The Return of Tories to America: Neocons

If you examine closely the perspective of many neoconservatives on the operation of our Constitution, you will find their ideas scarcely fit with any modern strand of political thinking.

Specifically, you must harken back over two hundred years in our nation's history before you find an analogue to their political philosophy.

By way of example, take Dick Cheney and his spawn Liz.  The Cheney's take the position that terrorists have no rights.  Regardless of your personal feelings (mine are of the sort that terrorists deserve to be punished..) you cannot ignore the historical founding documents of our nation and also hold to the views advocated by the Cheneys.

For example:  The Declaration of Independence states that "all men are created equal and endowed..with certain inalienable rights".  How can you follow those guiding principles by positing that certain individuals, irrespective of the heinous nature of the crimes against us, are somehow without those same rights?

To find the closest analogue in our history to this view on individual rights, you must return to the days prior to our Revolution.  At that time, the political allies of the crown, those who supported the strong central authority of the King, the people without truck against the use of unfettered authority against all its enemies were the Tories.  

What the neoconservatives represent is nothing more than a rebirth of the Tory tradition here in America.  Many of the policies they pushed during their time in power resemble similar policies advanced by the allies of King George during the Revolution.  Strong central power, unlawful detentions without trial or charge, abuse of the purse, etc.


The similarities are uncanny.  Defining those who disagree or who decide to fight us as terrorists or other, does not objectify them to the point that they are without rights.  To do so is to commit the same treason many Tories committed against the founding of our fledgling Republic two centuries ago.

Frankly though, the Tories lost.  Giving them any credence now is to obviate the entire last two hundred years of history in the pursuit of freedom from monarchy.

I don't want a return to a unitary executive (monarchy).  I don't want a return to the days when the definition of a rebel (or in this case terrorist) depended upon the whim and will of an executive (read: King) and not the force of law.

Am I classifying the terrorists as "rebels"?  Hardly, just using that as an analogy.  Terrorists deserve capture, public trials and conviction for their crimes against us...just like any criminal.

The Cheney's and their Tory allies have reached too far into tradition, well beyond the realm of reason and well into American prehistory for their values.  

We live in a different world now.  

Perhaps it's time to advocate values of freedom that correspond to who we are now and not to who we were before we became the United State of America.  

Maybe the Tory principles of two hundred years ago lost the battle of ideas for a reason:  They were wrong for America.

The Law is the Law: No one is above it.

Before people begin taking sides in the whole "failing to disclose to Congress" matter, perhaps we should examine the obligations imposed by law n the Executive Branch.

Specifically, 50 U.S.C. Section 413 reads in paragraph (a):

The President shall ensure that the congressional intelligence committees are kept fully and currently informed of the intelligence activities of the United States, including any significant anticipated intelligence activity as required by this subchapter.

I think the statute is pretty clear that the Executive Branch has an affirmative obligation to keep Congress informed.

I'm sure we can all agree that the Executive Branch is NOT above the law since it derives its power from said law.

For Dick Cheney to argue that his failure to disclose such activities was in furtherance of ostensibly protecting our national security is bullshit, plain and simple. This is an either/or situation: Either the Executive Branch followed the law OR they failed to do so. Where's the middle ground?

The Executive Branch lacks Constitutional and statutory authority to ignore this law. It does so at its peril to the law. Every good, law-abiding, citizen should demand prosecution for this illegal conduct.

Apparently, too many place party loyalty above the Constitution and the law, since they argue against prosecution.

Patriotism is not merely for our convenience.

AG Holder should prosecute.

Traitors in our midst--Cognitive Dissonance must give way to justice.

For years I've complained of the illegality of warrantless wiretapping by the Bush administration. My patriotism and my support for our War on Terror has been questioned because I exercised my duty as a citizen to question our government. The founding fathers would be aghast at the ideological demands of the right.

Now, it seems my criticisms of the Bush administration's flaunting of the law in an effort to thwart the Constitution were not so far off the mark.

When the executive branch of our government goes to great lengths to conceal illegal activities, regardless of the motive, then we have a serious problem.

Dick Cheney and his cronies skirted the law, much like Nixon. They violated their oaths to uphold the Constitution and to support the laws of our nation.

These traitors deserve justice.

Fudging the law to fight our enemies makes us no better than those who attacked us. If you ignore these crimes because of party affiliation or ideology, then perhaps you should read the Constitution again.

Cafferty Agrees with me on dealing with Bush Administration...for what it's worth.

As a charter member of the crotchety old fart club, of which I consider myself a member in good standing, Jack Cafferty of CNN calls for a special prosecutor for the Bush Administration.

Obama is making a big mistake by ignoring the crimes of the last administration. Until the matter is examined, publicly and fully, then our country won't be free of taint from the Bush years.

I say again that it's not a liberal/conservative or Republican/Democrat issue; it one of crime and justice.

It should surprise no one that two cronies from the Nixon Administration (Cheney & Rumsfeld) share a large part of the blame for the screw-ups and law-breaking of the Bush years. You can't teach old dogs new tricks. Both Cheney and Rumsfeld learned at the feet of the master--Tricky Dick. These two bozos retained the paranoia and the deceit that marked the Nixon administration. On top of that, they had something to prove.

I think Cheney and Rumsfeld went to great lengths to turn the Bush Administration into a continuation of the Nixon years. In some sick psychodrama, they sought redemption for themselves and Nixon by making policy indicative of their previous tenure. America is saddled with the results of these two geezers who couldn't let go of their ignominious service with Nixon.

Obama must excise this blot from our collective conscious. Pelosi, although a good conciliator, should own her failure to impeach Cheney and Rumsfeld; she could have stopped the tragedy of the Bush years caused by the Dicky & Donny Show.

Murtha's nephew may have gotten $4 million in no-bid contract---Drop in the bucket compared to Halliburton.

Graft on the federal level--hell, on any level--is serious business.

When John Murtha's nephew gets a no-bid, defense contract worth $4 million, then it must be investigated. If anything wrong occurred, then the offending parties should pay the price.

But before we start jumping on $4 million, we must first investigate and prosecute the billions of dollars spent on no-bid contracts that went to Halliburton. We all know that Halliburton was the former employer of Dick Cheney and that Rumsfeld's defense department awarded those no-bid contracts.

Making matters worse is that Halliburton allegedly over-charged after short-circuiting the contract process.

I suspect that Republicans are doing everything they can to neutralize Murtha since he has a distinguished military career.

Let's do investigations all around.