Month: October 2011

Constitutional Malfeasance Amendment

One of the most egregious flaws of the United States Constitution is that it failed to lay out specific, significant penalties for public officials and elected representatives who fail to abide by the requirements and limits of the Constitution.

The Founders naively believed that the people themselves would be both willing and able to defend their Constitution, and would be willing and able to punish Presidents, Senators, Representatives, and other federal officials who transgress against the Constitution’s limits on governmental power.

The result is a Federal government far, far, FAR larger and more intrusive into the people’s lives than the Founders could ever have contemplated in their worst nightmares. Depending on the issue, and depending on the situation, people of good will on the left, the center, and the right of the political spectrum have been outraged at the actions of Presidents, the Congress, and the Federal government in which we, the people have delegated a portion (but only a portion) of our rights, privileges and immunities, and have watched in horror as the Legislative, the Executive, and the Judicial branches of the Federal government have steadily arrogated power to themselves and steadily constrained and restricted the freedoms and liberties of the people.

We, the people, should fix that problem.

I propose the following amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Section 1. Constitutional malfeasance shall consist of the action of any elected, appointed, or otherwise authorized representative of the people of the United States who, while purporting to act under color of the legitimate powers delegated by the People to the United States government by this Constitution, approves any law or regulation, makes any ruling, finding or determination, or sets into motion any action or process of the United States government which violates or abridges the rights and privileges of any citizen of the United States.

Section 2. This Constitution shall be interpreted at all times according to the plain intent and common meaning of the words of this Constitution, and shall be interpreted at all times in a manner that restricts the activities of the government and preserves the liberties, rights, privileges and immunities of the People.

Section 3. The supreme Court of any of the Several States shall have authority upon presentation of satisfactory evidence under this article to make a finding of Constitutional malfeasance.

Section 4. The supreme Court of the United States and any such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish shall have authority upon presentation of satisfactory evidence, make a finding of constitutional malfeasance.

Section 5. Any citizen of the United States shall have standing to make a complaint of Constitutional malfeasance to any State court or any court of the United States, and the disposition of such complaints shall be disposed of in a serious and timely manner.

Section 6. Congress shall, by three fourths majority of both houses, be empowered to make a finding of Constitutional malfeasance by a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Section 7. Any person found to have committed Constitutional malfeasance shall, regardless of any subsequent disposition of the matter, from the date of the finding and forever more be ineligible to serve the United States or any State in any position of trust or authority; and shall from the date of the finding and forever more be ineligible to receive any salary, pension, payment, remuneration, or monetary benefit of any kind whatsoever from the United States or any State. Such ineligibility shall not be subject to review or appeal.

Section 8. Any Representative, Senator, President, Justice, Judge, or Officer of the United States who is found to have committed Constitutional malfeasance shall be fined no less than ten million dollars, such amount to be distributed in equal measure to any and all citizens of the United States whose rights and privileges were abridged or violated. Such fine shall be subject to review and appeal in the usual and customary manner for judicial appeals.

Section 9. Any Representative, Senator, President, Justice, Judge, or Officer of the United States who is found to have committed Constitutional malfeasance shall be imprisoned for no less than ten years. Such imprisonment shall be subject to review and appeal in the usual and customary manner for judicial appeals, however no person shall be released from imprisonment until and unless that person is found not guilty on appeal.

Section 10. Congressional authority under this Article shall be limited to that authority delegated to it by the People in Section 6, and that Congress may modify the amount of the fine described in Section 8, and the length of imprisonment in Section 9, except that neither the fine nor the imprisonment shall be less than that described in this Article.

Update: Performed some minor edits to the Amendment.

Our Vice President

Why is it that Democrats can say any damn thing that pops into their head (if it’s slanderous to Republicans, that is) regardless of the actual truth of the statement, and never, ever suffer any real consequences? The major media never calls on them to “apologize,” let alone suffer any actual consequences for their inveterate lying.

Joe Biden should resign as Vice President for his “rape is up” comments attacking Republicans. Somebody that egregiously, breathtakingly, criminally stupid should not be allowed to operate heavy equipment, let alone be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.

And don’t get me started about President “Goldman Sachs” “Let me be clear while I set up this false-choice strawman” Obama . . .

Palin and the two Republican Parties

There are, in fact, two Republican Parties.

One can be called the “Establishment Republican Party.” This includes most of the elected Republicans, the Republican Party organization, their corporate (crony) supporters and that (small) proportion of the media who are not full-blown collectivists. They are The Republican Party as we have come to know and not-so-love today.

The other might be called the “Main Street Republican Party.” This includes most of the people who actually vote for Republicans, in the hopes that the Establishment Republicans actually, this time, will come through on their campaign rhetoric of trying to return government to its proper Constitutional boundaries, and generally getting the government off of their backs. If you remember the old “Peanuts” comic strip, the Main Street Republicans play Charlie Brown to the Establishment Republican’s Lucy, who always pulled the football away at the very last second after holding it for Charlie Brown to kick.

Sarah Palin is one of the few prominent Republicans on the national scene who, when elected, did not defect from the Main Street Republicans to the Establishment. This earned her the scorn and enmity of the Establishment Republicans that, if anything, exceeded the vitriol she attracted from her natural enemies, the collectivists of the Democrat Party.

It is the Establishment Republicans who are now dancing joyously upon Sarah Palin’s political grave, after her announcement that she will not pursue the GOP Presidential nomination in 2012. Among the most vigorous of those dancers was Eric Erickson, an Establishment Republican operative who runs the web site redstate.org.

Stacy McCain has a post[*1] and an article[*2] up about Palin’s announcement.

This is the comment I posted on his blog:

I wonder how many people Erickson and the rest of the mindless knee-jerk snarkmeister Palin-haters sent away from the effort to unseat Obama, install a liberty-oriented Congress, and restore the Constitutional Republic?

Granted there were a lot of people who were engaged in Palin hero worship, but unlike most politicians, Palin herself wasn’t doing anything to encourage that. As far as I could tell, all of her public comments re-directed the attention back to the public policy issues and the problems faced by this country. Whenever she was asked if she was running, her response was consistently a variation on the theme of “I’m praying about it and talking to my family.” And surprise! her decision was based on prayer and what she thought was best for her family. What a tease! She’s obviously just in it for the money!

The Palin-haters of the right made the basic mistake of conflating the over-enthusiastic Palinistas with Palin herself. That’s the thing I found most frustrating and appalling. In the process, they may very well have successfully taken a sizable chunk of the liberty coalition and sent them to the sidelines. And the grave-dancing I’ve seen in various places in response to Palin’s announcement will keep a lot of people on the sidelines.

Everyone needs to remember that politics is people. People have feelings, and people have memories. You don’t burn sources if you’re a professional journalist, and you don’t burn political allies if you’re really interested in winning elections. Some Palinistas forgot this, but a whole bunch of Palin-haters on the right forgot it, too.

I hope we don’t all pay for decades for their self-indulgent juvenile spite.

The people who supported Palin now will decide who, if anyone, they will get behind for President in 2012. The antics of the Establishment Republicans both before and after Palin’s announcement will be a factor in that decision.

Actions, and words, have consequences.

Glenn Reynolds speaks “Truth to Power”

But really: If you’re not protesting against President Goldman Sachs[*1] , you’re not protesting against “Wall Street.”; You’re just a hack. Sorry. “The modern anarchists are just the far-left’s muscle. Look at when and where they show up, who they march with and for, and how carefully the press ignores them and their acts.”

The ignorant souls with their inchoate grievances who began to gather in Wall Street at the call of Marxists (Van Jones) and anti-Semites (Ad-Busters) either don’t realize or don’t care that they’re being used by the powerful to maintain their power–or they simply want to join the club of the powerful.

They are absolutely correct, that things are wrong and spinning further out of control. They are sadly and disastrously misled by the major media and their “leaders” as to the causes and the cures of our problems. The purpose of the Wall Street demonstrations is to maintain in power the very people who have caused the problems in the first place.

Crony Capitalism and the Media/Government Complex

Posted as a comment over at Big Government[*1]

There is a Media-Government Complex, even more dangerous and corrosive of liberty as Eisenhower’s “military/industrial complex” (which, if you actually go back and read Eisenhower’s speech–he’s warning against much the same crony capitalism that Palin highlighted once again in Indianola, Iowa.

Eisenhower:[*2]

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military/industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together. “

Palin::[*3]

“Ever notice how so many of them arrive in Washington, D.C. of modest means and then miraculously throughout the years they end up becoming very, very wealthy? Well, it’s because they derive power and their wealth from their access to our money – to taxpayer dollars. They use it to bail out their friends on Wall Street and their corporate cronies, and to reward campaign contributors, and to buy votes via earmarks. There is so much waste. And there is a name for this: It’s called corporate crony capitalism. This is not the capitalism of free men and free markets, of innovation and hard work and ethics, of sacrifice and of risk. No, this is the capitalism of connections and government bailouts and handouts, of waste and influence peddling and corporate welfare. This is the crony capitalism that destroyed Europe’s economies. It’s the collusion of big government and big business and big finance to the detriment of all the rest – to the little guys. It’s a slap in the face to our small business owners – the true entrepreneurs, the job creators accounting for 70% of the jobs in America, it’s you who own these small businesses, you’re the economic engine, but you don’t grease the wheels of government power.”

Me again:

We need to start HAMMERING the message of the Media/Government Complex. They are a single entity, working for a single goal: bigger, more intrusive, “more caring” government. He who has the gold, makes the rules isn’t democracy or a republic–it’s plutocracy. That’s what the Media/Government Complex wants. Plutocracy.

It’s not the conservatives and the Tea Parties who are defending “the rich.” (“The Rich” aren’t those hard-working entrepreneurs who have built businesses from nothing to something–it’s those parasites who have used their connections and old boys’ networks and the power of government to get an unfair advantage over the hard-working entrepreneurs, by the way–that’s another distinction we need to start making: between “The Rich” and “The Entrepreneurs.”) It’s the Media/Government Complex who are defending that parasitic kind of “The Rich.” Dismantle that unholy alliance, starve the beast of its food (money)–that’s the path to restoring liberty.

Don’t defend “our rich”– the entrepreneurs. Attack their “rich”–the parasitic crony capitalist plutocrats.

The problem is that much of the Republican Party is in fact in bed with the plutocrats. Not as much as the Democrats, but enough to let the Media/Government Complex demagogue the issue.

The Whip (or) Lookie, everyone! A Post!

When you’re too lazy/otherwise occupied to actually post an article, what do you do?

Link dump!

First, links with snark/pithy comment:
Thank Wal-Mart for your new bank card fee [*1] — The title should be: “Thank Wal-Mart And Senator Dick Durban For Your New Bank Card Fee” — it wouldn’t have happened without government intervention in the market.

Gunwalker: Under White House Control?- New documents reveal extensive White House communication with the ATF head behind the scandal. – Like Watergate, except an office break-in is a bit different than handing out guns to killers who then go out and kill, isn’t it?

Sunday Reflection: Changing the Constitution [*2] — I like the idea of banning U.S. Senators from seeking the Presidency . . .

Economic Growth, Not Income Redistribution, Is What Helps Us All [*3] — Well, yes, that’s what has worked since the 1600’s, not that the “progressives” have noticed . . .

Koch Brothers Flout Law With Secret Iran Sales [*4] — A classic, textbook hit piece. See if you can divine the author’s agenda. “Telling the truth” isn’t it. Sans Comment:
Barack Obama: Commute Killer [*5]

Alcohol Is The Enemy Of The Family And Civilization [*6]

New Kindle line to be offered at Best Buy, Staples [*7]

The Clear and Present Danger Posed by Space Captains [*8]

Post-Carbon America: Forget about ‘peak oil’ and global warming. What about two centuries from now, when we’ll really need help? [*9]

It ain’t a Tea Party [*10]

The Epic Fail of the Wall Street Protests [*11]

Blinding Red Lights: An interview with Jay Beeber [*12]

Furiously unraveling: Gun scandal still growing [*13]

Writer’s/SF Corner
National Novel Writing Month [*14] — November.

Running on Batteries: Introverts and Conventions [*15]

Being the Anti-Harry Potter is a Good Thing in Adult Fiction [*16]

Writing SF for Young Readers by Greg R. Fishbone [*17]

A reading list: Generation Ships [*18]

Your reactions to Doctor Who: The Wedding Of River Song [*19]

Does Great Science Require Great Science Fiction? [*20]

Emotional and Intellectual Closure [*21]

Douglas Hulick: Me, Myself, and the IE [*22] — In this context, “Internal Editor”.

Star Trek sequel update [*23]

Sport
Injury latest obstacle for SDSU’s Harris: Injured kicker an upbeat presence for 1-4 Jackrabbits[*24]

Beef Bowl wrap [*25]