Topic: Barack Obama
A Sad Excuse for a Law Professor In the 2001 sound-byte that's going around, Barack Obama shows a frightening Constitutional ignorance.by RS Davis
(libertarian)
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I'm sure you've all heard the clip going around of Barack Obama saying that the Warren Court was not radical enough. The right-wing pundocracy is going apoplectic over this, screaming "Socialist!" from every rooftop, writhing in agony over "redistribution of wealth."
But it's all empty rhetoric - a last ditch effort to find Obama's achilles heel and somehow pull a McCain victory out of the fire. Conservatives already accept redistribution of wealth - I mean, how often do you see a Republican calling for the abolition of welfare? And how often do you see them vote against some corporatist giveaway?
I'd say the $700 billion dollar gift they gave the banking and financial industry indicates they aren't too concerned about "redistribution of wealth."
We're all Socialists now, apparently.
But for all their bleating and blathering, the right-wing pundits are completely missing the most alarming thing in the interview. It's no surprise when a liberal reveals their socialistic tendencies, but it's big news when a "Constitutional Scholar" and "law professor" doesn't understand the basic structure of our Constitution.
Let's look at the relevant passage:
And to that extent as radical as people tried to characterize the Warren court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren court interpreted it in the same way that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can’t do to you, it says what the federal government can’t do to you, but it doesn’t say what the federal government or the state government must do on your behalf.
No, Senator Obama - only one part of the Constitution defines what the government must not do. The Constitution, as originally written, was a list of things the government could do, with everything not mentioned verboten to government intrusion. Liberties are defined and protected by the Bill of Rights. Everything that comes before that is enumerating powers to the government, telling it what it must do on our behalf.
So much attention is paid to The Federalist Papers, the Anti-Federalists have almost completely slipped from our memories. The Anti-Federalists were unhappy with the original Constitution, believing that it granted too much power to the state, and didn't protect individual rights sufficiently.
It was through their hard work and activism that the Bill of Rights - that section of the Constitution that does limit what the government can do - was added.
Ultimately, it kind of worked against the Anti-Federalist vision, as it seems these days, the only liberties that are even remotely protected are those enshrined in the first eight of the ten amendments. They completely ignore the 9th and 10th, which state that "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people" and "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."
It is those two amendments that lend credence to the "presumption of liberty" doctrine, which means that in all cases, the individual is presumed to have liberty, and the government must show a compelling interest in one of its enumerated powers to curtail that natural liberty.
These days, those in power do not look at the main body of the Constitution as a list of specifically enumerated powers, but as a Nostradamus-style text to cull and find ways to creatively interpret new powers for an increasingly powerful central government.
It is this obscenely willful ignorance on the part of lawmakers, constitutional scholars, and professors that sets us on the road to the slow demise of this Republic, and it is the ho-hum yawning indifference of political pundits and voters to blatant and obvious misinterpretations of the Constitution that guarantees we will continue to elect leaders that are more than happy to drive the short bus to Hell.
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You seem to be waaaaay off the beaten path with your own interpretation of things. Barack Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School where he served as president of the Harvard Law Review. He also taught CONSTITUTIONAL LAW at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.
What are YOUR credentials? You read something somewhere from Rothbard or Ron Paul?
"What are YOUR credentials? You read something somewhere from Rothbard or Ron Paul?"
It sounds to me like RS read the constitution. And it sounds like Obama would like to ignore it. But ignoring the constitution is an extremely dangerous thing to do. When you ignore the constitution you get W claiming that he can label people "enemy combatants" and have them thrown in prison indefinitely without regard to habeas corpus, or the 5th amendment's protection of due process of law or the 6th amendment's protection of the right to a jury trial. You get government spying on people without warrants. You get undeclared wars against countries that did nothing to us. And you get social programs like social security and medicare that have unfunded future liabilities in excess of $40 trillion. You get government blatantly stealing $700 billion of your tax dollars and mine from the treasury and giving it to the huge banks that caused our current financial mess. ( Yeah Obama and Biden both voted for that one, along with McCain too.)
There are a lot of bright, intelligent, high IQ, college-educated people in jail for murder, rape, money laundry, drug traffic and other illegal activities. Your credeintials means nothing when compared with your actions.
It does not take a lot of years at law school or a prestigious law degree to realize that the last 100 years of federal laws, government intrusion and federal programs have clearly violated the 10th Amendment. Those powers not in the Constitution are the responsibility of the states (even social and welfare programs).
Social Security, welfare, education, subsidies, income taxes, corporate bail-outs, assistances, roads, even abortions wheather you agree with these items or not were meant to be done at the state level IF the people in those states chose to implement them. Today the states automomy is pretty much GONE. The states are at the mercy of the mob of the other states through the Federal government.
Those in power (Obama or not) have gone above the 10th amendment making our Constitution now worthless.
Another example is the damage Bush has done not only to the 10th but also to the 4th, 5th and 6th. Where was your Constitutional Lawyer Obama hero when this happened? Did he file a lawsuit? or merely opposed some measures in Congress? Saying 'NAY' is easy.
The Constitution (whatever is left of it) has been worthless for a long of time, and your HERO Obama, even though he is a CONSTITUTIONAL Lawyer, could care less about the Constitution and will interpret it as he wishes to the benefits of his social agenda.
You guys are like the Three Stooges sitting in the back of the room gleefully slapping and socking each other around as you banter back and forth about how you're RIGHT and the rest of the world is WRONG.
Why don't you start up a lawsuit? The Supreme Court is pretty well packed with conservatives now; those who are constitutionalists. Why don't you protest to them?
Because you've got nothing to protest. Because you've got no case! Even then, I'm sure there are a LOT more smart guys out there who COULD bring some legal action to stop or start whatever you think is unconstitutional. Why haven't THEY done it? Why not your almighty LIBERTARIAN leaders if you guys are too afraid to do it?
You know, you're like the coaches and players who blame the referees after you lose the game. They're out to get you. They missed a call. They don't know the rules.
You ought to just grow up and face the music. You're WRONG and OBAMA is right.
Posted By: John Armstrong
Date: 2008-10-29 01:43:59
Master C,
You're right. Obama is dead-on when he blames the Republicans for everything.
But you know what? McCain's right too because he blames the Democrats.
And the country agrees with each side for about 8 years or so. Then it turns back to the side that couldn't solve their problems 8 years earlier and expects them to solve their problems somehow this time around.
It's insane.
Neither side ever says, "hey, this whole thing's screwed up because the the other side doesn't stay within their Constitutional limits while enacting these god-awful laws." Instead, they blame the god-awful laws.
Why?
Because they want to create their own god-awful laws and drawing attention to the fact that they actually don't have the power to create them by mentioning the Constitution might actually cause people to read the damned thing.
Then the party (Parties) would be over. It's a carefully crafted game. Politics is very complicated. Government is very simple. I'm sorry that you believe that our nation's problems can be solved by addressing political positions rather than discussing the proper role of government.
You are no different that the people here. Other than writing here, voting for your hero Obama who is NOT going to solve anything, you can't do anything about the last 8 years of the Bush Regime or losing more our freedoms every four years. So you are as stuck into this mess as we are. Since you are not doing anything, then you are also the forth stooge. (Remember there were four because one of the 3 stooges was played by two actors). If you think your super-hero Obama is going to give you more freedom, then you need to examine your head. No politician is there to help you. No politician will keep his promises. No politician can give, give, give. Only you and your friends can help you.
The Constitution is worthless now, and Obama, Bush, McCain and the rest of the gang could care less about it. Even you don't care about it know and can't see or even read it.
The problem is that Government has grown so big that it is more difficult to stop. So you just need to get ready.
....and by having people like you worshiping Obama as a super hero or a savior, it makes things worst. It's that kind of idol worship on both sides that have enslaved us into today's mess. So i'd rather be called a stoge by idol worshipers you than be enslaved to the political doctrine. At least my mind and thoughts will be free even if the rest is taken away by the government.
If you can't understand it, then you are alse free to ensave yourself to the idol worshiping doctrine of your superr-hero Obama.
Congratulations, your Super hero will mostlikely win the elections.
Oh, please MAKE ME A SLAVE, Obama! Please MAKE ME A SLAVE! I have no mind. I have no independent thoughts. I know your plan is really to turn us ALL into SLAVES so that you can get revenge for all the SLAVERY your people had to go through.
Oh, please MAKE ME A SLAVE, Obama!
You guys are like JUMPIN' JACK FLASH ~ he was a GAS!
When you agreed to the terms of use here on the website, you agreed to eschew ad hominem attacks. Please respond to the arguments of the commenters rather than insulting the commenters.
Thank you.
BTW, as someone mentioned above, nearly all the federal laws written and passed in the last 100 years or so have been in direct violation of the constitution. We no longer live in a "constitutional republic" where the role of the government is regulated by the highest law of the land, but rather a "representative democracy" , where any politician can get elected by promising the greatest booty for 51% of the voters out of the pockets of the other 49%. You might as well go up the D.C. and burn that piece of paper - it is worthless.
Posted By: No Name Supplied
Date: 2008-11-06 22:42:26
Thank you, Sailor. Disturbing and prescient point. The troll - Master C- takes much for granted: titles, credentials, a need to be told what to do. I know somebody who overthrew the Weimar Republic who would have been happy to enlist the aggressive-abusive-submissive and unreasoning Master C into his cabinet. As for me, "I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees."
And what statesman warned us? : "Democracy falls when its people learn they can vote the money out of its treasury."
It is disturbing how few understand Corporatism and Fascism. It's a crime and shows a terrible kind of ingratitude to the brilliant and the brave who passed this nation on to us.
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