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Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

Blackbird to JustBurnt

Premium Member

to JustBurnt

Re: China requires Internet users to register names

said by JustBurnt :

Your provider knows who you are and if served with papers from the applicable court will tell whomever asks.

Which is why an independent judiciary and social/governmental adherence to the rule of Constitutional law is so critical...

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

StuartMW

Premium Member

Ah yes. Separation of powers and all that. A pretty good idea that our Founding Fathers had.

Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 recommendation

Blackbird

Premium Member

said by StuartMW:

Ah yes. Separation of powers and all that. A pretty good idea that our Founding Fathers had.

It was a stroke of genius. If each branch of government (legislative, judicial, executive) is empowered to jealously guard their turf against encroachment by other branches, each branch's individual powers remain bounded. The time to worry is when all branches get on the same page, and all too often "internal security" or "external threats" become rationales for doing so. That's when the full force of government risks being turned against the citizenry and their rights.

The 'People's Republic' of China is a prime example of a nation lacking an independent judiciary, tasked and enabled with bounding the powers of the other elements of government. In the end, the people's rights suffer great damage...
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

said by Blackbird:

said by StuartMW:

Ah yes. Separation of powers and all that. A pretty good idea that our Founding Fathers had.

It was a stroke of genius. If each branch of government (legislative, judicial, executive) is empowered to jealously guard their turf against encroachment by other branches, each branch's individual powers remain bounded. The time to worry is when all branches get on the same page, and all too often "internal security" or "external threats" become rationales for doing so. That's when the full force of government risks being turned against the citizenry and their rights.

The 'People's Republic' of China is a prime example of a nation lacking an independent judiciary, tasked and enabled with bounding the powers of the other elements of government. In the end, the people's rights suffer great damage...

And they can herd the sheeple into allowing such to happen in this country by claiming its to prevent "Terrorism" and to "Protect the Children". Sadly too many people do not know Terrorism, Terrorists, and The Children are all just bullet points to sell whatever they want to the people.

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

StuartMW

Premium Member

said by Kearnstd:

Sadly too many people do not know Terrorism, Terrorists, and The Children are all just bullet points to sell whatever they want to the people.

I hope the mention of "The Children" and "bullet points" was inadvertent Otherwise we'll have to call the PC Police
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

said by StuartMW:

said by Kearnstd:

Sadly too many people do not know Terrorism, Terrorists, and The Children are all just bullet points to sell whatever they want to the people.

I hope the mention of "The Children" and "bullet points" was inadvertent Otherwise we'll have to call the PC Police

I could have said power points but the PC Police are easier to fend off than the MS Copyright Police.

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

StuartMW

Premium Member

Yeah. One has guns and one has lawyers. Not sure which is worse
StuartMW

StuartMW to Blackbird

Premium Member

to Blackbird
said by Blackbird:

Which is why an independent judiciary and social/governmental adherence to the rule of Constitutional law is so critical...

Let’s Give Up on the Constitution
quote:
AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.


Blackbird
Built for Speed
Premium Member
join:2005-01-14
Fort Wayne, IN

1 recommendation

Blackbird

Premium Member

said by StuartMW:

said by Blackbird:

Which is why an independent judiciary and social/governmental adherence to the rule of Constitutional law is so critical...

Let’s Give Up on the Constitution
quote:
AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.

Sadly, that's the path of reasoning that eventually leads to dictatorship, either by a strongman or of "the proletariat". But then, just as it was in the days of the Founders, not everyone "gets it" that the biggest and most enduring threat to any individual and his freedom will be his own government and the power-seekers that gravitate to it. As it always has been, the cry is "Crisis! Crisis! Dump the Constitutional restraints. This time it's different, and the Founders never anticipated it!"

StuartMW
Premium Member
join:2000-08-06

StuartMW

Premium Member

Actually I find this interesting from an academic point of view.

To my knowledge there's no (legal) way to "abolish" The Constitution. It can be amended however.

For example the 18th Amendment (Prohibition) was undone by the 21st Amendment. The 18th is still there it's just ineffective.

To "abolish" The Constitution you'd have to pass an Amendment basically saying "All of the above is null and void". You'd still have a Constitution it'd just be effectively empty.

However passing Amendments isn't easy
quote:
To Propose Amendments

• In the U.S. Congress, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approve by a two-thirds supermajority vote, a joint resolution amending the Constitution. Amendments so approved do not require the signature of the President of the United States and are sent directly to the states for ratification.

• Two-thirds of the state legislatures ask Congress to call a national convention to propose amendments. (This method has never been used.)

To Ratify Amendments

• Three-fourths of the state legislatures approve it, or

• Ratifying conventions in three-fourths of the states approve it. This method has been used only once -- to ratify the 21st Amendment -- repealing Prohibition.

I doubt that'd be possible in the short term but I can see it happening in my lifetime

Of course another course is to have a civil war and/or a takeover that dissolves the United States. I can imagine that too

sivran
Vive Vivaldi
Premium Member
join:2003-09-15
Irving, TX

sivran

Premium Member

An amendment is highly unlikely unless one or the other party gains a supermajority in both houses. This congress, in this political climate, has done even less than Truman's "Do-Nothing" Congress.
OZO
Premium Member
join:2003-01-17

1 edit

OZO to StuartMW

Premium Member

to StuartMW
Why those, who want a dictatorship, need an amendment? Create big depression with unemployment up to 30%, then burn a reichstag and voila, there will be a new "Constitution+", better than ever, no amendments needed... The key word, as it was already mentioned is this thread, is - Crisis!

So, if you don't want that scenario to be repeated again by some "strongman", watch for government actions, leading to a "Crisis", or big depression, or (using contemporary words) "financial cliff"... Then make sure, that a fire department is always in place and ready to extinguish the potential fire.

By the way, they already have promised, that the first priority in the next year will be ... as you may guess, not the recovery from bad economy, but a new law (of course all for the children sake) to remove from public those "tools", that may help to extinguish the fire and to keep "strongmen" in place, where they belong...