Thursday, September 11, 2008

Sarah Palin's real gaffe

Which was the biggest gaffe, in her ABC interview and elsewhere?

"Trip of a lifetime" to visit troops in Germany? Well, she certainly doesn't need to be president if that was the trip of her lifetime. She's definitely not ready.

Forgetting how to pronounce "nuclear" correctly? I wonder if Republicans will turn this into a shibboleth.

Was it her still thinking that the invasion of Iraq had something to do with 9/11? Even Bush had never said that.

Was it not having any idea what the "Bush doctrine" was? You're getting warm.

I think it was not realizing that the Constitution gives any state, even Alaska, the right to pre-emptive attacks on foreign countries. From the Constitution Center:
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
Did you get that? Let me quote the relevant part again:
or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
In other words, if Russia was massing an invasion force across the Bering Strait, Alaska would have the Constitutional right to take them out, without waiting for a permission slip from Congress.

Why do I bring this up? Not because I think Alaska should do this. We have telephones today, which they didn't in 1787 when the Constitution was written. I bring it up because Governor Palin of Alaska doesn't seem to have much grasp of the United States Constitution. That is shown by her belief that the United States is on a mission from God in Iraq. The Constitution was ordained and established by "We the People" for six specific reasons. It was not set up by "I, God Jehovah" to take out Islam.

I've met people in the service who have taken oaths to defend and protect the Constitution, but who haven't read it. They tried to convince me that God had created the United States to take out Islam. That's what they thought they were doing on their tours in Iraq. Personally, I wish God would make up his mind. I remember when He had supposedly created us to defeat Communism and the Muslims were helping us, because they believed in the same God. Before that, God had supposedly created us to destroy the Nazis and their Axis allies. The Communists were helping us in that.

It really goes back to the War of 1812, when our getting out intact seemed miraculous, but I don't have time for a lecture on that.

My point here is that Sarah Palin doesn't even know her powers as a state governor under the United States Constitution. The possibility of her becoming Commander in Chief and Chief Executive in charge of defending the Constitution that she doesn't understand is frightening. I urge everyone to make a Constitutional law professor president. We need someone who loves the Constitution enough to find out what it actually means to become president, especially after the last eight years.



Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Republicans attack Charlie Rangel!

Some of us remember that decorated Korean War veteran (Purple Heart, Bronze Star with Valor) Charlie Rangel was one of the first politicians to endorse General Clark for President. Republicans have never forgiven him for being as effective and outspoken a Democrat as he has been, and they are going after him again, this time for allegedly failing to report $100,000 in income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic. [Reuters]

Republicans are already out on the Internet commenting on this. Congressional Democrats are already hitting back on this. We need to help a friend of Wes when he needs it most. Please get out there and help someone who is not only a great Democrat but was an important supporter of Wes Clark for President in the 2004 race. Here's the Google News link for the story.