Tag Archives: Judiciary

Black Conservatives Condemn Grayson Remarks

Members of the Project 21 black leadership group are condemning remarks today by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) comparing today’s Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission to the Dred Scott case.

The decision in Citizens United eases certain restrictions on the free speech of businesses, associations, organized labor and certain advocacy groups with regard to their participation in political campaigns.  In response, Grayson said: “This is the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case.”

In the 1857 Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court ruled that black Americans who were either slaves or the descendants of slaves could not be, and never had been, U.S. citizens.  The decision, formally known as Scott v. Sandford, also invalidated the 1820 Missouri Compromise, which prohibited slavery in portions of U.S. territories in the west.

Project 21 members said:

Bishop Council Nedd II: “In Dred Scott, the Court equated people with property.  The Court’s decision today was about giving people a voice.  There is no correlation between the two.  Congressman Grayson needs to apologize.  His flippant and unenlightened statement offends me personally, and it disrespects generations of black people who suffered from slavery.” (Council Nedd II is the bishop of the Chesapeake and the Northeast for the Episcopal Missionary Church.)

Horace Cooper: “Where has Representative Alan Grayson been?  He compares today’s landmark decision – in which free speech trumps FEC restrictions – to the awful ruling that black people are nothing more than property.  He’s off base yet again.  It’s more than a little ironic that Democrats praised Dred Scott when it was handed down over a hundred years ago, yet now stand opposed to fundamental freedoms such as free speech today.”  (Horace Cooper is a former visiting assistant professor at the George Mason University School of Law.)

Ellis Washington: “As a black man, I am outraged that Representative Grayson would equate the bondage of slavery with today’s Court ruling extending freedom of speech to businesses and corporations in the political process, and having the courage to bring modern jurisprudence in line with the guarantees of the Constitution.  In other words, the Court held that money equals speech and radio shows, media entities and corporations equal people.  The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech for everyone!”  (Ellis Washington is a former editor of the Michigan Law Review.)

In his majority opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote: “Our nation’s speech dynamic is changing, and informative voices should not have to circumvent onerous restrictions to exercise their First Amendment rights.  The censorship we now confront is vast in its reach.”

Project 21, established in 1992, is sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research (http://www.nationalcenter.org).

Why The Left Hates Freedom Of Speech

Forget about the fact that McCain-Feingold was plainly and clearly contrary to the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. Especially the ”Congress shall make no law’ part. Here’s what the First Amendment of the Constitution is . . .

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.                    {emphasis added}

Forgive me, but what part of NO is unclear here?

And forget about the negligence of President Bush for signing that gawd-awful piece of legislation. Can’t stop there though. Both Bush and Obama deserve a refresher course regarding the oath they took when they placed their left hand on the bible and raised their right hand to (ostensibly) God.

Just what does it mean ‘to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States?’ To both those Presidents, apparently it means don’t protect it at all. Shirk that responsibility and schluff it off to the Judicial branch.

But the far Left, including President Obama, is outraged that people and groups of people of any kind have the same right to free speech as you or I. Their straw man villain is ‘corporations.’ They’re foaming at the mouth that big corporations will start buying elections. Uh, does anyone believe that McCain-Feingold took big money out of political campaigns? Can you say ‘George Soros’ and the myriad of 527′s?

What’s ironic to me is the fact that, well gee, Big Labor has the same rights as General Motors now. Oh, bad example, that’s owned by The White House. But you get the point here don’t you? No one is disadvantaged, everyone has not only the right, but the opportunity to group resources together to make political statements of support either for or against any candidate. Whether a club, a union, a town, a corporation, or a wacko forum on the Huffington Post.

I think that’s what ‘freedom of speech’ embodies.

But to think that no one is disadvantaged would not quite be true with the current state of the mainstream media and here’s why. That part of McCain-Feingold what was stricken today prevented political speech either for or against a particular candidate within 30 days prior to an election. The only exception to that is the media. That’s making the large and foolish assumption that the media today is as it was a hundred years ago. But unfortunately, it is no longer the same media watchdog that was afforded specific protection in the Constitution. If you listen to the Left nowadays, they’re claiming that the media is controlled by the Right. Ridiculous of course, but it doesn’t matter to make my point.They help make my point.

That the folks cannot exercise free political speech 30 days before an election, tilts the power of persuasion away from the people and gives it all to the media. And we all know that in the last election, the McCain-Palin ticket was not only running against Obama-Biden, but against the media as well. The sum of which could not be overcome. (aside from the fact that McCain ran with one arm tied behind his back, but that’s another matter) That’s a power that neither the Left or the Right should accept.

But, what is Obama and the wacko Left wanting to do about this freedom of political speech? They want either a Constitutional amendment taking it away, or for Congress to make a law, (echo. . .shall make no law) taking it away. Forfeiting the people’s power back to the media. President Obama’s statement:

With its ruling today, the Supreme Court has given a green light to a new stampede of special interest money in our politics. It is a major victory for big oil, Wall Street banks, health insurance companies and the other powerful interests that marshal their power every day in Washington to drown out the voices of everyday Americans. This ruling gives the special interests and their lobbyists even more power in Washington–while undermining the influence of average Americans who make small contributions to support their preferred candidates. That’s why I am instructing my Administration to get to work immediately with Congress on this issue. We are going to talk with bipartisan Congressional leaders to develop a forceful response to this decision. The public interest requires nothing less.

As we just learned with Obamacare, when the Left and Obama over-reach, they do it on steroids.

related links:

First Amendment Upheld By Supremes

Freedom of political speech wins today in the Supreme Court of the United States.  Overturning part of the debacle called McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform.

Organizations of any size may pool their resources together and say whatever they wish to say about a candidate, pro or con. Freedom of speech is no longer a slogan. It is enforceable now under the Constitution.

Of course, the fact that it had to go to the Supreme Court to be tested is ridiculous. But it is confirmed now.

link: Supreme Court knocks down campaign spending limits

Obama All Around The Edges Of The War On Terror

The President made some progress in verbalizing the war that we’re in against Islamic extremism. In his stunning (not really) speech about the panty-bomber, he had to finally admit that we are at war outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.

But, despite using the war term, he is still content on handling it as a law enforcement instead of a military issue.

He fell short by naming al-Qaeda as our enemy. In reality, the enemy is much wider than al-Qaeda. It consists 100% of Islamic extremists who bastardize the religion of Islam as an excuse to rule the world by killing non-believers. al-Qaeda is merely the tip of the spear.

If he were to get serious, he would use the M word, as in Muslim extremists, to correctly characterize our enemy. And they are not only our enemy. They are the enemy of the rest of the civilized world. We all know that not all Muslims are the enemy. But we also know that Muslim extremists are the enemy. Period.

His  Political Correctness infection projects his weakness and vulnerability in effectively prosecuting this war. The enemy is laughing at him in their caves and safe houses all over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Nigeria, Sudan, London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Paris, Indonesia, and Dearbornistan.

To get serious, he needs to call a spade a spade. He needs to change his tactic of using the Justice Department and the civilian criminal justice system to deal with captured terrorists.

Using his Justice Department to prosecute our CIA for doing their best has, no doubt, played a part in what Obama calls the ‘systemic failure’ that led to the  attack on flight 253.  CNN described it as a ‘failed attack.’ Take off the blinders.  In fact, it was a successful attack. By the grace of God and passengers on board, what failed was the detonation of the bomb.

He was right to say that the buck stops with him. But labeling it as a systemic failure is what he must do to avoid holding anyone accountable with their job.

He could start by removing the current head of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano,  who said that the system worked perfectly. (a Brownie/Bush flashback from Katrina) Her credentials for the Cabinet position of Director of Homeland Security include representing Anita Hill in the harassment case to prevent Clarance Thomas from ascending to the Supreme Court. And becoming Arizona Attorney General in 1998, she focused on consumer protection issues and improving general law enforcement. Are we beginning to see why she was Obama’s pick for the position now? I don’t know about you, but I look at consumer protection and homeland security differently.

Obama needs to maintain Club Gitmo as the repository for the captured terrorists, under military control and within the military tribunal justice system. Those on the Left, including Obama, say that Gitmo has to be closed because it serves as a recruiting tool for the enemy. So what. Our being alive serves as a recruiting tool for the enemy, so they need to get over it. Here’s a clue, Obama ran on the platform of closing Gitmo and giving that dog squeeze the protection of our Constitution.  Two weeks ago, Northwest Airlines flight 253 was nearly incinerated. Maybe al-Qaeda didn’t get the memo? News flash: Club Gitmo wasn’t open when al-Qaeda bombed the USS Cole, or the World Trade Center (both times), or the Kobar Towers in the eighties and nineties.

Obama now admits we are at war. As our Commander In Chief, it’s  about time he grows a spine and acts like it.

It's The Supreme Court, Not Oprah

Sonia Sotomayor’s life story is one thing. It’s a picture perfect American success story. That is, in the America that she grew up in.

Take away the liberal heart-string tugging of her life’s story as a qualification to the Supreme Court, and what you have is a judge whose decisions have been overturned 60% of the time. A judge that upheld racial discrimination in a case now in the Supreme Court, where it is anticipated she will be overturned again.

It is not right-wing spin to say that her version of justice is not ‘blind.’ It’s just that you won’t see it put that way in the mainstream media. An automatic dis-qualifier for anywhere in the judiciary, let alone the Supreme Court.

President Obama picked an ideological soulmate with his nomination of Sonia Sotomayor. His idea of the U.S. Constitution seems to be in line with hers. Being overturned 60% of the time turns out to be a resume enhancement for an Obama Supreme Court nominee.

Which begs the question. Will future generations of Americans have the same opportunities that she had in an Obama-remade America?

related link: Why did George H.W. Bush pick Sotomayor for the courts?

audio, in his own words: What Obama thinks of the Supreme Court, and the Constitution

International Wiretapping Upheld

In a decision made last August 22, but not reported until now, what the left calls warrantless wiretapping, and the courts call the National Security Agency’s secret eavesdropping program, has been declared constitutional and within the powers given to the president.

The decision marks the first time since the disclosure of the National Security Agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program three years ago that an appellate court has addressed the constitutionality of the federal government’s wiretapping powers. In validating the government’s wide authority to collect foreign intelligence, it may offer legal credence to the Bush administration’s repeated assertions that the president has the power to act without specific court approval in ordering national security eavesdropping that may involve Americans.

Regardless, Obama has dismantling the most effective tools of the Patriot Act in mind for his first term. A testament to his selections for CIA director and DHS secretary.

To take this tool away is like trying to run a marathon blindfolded. What the left calls warrantless wiretapping of American citizens is this: a call originating from a known terrorist region and coming into the US. Who wants to bet their life that this program hasn’t helped save lives and hasn’t helped to get the bad guys? Will the resentment and refutation of the policies of George W. Bush take precedence over the safety and security of our citizens?

link: Intelligence Court Rules Wiretapping Power Legal

Obama And The Political Dept of Justice

While perusing PEBO’s website, I was excited to see another ‘position’  that Barack Obama and I agree on, getting political motivations out of the Dept of Justice. Frankly, it was encouraging to me that he admits to seeing it. Especially now with U.S. Attorney Patrick (Scooter Libby) Fitzgerald as Special Prosecutor  investigating llinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, detailed in this post on Dec. 10.

Q: “What will you do as President to restore the Constitutional protections that have been subverted by the Bush Administration and how will you ensure that our system of checks and balances is renewed?” Kari, Seattle

A: President-elect Obama is deeply committed to restoring the rule of law and respecting constitutional checks and balances.That is why he has pledged to review Bush Administration executive orders. President-elect Obama will also end the abuse of signing statements, and put an end to the politicization that has taken place within the Department of Justice and return that agency to its historic and apolitical mission of fair and impartial administration of justice.

(emphasis added)

Does this mean we can expect to see Barack Obama take it to Fitzgerald? Oh well, maybe I’m not on the same page with Barack on this.

related links: change.gov: Open for Questions:Response | Patrick Fitzgerald, Still The Prosecutor’s Prosecutor?

FBI Investigates Student For Palin E-mail Hack Job

It is good to see some progress being made. It will be better to see that they have the perpetrator under arrest. But for now, we know this much . . .

A person who identified himself as a witness tells 10 News that agents with the FBI served a federal search warrant at the Fort Sanders residence of David Kernell early Sunday morning. Kernell lives in the Commons apartment complex at 1115 Highland Ave. David Kernell is the son of Mike Kernell, a Democratic state representative from Memphis.

No surprise there, if true. Bi-partisan condemnation, including jail time for the perpetrator is what would be surprising. The fraud involved in hacking the private email account is one felony, and disseminating that information is another.

Unfortunately, there is not a good history for prosecution in cases such as this. In December, 1996, Alice and John Martin who recorded a cell phone conversation of Newt Gingrich, which ended up in the hands of ‘Baghdad’ Jim McDermott, then ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, who turned it over to the New York Times for publication, never served time. And neither did McDermott. He was ultimately ordered to pay over $700,000 in damages and court costs. That’s it. He is still in Congress. So I wouldn’t get my hopes up for real justice in this case either. Now, if the shoe were on the other foot?

link: Update: FBI serves search warrant against UT student in Palin case | Appeals Court rules against McDermott in taped call dispute

Saddleback Forum And Obama's Words, Just Words

The political forum hosted by minister Rick Warren Saturday night gave us a view of both candidates that none of the previous so-called debates produced. Avoiding campaign talking points, the questions Warren asked exposed the belief systems, character, and motivations of both men. And the country was better off for it.

I came away feeling like Sen. John McCain did the best that I’ve ever seen him do. Judging from reviews of others, this seems to be the overall assessment. Even from Democrats. And Obama’s performance was replete with indecision, obfuscation, and inexperience.

We all know that words mean things. And no one knows that better than Sen. Barack Obama, who made a big deal about it in a stump speech somewhere. Remember ‘Words, Just Words?

McCain came across decisive and confident. Obama, on the other hand, came across as indecisive and less confident, to the point of floundering for a way to end his sentence. Chuck Todd, NBC Political Director characterized Obama’s performance as ‘trying to impress Warren (or to put another away) not offend Warren.’ I saw it as Obama trying not to offend his base.

Two answers that Obama gave were especially revealing about his character and belief system.

On the subject of Christianity. Warren asked ‘What does it mean to you to trust in Christ and what does it mean on a daily basis? I mean, what does that really look like?’ Obama sets the stage with this quite acceptable answer.

But what it also means, I think, is a sense of obligation to embrace not just words but through deeds the expectations that God has for us. And that means thinking about the least of these. It means acting – well, acting justly and loving mercy and walking humbly with our God.

Next question, about abortion.’At what point does a baby get human rights in your view?

McCain answered it in five words, ‘at the point of conception.’ By contrast, Obama said ‘. . . answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade.’ Just a minute earlier, he was saying how he was thinking about the very least. What, the unborn, the absolute very least, don’t count? Words, just words?

He then said he is in favor of limits on late-term abortions. Well, except for the fact that he voted against a bill that would allow a live-birth aborted baby, a failed abortion, to live. What happened to the very least among us? Words, just words?

The next subject was about the Supreme Court. ‘Which existing Supreme Court Justice would you not have nominated?’ He caught himself in saying that Justice Thomas was inexperienced, which would have virtually undermined his own candidacy. But he started off with Justice Clarence Thomas. His response . . .

I don’t think that he. I don’t think that he was a strong enough jurist or legal thinker at the time for that elevation. Setting aside the fact that I profoundly disagree with his interpretation of a lot of Constitution.

Then, Barack Obama, the constitutional lawyer, said he does not like the way Justice Thomas operates. He explained himself this way . . .

One of the most important jobs of I believe the Supreme Court is to guard against the encroachment of the Executive branch on the power of the other branches and I think that he has been a little bit too willing and too eager to give an administration whether it’s mine or George Bush’s more power than I think the Constitution originally intended.

Here is another case where the party line trumps reality. Or in this case, the Constitution. There is only one job of a Supreme Court Justice, and by default is the most important one. That is, to decide cases based on the Constitution. Period. End of story. End of job description. The separation of powers was designed so that no branch, including the Judiciary, could do exactly what Obama expects it to do. It all comes back to the ideology of the liberal Democrats, which is, to use the Supreme Court to make laws that the Legislative branch cannot.

Related links: MCCAIN’S BACK IN THE SADDLEBACK | Transcript: Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency

Supreme Court Hands Another Win To The Enemy

There is not a better example of Judicial abuse then what the five liberal justices on the Supreme Court did today. They ignored precedent.

With this court, precedents are fine as long as it meets their liberal agenda, which includes the notion that the U.S. Constitution is a rough draft of the way things should be. And decisions like the one today serve to refine or update it.

The Justices have just made American citizens unsafe in a time that we are at war.

Never in the history of American jurisprudence have we given full Constitutional rights to terrorists captured anywhere in the world who commit atrocities on civilians.

They overstepped their bounds in the separation of powers. The executive branch is responsible for conducting all aspects of war, not the judiciary. They cast a pall over our entire military and the brave men and women wearing the uniform and fighting to protect us and kill the enemy. They insulted the surviving families of those who gave their life for the very same constitution that this court is abusing. And they may as well have spat on the graves of those who gave the full measure with this decision.

It is our soldiers, our citizens, that deserve the protection of our Constitution, NOT the terrorists that want to kill us.

The media and their buds on the left report this decision as a loss for Bush. It reveals to all just who they are at war with, and it isn’t al Qaeda. This isn’t a loss for Bush. This is a loss for America.

Hear it all put into context by Mark Levin in this 10 minute audio clip. H/T NewsBusters.

related links: Mark Levin | Debra Burlingame | JOHNSON V. EISENTRAGER, 339 U. S. 763 (1950)