From the VOMITORIUM
The US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence, you remember these documents, the foundations of the USA….it is perfect in its simplicity…at least that is what so many try to tell us….but the reality is the these documents are NOTHING but political tools to be used or discarded as the need arises.
Take the amendments, for instance…..Conserv are all over leaving the 2nd amendment the way it is…because it is perfect and because it is a vote getter with gun nuts…..but that is amusing since not all the amendments are perfect in their eyes…..take the 17th amendment…..
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications required for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
There are those in politics, especially the conservs, that would like to have the 17th repealed and that senators would be elected by state legislatures and not the people. But why?
I have a problem whenever politicians try to take power from the people in any way…..and if this is ever to happen then the people will lose some of their dwindling power over politicians.
And now there seems to be a GOP push to repeal the 14th amendment…..politicians like Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, the minority leader and calling for this repeal in an effort to help control illegal immigration….oh yea.. the 14th amendment says……
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Their theory is that if we take away the rights of those born in the US of illegal parents then it will somehow help control the perception of massive illegal immigration.
As Lindsey Graham said:
“I may introduce a constitutional amendment that changes the rules if you have a child here,” Graham said during an interview with Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. “Birthright citizenship I think is a mistake, that we should change our Constitution and say if you come here illegally and you have a child, that child’s automatically not a citizen.”
The 14th was added to the Constitution to protect the children born to now freed slaves…..so that they could NOT have any of the rights that were given to those denied to them.
Let us talk about illegal immigration talking points by Repubs……they bring with them crime….false…crime has actually gone down in the areas around the border……the illegals are bring in drugs….also false…this has never been proven by the border patrol…..in other words they are using FEAR (a useful tool for the GOP) to try a set a tone on immigration that is just not there. Make no mistake…corporations will do everything to halt any real substantial immigration reform…they like the status quo…..why? illegals work for less money and they are used to make Americans settle for less money….they, the Corporations, want Americans to compete for the lower paying jobs…this is why even a Repub like Bush could not get anything done while president.
My point is….sorry about the digression……that if they are serious about tinkering with the Constitution they could open a large can of worms….and they may not appreciate the direction it takes.
A good post and absolutely right I would think, though with a couple of minor exceptions/additions in the detail…
Of course the corporations take the attitude you quote, but what I can’t understand is why they even continue to operate in the uS. Most other of the “old” manufacturing countries have now seen their corporations move their actual plants to places in the world with less bureaucracy and often lower wages. That’s not such a bad thing either, because it boosts the employement and economies of those much poorer countries and helps to stem the tide of immigration (legal or otherwise) the the “old” country would otherwise suffer. In other words, if you want to stop a lot of the immigration cheaply, simply encourage US manufacturers to set up more plants in Mexico, or wherever the problem supposedly comes from.
Secondly (and a little more directly on topic), ALL politicians of ALL persuasions use fear to create the need in the minds of the public for whatever it is they propose. As you say, the right wants everyone to be afraid of immigrants, terror, attack, personal safety, etc., etc. because that is what supports their particular ideology. The left similarly wants everyone to be afraid of loss of state bureaucratic management of their lives because that is the raison d’être of socialist leaning administrations. In the main, most of these “fears” are manufactured, exaggerated, or just plain bullshit, but they all admirably serve the purpose of the political group in question in order to kid the public that they actually need these assholes at all.
NAFTA help set up the probs that the US is having now and that would be Clinton and the boyz…….and to your point on factories…you would think that it is a good idea but unfortunately those industries are heavy in Pakistan and India….at least that is what we are told by the financial media……
Fear has been a wonderful thing for politicians and demigods from the beginning……and it will remain so as long as we have these twits run things……these guys that want to repeal parts of the Constitution will be setting up battles on things they do not want like possibly guns and ……
Well, you know what we all think of the media – financial or otherwise…
However, it’s rubbish anyway – Pakistan will likely go Taleban in the next few years and India is set to outstrip the US economy (and the UK’s) during the next decade or so with a huge and wealthy and industrious middle class that drives finance and innovation forward at an amazing and admirable rate.
Stand back and watch as the third world swaps places economically and even socially with the first world, (which includes Europe, the UK and the US).
The US politicos are, like Nero (wasn’t it?) “fiddling (in all senses of the word) whilst their metaphorical Rome burns” – and the corporations will simply move on…
China is out stripping the US ….Hell they will take over as the premier world power….it already is an economic power but that is only the beginning…..wait a minute! How did I get here from changing the Constitution? Crap! I missed something….LOL
Well, yes, although hina is slowing whereas India is going ever faster. Possibly something to do with the people being WILLING as well as studious and industrious – plus the Chinese economy is built on low cost manufacturing by low cost labour, but India has leapfrogged much of the West and is a thriving technological powerhouse.
The connection with changing the constitution? Simply that, as I pointed out, these twerps are playing politics whilst their country is about to go down the tubes. If you can’t protect your democracy OR your economy, the constitution is bloody irrelevant and these dipsticks are busy arguing about emasculating the one strong democratic feature you have. Clever that…
Speaking of China:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100805/ap_on_re_as/as_china_us_carrier_killer
The Constitution has become a prop on which politicians stand for political advantage….sad that…….
Like I said – stand back and watch this space! Superior in numbers and experise may be, but it’s not enough any more either militarily or economically. The US has indeed stopped having it’s own way economically soem time ago and they are only just beginning to notice that the rest of the world has caught and by-passed them now that their floating arsenals are no longer invulnerable.
China is indeed set to be the next superpower, but I still think that she is already suffering from the beginnings of much of malaise that has so damaged the US and the UK economies and even threatened stability. However, I still think that India will be (is already becoming) the next global economic powerhouse and driving force.
What will the EU do about all this? How will it use the shift of military power to advantage its military ambitions (if I am right – and I’m convinced that I am)?
The US constitution in all this? Watch how the more rabid hawks and bigots (particularly, but not solely, of the right) feed their insatiable desire for absolute power by using exaggerated fears of Chinese attack along with Asian economic dominance “taking US jobs” to divert attention elsewhere, as they steadily de-construct the American constitution… It WILL happen if you guys don’t stop them!
But we cannot stop them! They own our debt……and that is the scary part….if it comes to a military confrontation they can then use an economic attack to weaken even further…..the US is so f*cked and all in the name of “free trade”…..
I understand, but there is a very old “grandma” maxim that says, “neither a borrower nor a lender be” and there’s (within limits) a huge amount of common sense in it. You are enslaved by debt – and “they” as you so rightly point out, own it!
It may well all be in the NAME of “Free Trade” but there’s one thing that it most certainly is NOT – and that’s Free Trade! It’s a sham. It’s a CORPORATOCRACY!
I believe in corporations. I believe in a REAL free market. But I DON’T believe or trust in corporations and I don’t even think one should be ABLE to trust corporations – their job is basically to rip you off and your job as an educated individual is to look out for yourself and your own and NOT GET ripped off.
Government’s job is to keep the market free and buoyant and to REMAIN INDEPEDENT and unbiased as it ensures REAL free trade, REAL competition and informs and educates its people, keeping them financially healthy so that they can benefit from a thriving economy rather than becoming subjugated by it. LOBBYING in ALL its forms is disgraceful and should be STOPPED forthwith, as should the political system that depends on the big donors to get elected.
In my opinion, what you have is corrupt, dangerous and probably ultimately self destructive, but it is NOT free trade! Nor for that matter is it democracy!
Come to that, it represents a wild distortion of what was intended by those who designed your constitution!
This was all theater…..these dicks will not change the Constitution for they know it would open a large can for those damn worms…..and their favs could be open to change also…..games politicians play
Indeed…