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I wish I could write this well!
Adventure at the Children's Hour
By Wesley Pruden
OPINION/ANALYSIS:
Barack Obama's excellent New York adventure was all he hoped it would be. He got to make a speech, pave the streets of Manhattan with harmless platitudes, bask in the admiration of various Third World mediocrities and hear himself nominated to be president of the United States for life. "It was an excellent day," he said as night fell, as it always must.
All in all, he did no particular harm, and we can all be grateful for that. The messiah had a rough summer, and he was entitled to the pleasure of presiding, if only for a day, over the Children's Hour.
Moammar Gadhafi, the maximum leader of Libya, floated the idea of Mr. Obama as "president for life," and why not? If "president for life" was good enough for Papa Doc and Haiti, why not for the USA? Marion Barry was once thought to be mayor of the District of Columbia for life, and he may not be done yet.
The White House, for lack of imagination, declined to endorse the Gadhafi endorsement. But Robert Gibbs, the president's press secretary, got into the spirit of the occasion: "Leaving aside the amendments to the Constitution that the president agrees with wholeheartedly, it would be an interesting concept to continue being president beyond one's natural life."
Such a precedent for extending the administrations of presidents after they're dead might suit an ever-cranky presidential constituency. Barry Goldwater once observed that Congress should repeal, not enact, a law every day. A dead president could do no harm, and a corpse would be refreshing (we've had reasonable facsimiles of the dead in the Oval Office before). Rutherford B. Hayes could live again. So, too, Chester Alan Arthur, our only president without a surname.
With President Obama presiding over "the historic session," the U.N. Security Council approved unanimously an American resolution committing all nations to work for - please sit up straight for this - a world free of nuclear weapons. Somewhere in the fine print was a clause praising small babies, little puppies and chocolate candy. The resolution was so harmless that even Russia, China and several "developing" nations (the usual euphemism for the socialist satraps) voted for the resolution.
But Col. Gadhafi over at the General Assembly was clearly the star of the day, twinkling brightly in the U.N. firmament of burned-out comets, asteroids, meteoroids and hemorrhoids. The temporary chairman of the assembly was a Libyan, who told the heads of states lined up to speak that they could have no more than 15 minutes each, or expect the dreaded hook. The diplomat, Ali Treki, having become warmly and affectionately attached to his head, was careful not to apply the rule to Col. Gadhafi, who rambled on for 96 minutes. The colonel was the most entertaining speaker of the day, declaiming against swine flu, which he said was invented in the labs of the drug companies to assure markets for their vaccines, or by "the military" as a weapon of war. He demanded that the investigation into the Kennedy assassination be reopened. The colonel was introduced as "the king of kings," and he endorsed President Obama as "the son of Africa." Whether he meant to include himself in the ranks of the "birthers," we do not know.
A good time was clearly had by all. Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France did a little polished romping and refined stomping, as befit the august venue. M Sarkozy scolded North Korea and Iran for being "obstacles to a safer world," and Mr. Brown said the Security Council should impose "far tougher sanctions" than the sanctions that have not made the Iranians behave themselves. If the far tougher sanctions don't work, either, President Ahmadinejad, who was walked out on during his speech to the General Assembly, should expect to get a strong letter of protest.
Mr. Obama, pleased that the Security Council resolution reflects the eloquence of his earlier speech last April in Prague, said the United States would host a reunion of U.N. freeloaders next spring to "advance" and "assist" all the nations to embrace the vision of the Security Council. The State Department will supply an updated list of limousine services, massage parlors and four-star restaurants. The U.N. may never actually get anything done, but the faithful representatives of the nations of the world can never be accused of lacking resolution, and always in quadruplicate.
Wesley Pruden is editor emeritus of The Washington Times.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
We the People of the United States of America...
While a truly eloquent and effective argument, at least on it's surface, we are assuming that the People of the United States know their rights under the Constitution or even care. I'm not even sure if schools are teaching the Constitution in classrooms. The Liberal Left doesn't want us to be too informed. Besides, "His Obamaness" said it himself that the Constiution was a "dead document" and that it outlined what the government "couldn't do TO you but it doesn't say what the government should do FOR you", and that's the rub, no? The Libs assertion that they need to "do for us" and our continued acceptance of this paternal government and that it is indeed the government's job to protect us from ourselves. Thanks Rich for the forward.
The Truth About the Health Care Bills
Posted August 12, 2009
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.
However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn’t have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.
This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed “acceptable” to the “Health Choices Administrator” appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a “tax” instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn’t work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the “due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn’t stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;” The 10th Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to “be bound by oath or affirmation” to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
And another to the Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
The Truth About the Health Care Bills
Posted August 12, 2009
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200: The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise, constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be unconstitutional. What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true, despite what the Democrats and the media are saying. The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved, free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals. Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices will be strictly controlled.
However, as scary as all of that it, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health care choices. Instead it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated. If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn’t have any authority to legislate in most of those areas to begin with. I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the members of Congress to regulate health care.
This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama administration of all of your personal healthcare information, your personal financial information, and the information of your employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures. You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that is not deemed “acceptable” to the “Health Choices Administrator” appointed by Obama there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a “tax” instead of a fine because of the intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment. However, that doesn’t work because since there is nothing in the law that allows you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of property without the “due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out the original ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn’t stop there though. The 9th Amendment that provides: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people;” The 10th Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea. This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights. Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to “be bound by oath or affirmation” to support the Constitution. If I was a member of Congress I would not be able to vote for this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted for it anyway I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source. Here is a link to the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html
And another to the Bill of Rights: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
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