Politics of SB Members?

[DandyDon]

I find it surprising that divers - who spend so much of their passion time so close to nature - could be republicans.

adder70 once bubbled...
I tend to cross party lines a lot. However, I generally agree with Republicans more, and positively detest Clinton, who was more than usually dishonest in office.

I used to cross lines when I was younger, "voting for the man" as it were - until I learned you cannot trust any of them! Think I know better now; it's more of which idealogy do I support.

J.F.Kennedy was our last real leader in the Oval Office, in my opinion, and the machine that elected him worried that they couldn't control him. L.B.Johnson was a genius schoolteacher, never intended to run for President, and was unfortaute in the long run. He wanted to get out of Viet Nam, but quit before he got the job done.

And those of us who were eligble for the draft lottery of the mid 60s remember what kind of embarrassment R.M.Nixon was. Jimmy Carter I barely remember? California elects actors to the governors office, and Reagan was found to have been suffering from early stages of alzheminers when elected, but his people kept him shielded, both ways, as it progressed.

G.Bush Sr slid in on the coattails of great work of the shielders. (see previous paragraph)

Clinton was a joke, but got a few good things done.

And as a Texan, I must say that Junior has been a real embarrassment - the biggest idiot to win in my lifetime, but after Clinton, the Repulbicans would have won with anyone.

All in all, I think we're a lot better off support doctrines than mortal men and their supporting machines.

But may I mention: :teach: No one has found any WMD yet, nor any ties between Sadam and September 11, 01...!!

 

[loosebits]

No one has found any WMD yet, nor any ties between Sadam and September 11, 01...!!

Actually Saddam is so evil that he just pretended to have WMD's to make G.W. look like an idiot.

18 months ago...

Rove: We need to go to war with Iraq to distract Americans from the Economy
Rummy: Good idea, it will also brush this whole Osama thing under the rug.
Ashcroft: Well Osama was better than Enron..
Cheney: Whew, that was a close one
Powell: Perhaps we should work with the UN on this
Bush: Ah, the weapon inspecters have had enough time. They wouldn't know a nucular weapon if it bit them in the a$$. I'm going on vacation.

Today...
Rummy: This Iraq thing isn't going so well and is turning into a long, hard slog.
Cheney: We need an exit strategy, this isn't as fun as we thought it would be, let's take our toys and go home.
Rove: Well the economy looks like it may be improving, let's talk it up and maybe people will forget about Iraq
Bush: Rummy, shut up. We are making progress in Iraq, it's the media's fault. Where's that Ari guy?
Ashcroft: He quit.
Bush: Where was I?
Powell: On vacation.

 

[JRO]

Is it not dishonest to take something you didn't work for?

Jeff

 

[Hallmac]

There is no such thing as a law written by the people for the people. It's what the judge says, that runs the country.

Hallmac

 

[SharkOfBonaire]

Hallmac once bubbled...
There is no such thing as a law written by the people for the people. It's what the judge says, that runs the country.

I don't agree. In a democracy, it's the job of judges to implement the laws made by lawmakers, or to see if they don't conflict with the country's constitution. Trias politica was created in such a way that not one power could ever rule a country by itself.

loosebits... LOL

 

[mempilot]

SharkOfBonaire once bubbled...

I don't agree. In a democracy, it's the job of judges to implement the laws made by lawmakers, or to see if they don't conflict with the country's constitution. Trias politica was created in such a way that not one power could ever rule a country by itself.

loosebits... LOL

My uncle is a chief federal judge. He was appointed under Reagan, but bipartisanship does not play a part at the bench. Their tenure is life, so there are no allegiences to party, only the law. If a law passess that a democrat disagrees with and a republican judge upholds that law, then people say the judge was swayed by party. Not true. There is a system of checks and balances in the judicial system - Courts of Appeals, and ultimately the Supreme Court. No one judge can weigh against the people. Judge positions do come up infrequently, which means a party is going to appoint someone from their party in most cases. However, these appointments are approved by congress by 51% majority, unless it is filabustered, in which case is takes a 65%(I think) to break. This is approved appointment by the people in my book. We elect our officials by popular vote. The minority in most cases usually cry foul play, but it is the way our system has worked since the start. The same people who disagree with this are the same individuals throwing the Constitution in the face of the current administration.

 

[SharkOfBonaire]

The only "flaw" I see in the American system is that while judges may not be affiliated to a party, they are appointed by one. And a government (or president) will always select those individuals of which it is certain that they hold views on important issues very close to their own. It is only the fact that Supreme Court judges are appointed for life which prevents one party from completely dominating that body. That still provides balance.
Of course, a judge should be impartial and only look at what the law says; unfortunately, laws are sometimes so vague (either by endless compromising or intentionally because it was just meant to win public approval) that it requires a personal interpretation by the judge. If lawmakers know the inclination of the judge upfront they can use that to their advantage.

 

[mempilot]

It comes down to the law, not the judge. If a law is vague, then the judge has to rely on more interpretation than the letter. A person will always tend to allow personal beliefs to sway his interpretation, but not disregard for the law. Big difference here.

All federal judges, whether at the district level, appeals, or supreme court levels have life tenure. They only get replaced when they decide to retire.

If a law is too vague, blame the congressional members who wrote, debated, and passed the law, not the judge who is left to interpret. That being said, look how many levels this reaches. How many of 'our' 'elected' officials have touched the intent, the wording, the interpretation, and the enforcement of these laws.

Election by the people is the cornerstone.

 

[SharkOfBonaire]

mempilot once bubbled...
Election by the people is the cornerstone.

That is the essence of democracy. However, the US now has a president that was not elected by a majority of the votes; let alone of the people.

Going back to the original question, I consider myself a liberal democrat and anti-conservative. In Dutch politics, that would still make me right wing; in the US, left I suppose?

 

[DandyDon]

dandydon once bubbled...
I find it surprising that divers - who spend so much of their passion time so close to nature - could be republicans.



I used to cross lines when I was younger, "voting for the man" as it were - until I learned you cannot trust any of them! Think I know better now; it's more of which idealogy do I support.

J.F.Kennedy was our last real leader in the Oval Office, in my opinion, and the machine that elected him worried that they couldn't control him. L.B.Johnson was a genius schoolteacher, never intended to run for President, and was unfortaute in the long run. He wanted to get out of Viet Nam, but quit before he got the job done.

And those of us who were eligble for the draft lottery of the mid 60s remember what kind of embarrassment R.M.Nixon was. Jimmy Carter I barely remember? California elects actors to the governors office, and Reagan was found to have been suffering from early stages of alzheminers when elected, but his people kept him shielded, both ways, as it progressed.

G.Bush Sr slid in on the coattails of great work of the shielders. (see previous paragraph)

Clinton was a joke, but got a few good things done.

And as a Texan, I must say that Junior has been a real embarrassment - the biggest idiot to win in my lifetime, but after Clinton, the Repulbicans would have won with anyone.

All in all, I think we're a lot better off support doctrines than mortal men and their supporting machines.

But may I mention: :teach: No one has found any WMD yet, nor any ties between Sadam and September 11, 01...!!

I forgot Gerry Ford! But then, who wouldn't...?!?

don