Twist_U_Up
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:00 PM
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The First Lie by John C. Bonifaz
While all of the Democratic presidential candidates (except Sen. Joseph Lieberman) criticize President George W. Bush for his unilateral recklessness in starting a war against Iraq, they are missing a larger point: The invasion was not just reckless. It was unconstitutional.
It is time to set the record straight. The United States Congress never voted for the Iraq war. Rather, Congress voted for a resolution in October 2002 which unlawfully transferred to the president the decision-making power of whether to launch a first-strike invasion of Iraq. The United States Constitution vests the awesome power of deciding whether to send the nation into war solely in the United States Congress.
Those members of Congress-including certain Democratic presidential candidates-who voted for that October resolution cannot now claim that they were deceived, as some of them do. By unlawfully ceding the war-declaring power to the president, they allowed the president to start a war against Iraq based on whatever evidence or whatever lies he chose. The members of Congress who voted for that October resolution are as complicit in this illegal war as is the president himself.
Imagine this: The United States Congress passes a resolution which states: "The President is authorized to levy an income tax on the people of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to pay for subsidies to U.S. oil companies." No amount of legal wrangling could make such a resolution constitutional. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution grants the power to levy taxes exclusively to the United States Congress.
Now let us turn to reality. In October 2002, Congress passed a resolution which stated: "The President is authorized to use the Armed Forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to 1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and 2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." As he determines to be necessary and appropriate.
Congress cannot transfer to the president its exclusive power to declare war any more than it can transfer its exclusive power to levy taxes. Such a transfer is illegal. These are non-delegable powers held only by the United States Congress.
In drafting the War Powers Clause of Article I, Section 8, the framers of the Constitution set out to create a nation that would be nothing like the model established by European monarchies. They knew the dangers of empowering a single individual to decide whether to send the nation into war. They had sought to make a clean break from the kings and queens of Europe, those rulers who could, of their own accord, send their subjects into battle. That is why the framers wisely decided that only the people, through their elected representatives in Congress, should be entrusted with the power to start a war.
The wars of kings
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ck4829
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:01 PM
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1. That's a funny picture. LOL. |
DemInDistress
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:02 PM
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2. does Syria and Iran come under this umbrella? |
eleny
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:03 PM
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3. I always think his first lie was in 2000 - "I'm a uniter, not a divider" |
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From that lie flowed the ability to commit the rest.
Good article, btw. Thanks for posting it!
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RC
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Sat Nov-12-05 12:02 AM
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10. Another lie was when he took the Oath of Office and |
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swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.
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texpatriot2004
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:04 PM
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orpupilofnature57
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:05 PM
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5. He side steps the law at every juncture , which is covered up by MSM... |
vogonity
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:10 PM
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6. This is exactly how I feel |
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And I was never able to express it properly. Thank you for doing so.
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Twist_U_Up
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:20 PM
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7. This is from John Bonifaz |
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a well known Constitutional Lawyer and soon to be Congressman in Mass.
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merbex
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:38 PM
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9. Actually, I think he's running for MA Secretary of State |
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Which is good,because then I'll get to vote for him; the whole state can vote for him - not just one district
Lucky us
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vanboggie
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Fri Nov-11-05 10:34 PM
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sandnsea
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Sat Nov-12-05 12:17 AM
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11. Congress does not order war |
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The President is the Commander in Chief. Even if Congress passes a Declaration of War, the Commander in Chief still deploys troops and makes the final decision whether a threat exists worthy of the need to instigate a war.
Congress declared war on Germany in December 1941. D-Day was in June of 1944. If circumstances had changed between 1941 and 1944, nobody would expect the President to invade just because Congress had declared war.
Bonifaz is officially an idiot.
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Sat May 04th 2024, 04:51 AM
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