Congress ceded its authority to Bush
Letter writer Lowell Whitney (May 16) claims, as do nearly all pro-war Bush supporters, that the Constitution was followed when Congress gave the president the authority to go to war against Iraq.
This is false.
Congress unconstitutionally transferred its power to declare war to the executive branch. After all, the president may have decided not to go to war. If Congress had issued a declaration of war, the president would have had no choice but to begin the war.
During the hearing on the authorization resolution before the war, Rep. Ron Paul (currently a Republican candidate for president) introduced a motion to declare war, even though he said he would vote against it. His motion was denied. Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., said, “There are things in the Constitution that have been overtaken by events, by time. Declaration of war is one of them. There are things no longer relevant to a modern society. Why declare war if you don’t have to? We are saying to the president, use your judgment.”
Why would Congress do this? Because declaring war would have left Congress open to blame if the war went badly — as many of them probably suspected this one would.
Ben Anderson, Castle Rock
you should be president and head of the supreme court because of your knowledge and understanding of the constitution. why are you just sitting in castle rock?
does this go back to fdr and jfka and lbj or is it just for a Republican president?
FDR did request, and receive, a declaration of war. No president has done so since (and we haven't won a war since). So at least Truman, LBJ, George Bush (41), and Clinton are also guilty of breaking their sworn oath to "protect and defend" the Constitution and should have been impeached and removed from office.
But I'm not just criticizing the president; Congress has completely failed to uphold their oaths as well in this area.
Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate who insists that Congress follow the Constitution.
Posted by Ben Anderson on May 29, 2007 09:25 AM"Follow the Constitution," however, as Bush says, "The Constitution is just a goddam piece of paper," and like it or not, he is correct since it is the Supremes that tell us what the Constitution says.
In fact, the Constitution (the nation's Organic Law) started out quite flawed evidenced by all the Amendments needed to fix it. The Constitution is like my ford falcon; I didn't have the vocabulary to run it.
America's Civil War was fought because the Supremes followed the Constitution; perhaps the War could have been avoided if the Dred Scott decision had favored Dred Scott, or if Slavery had been abolished when the Constitution was drafted.
Come Saturday, I will park your bike. (I don't like for Bush to belittle).
Posted by Richard Grimes Risen Ape: Deicide r22037@yahaoo.com on May 29, 2007 10:09 AMAll I can Say is if this was 1944 with you so call more worldly people were around the west coast would be speaking Japenese and the east coast would be speaking German and the midwest would be speaking spanish. Go live in the Utopia EU socialist oh thats right they are starting to come to their senses there electing conservatives. Long live the Republic down with the REDS.
Posted by Joseph V. Seifert Jr on May 29, 2007 12:45 PM