Originally posted by Drew
... The only branch allowed to order the states around is the congress. (unless i misunderstand the DHS) getting down to it, the congress dosnt have the constitutional jurisdiction to tell the states to make IDs; the 10th ammendemnt gives the states its own power to make its own ids.
Actually, the 10th Amendment grants all other powers not granted to the federal government to the States, and only they can grant the federal government any other powers (by amending the Constitution). We did this because we were afraid of the government having too much power over the States, like the British did. Over time, the States have slowly lost their powers, but what you said is technically correct. I just wanted to clarify what you meant.
Originally posted by aldo_14
Also note that the Real ID act does not apparently include a single mention of the world 'privacy'.
Privacy isn't mentioned in the Constitution. However, it is a right that is simply understood. To prevent people from violating our rights to privacy, it should be amended into the Constitution, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. It's something that should've been done long ago though.
Originally posted by aldo_14
I thought there was a 2-term limit?
It's more like a tradition. I guess kind of like how the electoral college would vote for whoever their state votes for (but they don't have to). After over 200 years, I guess it's kind of a rule, a rule that doesn't have to be followed, but the strong precedent kind of dictates their actions. Washington set the two-term precedent as our first president, but one has stayed in office longer, and that was Franklin Roosevelt. He stayed in for over two terms, but didn't finish his third because he died. He only did it because of WWII, so we're told. Our government bases a lot of things on precedent.
Originally posted by Rictor
Bush is proof enough that the President doesn't necessarily run things. As long as the hawks, the militarists, the neoconservatives (and neoliberals) - in short, the imperialists - are in power, nothing much is likely to change.
It's very unlikely, but for all we know, Bush could actually be smart and his stupidity could just be an act.
Originally posted by Corsair
Um, at risk of sounding stupid, why isn't this being covered by any of the media?
The media are a bunch of idiots, and their only intention is to keep us focused on the shadows on the walls, instead of going outside the cave and seeing the light.
Originally posted by Rictor
Diversion, that's the name of the game. The entire nation is too busy looking for a missing bride and watching the super duper season finale of The Apprentice, they don't have time for trivilities like politics and freedom.
They found the bride in New Mexico. It was a hoax. She had some nerve to do that. She couldn't confide in anyone? Anyway, it's nice to escape reality once in a while through entertainment, but using it to ignore reality completely is just as bad as drug abuse.
Jeez, I feel like a teacher. Class dismissed.
