Rebuking a President

Why did they wait so long, you ask? Because they were afraid of President Bush  and they see Obama as a wimp.

 When Bush used signing statements to ignore laws, the Republican members of Congress defended the president’s right to do so. But now that President Barack Obama is following the same strategy, Republicans have awakened to the view that signing statements are a violation of the separation of powers between the branches of government. Since he became president, Obama has issued seven signing statements. However it was one statement, signed on June 24, relating to an amendment to a State Department funding bill, that riled the members of both parties in the House of Representatives. Obama said that requirements intended to pressure the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to strengthen labor and environmental standards and to require the Treasury Department to report on World Bank and IMF activities, would “interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations.”-AllGov

Regardless, I am pleased to see that Congress has found some fortitude in dealing with this  nonsense. No President should be able to pick and choose which laws or which parts of a law to obey. This is the path to dictatorial power.

  In response, the House this week passed a follow-up amendment by a margin of 429-2 warning Obama that if he ignored the restrictions, he risked seeing Congress cut off funds. Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) said, “We do this not just on behalf of this institution, but on behalf of this democracy. There’s kind of a unilateralism, an undemocratic, unreachable way about these signing statements.”

Spine and backbone are needed to prevent the Executive Branch from usurping powers it is not permitted to have. Good job, Congress!

On the other hand, the manner in which laws are created with all of these little ‘add-ons’ to bills, the President needs a method to challenge the constitutionality of laws and parts of laws  brought before him. Here is where the Supreme Court or the Federal Courts could act on ruling whether laws are, or are not,  constitutional. It is time to bring the Supreme Court into the fray.

I have in mind the idea that the President could challenge portions of a bill. These portions are then reviewed by the Supreme Court for constitutionality. Upon that ruling, the President can sign, veto, or ignore the legislation as it stands but there are no signing statements to trim the edges off of the bills. It  is all or nothing as intended by the founding fathers. 

Personally, I would like to see the President veto every  bill for a few months. All kinds. I think the President should say ‘NO’ more often.

Truth, Acceptance, and Belief

What if you had to re-invent the scientific wheel every generation? Life would get  very complicated , wouldn’t it?

We are fast approaching a time when human beings cannot possibly learn or keep up with scientific explanations of the universe because their lives are full of other things. Like Facebook and Twitter.

Which brings me to this question: Are scientific pronouncements becoming a  question of Faith in Science?

Are ordinary and  common people looking at scientific explanations in the same fashion as religious and mystical explanations?  Has it come to a point where people choose to believe science like people choose to believe in God, crystals, and voodoo?

Why should people believe in scientific explanations if they do not understand science? Is science becoming too mystical and  magical in asking people to believe it because ’scientists say so’?

If every generation must learn that hard science is truth and that truth is more beneficial to people than mysticism, will we reach a point when  a generation will look at the wonders of science with the same awe that others reserve for God?

Is God perhaps ’ As Yet Unexplained Science’? Or will Science become ’God With An Explanation Instead of Faith’ ?

At the moment do you view Creationism and Global Warming with the same amount of  information in your head about each?  Why do you accept one and not the other? Let me know.  

Take a look at this: (H/T to Obsidian Wings)

Which is the greater surprise: that too few in the public believe in evolution or that too many scientists do not?

And what about global warming?

What do you do to figure out the truth of things so that you can  accept what you are told by others?

The Secret Republican Strategy for 2012?

Well, it was a secret until now.

Fact 1: Mike Huckabee, former Republican presidential candidate hosts his own TV show. He no longer is in a position to make political errors,make political  enemies, or develop political  obligations but he can expand his popularity with voters.

Fact 2: Tim Pawlenty, a probable Republican candidate announces that he will not seek another gubernatorial term in Minnesota and is unclear on his near term activities.

Fact 3: Sarah Palin, former vice-presidential candidate  announces her resignation as Governor of Alaska and will cheerlead for other Republicans.

Fact 4: Chuck Hagel, former Senator and presidential hopeful for many of us, does not run for senatorial election in 2008 and instead takes a position with the Atlantic Council. In the words of Steve Clemons: “And depending on how things go these next couple of years, Hagel is in an ideal spot to bide his time and be actively engaged in the civil society side of policy debate.”

Fact 5: Weak and vulnerable Republican hopefuls are weeded out by scandal  four years in advance of 2012 elections  so  that there are no John Edwards exposés to distract the election process. 

With my wet finger in the wind, I predict that the next Republican presidential candidate will be someone not then currently serving  in a government position.   

The secret strategy of the Republican Party is to proffer experienced candidates with no recent political history to be used against them.  Hope and change will wear a new red suit in 2012.

Finally! Clear thinking on Honduras…

According to the Mexican polling firm Consulta Mitofsky, in a survey made in April, the most unpopular leader in Latin America was Manuel Zelaya. Only 25 percent of the nation supported him. Another survey revealed that 67 percent of Hondurans would never vote for him again. Why? Because the Hondurans attributed to him a deep level of corruption; because they assumed he had links to drug trafficking, especially the drugs originating in Venezuela, as former U.S. Ambassador to the OAS Roger Noriega revealed in a well-documented article published in his blog, and because violence and poverty increased dramatically during his three years in power.

Carlos Alberto Montaner gets it right when he says: 

Nevertheless, it seems that there is still something worse than the depressing spectacle of a freely elected president who is forced to leave his country at gunpoint: trying to impose his return by force. If Zelaya steps again on his native soil he will be arrested and charged with 17 different crimes that he likely has committed. He will be imprisoned and that’s going to be very embarrassing for those who, irresponsibly, may decide to accompany him in that mad adventure.

…and finally:

Peter Hakim, president of Inter-American Dialogue, without abandoning his firm condemnation of the manner in which the president was removed, put it this way: “Zelaya is fighting with all the institutions in the country. In reality, he is in no condition to govern.”

Yesterday, Sec’y of State Clinton met with Zelaya and punted the ball to Costa Rican President Oscar Arias to mediate the issue.  What else would you expect of State with pressure from the banana companies to keep things stable? 

This is a mixed message isn’t it? With CIA in the background there is hope for Zelaya to cling to. However, mediation is not going to solve this issue. There is no way the Honduran military is going to allow Zelaya to return. None. Nada. Zip and Zilch. Regardless of what “unnamed” State Department officials say,  as in:  ”A senior U.S. official said one possible compromise would let the ousted president serve out his remaining six months in office with limited and clearly defined powers while Zelaya would drop his aspirations for a constitutional change that might allow him to run for another term.”

(…when pigs fly, eh?)

 There will be some back and forth before  new elections are held. When that occurs,  the whole thing becomes moot. 

I expect that elections will occur very soon in the Honduras.

US secretly attacked on July 4th

The AP is reporting that US agencies were cyber-attacked over several days. Coordinated  Denial of Service ( DOS) attacks began  on July 4th and took out several websites..

Our government  is mum on the issue on who, what , and how this occurred.

The Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department Web sites were all down at varying points over the holiday weekend and into this week, according to officials inside and outside the government. Some of the sites were still experiencing problems Tuesday evening. Cyber attacks on South Korea government and private sites also may be linked, officials there said.

U.S. officials refused to publicly discuss details of the cyber attack. But Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the agency’s U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a notice to federal departments and other partner organizations about the problems and “advised them of steps to take to help mitigate against such attacks.”

No attack should go unpunished. If this is traced to a government, the consequences should be severe and in my opinion not involve a cyber attack. There is no need to tip our hand on our own cyber-attack capability. It might be better to physically sabotage their capabilities.

Honduras Coup Continued

Recent news has the Honduran government  preventing the  return of President  Zelaya by blocking the airport runways so that he cannot land. Thwarted, the Prez then goes to Nicaragua.  The Organization of American States ( OAS) threatens to throw out the Honduran membership. The Honduras respond by quitting their membership anyway.

The supporters of Prez Zelaya are demonstrating in the streets and the more interesting things to note are: 1.  the lack of press coverage for  President Obama’s foreign policy action on this, 2. a muddled State Department response, and 3. Prez Zelaya is coming to the US to meet with Hillary Clinton.

These new South American coups are much more interesting than the old “line-them up-and-shoot-them-down” coups of fifty years ago.    

Narco News  supports  the reinstatement of Prez Zelaya and is unimpressed by the military takeover.

   This isn’t a government. It’s a clown show… a macabre one, in which the clowns are armed with machine guns and, like Batman’s super-villains, are shooting them at the audience.

Al Giordano fears that the upcoming visit ( today) byPrez Zelaya to see Sec’y of State Hillary Clinton will lead to a cut-off of foreign assistance to the Honduras. This in turn will lead to Honduran government snuggling with narco-trafficantes or the pro-Cuba ( anti-Castro)  groups that supported terrorist  Luis Posada Carrilles.  ( If you have never read NarcoNews, this is the time to do that.)

I have read  several of the SOB blogs ( that’s South of the Border to you ). They all believe that Prez Zelaya was ousted from power and should be returned. They think the coup was illegitimate. In other words they are  putting too much emphasis on the current  democracy debacle ( ousted Prez) ahead of  the planned leftist takeover of the Honduran government. I am not sure why that is but they think the Prez should be re-instated. This will not happen as long as the military is there. 

First, let me say that Honduras is still a serious  banana production country with plantations run by Dole, Chiquita Brands, and Del Monte. They certainly do not wish to have a Chavez-style country that would require  any change in the status quo.  (Better the devil you know…) They will want social stability and a good return for their campaign contributions. Prez Zelaya would have upset the apple  banana cart.

The military in the country said this: 

One of the coup’s top military officials, Colonel Herberth Bayardo Inestroza, brazenly admitted to the Miami Herald last week that “we broke the law,” in carrying out the coup, followed by a shoulder shrugand so what? But among his most chilling statements – including an advance justification for political assassination by military snipers – was this gem:

“It would be difficult for us, with our training, to have a relationship with a leftist government. That’s impossible.”

So now we are coming to the basis for the coup: A leftist Prez that attempts to institute a change in term limits threatens the stability of a right wing corporate run country. To the Honduran military,  nothing  good can come from this.

This places the US in a sour pickle dilemna: support the right wing (Dole, DelMonte, Chaquita) or the established democratically-elected Prez ousted from power who broke a slew of laws and ignored the political bodies in the country.   

Wurra, wurra, wurra. What to do?

I would look for Zelaya to go into exile. The US will not oppose Dole, Chiquita Brands, and  DelMonte. With much handwringing and claims there is nothing they can do, the Obama Adminstration will support the existing military  power and not Zelaya.

Sally Kern says so…Must be true…*cough*

 

Sally Kern’s resolution says:
“WHEREAS, we believe our economic woes are consequences of our greater national moral crisis; and
WHEREAS, this nation has become a world leader in promoting abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery; and
WHEREAS, alarmed that the Government of the United States of America is forsaking the rich Christian heritage upon which this nation was built; and
WHEREAS, grieved that the Office of the president of these United States has refused to uphold the long held tradition of past presidents in giving recognition to our National Day of Prayer; and
WHEREAS, deeply disturbed that the Office of the president of these United States disregards the biblical admonitions to live clean and pure lives by proclaiming an entire month to an immoral behavior”

The New McCarthyism

Edward R. Murrow said this about Sen. Joe McCarthy:

“His primary achievement has been in confusing the public mind, as between the internal and the external threats of Communism. We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We must remember always that accusation is not proof and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law. We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men. [...] We proclaim ourselves, as indeed we are, the defenders of freedom, wherever it continues to exist in the world, but we cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior Senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our allies abroad, and given considerable comfort to our enemies. And whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create this situation of fear; he merely exploited it — and rather successfully.”

Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Michael Savage,Michelle Malkin, Bill O’Reilly, Denis Prager, Laura Ingrahm, and all of  America Right Radio. The New McCarthyism.

The New McCarthy-ists brandish their verbal swords against  Socialism in exactly the same manner as Sen. Joe McCarthy wielded his against Communism.

It has now gotten to the point that the propaganda of Limbaugh against the American  government is reaching out for the overthrow of the Obama Administration.   

A thought on the Honduran Coup

If you have not heard that the President of the Honduras was spirited out of the country last week , you are not paying attention.

Here’s my thoughts:

Background:

The President of the Honduras ( Zelaya) was getting all chummy with Hugo Chavez (Venezuela). Honduran Prez  tried to make an end run around the Honduran Constititution and obtain a referedum to remove the Presidential term limits. He had a poll commissioned to ask citizens their thoughts but the Honduran Supreme Court  said that only the Honduran Legislature can do this and has the ballots impounded (locked up). The Prez then goes to the top general and asks for his help. He says no. The Prez fires him. Later the heads of the army, the Navy and the AirForce all resign rather than do what the Prez wants. The Supreme Court says no way there are grounds for dismissal and the generals must be re-instated. The Prez says no and then assembles his own tea party to liberate the ballots for himself. He breaks into the building and steals the ballot boxes.The  attorney general for the country issues an arrest warrant for the Prez. The military grabs him and takes him to  Costa Rica. It  takes awhile but the US says it supports the rule of law and democracy. Not exactly overwhelming support for Zelaya’s return. Later the US says it denounces the coup and wants Zelaya returned to power.

I think the US supported the coup for two reasons: 1. Zelaya is a supporter of Chavez and 2. Zelaya was taken to Costa Rica rather than arrested and impeached for violating the Constitution and ignoring the Supreme Court. I think the State Department was negotiating for a different result all week long  but the generals in the Honduras said B.S. and  took matters into their own hands. They dropped him off in Costa Rica and said, “Fine, he is now your problem, Mr. CIA.”

The US was caught flat-footed by this move. They needed to mark some time while they crafted a way to handle this.  Meanwhile, Zelaya goes to the UN , makes his plea and then goes to the OAS for help. They are all leftists and admire Hugo Chavez so they denounce the coup and want Zelaya re-instated.  The US does not want to be seen as supporting military coups in the Americas OR seen as being on the same side as Chavez and socialists.

The US decides to deny Zelaya a return to Costa Rica because they don’t want to give any impression they support him.  So Zelaya goes to Panama where he is at the moment. Zelaya announces a return to Honduras for today ( Thursday) but then says sometime next Saturday is better.

The US makes milquetoast comments about Zelaya returning but let’s face it, he is not going back except to be arrested. He rejected the Supreme Court, he defied the Legislature and the Constitution, and the Attorney General issued a warrant for his arrest. He cannot go back as is.

This leaves the US to work out the solution among the OAS member nations. All of them are true leftists and they will exact a price from  the US for their help. Meanwhile, the Honduras continues to function under a rule  of law, legislature, and the military.  

The ball is in Hillary’s court to work this out. Will Bill’s influence in South America be utilized to mediate a solution? Let us see if he goes anywhere down there for any reason, eh?

Which leaves us with the new Honduran government dealing with leftist Zelaya supporters… on the nightly news.

Hillary’s team did not move quickly enough on this. They underestimated the patience of the Honduran military and their boldness. It is not likely that Hillary will let this besmirchment by Honduras  go unpunished. Stay tuned…

Social Studies Lesson: The Future of the Future

I have said before that Michael Totten is the  best social studies teacher around. 

Today, MT speaks with Robert D.  Kaplan. Who is he, you ask?

There are few places in the world Robert D. Kaplan has not visited and written about in his books and magazine articles. He travels to countries hardly anyone else even considers – to Turkmenistan, for instance, during the time of the lunatic “Turkmenbashi” who transformed his post-Soviet republic into the North Korea of Central Asia. He has an uncanny ability to see conflicts looming on the horizon well in advance and – reversing the standard relationship between journalists and officials – U.S. defense policy professionals often ask him for briefings about what he has seen.

His regular dispatches in the Atlantic ought to be required reading for anyone interested in foreign affairs, as should his numerous books.

I met him a few weeks ago in Washington D.C. while he was briefly in town after returning from a month-long trip to post-war Sri Lanka. We discussed Colombo’s brutal counterinsurgency campaign there against the Tamil Tigers, what China has been up to while no one was looking, Russia’s revived imperial project in its “near abroad,” the geopolitcal ramifications of a more liberal Iran, Israel’s difficulty in fighting effective counterinsurgency warfare, and our new man-hunting General Stanley McChrystal in Afghanistan.

In this interview, Mr. Kaplan outlines who, what, and why the Future will be as it becomes. This is an easy interview to read and has very little foreign policy jargon. It speaks with simplicity on how the future will unfold and why.