As much as possible, I've resisted Bush-bashing since he was ushered out of office. He's gone, let's go forward I figure. But certain legal memos of the Bush Administration, released yesterday, really are truly frightening. Michael Isikoff from Newsweek gives an example: In perhaps the most surprising assertion, the Oct. 23, 2001, memo suggested the president could even suspend press freedoms … Read More
To Boldly Split Verbs Where No One Has Split Them Before
Did Chief Justice Roberts mess up the Constitutional oath? Or was he just a stickler for proper English grammar? The oath says "…will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States…". Roberts prompted Obama to say "…to execute the Office of the President of the United States faithfully…" But this op-ed suggests that Roberts simply was using … Read More
Was Condaleeza Rice Our First Black (and Woman) President?
Section 1 of the 20th Amendment: The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of … Read More
SCOTUS Rejects Obama Birth Case
First Read reports: The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take up a case that questioned whether President-elect Obama met the Constitution's requirement that only a natural-born citizen is eligible to be president. As is the court's usual custom, the request to take up the case was denied with no explanation. I blogged about the petition here. David Horowitz is … Read More
Supremes To Hear al-Marri Case
Background: al-Marri is a citizen of Qatar. He was in the United States, studying at Bradley University. He was arrested in Peoria, Illinois, in December 2001 on charges of credit card fraud, identity fraud, and a few other things. This charges were dropped when Bush declared him an "enemy combatant" in 2003. He's been sitting in Naval Consolidated Brig, Charleston in South … Read More
Challenge To Obama’s Presidency In The Supreme Court
This is wingnuttery at its wing-nuttiness. Even most right wing blogs think this is stupid. But it is out there. I'm talking about the claim that Obama isn't qualified to be President, because he is not a U.S. citizen. Some desparate people believe it, like Shiv Zieve, who writes a column entitled "Obama Too Important For The Supreme Court": President-elect Barack … Read More
BTW, It’s Unconstitutional For Hillary To Become Secretary Of State
Not that anyone cares. But, technically, she really can't become SoS. Not legally. It's because of a rather obscure clause in the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 6) called the Emoluments Clause, which reads: No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, … Read More
It’s A Control Thing
Orin Kerr asks "Why Do Conservatives Care So Much About The Courts?". He notes that a public survey shows that: When it comes to how they will vote in November, Republican voters say that the type of Supreme Court Justices a candidate would appoint is more important than the War in Iraq. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found … Read More
Obama Change (Gitmo Version)
Already Obama is gearing up to reverse the Bush position with respect to Gitmo detainees. Unlike Bush, who doesn't believe in the right to a speedy and fair trial is part of those God-given rights that we hold to be self-evident, Obama is… …quietly crafting a proposal to ship dozens, if not hundreds, of imprisoned terrorism suspects to the United States to … Read More
A Quick Message To Wingnuts
Guys, Obama isn't going to touch your guns. And he's not going to take away right wing talk radio. He's really not. You want to know how I know that? Because Obama is a constitutional scholar. Unlike you wingnuts, or the Bush Administration, he's actually read the document. He's studied it. He taught it for several years. So he knows … Read More
More On Palin’s Constitutional Scholarship
Hopefully you've heard by now Palin's blunder. It boils down to this: Media Criticism of My Criticism of Obama = First Amendment Violation Brian Beutler says that Palin has a "third grader's understanding of Constitutional rights" and asks: If the conservative media convinces enough voters that Barack Obama is a Muslim, does that violate his right to freedom of religion? … Read More
Jesus F*&*!&@ing Christ!! For The Love Of God, Will Someone Please Hand Sarah Palin A Copy Of The United States Constitution?!? (Part XXIV))
Here's her latest bizarre quote, from today: Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, … Read More
The Latest Drudge-Driven Attack
Hyped by a Drudge article, the conservative websites and the McCain campaign are attacking Obama over this, a radio interview on September 6, 2001, by then state legislator Barack Obama. You can hear a heavily edited version on Youtube (this is what the conservatives are drooling over, but if you click on my first link, you'll see access to the entire … Read More
Required Reading
For constitution and "war on terror" geeks only: Dworkin’s article in The NY Review of Books explaining the historic significance of last month’s SCOTUS decision in Boumediene v. Bush. It’s too detailed to summarize here: just read it.
War Powers
I know the Constitution is, in places, ambiguous, but this language seems pretty straightforward: The Congress shall have power… to declare war… That’s Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution. It’s the "War Powers Clause". The dirty little secret is that Congress, in all its history, has only declared war five times: the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), … Read More