Showing posts with label Amendments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amendments. Show all posts

Monday, December 11, 2017

Roy Moore thinks that getting rid of all amendments to the Constitution after the 10th would "eliminate many problems."

Courtesy of CNN: 

Alabama Republican Senate nominee Roy Moore appeared on a conspiracy-driven radio show twice in 2011, where he told the hosts in an interview that getting rid of constitutional amendments after the Tenth Amendment would 'eliminate many problems' in the way the US government is structured.

Moore made his comments about constitutional amendments in a June 2011 appearance on the "Aroostook Watchmen" show, which is hosted by Maine residents Jack McCarthy and Steve Martin. The hosts have argued that the US government is illegitimate and who have said that the September 11, 2001, attacks, the mass shooting at Sandy Hook, the Boston bombing, and other mass shootings and terrorist attacks are false flag attacks committed by the government. (False flag attacks refer to acts that are designed by perpetrators to be made to look like they were carried out by other individuals or groups.) 

The hosts have also spread conspiracy theories about the raid that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden and have pushed the false claim that former President Barack Obama was not born in the US.

In Moore's June appearance, one of the hosts says he would like to see an amendment that would void all the amendments after the Tenth. 

"That would eliminate many problems," Moore replied. "You know people don't understand how some of these amendments have completely tried to wreck the form of government that our forefathers intended." 

Moore cited the 17th Amendment, which calls for the direct election of senators by voters rather than state legislatures, as one he particularly found troublesome. 

The host agreed with Moore, before turning his attention to the 14th Amendment, which was passed during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War and guaranteed citizenship and equal rights and protection to former slaves and has been used in landmark Supreme Court cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Obergefell v. Hodges. 

"People also don't understand, and being from the South I bet you get it, the 14th Amendment was only approved at the point of the gun," the host said. 

"Yeah, it had very serious problems with its approval by the states," Moore replied. "The danger in the 14th Amendment, which was to restrict, it has been a restriction on the states using the first Ten Amendments by and through the 14th Amendment. To restrict the states from doing something that the federal government was restricted from doing and allowing the federal government to do something which the first Ten Amendments prevented them from doing. If you understand the incorporation doctrine used by the courts and what it meant. You'd understand what I'm talking about."

It should be noted that besides the 14th and 17th Amendments, which Moore seems to find so troubling, there is also the the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery, the 15th Amendment which prohibited the federal and state governments from denying citizens the right to vote based on that person's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude," and the 19th Amendment, which extended voting rights to women.

So essentially in Moore's eyes the trouble really started after those damn females and the darkies got the same rights as their white male former owners.  (Yes, at one time women were considered the property of their husbands. Or as Roy Moore calls it, "the good old days.")

I guess that is yet another thing that Roy Moore has in common with Vladimir Putin.
Moore claims he learned to speak such good Russian when he was at West Point, but that certainly sounds much better than my attempts to speak the French that I learned back in the 8th grade.

Apparently Trump has recorded robo-calls for Moore, so it appears the push is on to make sure this traitorous pedophile wins that Alabama Senate seat.

Monday, July 18, 2016

Hillary Clinton to introduce constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United within the first 30 days after she elected President.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

Hillary Clinton announced on Saturday that she would introduce a constitutional amendment within the first 30 days of her presidency to overturn the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision, which paved the way for unlimited corporate, union and individual spending on elections. 

Clinton unveiled her plan in a video at Netroots, an annual progressive gathering taking place this year in St. Louis. 

I know which group of folks is going to want to take credit for this, but it should be remembered that the whole Citizens United case was about that group trying to distribute an anti-Hillary propaganda film before the 2008 elections, and suing because the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act would not allow them to do so.

Of COURSE Hillary is going to want to do something about this once she is elected.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

So Texas Governor Greg Abbott would like to essentially rewrite the US Constitution. No seriously!

Courtesy of Slate:

  The first four, the seventh, and the eighth are fairly unremarkable and in line with a lot of conservative rhetoric about federal overreach. The sixth is a little odd, but vague. The fifth and ninth, though, are very specific and completely bonkers. (The ninth calls to mind nullification, one of the Southern concepts that helped bring about the Civil War.) Keep in mind that, given the way population is distributed, a "two-thirds majority" of states wouldn't actually have to include anywhere close to a majority of the country's population. (The combined population of the 34 smallest U.S. states, for instance, is slightly more than 100 million out of a total population of 318 million.) At this very moment, in fact, there are 32 Republican governors and 31 Republican-controlled state legislatures despite the fact that a Republican presidential candidate has only gotten more than 50 percent of the vote once since 1988. (George W. Bush got 50.7 percent in 2004.) 

Abbott's proposal, in other words, could quite easily give a party that was in the minority nationally the ability to veto duly passed congressional legislation and to overturn Supreme Court decisions like Roe v. Wade or Brown v. Board of Education, destroying the balance of powers and, really, defeating the purpose of having a Congress or a Supreme Court in the first place.

Good job Texas.

Perhaps when it comes time to elect your next governor you might shoot for somebody sane.

Just saying.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Sarah Palin is hoping everybody skipped history class.

So I saw this on Palin's Facebook page and I was rolling up my sleeves to write up how stupid this was because as EVERYBODY with half a brain knows the Republicans party that voted for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are in no way the same Republicans we see today.

However as I was getting ready to do this, I happened to look through the comments on the page and realized that folks were already beating me to it.

Take a look:

Emily Allen Most of these were back when the political ideologies of republican and democrats was switched. May I remind you for about 100 years, Texas was a democratic state. 

Robert Rebeck If you think this meme tells the whole story and is not misleading, then you are ignorant and uneducated. 

Tess Hoff Non comparison. A real history lesson would show how the two parties have completely changed positions since the first three examples. Back when these things were done, the Republican party was progressive. Now the Democratic party is progressive. Same kind of people that were Republican when these issues were current are the same kind of people that are Democrats now. 

Ken Green And since the 60's Civil Rights Act, enacted by Democrat Lyndon Johnson along with a Democratic congress, all those southern erstwhile democrats have jumped over the the GOP. They're all Republicans today - so trying to put on the mantle of Lincoln and claiming that the GOP IS enlightened and socially progressive just isn't going to fly... 

Drew Christiansen This was also the Republican party founded by Horace Greesly , a free-soilist and Marx-sympathizer. Different context, different time. Of course the right-wing meme creator behind this missed that wink emoticon. 

And these were just a sampling of the comments that had not yet been scrubbed by Palin's Facebook Oompa Loompas.

Of course to be fair there were few commenters just as ignorant as Palin in the mix.

Arlene Calabria The really sad part is, this is not in the history books and most African Americans are unaware of these facts. In a way keeping people on welfare for generations is just another form of slavery, it certainly is a loss of freedom.

I guess Palin can always count on a few poorly educated idiots to have her back, but it is becoming increasingly clear that her pool of supporters is drying up faster than a California reservoir.

Friday, April 03, 2015

Texas Republican's new budget amendment would pull 3 million dollars from HIV prevention and apply it to abstinence education.

Worst Texas doctor EVER.
Courtesy of ABC News:  

Texas would cut $3 million from programs to prevent HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and spend that money instead on abstinence education under a contentious Republican-sponsored measure tucked into the state budget Tuesday night. 

The GOP-controlled House overwhelmingly approved the budget amendment, but not before a tense exchange with Democrats that veered into the unusually personal. 

Republican state Rep. Stuart Spitzer, a doctor and the amendment's sponsor, at one point defended the change by telling the Texas House that he practiced abstinence until marriage. The first-term lawmaker said he hopes schoolchildren follow his example, saying, "What's good for me is good for a lot of people."

My favorite part of the article is this exchange:  

Democrat state Rep. Harold Dutton asked Spitzer if abstinence worked for him. 

"It did," Spitzer replied. "I've had sex with one woman in my life and that's my wife." 

"Is that the first woman you asked?" Dutton replied. 

Shouts of "Decorum!" soon echoed on the House floor as the back-and-forth intensified. Efforts by Democrats to put the debate in writing for the record - usually a perfunctory request - failed.

I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that exchange.

Once again here are Republicans taking money from a prevention plan whose effectiveness has been proven, and attempting to apply to a program that is doomed to fail.

And the fact that his amendment was sponsored by a doctor, just makes it all the more egregious.

According to the article this amendment is far from being passed, but I would suggest to these Texas lawmakers that before they put it to a final vote they give Indiana a call and find out how things worked for them when THEY took the focus off of HIV testing.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Sen Bernie Sanders to introduce a "war tax" amendment to the GOP budget. Now we're talking!

Courtesy of The Hill:  

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is planning to offer an amendment to the GOP budget next week that would impose a new tax on millionaires to finance U.S. military operations. 

The “war tax” will be one of the first Sanders will introduce during the vote-a-rama next week. During the back-to-back votes, senators are allowed to submit an unlimited amount of amendments. 

“The Republicans took us into protracted wars in Afghanistan and Iraq — and ran up our national debt by trillions because they chose not to pay for those wars. Instead, they put the cost of those wars on our national credit card,” Sanders said in a statement Friday. 

Sanders, a potential 2016 presidential contender, is ranking member on the Senate Budget Committee. 

He’s upset with a provision Senate Republicans added to their blueprint Thursday that would increase defense spending next year by pumping up the Pentagon’s war funding account to $96 billion. 

“Wars are enormously expensive, not only in terms of human life and suffering, but in terms of the budget. If the Republicans want another war in the Mideast, they are going to have to tell the American people how much it will cost them and how it will be paid for,” he said. 

Here, here!

Okay I have decided that if for some reason Hillary Clinton's campaign goes off the rails, that my go to choice for a replacement would be Elizabeth Warren at the top of the ticket and Bernie Sanders as her VP.

Not only would that unite the Democrats like nobody's business, but it would drive the Republicans out of their ever loving minds.

Sunday, February 01, 2015

The traitorous Tundra Twattle is once again calling for a "Convention of States" even though that is virtually an impossibility.

So on her Facebook page Palin's ghostwriter is linking to Bristol's ghostwriter about a subject that NONE of them actually understand.

Here is what Benedict Idiot is saying now: 

Tired of Government Gone Wild? Here's What We Can Do About It! Our Founders put a special sort of “emergency cord” right into Article V of our Constitution as a last resort to rein in our wayward federal government drunk on its own power. That article gives states the power to call a convention for the purpose of proposing amendments to the Constitution. 

Three states have already successfully passed legislation calling for a Convention of the States, and right now it’s Virginia’s turn. We need every patriot to step up and remind lawmakers in the Old Dominion why we support the Convention of States. 

By calling a Convention of the States, average citizens can stop the federal spending spree, power grabs, and other abuses by proposing amendments to rein in the federal government. After the states draft, debate, and vote upon these proposed amendments, they will then be sent to all 50 states for ratification, and three-quarters of the states must agree for any of the proposed amendments to be ratified. 

The beauty of this process is that neither the President nor Congress has the authority to stop it. It is truly in the hands of We the People. This idea is really the last recourse of the citizens to rein in DC and restore our country to a Constitutionally limited federal government.

Palin then sends you to Brancy's blog where visitors are being urged to contact their Senators so that they can get this "Convention of States" off the ground. 

However what Palin is leaving out is that three states is NOT a groundswell to enact this measure. In fact it is barely a bump.

As I have written before a Convention of States requires two thirds of the states to sign on, and correct me if I'm wrong but three states is a hell of a long way from two thirds of 50.

Not only that but even if they were able to get those two thirds to call for amending the Constitution, then it has to be ratified by three quarters of all states.

Who in the hell thinks that's even remotely possible?

Oh yeah.

OH well, what the hell?

If this is the kind of thing that keeps her few remaining followers busy while the rest of us deal with real problems, then I guess there is no harm.

I mean what else do they have to do besides fight over control of the TV in the day room, finger paint pictures for relatives to hang on their refrigerators, and hoard their medications for their own version of "Fun Freaky Fridays."

Friday, August 29, 2014

Sarah Palin gets all foamy at the mouth over the President's vacations again. Must be Friday.

This picture has nothing to do with the post, I just like it.
So Palin threw a bucket of ice water on her ghostwriter and made the poor thing type out this venomous Facebook diatribe against the President this morning.

I am going to spare you the whole thing as it is fairly toxic, but here are a few fecal encrusted chunks for you: 

There is absolutely nothing important going on in the world right now. 

There are no security threats, no worldwide turmoil affecting America’s interests, no civil war in Syria, South Sudan, or Libya. No war on our ally, Israel. No Ebola epidemic devastating West Africa and spreading. No race riots tearing apart a whole community in Missouri. No Russian aggression in Ukraine. No deranged North Korean dictator testing more missiles. No Chinese jets getting up close and personal with our American military. No brave American journalist sickeningly beheaded by Muslim terrorist savages rampaging through the Middle East seizing oil fields and committing genocide on Christians and Kurds. No illegal immigration crisis as thousands of unaccompanied minors illegally walk right across our unsecured borders. No scandals in Obama’s White House. No worried servicemen and women coping with ill-advised U.S. Military chainsaw cuts. And no increase in our nation’s debt. Nope. It’s been one lazy summer with nothing to do, not a thing to worry about in No Drama Obama land.

Proving once again that not only did Palin not understand the job of VP but she clearly does NOT understand that the President of the United States is NEVER truly on vacation.  Just because he does not call her up to give her constant updates on what his daily schedule looks like does not mean he is not addressing many of these problems. (You know except for the imaginary ones that she stuck in there.)

Oh you're going to love this next part: 

And this utter state of calm also explains why Harry Reid’s first order of business when the Senate returns from vacation is to gut our First Amendment rights. 

Reid and his minions in the democrat party think that what America really needs right now is a constitutional amendment to limit the amount of funds we can spend on elections. Don’t know when the conversion happened, but suddenly LIBERALS are worried about the undo influence of money in getting candidates elected! 

I know what you're thinking, "Oh Gryphen I think you made a typo." But no, I didn't.

I simply cut and pasted the above from her Facebook page, which means that neither she, NOR her ghostwriter, know how to spell "undue."

As for what Harry Reid is proposing, I think that almost ALL Americans would love to see an amendment that kept corporations from buying elections in this country.

I know I would.

Palin goes on quite a ghostwritten rant about it actually. Which includes this nugget:  

“There’s nothing going on in the world in these lazy days of summer, so let’s light a campfire and tear up our First Amendment for kindling!” said no American ever. But that doesn’t matter to Harry and his party pals. They just need another political gimmick to distract from the utter failure of everything they’ve touched in the last six years.

Actually considering the  obstructionism, what the President has accomplished has almost been miraculous.

Then Palin decides to go old school:

Why bother with addressing the failure of Obamacare? Why deal with the crisis at our border as lawbreakers threaten the livelihoods of working class Americans? Why deal with the Islamic organizations steamrolling through the Middle East, hell-bent on meeting us on our shores? Why deal with declining middle class incomes and stagnant job growth and unsustainable big brother government largesse? Why bother trying to fix anything Americans are actually concerned about? Nah, Harry says, “Let’s attack the Constitution instead, again!”

Let's do these one at a time shall we?

First off Obamacare is anything but a failure. In fact it is now helping to reduce the deficit.

Second the "crisis" at our borders is not only completely exaggerated, but it is the Congress who stands in the way of any reform to our immigration policies.

Thirdly those Islamic organizations "steamrolling though the Middle East" are the direct result of the destabilizing influence from the Iraq war, and are NOT the fault of President Obama.  (Even Rand Paul agrees with that.)

As for job growth it continues to rise at better than expected numbers even though the Republicans are doing everything in their power to sabotage any success. But I get it, President Obama is not repairing the damage done to the nation's economy by the last Republican president fast enough for SOME people.

No the President may not be perfect, but he is accomplishing some herculean tasks in the face of constant adversity from the Republicans and a barrage of criticisms from failed politicians turned Koch brother paid mouth pieces.

 And doing it all while also playing a few rounds of golf, and enjoying a little relaxation time with his family.

Sounds like he is living vibrantly to me.

Monday, August 25, 2014

Conservative pastor calls for a constitutional amendment that would criminalize homosexuality.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

In a video posted to his PreachingPolitics.com website last month that was flagged by the Good As You blog on Monday, Pastor Michael V. Williams asserts that Christians have been “increasingly tolerant” of gay people over the last 50 years. 

“Whereas homosexuality used to be a felony in every state — referred to as sodomy — it has now been decriminalized, and homosexuality is allowed to be openly expressed in public,” he notes. “While Christians are becoming increasingly tolerant of homosexuals, homosexuals are becoming increasingly intolerant of us.” 

“It’s time for Christians to resume obeying God and his word, and to re-criminalize homosexuality, outlaw it again,” the pastor continues. “The only way to do this and keep it beyond the reach of activist judges and unaccountable bureaucrats is to create a constitutional amendment.” 

Williams’ proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution declares that the “United States of America is a Christian nation with Judeo-Christian ethics, morals, principles and values.” 

And it decrees that the “practice of homosexuality in the United States of America and in all its territories and possessions, and in all its States, Counties and Cities shall be a felony punishable by ten years in prison at hard labor.”

But remember, these people are NOT homophobic. They just want to throw gay people into jail for simply loving the "wrong" people.

By the way don't you just love those production values in the video?

Kind of makes you wonder if Palin's video editors are moonlighting.

Friday, June 28, 2013

After being shocked by the Supreme Court's decision to find DOMA unconstitutional, some Republicans have decided to say "Screw it, we'll just amend the damn Constitution!" Good plan.

Courtesy of Raw Story:  

Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) believes he can ban same-sex marriage nationwide thanks to the Supreme Court’s recent rulings. 

After the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 were struck down on Wednesday, the Republican congressman announced he would introduced an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Thursday questioned why he thought such an amendment had any chance of passing. 

“I think given this decision, which I think has shocked a lot of Americans, that the court would step this far and accuse Bill Clinton and the Republican Congress of that time of animus — you know, the decision was outrageous,” Huelskamp said. “I think it is going to encourage a lot of folks to step forward and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to protect marriage and protect families and particularly our children.’

Later I understand that Huelskamp will be trying to catch a rainbow with a butterfly net, get a sample of unicorn urine, and attempt to shoot the moon out of the sky with a slingshot. All of which have a better chance at success then passing this amendment.

Some people simply do not realize that the world has turned toward the light and left them alone in the dark.

Monday, January 07, 2013

An Amendment has been introduced to give President Obama a third term. Right Wing heads to explode in 3..2..1

Are you people crazy?
Courtesy of the Examiner:  

Americans around the nation were shocked Friday as they heard about H.J.Res. 15. H.J.Res 15 proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment. This would remove the limitation on the number of terms an individual may serve as President. Rep. José Serrano (D- NY15) introduced the controversial joint resolution on Friday, the second day of the 2013 legislative session. 

The last President to serve more than two terms was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt served three full terms as President and was elected to a fourth term. Roosevelt died 83 days into his fourth term in office. 

Congress passed the Twenty-second Amendment on March 21, 1947. The required number of states ratified it in 1951. There have been numerous attempts to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment, including a previous attempt by Rep. José Serrano. Rep. Serrano attempted to repeal the Twenty-second Amendment with H.J.Res. 5 in 2009. 

Opponents of H.J.Res. 15 are being urged to inform their representatives of their opinions and to voice their opinion on PopVox.com.

Okay look, you all know I support the President effusively. 

And hey I think a third Obama term would be GREAT for the country.

But let's face it, if this were to actually happen the idea of a new civil war would move from the realm of conspiracy theory to an actual "Everybody get down, he has a gun" fact. In other words there is NO WAY this could happen without this country going through an incredible upheaval that in the end would benefit no one.

And don't forget, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Could you imagine the damage that would have been done to the nation if Karl Rove had stolen a THIRD term for George W. Bush? Jesus the very idea makes my damn blood run cold!

Besides how is Hillary Clinton ever going to get to be President if Obama won't get the hell out of the Oval Office?

This is a humorous notion to irritate the Teabaggers with, to be sure, but ultimately I think it is a non-starter.

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

A big day for a woman's right to control her own reproductive organs as Mississippi's "Personhood" initiative fails.

Courtesy of CBS News:

Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would've declared life begins at fertilization, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide. 

The so-called "personhood" initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters, falling far short of the threshold needed for it to be enacted. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling. 

The measure divided the medical and religious communities and caused some of the most ardent abortion opponents, including Republican Gov. Haley Barbour, to waver with their support.

I cannot express how happy I am that this initiative failed.  If it had passed it would have started the kind of chain reaction across the southern states that could have eventually rendered Roe vs Wade essentially impotent.

Good on you Mississippi!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Ladies, today is YOUR day! The President even said so!

From the White House:

WOMEN'S EQUALITY DAY, 2011 BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

A PROCLAMATION 

The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution tore down the last formal barrier to women's enfranchisement in our Nation and empowered America's women to have their voices heard in the halls of power. This Amendment became law only after decades of work by committed trailblazers who fought to extend the right to vote to women across America. For the women who fought for this right, voting was not the end of the journey for equality, but the beginning of a new era in the advancement of our Union. These brave and tenacious women challenged our Nation to live up to its founding principles, and their legacy inspires us to reach ever higher in our pursuit of liberty and equality for all. 

Before the Amendment took effect, women had been serving our Nation in the public realm since its earliest days. Even before they gained the right to vote, America's women were leaders of movements, academics, and reformers, and had even served in the Congress. Legions of brave women wrote and lectured for change. They let their feet speak when their voices alone were not enough, protesting and marching for their fundamental right to vote in the face of heckling, jail, and abuse. Their efforts led to enormous progress millions upon millions of women have since used the power of the ballot to help shape our country. 

Today, our Nation's daughters reap the benefits of these courageous pioneers while paving the way for generations of women to come. But work still remains. My Administration is committed to advancing equality for all of our people. This year, the Council of Women and Girls released "Women in America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being," the most comprehensive report in 50 years on the status of women in our country, shedding light on issues women face in employment, crime, health, and family life. We are working to ensure that women-owned businesses can compete in the marketplace, that women are not discriminated against in healthcare, and that we redouble our efforts to bring an end to sexual assault on college campuses. 

On the 91st anniversary of this landmark in civil rights, we continue to uphold the foundational American principles that we are all equal, and that each of us deserves a chance to pursue our dreams. We honor the heroes who have given of themselves to advance the causes of justice, opportunity, and prosperity. As we celebrate the legacy of those who made enormous strides in the last century and before, we renew our commitment to hold true to the dreams for which they fought, and we look forward to a bright future for our Nation's daughters. 

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim August 26, 2011, as Women's Equality Day. I call upon the people of the United States to celebrate the achievements of women and recommit ourselves to the goal of gender equality in this country. 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth. 

BARACK OBAMA

You know with Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann doing everything they can to roll back all of the progress made by the Women's Movement in the last hundred years, it is really nice to know that SOMEBODY has the back of the females in this country.

But then what would you expect from a man raised by a single mother, and married to a strong representative of the female gender like Michele Obama?

Have a great day ladies!