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Implications of Republican sweep, part II

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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by ajmiller [quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by piouslion Good direction Andrew, just a bit closer attention to the details of the office will aid in the understanding of a written constitution organizatized as a Federal Republic of 50 soverign states. Being that you are an active and responsible member of the forum and one of our good neighbors in that proud and good land to our North that has more in common with us than any other country in the world, it is fitting that some information about the strange office that our Chief Executive must fill is in order. So I send this to you in the spirit of one good neighbor to another, different country but similar households. Needless to say that if any of my fellow members on the forum need to correct me, I will of course accept any feed back as I am sure I would deserve. The President of the U.S. while being the Head of State has less less in common with a monarch and more with a CEO/Chairman of the Board of a very large enterprise. Mr. Bush (the current holder of that office) must work with the legislative and remain obedient to the Rule of Law as expressed under the Judicial Supremacy clauses of what the late Chief Justice John Marshall called that most excellent document of the U.S. Constitution as written and intrepited by the courts and finally as intrepreted by the U.S. Suprem Court that has final authroity of what the constitution says and what it says not. This past election that you witnessed has less to do with who will sit as president over the next four years but more to do with the direction of the high court. As you have read in my contributions to the forum over the past few days is that there will be the need for three perhaps four new justices to be nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate to sit for LIFE. What you are observing in a presidential election is only the surface of what is really going on. This is where the mandate to influence what would be called the checks and balances of our system of GOVERNANCE that is granted to elected officials in the legislative and executive by registerd voters (citizens) that influences the direction of the Judicial, a fact taken for granted by the general public of the U.S. ,but admired by many and feared by despots. Have a great day - Roy [/quote] Having Republicans in office will certianly lead to slightly more conservative Justices on the Supreme Court. It's true that today the Court does decide what the constitution says, but many feel that power is unconstitutional. Judges can decide if laws passed by Congress are constitutional, but they shouldn't be allowed to make new law. That's the job of the legislature. Hopefully new Justices will be more strict in their interpretation of the Constitution. If the Constitiuton needs to say something that it currently does not say, then it should be amended properly by the states instead of letting the Supreme Court make something up. You also mentioned a Federal Republic of 50 sovereign states. Amendment X: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." is where the notion of states rights comes from, but this went out the window for all practical purpouses after the Civil War. The federal government today pretty much does whatever it wants. [/quote]How well said and I might add with a dose of legalistic realism and no small amount of a Southern since of being. I myself am somewhat of that persuasion. But do remember that Admin. X is what is called an omnibus declaration. Basicly that unless otherwise acted upon by the Federal Government these matters belong to the states. To give an example: What is considered murder in Georgia would not necesssarly have the same definition in Louisana or in another area the adoption laws in the State of New York would not be the same in the Commonwealth of Virginia. If you really want to hear about differences between the states just look at the thinking on the death penality for heanous crimes. Many areas of Admin X. remain as a way for different people in different places to get along in a big place. This is one of the mysteries of American (U.S.) democracy as it is practiced in this day and time. Originaly we were the nation of farmers not the sole surviving super power. The founding fathers (in particular Madison and Hamilton moderated by Franklin and Washington) wrote the excellent document to be changeable and practical, not inflexable or unworkable. In short, don't loose hope or think that it doesn't work anymore the way it started. As railroad historian Albro Martin would say, our system is the worst in the world, but when compared to what? - Have a good week - Roy
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