A COUP IN PROGRESS

[Guest guest]

A

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 07:16:29 -0500

A COUP IN PROGRESS

 

 

 

 

OpEdNews.com

 

Original Article at

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rev__bil_060129_the_senate_should_po.htm

 

January 29, 2006

 

The Senate Should Postpone The Samuel Alito Vote For One Week To

Increase Awareness Of The Unitary Executive Theory

 

The Public, the Media, and the Senate Republicans are all asleep and

not yet informed about this Theory and the danger it presents.

 

By Rev. Bill McGinnis

 

The Bush Machine will obviously not want to do this, because the more

the Public finds out about Samuel Alito's enthusiastic support of the

dangerous " Unitary Executive Theory, " the more they will oppose him.

The Public would never accept the Unitary Executive Theory as Law if

they knew what it really is. At this moment, the Public, the Media,

and the Senate Republicans are all asleep and not informed about this

Theory and the danger it presents. But in a week of solid effort, they

can all be awakened and informed.

 

Now the President is outrageously demanding that the Senate give him

an " up or down vote " immediately, as if he had the authority to demand

anything of the Senate. He has no such authority anywhere in the

Constitution. Republican Leadership: Aren't you embarrassed to be

continuously bowing down to Mr. Bush, as if he were your Master and

you were his slaves? Did you take an oath to support the Constitution,

or to support George W. Bush? (They are two different things, you

know, frequently in conflict.) Here is the exact text of the oath of

office you took when you entered the Senate. When you read it again,

does it anywhere say " support the President? " No it does not. It says

" support the Constitution. " Then why are you so willing to accept

orders from the President? Are you in love?

 

U. S. Senate Oath Of Office www.senate.gov

 

In essence, the Unitary Executive Theory says that the President

should have complete control over the Executive Branch, and that the

Executive Branch should be in charge of almost everything that the

Government actually does, including all the functions of the

Independent Agencies, which have always been separate from the

Executive Branch. In addition, this Theory insists that the President

has " plenary authority " to exercise his powers, and he must not be

interfered with by Congress or the Supreme Court. So Congress and the

Supreme Court lose their ability to control the President and become

mere advisors to him, whom he can disregard if he chooses to do so.

 

In a particular example we all are familiar with, this Theory says

that the President is not obligated to follow either the anti-torture

laws or the anti-spying laws. So this is why Bush hasn't been

following them: he claims he is not obligated to do so. And why do you

suppose the President almost never vetoes any laws? Because why bother

to veto a law if you are not obligated to follow it anyway? In fact,

to veto it would suggest that somehow it did have authority over you.

So it is better for him to let the law be enacted, write a signing

statement saying that he doesn't really have to follow it, and then

simply disregard it whenever he chooses. And when these outrageous

claims are eventually challenged before the Supreme Court, who do you

suppose a Justice Samuel Alito would rule in favor of? The President,

of course! Wake up, everybody. This is a coup in progress!

 

The Constitution gives the power to Congress, not the president, to

create (or abolish) the military, to fund it (or not fund it) and to

regulate it. The President is Commander In Chief, because some one

elected person needs to be over the Generals, and the President is the

one best suited for that role.

 

But that doesn't mean he is the " boss " of the Military - like Napoleon

- under our Constitution. He's just the chief administrator of the

Military, just as he is the chief administrator of all the other parts

of the Executive Branch, obligated to follow whatever Laws and

Regulations are duly enacted by Congress. In particular, Congress

could abolish the Military, if it chose to do so. And Congress can

impeach and remove the President from office. So who is the real boss

of the Military? Congress, of course! Why would our Founders, who had

just fought a war to get away from one tyrannical King, write a

Constitution which would create another King right here, with his own

personal army? Does that make sense to you?

 

Here are the Military powers given by the Constitution to Congress,

not to the President, under Article I, Section 8: " To declare War,

grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning

Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no

Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two

Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the

Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for

calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress

Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming,

and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as

may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the

States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the

Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline

prescribed by Congress; "

 

Source: U.S. Constitution -

http://www.patriot.net/users/bmcgin/usconstitutiona.txt

 

So it is clear that the President is not total boss of the Military,

just its Commander, obligated to " faithfully execute " whatever

regulations Congress may choose to enact.

 

And 95% of this " Commander in Chief " function which Bush claims for

himself, is not much more than a naked power grab, obviously not

granted by the Constitution.

 

But in his role as " Unitary Executive, " (read " Dictator " ) the

President would be total boss if the Military, because neither

Congress nor the Supreme Court would now have any authority over him.

And thus the United States of America - The Land Of The Free And The

Home Of The Brave - would become just another Military Dictatorship,

no better than Nazi Germany or Fascist Italy during World War II.

 

Also see http://www.unitaryexecutive.net for more information about

this dangerous, radical Theory which would destroy our system of

Checks and Balances by giving excessive power to the President, at the

expense of Congress and the Supreme Court.

 

 

But if, at the end of one more week, the Public still thinks it is no

problem, and the Republican Senate still thinks it is no problem - -

well, this would simply prove to me that the Country is in much worse

shape than I thought. And people eventually get what they deserve. So

if they won't fight for their freedom, they will lose it, as planned

by the Bush Machine.

 

For more about the Bush Machine please see http://www.bushmachine.com

 

 

Blessings to you. May God help us all. And may God bless America!

 

Rev. Bill McGinnis, Director

http://www.loveallpeople.org

and http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org

 

 

 

Authors Website: www.LoveAllPeople.org

 

Authors Bio: Rev. Bill McGinnis is an Internet Christian minister,

writer and publisher. He is Director of LoveAllPeople.org, a small

private think tank in Alexandria, Virginia, and all of its related

websites, including

InternetChurchOfChrist.org,CommitteeForTheGoldenRule.org,CivicAmerican.com,

and AmericanDemocrat.net. His agenda is to help maximize the happiness

and well-being of all people

 

Back to Article

[Guest guest]

The public is " asleep, " but not media. Media are the principal agents keeping

this Unitary Executive Theory hidden from view. Media perform their function as

flunkys for an administration by telling you what you're supposed to hear, one

day, and not telling you what you're not supposed to hear, the next day. By

" media, " I mean the people at media that give the orders.

JP

 

 

-

califpacific

Monday, January 30, 2006 8:09 AM

A

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 07:16:29 -0500

A COUP IN PROGRESS

 

OpEdNews.com

 

Original Article at

http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_rev__bil_060129_the_senate_should_po.htm

 

The Senate Should Postpone The Samuel Alito Vote For One Week To

Increase Awareness Of The Unitary Executive Theory

 

The Public, the Media, and the Senate Republicans are all asleep and

not yet informed about this Theory and the danger it presents.

 

By Rev. Bill McGinnis

 

The Bush Machine will obviously not want to do this, because the more

the Public finds out about Samuel Alito's enthusiastic support of the

dangerous " Unitary Executive Theory, " the more they will oppose him.

The Public would never accept the Unitary Executive Theory as Law if

they knew...

(snip)