Yahoo and HuffingtonPost quote CapitolHillBlues

[Domitan]

Karen Kwiatkowski: Constitution, Shmonstitution!

Our beloved commander in chief recently blasted the Constitution {past phrase is hyperlinked to CHB} as "just a goddamned piece of paper." This may be the first true thing -- perhaps the only true thing -- that George W. Bush has ever said.

Mr. Bush probably doesn't understand the meaning of the words "strategy" or "victory," and he sure doesn't appreciate concepts like honesty or integrity or self-determination. People pursuing truth, integrity or self-determination at home are called traitors; abroad, they are terrorists. Freedom of the press means something truly unusual and odd to our dear president. The Bush war on terror and the Bush occupation of
Iraq both qualify as confusing and disturbing activities for our ostensible Republic. Counterproductive and often illegal, they are yet vigorously and even passionately pursued by our republican and democratic leadership, heads bowed, in reverence and hopefulness, towards the Oval Office.

But George gets it right on the Constitution. The guy who penned the constitution had little direct participation in its construction. That guy believed "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" and that "Our liberty depends upon the freedom of the press."

Bush's contempt for the constitution as a restraint on rapacious state power was typical of many of the founding fathers. When Bush denounces the "piece of paper," particularly those troublesome first ten amendments, he is reflecting the views held by Madison and Hamilton and others who felt it more correct and useful to establish a strong and powerful central state and an even stronger executive. Jefferson, from his position overseas as the United States minister to France, pushed hard for the Bill of Rights and the idea of securing private property, and persons, from a hungry central state.

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I know that CHB is not considered credible by many here (though it is by some here), but the main point is that it has been quoted on one of the main blogs as well as one of the most prominent internet news sites. Make of it what you will. The meme is spreading.

[dpbrown]

1. It's all about power in the kakistocracy

And right now he's got the power. We've got to free the press and get the power back.

[rodeodance]

2. this blog could be dan rathered easily.

....I know that CHB is not considered credible by many here (though it is by some here), but the main point is that it has been quoted on one of the main blogs as well as one of the most prominent internet news sites. Make of it what you will. The meme is spreading.

[Domitan]

4. Or

it could force Doug Thompson onto the forefront and put his money where his mouth is. That is...if this catches fire in the MSM.

[derby378]

3. To any White House staffer who heard Nero say this...

Please come forth. Tell us all. We may be able to offer you amnesty.

[tocqueville]

5. the problem isn't the central state in itself

but how it's organized. The European central states are much more powerful than the the American one. But a system of check and balances, strong parliaments compensate that power, besides the free press. A lot of EXPECTED governmental interventions by the European masses, would be seen in the US as an invasion of privacy. Here the criticism is often that the government does too little, not too much.

The US is the only presidential system that hasn't historically so far (?) turned into a dictatorship, probably because the free press is so rooted in the American mentality that it has prevented it. If the US were a fascist regime as some pretend, DU wouldn't exist and most DUers would be hanging from a tree, Skinner first.

IMHO, one of the most dubious constructions in the American system is that the US constitution is seen as kind of a Bible who can be interpreted by some priests (chosen for life by the executive) and thus used as a method to pass laws. In other countries the power of the judiciary in that aspect is more limited. Parliaments have a much greater role in passing laws (for example the abortion question wouldn't be settled by the intrepretation of a case but by an amended law, passed in Congress). Laws have of course to be constitutional, but the constitutionality of those is not only agreed upon by a bunch of judges solely.

Most systems in Europe are parliamentary, France has a semi-presidential system where the prime minister in the parliamentary part is easily politically removable. Which leads to the fact that if the appointed legislative leader fails, new elections are practically a must. Anyway France is moving more towards a parliamentary system.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

6. I get your point, but don't forget that Kwiatkowski is a Libertarian

so it's perhaps more understandable that she'd cite CHB.

[UTUSN]

7. POTUS & CiC are CONSTITUTIONALLY created positions

Shrub sez, "I'm the pretzldunt and commander in chief! Do it my way!" Since he spits on the Constitution, then the positions he has squatter's rights to hold NO sway over us. Plus his spitting on the Constitution violates his oath of office. It ain't that Shrub doesn't "get" Constitutional government: I have always said, the B.F.E.E. are ANTI-DEMOCRACY at the core, are master manipulators of the external FORMS of "democracy" (rigging elections from WAY back). Shrub is a lordling. Charles I.

[Domitan]

8. boot!

d

[The Whiskey Priest]

9. Do you think this is true......

I sometimes worry about quoting CB and the Rant in particular.

[Domitan]

10. I have no idea

I would hope it's true, but CHB is not a source I'd use to showcase a "smoking gun". Now if it was Editor&Publisher, Antiwar, or a Seymour Hersh article, most definitely!