Webb - Wrong on Detainee Trials
By Jason Sigger Monday Nov 16, 2009 2:00pm
When James Webb became a Democratic senator for Virginia in 2006 after beating George Allen, I thought it was a wonderful thing. Here was this former Reagan administration official and military veteran, recognizing that the Dem party had more potential for representing the great people of Virginia. I should have known that he was actually a conservative Democrat, at best, that it was too hard for him to hide his background. Talking Points Memorandum notes his view on the detainee trials in New York City:
"I have never disputed the constitutional authority of the President to convene Article III courts in cases of international terrorism. However, I remain very concerned about the wisdom of doing so. Those who have committed acts of international terrorism are enemy combatants, just as certainly as the Japanese pilots who killed thousands of Americans at Pearl Harbor. It will be disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive to try them as criminals in our civilian courts.
"The precedent set by this decision deserves careful scrutiny as we consider proper venues for trying those now held at Guantanamo who were apprehended outside of this country for acts that occurred outside of the country. And we must be especially careful with any decisions to bring onto American soil any of those prisoners who remain a threat to our country but whose cases have been adjudged as inappropriate for trial at all. They do not belong in our country, they do not belong in our courts, and they do not belong in our prisons.
"I have consistently argued that military commissions, with the additional procedural rules added by Congress and enacted by President Obama, are the most appropriate venue for trying individuals adjudged to be enemy combatants."
Now I don't know where Sen. Webb gets his history lessons, but I don't remember any Japanese pilots being tried in a military court for their attack on Pearl Harbor. In fact, the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal was, in fact, a specially appointed international court made up of (gasp!) civilians.
As for Webb's charge that a civilian court would be "disruptive, costly, and potentially counterproductive," exactly how is it beneficial that we hold these detainees for six to eight years as the military tries to figure out how it can impartially judge and convict these individuals without looking like a kangaroo court? It's not the military's job, Sen. Webb, to judge non-state actors such as these terrorists. They're base criminals - they need to be treated as such. Don't give them the benefit of being judged as "combatants" equal to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. They aren't worth it.
If Sen. Webb believes that these detainees do not belong in our country, courts, or prisons, then he ought to direct the US government to let them go free (although, ironically, the US government can't seem to get rid of those detainees that they want to release). But Gimto is still a US interest, a military court is still "our" court system, and it's our responsibility to use the rule of law - a foreign concept to many in Congress - to dispose of these cases.
The Repubs want us to be afraid of trying the Gitmo detainees in US courts, because not using special military tribunals might actually be the successful way to do this. Get behind your party, Sen. Webb. Either support the quick disposition of the Gitmo detainees or let them go free. This subversion of US and international law has gone on long enough.
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i was very disappointed to see rudy giu911ani and sen. webb take the same side in this debate. not the company i would want to be in.
i can see the former reagan appointee peeking out...
... with the dems only taking "strong" stances when it comes to walk hand in hand with their fellow GOPers, and offer a "mild" at best support for non-GOP approved policies.
This is not "Hoperific" nevermind "Changetastic."
to imply actions of a Senator elected in his or her own right
somehow is Obama's failure.
I thought Democrats should stand up to the President when they disagree, Tyler.
Ever since the "not enough time" excuse lost its lustre, you have been off your A-game.
I was referring to the Dem party, in case it wasn't clear enough .
With the democratic party..
For over 18 years the democrat party has been recruiting , funding and supporting Republicans or people with corporate republican wishes to run on the democratic ticket..
This is why the republicans are laughing their a.. off about it..
Just look at the Health bill.... Centrist Emanuel , Obama selected the republican blue dogs and other republicans to be on the committee.
So now just what did we receive for their interaction with the lobbyist , health ceo's and corporate heads of the Drug Companies..
Another corporate WRITTEN and sponsored bill for the continual transfer of money , power and control to them..
Democrats have become sheep , as the republicans did for their leaders in the Bush / Cheney administration..
While Bush and his criminal mob was cleaning our clock , these republicans were attacking democrats while defending Bush's administration corrupted and criminal actions and policies..
Bush was destroying our constitution , freedom , manufacturing plants , jobs , economy while transferring our wealth and power to these corporate Monopolies calling them Global Empires..
Now the democrats which have been loaded with more republicans or corporate republican thinkers then real democrats ,, are in charge and running the democratic party.. The progressives are now , including moveon.org is collecting money to run ads and punish democrat which have voted against this piece of BS called a health reform bill.
Kucinich which has more of the democratic principles and concerns for Americans in his little finger the then most of the blue dogs , centrists , and some of the progressive have combined..
So the d... democratic party which has been totally taken over and run by the republicans which had to run on a democratic ticket to help the right wing extreme party to keep control of the country.
Anyone trying to defend the policies which Obama and the democrats have forced down our throats in the name (ONLY) of change should start doing some research on just what is happening to our country.
The elected democrats are no longer real democrats but republicans or republican thinkers which have been elected on the democratic ticket with the help of people like Emanuel...
I will not vote for one of these democratic a.. holes if they paid me to..
I just hope that the Independent party of someone can recruit a candidate to run against these incumbents in 2010 and 2012.
Also Obama is kissing the a... of the republicans and corporations while he is pushing the republican corporate policies down our throats..
He has turn from every important campaign promise he made which would help main street , working class , seniors and the poor.
The Obama running our government is not the same Obama I voted for in 2008..
"Obama selected the republican blue dogs and other republicans to be on the committee."
I never knew the President had the power to appoint Senate committees.
.
what happens in Washington, allow the mild suggestion of knowing how it works before blaming something on the wrong person.
his civics class
http://www.readbangkokpost.com/business/Truma...
What Webbs would say if it was his son or a close friend of his which name was given to the military for a bounty from our government..
And like quite of few of these prisoners they were not even on a battle field unless you would call living in their country being one..
But By Bush's illegal invasion of their county and considering the whole world a battle field you could never get away from using that term..
I knew d... well when republican Webbs was elected on the democratic ticket, it was just another Blue dog or republican centrists taking a democratic seat..
Repub...LOLOL...no no....Repub...LOLOLOL...oh...ur killin' me...Republican turned DEMOCRAT!!! LOLOLOLOLOL! Like...like...Arlen...LOLOL...oh hohohohoh...heee...SPHINCTER...LOLOLOL....ahhahahahahaha!!...oh oh...make them stop!...heeheeheeeheeheee....
Are they prisoners of war or criminals? There's no such animal as an "enemy combatant".
All this newspeak would make Orwell ever so proud!
lawyers like Dougie Feith to cover the war crimes of Bush Co. If they had done this correctly, they could have issued a warrant for his arrest when they found out his name. But that would have revealed too many of the war crimes and stopped most of the war profiteering.
And this is why they are pushing their BS 24/7 to stop any type of trial or investigation into these so called prisoners and the method in which they picked them up
If you remember Bush / Cheney / CIA and other government agencies were illegally picking up these so called prisoners and illegally transporting them through the air space of other countries..
Here another thought.... Why was a soldiers convicted of a war crime for just putting a gun to a prisoners head and telling him he will be shot.... And the two soldiers from WVA which took everyone that they were only following orders from these war contractors which were calling the shots
While Bush / Cheney / Rove and other criminals in the previous administration are still walking the streets and not even an investigation was started into their treason , torture , illegal spying , thief and their ties to the corruption with multi billions of Americans dollars involved with the war contracts given to them without even a bid.. We know that Feinstein would not open her mouth because her husband make a killing on the war contracts given to the war contractors he was tied to..
We will never know just how many American were killed by the outing our convert CIA agent Plame that were in her net work.. in Iran..
Americans have become weaker in standing up and protecting our democracy , freedon and rights from these military industrial complex which is now controlling and running our government and lives then foreign countries like Iraq , Afghanistan and others..
for stating the obvious.
THEY want to be considered soldiers - but they aren't. They are criminals, common criminals.
If they were combatants deserving of military trials, then they are combatants for some state and we should be at war with that state. Since they are not soldiers fighting for Egypt or the Saudis, then they are just criminals - and should be treated as such.
Republicans are so damn afraid of everything.
... a bad way to go thru life.
which are running our government are doing this to control the Americans citizens and our country...
United we stand and divided us we fall... Well they have cerainly divided us in the past 20 some years..
Look at the way Obama , Emanuel and the democrats have turn on and attack the very base which funded , supported and voted for them..
Now they say the hell with us..while they take billions of dollars from the lobbyist and pass their policies..
Do you think the majority of people in this country can see and are prepared to do something about it besides complain?
If I recall correctly the bush administration said these people were not uniformed soldiers so the Geneva Conventions did not apply to them. So if they are not uniformed soldiers, how could they be tried by a military court? Seems to me if they aren't considered soldiers, they must be considered "criminals" and tried in a civilian court.
The republicans are all about fear and costs these days. Fear is what they have used on the American people for a long time now in this country that is supposed to be the home of the free and the brave.
route, because any lawyer worth their weight in salt... will then be able to question:
a) the jurisprucence of any American court in prosecuting a foreign citizen, snatched for their homecountry sans an extradition procedure
b) that even if the American court can rule jurisprudence (and thus completelly ignoring international law, which would dissipate any sort of standing that our country had left in the international community). Then they defense will be then be able to invoke the US constitution and the guidelines that it provides for a speedy brought of charges as a requirement for a trial to not be nullified.
As usual, Bush et al managed to f*ck this beyond belief.
Likes of these so called prisoners names were sold to the US military by persons which received money to do this.. Bush and lots of government officials no longer wish anyone to here what the true facts are about these prisoners..
So many of the prisoners could be as innocent as you or me and their names were given to the military for the MONEY>>>
This is also why I do not like our government giving immunity to criminals for their crimes if they get them information to convict someone..
Also most of this torture , and control over these prisoners was done by these war contractors of Cheney's friends like Blackwater and Halliburton,, and they do not want the world to see their criminal crimes and actions..
Our military is being used by these Global corporations to gain as much power and wealth of the world as quickly as they can and before we can stop them....
Looks as if Obama , through the directions of Emanuel and what ever group ,, is starting to look more and more as a corporate plant.. He jobs is to finish the transfer of our wealth and power to these Global Monopolies before Americans find out what is happening and turn on the democrats..
nullify the immunity from prosecution clauses of the contracts Blackwater, etc., have with the US government? Interesting to think about, isn't it?
Made me mad as hell the way they completed their dictatorship and Pelosi and he democrats sit on the a.. and did nothing about it..
But now Obama and the democrats have no excuse and they are censoring proof of the prior administration's crimes ,, while stopping any investigation into their criminal crimes.
To me I believe the democrats have betrays us more and that even makes we twice as mad..
We gave the democrats all they needed to correct and cleanup the crimes and destruction by the previous administration and what do they do <>
While campaigning Obama used different actions or quotes from persons of the past ,,which would show the results from different types of action...
He also Said that we are a nation of laws.. But once he took office ,, Obama says we should not look back... and let bygones be bygones..... What a crock of BS... Than lets say the same about the prisoners in our jails and tell them to let bygones be bygones and set them free...
then by what authority does the government have to prosecute anyone for anything? Certainly not any moral authority, because to have that they must righteously prosecute ALL those who break the laws. Not by constitutional authority, because "all men are created equal," supposedly? There is No excuse for not pursuing the prosecution of Bush Co. for war crimes and war profiteering. I, for one, still want to know who attended Cheney's meeting with oil company executives. I don't care what he remembers or doesn't remember. Someone, somewhere knows what went on then.
Sit down and shut (the fuck) up, you pretend to be in charge but you are not. When it is your turn to stand up, the President will let you know.
the notion that new york is incapable of doing this is highly insulting...fuck you webb
I fear that we are going back to the bad ol' days of the Rahm Emanuel strategy of trying to get elected by Democrats pretending to be Republican. Just idiocy. Demonstrably ineffective, self defeating idiocy.
uncle!
Republicans fear mongering about prisoners is as stupid as Republican racism, Republican exceptionalism, and Republucan war mongering, just to name a few.
There is a rock solid pattern here.
Webb is part of it.
"...They're base criminals - they need to be treated as such. Don't give them the benefit of being judged as "combatants" equal to our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. They aren't worth it..."
How does he know this? Because the CIA told him so? Or was it the US Army who captured civilians.... somewhere? who told Webb they (prisoners) were criminals.
PROVE IT!
What ever happened to Innocent till Proven Guilty?
I think every person who runs for Fed office should be required to read our Constitution aloud, on camera, to a live audience. Then when they spew or spray or spit their Lies About the Law, we'll have a video of them reading the truth.
Webb: "I have never disputed the constitutional authority of the President to convene Article III courts in cases of international terrorism."
Where is that law? Certainly he's not talking about Article III of the Constitution where it reads (as modified by the 11th amendment):
I don't know where Webb finds any judicial authority by the military or the executive branch.
...that's why it is "undisputed". Huh.
You got snagged by a trick ending.
Webb makes no sense because he has ulterior motives.
A crook. A chump like Cheney.
BTW - Cheney should be out squacking this week. where is he? I guess he doesn't recall.
. . . daughter Liz suggested him for President.
... and I suggest Dick and Liz both eat shit and die. Or they could go Cheney eachother.
She has her Father's Sneer? Awwww!
Plus she is also gifted with her father's ability to lie like a snake and spout bs at a rapid rate.
- in a single bound, stop a bullet in her teeth?
No, of course not. That's Obama ;-)
if Liz inherited the supreme gun aiming skills of its dad.
Oh you know she did. I bet she can hit a lawyer at five feet holding the gun in one hand and a beer in the other.
Impressive none the less..
Not free range for sure but probably one who has something clipped or some body part in the wringer. The kind that would say, "I'm sorry" for getting in front of Ms Cheney's bullet.
in her teeth. Maybe she CAN.
She must have caught something in her teeth because she keeps spitting out a lot of bullshit.
Which set of teeth?
it's the timing that'll kill ya.
eat shit and LIVE............
right. Now it's time to start erasing the bad Dems from the chalkboard, and adding the Better Ones to office.
by voting republican. With Dems there is always "another election" that needs to happen to get things done. I am a firm believer in instant gratification when it comes to get screwed!
At least the Democrats say "I love you".
That was way back in the 90s. They no longer give us the pat in the head, nor the platitudes. They figgured the GOP non-stop rape for the past decade made our rectal cavity big enough as to no longer require foreplay.
"I should have known that he was actually a conservative Democrat, at best..."
Yup. You shoulda. And you prob'ly shoulda never expected Obama to do anything but lovingly lick the hands that lifted, curried, clothed, bruushed, fed and cosseted him and set him atop the FUUKING world, either...
loathing for his KKK endorsed opponent.
If it is an enemy combatant, then it is a soldier. Since the war is over (we are not fighting a government), then they need to go back home.
If they are not soldiers and/or they are considered *potentially* guilty of a crime then they are criminals and that means they belong in court.
Military commissions only exist in banana republics. I would even argue that they should not exist for the military either (again for criminal proceedings).
I wonder if a single Republican knows anything about this.
How do you differentiate between a so called soldier that is part of a little militia group not supported by any government vs one that is? What word is there to describe a govt sanctioned soldier vs a cell of a NGO?
Are the Michigan militia's members soldiers - are we at war with ourselves?
Who are we at war with? I remember Saddam and Bathists opponents for about 23 minutes but since then who are we fighting, who do we sign the armistice with? Who trots on the Ronald Reagen to surrender to us? When?
their fucking country from barbarian invaders, killers who don't speak their language, don't respect their families, lives, or customs.
who kill innocents and the guilty equally without compunction?
How do you say "Red Dawn" in Pashtu?
Ya, So we're not about to compromise on behalf of a bunch of panic stricken Republicans.
Republicans are no longer viable.
for over half a century. We did it openly by supporting Israel all the time, and we did it "secretly" by supporting vicious curs like the Shah of Iran, Saddam, the Saudi Royal Family, and others.
The people there know this, even if Americans are too stupid to believe and too deluded to understand it.
I think the most obvious lesson is the "Made in USA" stamped on the bits of missiles found in their destroyed homes.
our humungous, stupendous, amazing Fortress-Embassy in Bagdad! The one that was crumbling and rotting before it was even finished. Slaves these days! Can't even build an Embassy right.
That's the only way they can claim, retroactively, that they were justified in capturing, imprisoning, torturing, and the humiliating them to begin with...
As a practical matter Webb is right .That's my opinion . Sometimes it's better to be a realist rather than an idealist , I think this is one of those rare instances . This already has "cluster flock and trouble" written all over it .
The one that exists, or the one the Bushies made up after 9/11? Seriously. This whole fracas is starting to operate as a Rorschach test for spinal integrity. These 'detainees' don't have magical powers. And according to the foundations of our system of government, no one can be held without trial. Habeas corpus; remember that? If you arrest someone, you have to accuse them of something and bring them to a speedy trial. Either these 'suspected terrorists' have committed crimes or they haven't. Try them in open court and be done with it. Is the US really just a nation of pampered cowards now? Have a couple dozen jerks with boxcutters successfully turned us into sniveling, pants-soiling reactionaries?
yep.
Kreskin just needs to wake fully from the Bush debacle to see clearly again.
or torturing POWs and/or Civilians?
No, no, no... that was "enhanced interrogation"! Haven't you listened to NPR? The jumper cables to the testicles really enhances interrogation, let me tell you.
It is the appropriate way - risk or not.
So, four of them definitely should stand trial in NYC, but what about the other 600 who we don't even have charges for? I have a feeling we will eventually buying them nice new double-wides in Montana.
Well at some point they will have to deal with it to make things as 'right' as possible after all the bushie crimes.
Bush and Cheney, et al., this tidbit of a trial for KSM, and then say it will be best for the country to just let the past be the past. Or, perhaps we can set up a military tribunal, ala Nuremberg, and hold the trial in Germany, thus raising the status of the terrorists to the level of Goering and Himmler, and all the rest of those war criminals. This will assure the gullible that MAJOR steps were taken in retaliation for 9/11 and Bush Co. will get to keep their freedom and their money.
God the bush administration left a whole lot of piles of poop for this administration to deal with. Seems the only thing the bush administration completed was the theft of the economy. There is no quick and easy answer to Gitmo but the sooner we start the fair process the sooner it will be one less pile of poop.
-the air for the wind to carry away? Maybe that is what this Admin is doing with all the shit BushCheney left behind. There is NO PONY, that's for sure.
There's no pony? Didn't someone promise us one if we just supported the invasion of Iraq? Ha! They didn't fool me. I knew there was no pony and the invasion of Iraq was a crime in my opinion. I still feel that way.
Repigs even created their very own virus!
To escape responsibility for the bushevik clusterfux...
The Pukes arranged--what, you think Palin was a "mistake"?--, and the Dims gleefully took control--over the worst collection of effectively insoluble crises, castrophes and the aforesaid clusterfux ever to be assembled under one Government in the history of the WORLD.
Nobody claims Bush wasn't hated. Even white people hated him. So the idea, of course, of giving the angry white people somebody other than another white guy to hate, for a while, was brilliant!
Either Hillary or Obama would have sufficed...
Let me rephrase that: I wish Hillary was a loose cannon.
The best way for Republicans to overcome their fear and hate is to confront it head on. But they're too paranoid and spiteful to even start.
If the republicans lose the fear factor what the hell will they have to run on?
in that embarrassing Star Trek episode. Only without the "Good Kirk".
William Shatner deserves a big award just for existing.
This is a debate that should not exist. Gitmo should have been closed as soon as Obama took the oath of office, and the cowards who set it up and put all those kidnapped taxi drivers and shepherds in there should have been put on trial.
Remember? He definitely signed a bill or a napkin or something to Officially Close Gitmo. I saw it on TV. Fox snews was mad about it.
a lot more conservative Dems now that the GOP has gone hardcore rightwing. The problem is, if they flood our party it will slant even more to the right which would end up leaving only the rightwing.
Imagine three scales. One large scale with two smaller scales balanced on each end. The large scale represents the country while the two smaller scales represent the two parties, with the Dems being on the left and the Cons on the right. If the two parties stay balanced, the larger scale stays balanced. If half the people from the scale on the right rush to the scale on the left, it will throw it out of balance to the right. If, at the same time the other half of the people on the right scale go even farther to the right, it sends that scale all the way to the right. With both of the smaller scales all the way or tilting to the right, the larger scale ends up going to the right too. And even if enough Cons come to the left to balance the larger scale, who cares? They're Cons.
Does that make any sense at all or am I just rambling?
What was that middle part again?
Same here. What was that part in the middle? That was a large scale comment for this late in the day and my mental capacity this close to the beginning of happy hour.
to use jiggers instead of scales. Then we could probably follow it!
Use olives and then when the point has been made, we can have snacks.
I just watched Palin on Oprah's show so after and hour of that, a cocktail sounds extremely good.
You made it through the interview without having cocktails? You've definitely earned the beverage of your choice.
if the right gets to make the decisions for both parties, the whole country will be forced to the right.
how much further do ya think it's gonna go?
chuy! you talk like it's something to guard against an not something to undo...
It's gonna get worse.
I am visualizing Lady Liberty, blindfold & all, dropping the scales and kicking them into the briny deep. But those are the scales of Justice, not Politics.
Yeah let's send the terrorist the message that we are so weak we can't even try a suspected terrorist in our courts without wetting our pants and having panic attacks nation wide. Yeah, I bet that would scare the hell out of them and make them determined to never try another attack here.
Jesus!
I recall being shocked, and absolutely furious, and wishing I had an American Flag to show as most of my neighbors did. But I lived in California. I'm sure it was thousands of times more traumatic for New Yorkers, but I didn't see any squealing in terror from them, at the time, later, or now.
I was filled with all sorts of emotions from frightened to angry. I did put my flag out that morning as just a sign that I wasn't as afraid as the attackers might want me to be.
and there is a label on the bottom of the screen that says, "Scare Tactics." Too funny.
Demographics and characteristics often come in handy to infer ones underlying political ideology. Is the head of the DNC from VA? I believe Carter Glass was from VA as well... "Lynchburg" was it?. Can we get the DNC leader's opinion... Hillary did not seem enthused herself, IMO
S. 714:
National Criminal Justice Commission Act of 2009
I say we lay the cards on the table and see what we're made of. √
is pretty much a turn coat. I don't even remember what it was that he did but I put a ding in his armor and that intuition I had is turning out to be correct. This guy is not a progressive at all. He looks more like a real republican
I've been thinking the same thing. There was something earlier that Webb took a stand on and at that time I said, Ut oh. I just cannot remember what it was.
it is amazing that jim webb used the japanese pilots at pearl harbor as a anology because just like the pilots in ww2 the american gov't knew they were coming and let them kill innocent americans so as to start a war.
meme in a long while. What the heck, every thing cannot be blamed on Obama. Not Pearl Harbor. Wait, he claims he was born in Hawaii. Were his grandparents Nip spotters?
You forgot to take your lithium today?
I phone banked for this guy. I feel like a sucker
Sen. Webb doesn't appear to know the definition, history or context of justice. The senator is begging the question as to whether he understands the constitution in it's most basic (precedent included) meaning. War was declared on Japan. There has been no war declared by our country since, has there?
I forgot, the war on poverty? How's that going? 49 Million people aren't eating properly or enough.
I forgot, the war on drugs? How are those contributions from the dealers helping our congressfolk?
I forgot, the war on terrorism, we are still fighting the jingo derived word and have nothing at all to show for it.
So many wars, so forgetful that we have lost all of the ones we have been in since 1945. Where were you in history lessons Sir?
He's correct on the Article 3 point.
He is not so correct on the symbology.
Symbology goes a long way.
C
not only want you to be afraid,I'd bet dollars to donuts that they're praying something really awful happens as a result of trying these guys in NY.Cause that's just the kind of people they are.
Thank the voters that they are out.
If anything were to happen on Republican watch there would be unnecessary mayhem and loss of life. Just look at what happened on Bush's watch. that can never be allowed to happen ever again. I think this kinda wraps it up for the Republican party.
The MSM doesn't acknowledge the fact, but then they are still babbling about Sarah Palin as if she were a real politician. That says it all about them.
signed into law by President Harry S. Truman, and became effective on 31 May 1951.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) was enacted by Congress in 1950 (10 U.S.C.A. § 801 et seq.) to establish a standard set of procedural and substantive criminal laws for all the U.S. military services. (It went into effect the following year.) The UCMJ applies to all members of the military, including those on active duty, students at military academies, prisoners of war, and, in some cases, retired or reserve personnel. The UCMJ changed Military Law in several ways, especially by providing substantial procedural safeguards for an accused, such as the right to be represented by counsel, to be informed of the nature of the accusation, [to remain silent], and to be told of these rights.
----------------------------------------------------------
I still have a hard time understanding why we have two bureaucratic entities to implement our United States jurisprudence. In general it seems the Uniform Code of Military Justice/U.C.M.J. Hey... where is the blindfold. ;) Presumably it was created primarily to treat all branches of our armed services the same, and like bureaucracy's often tend to do, it expands from there. :-/
Supposedly an adherent to our United States Code/U.S. Code. Like I've stated before... we have right and wrong and the further we move away from common law and lean on our constitution... or at least what's left of it, the better off we'll be. We had some fascist type BS going on back around the middle of the last century. Sure we had god put on some of our money dating back to the civil-war era(The motto first appeared on a United States coin in 1864 during strong Christian sentiment emerging during the Civil War) because some people thought their success was dependent on a sky-daddy... like this.
The Blue Dogs are viewed by some as a continuation of the socially conservative wing of the Democratic party prominent during the presidency of Harry S Truman.
President Truman signed the first National Prayer Day proclamation... President Reagan made it a permanent occasion! Under Bush, the day was a political event.
In God We Trust did not become the official U.S. national motto until after the passage of an Act of Congress in 1956. **(It became the official state motto of Florida in 2006 under a law signed by Governor Jeb Bush)... Pledge of Allegiance(Only in 1954, after lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and other religious groups, did Congress tamper with the pledge, ruin the rhythm and divide our previously indivisible nation by inserting ‘under God.’)
The Stupak amendment, deconstructed [UPDATED]
"they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them" --Barack Obama ♥
When will the crusades and jihad's stop? :-(
It's OK if Webb wants to disagree with one of the President's policies, as long as he votes with the Party on legislation.
I've tried to get worked up over this KSM trial, but it just doesn't matter that much to me where he's tried that we should burn any capital on it.
... is that he honestly represents his constituents and himself. If any of them do otherwise... this Democratic republic as prescribed in our constitution will suffer, and in turn "We The People" likewise. IMO
Though frustrating, I would not expect to see the same symmetry in the (D) party as opposed to what seems to be prevalent in the (R) party, fellowship or equivalent ideology.
I share the opinion of author Daniel Dennett, in his book... freedom evolves.
Dwight D. Eisenhower preceded by Harry S. Truman
Billy Graham had been summoned to the Eisenhower campaign by Carlson
(This period of Graham's career might be called his oil phase. In 1953, with backing from yet another oil baron, he would release a feature film called Oiltown U.S.A., a tribute to the free market's ability to foster the virtuous exploitation of God-given resources.)
Carlson called Graham to the Chicago GOP convention for an off-the-record meeting. "Carlson had sold Eisenhower on the idea that I could contribute a religious note to his campaign speeches," Graham would recall.
"As soon as the election is over," Eisenhower promised, "I'll join a church."
Thank you Jeff Sharlet... THE FAMILY
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