President is taking a peculiar position
The founding fathers had an inspiration for this the organization of this nation. The infrastructure of government set up by these men had it so that there would be three branches overlapping in authority, but none the less having specific tasks for which they were primarily responsible. On this point I would like to make some observation.
The Congress has its first responsibility to its state. That is the Representatives, and Senators are to be attentive to the people of their state as to give them their best work first as it applies in a national context. Allegiances to party and other leaders are to take a secondary role. The Supreme Court’s function is to uphold the laws of the land, and move in the spirit of those laws. Lastly, the key function of the Presidency was to watch over international affairs, treaties, wars, and such.
One could easily say that my statements here are a gross over simplification of the duties of these branches of the government, but I would argue that they should be accepted as foundational to the work to be performed by each arm of this triad. More than anything else I have observed is the massive overbearing position of the President’s Office. It is not specific to this administration only, but absolutely is applicable.
Of late, the office of the President has taken a peculiar position in this nation in the general sense of the word. More and more I see our president shrug off what was normally considered presidential duty, and take on the attributes of a state governor. Let me explain.
The President has taken the attack on the Pentagon, the World Trade Centers, and the plane destroyed in Pennsylvania, and relegated it to a criminal matter. He has taken the duties of an attack on this nation by foreign entities, and given it to Kings County New York to prosecute as a criminal matter. He has totally negated the aspect of a foreign invasion on American soil. Obviously, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1945 would have been viewed the same way, because civilians were targeted as well.
The Fort Hood incident I imagine will be taken from the military courts as well for similar logic. The question that comes to my mind is when exactly the President considers something to be of a military or international matter. Everything seems to be a local matter except the things that are local matters.
What exactly are local matters? If governing of a population’s medical care is actually necessary, the idea of it being done on a national level seems ludicrous. Local and state government are the ones that most attentive to the individual needs of the population, not Washington DC.
God save this nation from fools.
Bill, prior to 9/11, Terrorist activities WERE absolutely considered to be criminal acts, punishable by the appropriate courts that had jurisdiction over the place the crime took place. Hence, Timothy McVeigh was tried in Federal court because he attacked a Federal building. The previous WTC bombing was also, I believe, handled in normal criminal courts.
It was only after 9/11 that someone decided that these criminals were not punishable in criminal court, but were something else. Note that Pearl Harbor was attacked by a Nation using it’s armed forces, so the response had to be military in nature.
What about GWB’s insistence that He, and only HE, could designate “who” an enemy combatant was? Wasn’t THAT a gross violation of the Constitutional separation of powers that you are so enamored with? The whole issue of whether the Federal Government is “weak” or “strong” has been with us since 1789 when the First Congress was seated. It was presumed to be settled in 1865 with the military defeat of the Confederacy…something the former Confederate states have never accepted.
hs-
You’re right, prior to 9/11 Bill Clinton did treat terrorist attacks such as the 1993 WTC bombing as criminal acts. And on 9/11, we saw just how effective the Clinton policy was.
After 9/11, George Bush treated these scum as they deserved to be treated: as subhumam animals to be hunted down by our armed forces. Prior to 9/11, Germany, Italy, Israel and other countries (including the US) have used their armed forces against terrorist groups that have attacked civilians. But for some unknown reason, Obama has decided to grant some, but not all, of these foreign nationals (such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed) the full rights of American citizens! Some, but not all, of them will be tried in civilian courts, a process they have already said they will use as platforms to speard their malignant propaganda. Why is Obama doing this? Why are some being given civilian trials and others are being tried by military tribunals? Obama has no answer, an when asked last week by a Congressional panel AG Eric Holder could only produce incoherent and inconsistent babbling.
Don’t compare KSM and other terror detainees to McVeigh. Mcveigh was an American citizen, a civilian captured by local civil police. KSM is a foreign national, captured by the intelligence/military apparatus of a foreign nation and turned over to the US military. He has since been charged with war crimes, not a matter for civilian courts.
As properly stated by Debra Burlingame, whose brother was the pilot of the hijacked plane that crashed into the Pentagon, “We have a president who doesn’t know we’re at war”
hs,
I think there is an argument to be made that loaded airplanes being crashed into the WTC by radical Islamic terrorists are indeed a new type of military action. True, they had no uniforms. Al qaeda doesn’t either. However, the Major at Ft Hood did have a uniform. If anything, if it is proven that he worked or had contact with al qaeda, an argument for treason could be made along with the murder charges. The fact that it happened on a military base supports the argument. Thus a military tribunal would be in order. Just depends on the school of thought.
Bill
What else would you expect from “The Messiah”? The socialist ACORN lover with all the world apology tours he has taken, head buried in the sand and the biggest yellow streak up his spine this nation has ever seen (it is a tie now with Jimmy peanutman Carter), just continues trying to destroy The United States of America and everything it stands for.
There is not a sane person in his administration with Eric Holder leading the way. Bringing terrorists to American soil, is the biggest slap in the face to the ones that died on 9/11. “The Messiah” and all his Chi-town henchmen need to be removed from office.
Bill, why are you such a scared man? What is wrong with showing the world that we are still a nation of law? Only by bringing these people to trial will we be able to do that. In the meantime, I’m not willing to let you, magnum, get it? et. al. drag us back to the dark ages. Reason will prevail.
Pompous, passive-aggressive, holier-than-thou, armchair posturing. Oh, BTW: when Clinton left office he gave W a detailed report on the state of anti-terrorist activities in the US; W and his cronies promptly ignored it. So you can’t blame 9/11 on Clinton.
And I’d be curious to hear Mr. Corpora’s views on No Child Left Behind. Is he opposed to all federal intervention in what he considers state and local matters, or just those coming from democratic presidents?
Bill, I hope it was just a typo, but the attack on Pearl Harbor was in 1941, not 1945.
Skippy, his point is our constitution has a clear delination of responsibilities and how the executive branch is overstepping its authority.
You gotta love it. Stock market numbers rising as “The Messiah’s” numbers just keep dropping.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll
Ed, how is the executive branch overstepping it’s authority in this matter?
Ed and Bill,
Just what branch of Government do you think that the Department of Justices falls under?