DIYbanter - View Single Post - This is supposed to be an election where all the votes are counted,not a Madonna concert !

HeyBub[_3_]

wrote:
On Fri, 23 May 2008 07:09:47 -0500, "HeyBub"
wrote:

Bob F wrote:

Republicans tend to accept the end if it follows the stated rules,
Democrats tend to adjust the rules to accomplish the desired
results.

Boy is this a pile. The republicraps are the ones who are ignoring
the law and the constitution when it suits their purposes.

I've heard this before. Usually regarding the folks at Guantanamo
and always by people who have only rudimentary understandings about
the Constitution they say is being trashed.

1. The constitutional rights that are said to be being violated are
those that apply to criminals (i.e., "In all criminal prosecutions,
the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy trial...").

2. The people being detained by the military are not criminals. They
have broken no criminal law nor have they been arrested. They are
"unlawful enemy combatants" (UEC) and not entitled to the
constitutional protections afforded criminals:

The Bush administration CLAIMS that's what they are. That does not
make it so.

Yes it does. The President, or his representative, has the sole authority to
designate anyone an "unlawful enemy combatant." This ability cannot be
gainsaid by the courts or anyone else. Courts have ruled on this very issue
to the extent that the courts say "we have no ability to authority to say
anything about how the President exercises his Article II powers."

One appellate court in New York even went so far as to say (paraphrasing):
"If the citizens don't like how the President is exercising his Article II
powers, they are free to replace him at the next election. That is the only
remedy available."