That when the arrested Jose Pidilla in Chicago and held him without access to counsel, refused to arraign and charge him with a crime, and generally through the Constitution out the window, that there should be a million people protesting in front of the White House every day.

However, I was generally ignored as this being no real big thing. So, here we are.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

11. I think you are dead on the money

This is where we are at and I think it only gets worse from here on in. Look for the Democratic party to be declared unlawful.

[pat_k]

5. The Drum beat begins: Impeachment, Impeachment, Impeachment!

Can't be illegal when no laws apply to you!

They've made it clear that they believe 911 vested unlimited power in the Executive Branch -- Constitution be damned. A ticking bomb could be out there! Anything goes!

Actually, they've always believed that the righteousness of their small cadre justifies any action required to gain and wield power, 911 just enabled them to be more blatant about it.

To them, "We the People" has always meant "We the 'Right' People; We the Powerful and Superior." As superior beings, great wealth is their natural reward. Since no law defined by others applies to them, any avenue that yields their rightful rewards is open for their exploitation.

With every disclosure, more people are ready to jump on the Impeachment express. The I-word should be on everyones lips, particularly as we gather around holiday tables in the coming days.

Impeachment, Impeachment, Impeachment, Impeachment, Impeachment. . .

[pat_k]

7. Speaking of Pund-idiots. Here's a scoop: Buchannan calls for Impeachment!

Scoop: Pat Buchannan calls for Impeachment!

He broke in on Eleanor with

Why Doesn't Your Party Impeach Him if he's breaking laws?

Why not indeed?

You could argue that he meant "He must not be breaking laws or your party would be impeaching him," but I choose not to read it that way.

You know they are in trouble when they start blaming the Dems. Loved it when started blaming the Dems for the Iraq war (They didn't stop our steam roller rush to do this horrible thing! It's their fault!).

And, since ranking Dems didn't publicly object when they were briefed, they must have thought the Secret Domestic Spying was just hunky dory!

Of course, since it was all top secret, they COULDN'T SAY A WORD, but we won't think about that. (It's their fault! They didn't stop us from doing this horrible thing!)

[Poet Lariat]

8. I heard Buchannan's "impeachment" statement earlier

My wife drug me in from building the Greenhouse to replay it on the DVR. Made me question his motivation for such a statement. Wonder if he see's the handwriting on the wall and has decided to jump ship to go with a winner. Nahhh...I doubt it.

[pat_k]

24. Pat has exhibited a streak of morality on other occassions -- It's a real

...problem for him, directly conflicting with the reactionary right positions he has taken.

And, as I noted in my reply below, his outburst does expose the moral imperative here. He could have just as easily (and more effectively) said:

If Bush is committing crimes, why aren't the Democrats DEMANDING impeachemt!

[MagickMuffin]

10. Because the Democrats are NOT in control

I guess that would be my response.

Does he really believe that the Democrats could get this any serious consideration?

Why doesn't Pat get his own people to write up the articles for impeachment?

He would get more leverage than any Democrat could get, GO FOR IT PAT.

We would all be behind you!:eyes:

Edit: Hell the Repubs wouldn't even let the Democrats have a hearing room to conduct hearings on the Downing Street Minutes (it's more than a memo).
They have effectively shut the Democrats out of most all of the committee meetings!
This has happened over and over again under this Coup.

[pat_k]

23. And that was Eleanor's reponse, but they CAN do something. Open a mouth!

All the Dems need to do is open a mouth and CALL FOR Impeachment.

Whether or not they can get anywhere in the 109th Congress doesn't excuse them from the moral imperative!

Pat's outburst exposes that moral imperative. He could have just as easily (and more effectively) said:

If Bush is committing crimes, why aren't the Democrats DEMANDING impeachemt!

The Dems are once again falling into the same fatal trap they always do. They are allowing the rationalization "Can't Happen, So Don't Try" to stop them. Unitl WE ALL get past that barrier, we'll continue to look like (and be) wimps.

Excerpt from another post that addressed this:

There are strong reasons to "nip in the bud" any form of the notion that "We'll never Impeach Bush-Cheney, so we shouldn't waste our time trying to."

This type of rationalization is perhaps the biggest barrier to action we face on the center/left. It is very deeply ingrained. Over and over we allow appeals to "practicality" and "realism" immobilizes us. One of the primary reasons Democrats are viewed as wimps is their failure to "fight the good fights," come what may.

The reactionary right doesn't allow themselves to be blocked in the same way. Not long ago the "conventional wisdom" was that popular support would never allow Roe v. Wade to be overturned. They went full-steam ahead anyway and look how far they have gotten.

In our part of the spectrum, we get angry at people for being disengaged at the same time we are promoting their immobility with pronouncements of futility. We need to STOP IT!

People have a need to be effective. They have a need to ACT. No matter how small we think our chances for success are, we must take up the battles dictated by our principles and go for the BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).

Even if the ultimate goal is not achieved, there are ALWAYS wins and benefits along the way, not the least of which is simply engaging people in a common endeavor. (If you want people to get hooked on action, just meet their need to be effective by celebrating the interim achievements -- e.g., tracking the number of previously disengaged people we are involving).

Some call it confidence; some call it faith. The label doesn't matter if we understand how powerful it is to act from the knowledge that anything is possible.

[enough]

13. Yes, we've been in it since 2000, but this may be the one that

wakes up enough people to make a difference.

I hope those Senatorial phone lines are jammed this morning.

[pat_k]

27. And mountains of faxes being sent to greet them on January 3rd...

EVERY revelation is the last straw for more people.

Rest assured, this will not be the last!

I hope House and Senate phone lines are jammed -- in DC and at their offices back home (since home is where most are this week).

And, NOT JUST PHONES. I hope people are sending FAXES. They need to get greeted by a mountain of faxes when they get back on January 3rd.

Both Republican and Democratic members need to hear from everyone who knows there is NO ESCAPE from the moral imperative to act and demand Impeachment.

(And if we all talk to our friends, co-workers, and relatives as we gather around holiday tables, more and more people will understand the moral imperative!)

[sonias]

14. Constitutional Crisis - longer version

I'm going to post this longer analysis David sent to his discussion group because I think the extra detail is needed. This is a very important issue, and I think the wonks on this board like the meat.

Sonia

CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

George W. Bush has plunged the country into the kind of Constitutional crisis that was resolved in 1974 by the issuance of articles of impeachment against Richard Nixon and Nixon’s subsequent resignation. Make no mistake about it – the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution covers telephone communications, and warrants are required for wiretaps. (See for example, Berger v. New York, 388 U.S. 41 <1967>*). Federal judges can and do quickly issue warrants authorizing wiretaps whenever the government shows the need. George W. Bush cannot and does not claim that the judges have been stingy with such warrants; rather he claims that the legal and constitutional requirements simply do not apply to him. As if that were not bad enough, he also claims the authority to spy on peaceable American citizens who are engaging in traditional American freedom of speech and assembly. Make no mistake about this – Bush’s claim of the authority to wiretap Americans’ telephones without warrants and to spy on peaceful First Amendment activities is in brazen defiance of the Constitution.

George W. Bush’s arrogant claim that the "executive power" referenced in Article II of the Constitution authorizes him to override the First and Fourth Amendments is a declaration of war against the very notion of a Constitution, because if his claim wins out, then there are no longer any limits on what the chief executive can do, and we will be living under dictatorship instead of in a democracy. To George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Alberto Gonzalez, the Constitutional rights and liberties of Americans can be wiped away by a president’s executive decree – my dear friends and fellow Texans, a Bill of Rights that exists only at the sufferance of executive power is not a Bill of Rights at all, and an executive who claims such power is no longer the executor of Constitutional government, but has become by such actions an unconstitutional usurper. My words are provocative, because the situation is provocative when the U.S. president makes open war on the Bill of Rights that so many fearless American patriots sacrificed so much to preserve, protect and defend.

If Bush’s claim of the power to wiretap the telephone communications of Americans without warrants and to spy on peaceful American citizens is not blocked now, he will have prevailed in claiming that he can overrule our Bill of Rights by executive decree. There is no tomorrow on this one. There is no middle ground on this, no room for normal protocols. George W. Bush has declared that he has been wiretapping Americans without warrants, that he has the power to do so, and that he is going to continue to do so. He has declared that he is going to continue to spy on Americans’ freedom of speech and assembly. Bush has thrown down the gauntlet, and he has dared the people to pick it up.

A Texas Attorney General who understood that his job was to be the people’s lawyer would pick up that gauntlet. The Bill of Rights belongs just as much to the people of Texas as it does to anyone else in America. As Texas Attorney General I will fulfill my duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution, by fighting on behalf of Texans with every means and resource at my disposal against any and all such anti-constitutional federal usurpations. For example, I would move swiftly into the courts as the lawyer for the people of Texas to challenge the Bushite government’s defiance of the Bill of Rights and have their actions declared unconstitutional. The current Texas Attorney General clearly will not challenge them, since he is a Bushite mouthpiece and will not bite the hand of the master who appointed him to statewide Texas public office. Probably no other Texas public official will challenge them either; but under the Texas Constitution it is the Attorney General, more than other state office-holder, whom the people of Texas most depend upon to fight for their Constitutional rights and liberties; and I will do so against all comers.

_________________________________________

*United States Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark in Berger v. New York (1967): "They found ‘conversation’ was within the Fourth Amendment’s protections, and that the use of electronic devices to capture it was a ‘search’ within the meaning of the Amendment, and we so hold. …The purpose of the probable cause requirement of the Fourth Amendment to keep the state out of constitutionally protected areas until it has reason to believe that a specific crime has been or is being committed." (Justice Tom Clark was from Texas.) Justice Louis Brandeis, 77 years ago in Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928): "The progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage is not likely to stop with wire tapping. Ways may some day be developed by which the government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by which it will be enabled to expose to a jury the most intimate occurrences of the home. …As means of espionage, writs of assistance and general warrants are but puny instruments of tyranny and oppression when compared with wire tapping. …The makers of our Constitution…conferred, as against the government, the right to be left alone – the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men. To protect that right, every unjustifiable intrusion by the government upon the privacy of the individual, whatever the means employed, must be deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment."

Thank you David.

Sonia

[Lithos]

15. Thanks

Nice inclusion.

L-

[Poet Lariat]

16. Thanks Sonia

This definately "fleshes out" what David means by Constitutional Crisis.

[cyberpj]

17. Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'

Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml

[sonias]

18. Russ Feingold responds - "outrageous power grab"

Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis) responded to Gonzales' comments in an NBC interview this morning. "This is just an outrageous power grab," he said. "Nobody, nobody, thought when we passed a resolution to invade Afghanistan and to fight the war on terror, including myself who voted for it, thought that this was an authorization to allow a wiretapping against the law of the United States. "There's two ways you can do this kind of wiretapping under our law. One is through the criminal code, Title III; the other is through the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That's it. That's the only way you can do it. You can't make up a law and deriving it from the Afghanistan resolution. "The president has, I think, made up a law that we never passed," said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.).

There's a nice discussion going on DailyKOS as well:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/19/9649/0429
Gonzales: Congress Gave President The Authority To Spy On Americans


He made it up, he always makes thinks up. And his minions just cover for him. Not only is bush the worst president ever, Gonzales is the worst Attorney General ever as well.


Sonia

[smoogatz]

19. Excellent short post. Here's the key line:

"Bush is daring the country to stop him from claiming unlimited executive power."

Bingo. And, as you say, he's been working up to it since the day he stole the election in 2000.

[sonias]

20. And I say we must stop him

He has gotten away with way too much already. We can not allow this power grab to go unchallenged.

Sonia

[gulfcoastliberal]

21. Bush has crossed the Rubicon. Imperator of the American Legions

The republic is dead. The Senate and House will continue to exist, but only as a ceremonial tool of the executive and will not be able to exert real power, based on the past 5+ years. The Secret Service is the Preatorian Guard and I doubt they will take it upon themselves to select a new Emperor the way the Roman Praetorians did in the late period of the Empire.

From The Oxford History of The Roman World:

The Emperor and the Senate pp 158-159

"Tiberius indeed effectively transferred elections to the Senate in AD 15, leaving to the popular assemblies a mere ceremonial role. But those assemblies had by then lost any effective role even in legislation, which became in practice the field of senatorial decrees and imperial edicts, rescripts, and constitutions."

snip

"The de facto subordination of the Senate itself was exposed in its helpless nakedness when an ageing Tiberius removed himself to from Rome to Campania and then Capri for the second half of his reign and ruled the world through his letters and the agents of his will."

[David Van Os]

22. A new paradigm

The historical parallel fits so far. Now it's up to us to make a new paradigm. This time around, we restore the republic. Fight them 'til hell freezes over, then fight them on the ice.

[WestHoustonDem]

25. Mike Malloy sitting in for Randi Rhodes and ranting about it now!

:rant: :rant: :rant: :rant: :rant:

[pat_k]

26. Dems MUST get past "Can't happen, so don't try"

Wonderful Call to Action! (And I refer also to the longer version below.)

As I point out elsewhere, there is no escape from the moral imperative to act and demand Impeachment.

[wakemewhenitsover]

28. Bloggers are modern Pamphleteers!

[David Van Os]

31. Indeed - we all have to beThomas Paine.

[BamaBecky]

29. kicked and nominated

[understandinglife]

30. Welcome to DU. Thanks for your efforts as the crisis is totally real.

Peace.

[donheld]

32. Why is this stuck in the Texas forum

It should be in GD.

[crispini]

33. Hey!

"Stuck" in the Texas forum? 'Scuse me, but this is one of the busiest state forums on the site, and, um, because David Van Os is from Texas, and likes to post here? :think: