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Politics : Clinton's Scandals: Is this corruption the worst ever? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zoltan! who wrote (9158)	11/20/1998 6:07:00 AM
From: jimpit	Respond to of 13994

Welcome back Zoltan! Best Regards, jimpit

To: Zoltan! who wrote (9158)	11/20/1998 9:52:00 AM
From: Doughboy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13994

I don't hear from you for two weeks, Zoltan, and that's the best you can do? No comment on Newt's and Boner's and T'Amato's and Fairclod's demise? Doughboy.

To: Zoltan! who wrote (9158)	11/21/1998 11:14:00 AM
From: Jim S	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13994

Hey, Zolt-- I hate to interrupt the "fish or cut bait" discussions, but I have a question. Did you or anyone else listen closely to Starr's comments about terminating the Whitewater, Travelgate, and Filegate investigations? What I heard him say, several times, is that The President is no longer a subject of these investigations. Did I miss something, or did he pointedly (but casually) exclude allegations of wrongdoing by the Worst Lady? If I may, another question for you, Oh Great One: If the grand jury was not asked to approve or validate Starr's Impeachment Referral Report, why were they there? Did they have a function? Thanks, jim

To: Zoltan! who wrote (9158)	11/28/1998 5:28:00 PM
From: Catfish	Respond to of 13994

THE NEW CONSTITUTION Universal Press Syndicate Joseph Sobran THE NEW CONSTITUTION San Francisco -- The New York Times reports, for the benefit of those who haven't already noticed, that the Republican Party is "deeply splintered," unable to agree on a message. Four years after recapturing Congress, the "Republican revolution" lacks a revolutionary theme. Here's one: How about restoring the U.S. Constitution in its full rigor -- 10th Amendment, states' rights and all? Nah. That would be a little too revolutionary. "Can't be done," my Republican friends assure me whenever I spring my brainstorm on them. (Some of my best friends are Republicans.) "Can't be done" is the ancient Republican mantra. Only five years ago, Newt Gingrich heard that every time he suggested that the Republicans might capture both Houses of Congress from the Democrats. A party that can't agree on much else should at least be able to agree on living by the Constitution. After all, everyone pretends to be honoring it now. If the Constitution were taken seriously, as it was until the time of Franklin (Pack That Court) Roosevelt, the federal government would be prevented from growing automatically, and there would be no need for annual mud wrestling over the federal budget. Money could be appropriated only for the powers specifically delegated to Congress in Article I. This proposal flies in the face of all recent jurisprudence, which agrees that the Constitution is a "living document" whose dead branches may be clipped off by the federal courts. This notion is actually deeply contemptuous of the written document -- the one the Framers wrote, the people ratified, and nearly everyone respected until the New Deal. "In order to have socialism we must have a new Constitution," a radical magazine observed early in the century. The Left recognized that the Constitution was a fatal obstacle to its designs for absolute government. This problem was ultimately solved by stealth. The American Civil Liberties Union adopted the brilliant strategy of gradually imposing a false but socialist-friendly interpretation of the Constitution. This leftist interpretation appealed to "progressive" members of the court who favored centralized government -- Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, Earl Warren, William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall and Harry Blackmun. It was gradually adopted as official constitutional law. But that wasn't all. Over the 20th century the ACLU has taught the educated classes to interpret the Constitution its way -- as a charter for centralized government with a few individual "rights," but no structure of state and local government that might impede the concentrated power of the leviathan state. Today, few educated people are even aware that there is any other way of understanding the Constitution. That is the measure of the ACLU's success. In essence, the new reading of the Constitution (though it's no longer new) holds that the power to regulate interstate commerce in Article I gives the federal government limitless power to legislate, while the 14th Amendment gives the federal courts limitless power to strike down the reserved powers of the states. Moreover, the federal courts can ignore any provision of the Constitution (or, what is much the same thing, construe it as broadly or narrowly as they please). The Second and 10th Amendments have been virtually repealed by neglect; other clauses have been changed beyond recognition. The net result is a mammoth centralized government. Through its courts the federal government (we still call it "federal," though the power is thoroughly centralized) can exercise a line-item veto over not only state laws, but inconvenient parts of the U.S. Constitution itself. It took decades for the New Constitution to displace the old one, but to the Left it was worth it. The New Constitution is now deeply entrenched. Far from restraining the federal government, it has become the federal government's weapon against the powers reserved to the people and the states. "In order to have socialism we must have a new Constitution." The Left faced its problem, tackled it, and won. Now conservatives must act with equal resolution: In order to regain freedom we must regain the old Constitution. It's a tall order. And it won't be done by people who start off assuming it can't be done. COPYRIGHT 1998 UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE freerepublic.com