Clarification/Follow-up by excon on 02/14/06 6:48 pm:

Hello Republican dudes:

Look! I understand a what a "liberal" interpretation of the Constitution is. I would argue with "your" interpretation. But, lets get one thing perfectly clear - it IS your interpretation.

Certainly, it's an interpretation that supports, from a political standpoint, your guy. Therefore, it's suspect.

You are entitled to interpret, however. It IS a liberal endeavor. Please don't be hypocritical and criticize "activist judges" who interpret the words differently than you do.

It you want to be conservative, however, DO what the Constitution says - not how you interpret it. What is says is clear.

excon

Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 02/14/06 6:53 pm:
>>>Dream on......<<<

I don't have to. The reality is so much sweeter.

Elliot

Clarification/Follow-up by ETWolverine on 02/14/06 9:05 pm:
>>>Certainly, it's an interpretation that supports, from a political standpoint, your guy. Therefore, it's suspect.<<<

Perhaps, but it is that interpretation that also supported Lincoln in the Civil War, FDR in WWII, LBJ in Vietnam, Bush I in the first Gulf War and Clinton in Bosnia. This interpretation, which is both the original intent of the Founding Fathers and the historically approved interpretation is the same one we are using for Bush. It can't be "suspect" if it was the same interpretation used throughout our history. It is the Originalist and the historical interpretation of Constitutional text that is pretty clear on its own.

Elliot

Clarification/Follow-up by Itsdb on 02/14/06 9:33 pm:
ex,

That was pretty good wasn't it? It's really not spin though. The president cannot "preserve, protect and defend" the consitution without preserving, protecting and defending the citizens of the United States.

You say "it's an interpretation that supports, from a political standpoint, your guy," as if we would believe differently were it not our guy, or as if this were some new idea. You couldn't be more wrong on either count.

From John Quincy Adams' inaugural address:

In unfolding to my countrymen the principles by which I shall be governed in the fulfillment of those duties my first resort will be to that Constitution which I shall swear to the best of my ability to preserve, protect, and defend. That revered instrument enumerates the powers and prescribes the duties of the Executive Magistrate, and in its first words declares the purposes to which these and the whole action of the Government instituted by it should be invariably and sacredly devoted—to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to the people of this Union in their successive generations.

From Andrew Jackson's first inaugural address:

But the bulwark of our defense is the national militia, which in the present state of our intelligence and population must render us invincible. As long as our Government is administered for the good of the people, and is regulated by their will; as long as it secures to us the rights of person and of property, liberty of conscience and of the press, it will be worth defending; and so long as it is worth defending a patriotic militia will cover it with an impenetrable aegis. Partial injuries and occasional mortifications we may be subjected to, but a million of armed freemen, possessed of the means of war, can never be conquered by a foreign foe. To any just system, therefore, calculated to strengthen this natural safeguard of the country I shall cheerfully lend all the aid in my power.

LBJ, 1/10/67, said My first responsibility to our people is to assure that no nation can ever find it rational to launch a nuclear attack or to use its nuclear power as a credible threat against us or against our allies.

Clinton, 8/13/94, said The most important job is to keep the streets and the neighborhoods of America safe. The first responsibility of Government is law and order.

Kissinger, 2/9/2000, said A president's first obligation is to provide for the safety of the American people by deterring attacks on the homeland and our allies, and by reducing their impact should they take place.

John Kerry, 4/24/04, said The first responsibility of the President is to keep our country safe and secure.

That covers a little from Adams to Kerry, and I agree with them all. Need I go on?

Steve

Clarification/Follow-up by tomder55 on 02/15/06 7:22 pm:
his power is not unlimited and I did not imply it . What I said is that there are 'inherent' powers that were not enumenrated What is Congress' remedy over the al-qaeda intel. operation ? Well for one they could defund it ;just tell the President that no more money is allocated for it . That is what they did in Nam. They have the power to declare war ;not to micromanage it .Congress can neither add to, nor detract from, the constitutional powers of the executive branch ;so any law they make to the contrary is unconstitutional .

They could re-write the law ,and if the operation still happened then they could challenge him in court .They could impeach. The Courts could today order the President to stop the operation ;but they will not because precedence is on the side of the executive .While the Court has never specifically ruled on the issue{and it may eventually to resolve this apparent constitutional "crisis"}, its decisions in the past are entirely consistent with the administration's view that the President has the inherent constitutional authority to obtain foreign intelligence information through warrantless searches.