pudge's Journal: Sunday Thoughts

Constitutionality

Louisiana voters passed a Constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage. But some claim that a Constitutional amendment can be unconstitutional. I am not talking about the Federal Constitution, either, but that an amendment to a state Constitution can be violative of that Constitution.

Constitutional amendments can in fact be unconstitutional, if they would repeal or hamper rights that our Constitution defines as inalienable. Amendment #1 would repeal several inalienable rights set forth in Article I of our State Constitution, and therefore, it should not be allowed on the ballot.

It sounds crazy to me, but that's what they are saying. It seems to me that the new amendment takes legal precedence over what came before it. If this amendment goes against something in Article I, then it seems to me that, quite simply, that part of Article I is therefore being amended. That seems like a reason to vote against it, not a reason why it is illegitimate.

The case being made is that one cannot infringe on the rights granted by the state Constitution, even by amendment of that Constitution, which effectively means the Constitution is, in part, non-amendable. Since the Constitution itself does not explicitly state that, I don't see how anyone could reasonably conclude this. I doubt they even believe it, but hey, it's worth a shot, right?

CPD

CPD executive director Janet Brown was on Fox News Sunday, as their "Power Player of the Week." I wrote a letter to FNS about it.

I wish you had asked your guest about how the CPD was formed by the two main parties, continues to be controlled by them, and yet calls itself 'nonpartisan.' FEC regulations require that the CPD -- in order to receieve donations to pay for the debates -- be nonpartisan, but it is not. It is bipartisan. And FEC laws are being clearly violated.

I also wish you'd have mentioned the Citizens' Debate Commission, which is trying to end the CPD's control over the debates, or the League of Women Voters, whose control was the basis for the heads of the RNC and DNC creating the CPD in the first place. She complains that the CPD has little control, but the CPD was created to give the two parties the control that the LWV didn't offer them.

It further would have been nice to ask her -- following up with her claim that "people want" what the CPD offers -- why the viewership of the debates has consistently declined since the CPD took them over. Of course, we know the reason: because when the parties control the debates, they control the message, and the events become nothing more than novel forms of the stump speech we've already been seeing for months.

Slashdotters for Truth

Following the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, MoveOn.org sponsored the Texans for Truth. Now there is the Football Fans for Truth, an actual 527 group that is out to show the world how Kerry is a poser football fan. There followed a joke Red Sox Fans for Truth, but FFT has included other sports among their complaints.

Divine Retribution

If this is true, 1. why did God wait so long if not to disrupt the election? 2. why would He not have waited a little bit longer?

Someone help me out...

[On Lawn]

Here is the text of section 1, what does the constitutional ammendment (which was voted for almost 5-1, and even won a majority in New Orleans) violate?

All government, of right, originates with the people, is founded on their will alone, and is instituted to protect the rights of the individual and for the good of the whole. Its only legitimate ends are to secure justice for all, preserve peace, protect the rights, and promote the happiness and general welfare of the people. The rights enumerated in this

Re:Someone help me out...

[pudge]

You may think that calling constitutional ammendments unconstitutional is weird (it happened in Nevada, even) but it happens all the time. The Supreme court simply puts certain parts of the constitution over others.

And I am saying that is crazy talk.

When the Constitution says the rights are inalienable by the state, that does not preclude amendment of the Constitution to say that the rights are ignorable by the state whenever it damn well chooses. Else what option do people have?

We hold these truths t

Re:Someone help me out...

[On Lawn]

And I am saying that is crazy talk.

It most certainly is! It is akin to a Monty Python routine, "Who are they?" says one man pointing to the SCOTUS. "They are here to guard the constitution" says the man next to him. "Then who's going to guard the guards?"

The founding fathers put the defense of the constitution in the hands of the people through constitutional ammendments, not some emminent tribunal of elites deciding what is best for us. Yet somehow with SchoolHouse Rock and public education we've come t

hurricane paths

[eglamkowski]

Like most potential omens, it could be interpreted in conflicting ways. Perhaps God is ensuring that Bush appears before the loyal, God-fearing counties so he can better to show his Christian compassion towards them and help them out and make them feel good about him. This in turn might create a higher voter turnout in these counties than otherwise would have been the case and thereby create a sufficiently large number of Bush votes that there won't be any recounting needed in Florida.

Bush vs God map is wrong

[helix400]

Yep, the map is wrong. Here is a map of hurricane Charley [ncsu.edu] and a track of hurricane Frances [weather.com]. I couldn't find one of Ivan, but it went on the west most edge of Florida. Compare that with the GODvsBUSH [bash.org] map, and you'll see all 3 are off.

But I'm sure it makes for great material for people's email lists.

Re:Bush vs God map is wrong

[TaxSlave]

Yep, the map is wrong.

Liberals just making things up and expecting people to accept it as truth? Do they really do that?

Re:Bush vs God map is wrong

[helix400]

Liberals just making things up and expecting people to accept it as truth? Do they really do that?

About as often as conservatives do. It runs both ways. I've had so many fake political stories emailed to me that I now consider any unusual story to be fake until proven true.

Divine Retribution? (fraid not)

[LinuxParanoid]

Snopes has just put up an analysis [snopes.com] of that (funny but spurious) divine retribution hurricane-florida2000 correlation map.

--LP