Yes, Chicken Little…..
This time, the sky really is falling Shutdown 2013 is really not a budget negotiation. IT IS NOT. You do not pass and repeal laws in the United States of America through budget negotiations. Then what is this, really? What are the buffoons and shucksters in Congress at a stalemate over? Well, this time, it’s about nothing short of our democratic system of self-governance, which hangs in the balance: that would be Majority Rule by the people, through their elected representatives, as envisioned by the Founding Fathers and borne out in our Constitution. The terms being thrown around – “economic…
Juries in America: Myths and Facts
Law and justice often collide. Jury trials are the foundation of the American legal system. For more than 200 years, we have expected them to hear testimony, evaluate evidence, and deliver justice. Once again, our schools have failed us. That’s not their job. The U.S. Constitution refers to juries four times: Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 requires that “The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall…
Separation of Church and State: Myths and Facts
The Founders Tried to Protect Us From Religious Extremists America’s founders deliberately kept god out of the Constitution because they didn’t want a theocracy. But many Americans now try to force all of us to practice their faith, and prevent some from practicing different faiths. Nothing is more un-American. James Madison and Gouverneur Morris wrote our Constitution from scratch in 1787, using pen and paper. There had never before been such a document. They could have put anything they wanted into it. They chose not to use the words “god”, “Christ”, “Christian”, or “Jesus” anywhere in it. They chose not…
Read the Declaration of Independence
An Act of Treason; Not a Law The Declaration of Independence was more a process than a moment in history. This act of treason against an empire sparked the Revolutionary War and, eventually, the United States of America. It is not, and has never been, a law, but it is worth reading. This week, Americans celebrate the Declaration of Independence with picnics, parades, and fireworks. In the movie National Treasure, Nicholas Cage’s character steals the Declaration from the National Archives in order to protect it from the real bad guys. It’s a good movie, but it never really explains what…
Nonprofit Organizations: Myths and Facts
“Nonprofit” Does Not Mean “No Money” Recent news reports claimed that the IRS targeted extra scrutiny to conservative groups applying for nonprofit tax exemptions. It was much ado about nothing. But it’s time to clarify nonprofits’ legal status and their social roles in our culture. The Internal Revenue Service’s regulation of nonprofit organizations was a major topic in the news recently, and that’s quite unusual. Apparently, an IRS manager instructed some of his staff people to pay particular attention to tax exemption applications from groups with politically-related words in their names, such as “tea party”, “patriot”, and “progressive”, to be…
When Does Obstruction Become Treason?
Why Won’t Americans Just Read the Constitution? Recently, Bill Maher and Michael Moore rightly criticized Congressional Republicans for their relentless obstruction of government. Plenty of liberal bloggers and their followers jumped on the bandwagon. But they all went too far in calling it treason. Republicans have tripped over each other to obstruct every budget proposal, jobs bill, issue, policy, effort, nomination, and idea that President Obama has proposed since the day of his first inauguration. In 2010, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said, at a Heritage Foundation event, that denying President Obama a second term was the GOP’S top…
Impeachment: Myths, Facts, and History
More Empty Impeachment Threats from the GOP Right-wingers trembled with glee when Sen. James Inhofe said that President Obama might be impeached for the events in Benghazi. Few rank-and-file Americans understand impeachment or the odds of it happening. It does not mean that the president is fired. Most members of Congress and the media understand what impeachment means, but our schools work very hard to produce politically ignorant citizens. Impeachment means charging a public official with an offense. Impeachment does not mean firing a public official from her/his job. Constitution and Procedures The U.S. Constitution states that: The House of…
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