I am sure you have all seen the infamous red phone call ad run by Senator Hilary Clinton. The message of the ad is that Senator Clinton would make a better Commander-in-Chief than Senator Obama. because she is stronger
I think it is very clear she believes that she would not only be the President from day one but also the President as Commander-in-Chief from day one.
I realized at that point that I had no idea exactly what a Commander in Chief was and what it entailed.
What I found was shocking.
Article II Section 2 Clause 1 of the US Constitution
The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
To quote the raven; "only this and nothing more"
Apparently the founding fathers used the term Commander -in-Chief very sparingly and only under tight controls.
1. The President is only Commander-in-Chief of the armed services not the entire nation 2. Even then, the President as Commander-in-Chief is only when those armed forces have been called into the actual service of the US.
There is no mention here that a President has the right to react to a red phone as he or she pleases or has the balls to react to. It looks to me as if it is a measured thoughtful process dictated by law.
A century of ball busting
We have been the victims of mindless ball breaking. Many of the The problems we face today are because the people we elected to protect us moved well beyond the boundaries set for them by the laws of our land.
Our children sleep in a very different American than you or I grew up to believe existed. Rights are abridged and waved. Wire tapping is allowed under the guise of "war on terror" without warrant. Taxes pay for torture camps and Americans die in undeclared wars. Our money is worthless Our banks have stolen our money and credit and our lives. Too many Americans are jobless or under employed. No one can afford to save money for retirement so we rely on SS which we are now told it may not be there and so we fear that we will become a burden on our children. We have to fear speaking out for fear we will be flamed or worse yet-investigated by DHS.
None of the terrors which keep me awake have anything to do with a red phone
Where is our law? Who is going to speak to the nation that they will act according to Constitutional law? Who will agree to being limited in power? Anyone can react in anger and fear.
Everyone wants to be the great leader with limitless power. But Who wants to be the servant? Who wants to throw their lot in with the ordinary people and obey the constraints of law?
I am recently widowed. I am a writer, actress/director. I am addicted to Irish dance and belly dance. In practicing the latter I have been likened to Ethel Mertz dressed in Xmas tree lights.
My passion is Human rights especially in the US and China where I inadvertantly became the " Jesus is back and she is a woman" prophetess. That is me. It is a long story and not without a certain dark humour.
After the voting is over and we have a new monarch for the next 4 years, who is going to care about us? Who is one of us?
I have a friend who says "There are only 2 classes of people where unlimited power is concerned. Those who wear jack boots and those who have a jack boot rammed up their backside. Make sure you are wearing the jackboots"
With the price of gas, no one I know can afford jackboots . My friends and I are what you would call useless eaters and cannon fodder. But law gave me rights and protected me. I could sleep at night knowing at least that. I had a right to be just me. No matter what happened the law was the same for all the just me's out there.
And then 911 came and in the name of hysteria my rights were attacked, not by terrorists! By my own leaders.
Red phones should be going off in all are heads every time we see that ad and no talks lawful action.
I don't want to cast my vote for a Commander -in-Chief. I pray to god that we will never have to see that person in the White House. again. I want to cast my vote for a citizen who lives in an everyday world where law and reason are king and people are community.
That is what America stands for . If we don't get that back, it won't who is elected.
by
siriusss (4 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 77 comments)
on Thursday, March 13, 2008 at 3:03:37 PM
That is why the media won't mention Ron Paul unless it is in a derogatory way.
Did you see that the FED was going to drop the interst rate one half to a full percentage point Tuesday????
Our worthless money is about to become the toilet paper for which we slave. Sounds like we are going into post WW1 Germany. Inflationary defaltionary spiral anyone?
In the last 24 hours or so the Royalty noticed our existance once again when we we asked by Mad King George to to continiue to have faith int hem... "They"are not backing and supporting us? They don't care about the families who are thrown out of their homes. They care about the THE BANKS that made the perdatory loan! They care about the invetment banks that own the paper on that loan!
But we collectiely have a valuable vote so we will get thrown a bone . Maybe we should call it bread and circuses ?
by
siriusss (4 articles, 3 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 77 comments)
on Saturday, March 15, 2008 at 9:55:56 AM
