Justice Scalia: Terror Ruling ‘Endangers Lives’

From Newsmax.com (June 18, 2008):

Scalia, in his blistering dissent to the constitutional decision, says the court majority is laying the groundwork for the early release of “some very dangerous people.” He cites a report by Senate Republicans that finds at least 30 prisoners have returned to the battlefield following their release from Guantanamo.

Scalia notes that one previously released prisoner from the detention camp in Cuba was found to have detonated a suicide bomb in Iraq in May. This "return to the kill," he says, happened even after the military had concluded he was not an enemy combatant. [more]

I agree with Scalia. He is dead on. The main purpose of a criminal trial is to determine guilt or innocence. Bin Laden has never denied he is the leader of Al Quada. Therefore he has confessed that he his guilty. To him he is not breaking any law--this is war to him and people like him. Since his guilt or innocence is not in question in my opinion we only have to decide his punishment once America captures him. A bullet in the head is what I choose for him. I don't think that is cruel and unusual punishment. It is quick and relatively painless.

Also, what happens if a terrorist is put on bail by a sympathetic judge? He won't just skip the country. He'll bring terrorism to this country. Homicide bombing anyone? This is what Justice Scalia is talking about. Homicide bombing is a better term than suicide bombing because the terrorist is not just killing himself.

Another issue is discovery. This is where the defense brings up evidence to support their case. That means bringing up sensitive to classified evidence about the terrorist and procedures of the military. Not to mention the defendant has the right to know who is accusing him. This ruling is a bad idea all around.

No Occupational Diversity in Congress

Look at these statistics: Currently there are

• 197 attorneys in Congress
• 6 doctors
• 92 people in business
• 2 accountants
• 6 bankers

Why are these stats important? The stats are important because the Congress represents everyday people of America. Everyday people have occupations in the private sector. If the majority of people in Congress are attorneys then is that a fair representative of the people? I know attorneys work in the private sector (except of course for court appointed ones) but attorneys don't get business owners or doctors. They just know how the law works. Next time if two people or more are running for office and given that all else is equal vote for the non-attorney. 197 attorneys is plenty.

Source: The stats are from Congress Merge.com. You can select different criteria about a Congressperson not just occupation.

Slogans You Can Believe In

Is it me or is John McCain's slogan similar to Barack Obama's slogan. McCain's slogan is: Leadership you can believe in. Obama's slogan is: Change you can believe in. Both have the "you can believe in" part. McCain's slogan is not too bad although still kind of abstract. Obama's slogan is really meaningless. What kind of change are we talking about? Here are some better slogans for Obama following the same "you can believe in" template:

• Liberalism you can believe in. Oh, that's right you cannot imply Obama is a liberal. Okay, then how about this slogan:
• Marxism you can believe in. Better?
• Big gov't you can believe in.
• High taxes you can believe in.
• Over-regulations you can believe in.
• Class warfare you can believe in.
• Surrendering you can believe in.
• Disarming you can believe in.

Hillary Clinton could have used this slogan: Pant-suits you can believe in.

Actually, not only politicians can use this template but so could the private sector. An automobile manufacturer could say: A car you can believe in. A hamburger franchise could say: A hamburger you can believe in. You get the point.

Questions That May Haunt You

Here are answers to some questions that may haunt the reader:

• Can you cry under water? Yes, but the tears wash away.
• How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered? I think you have to be a somebody high up in gov't like a president or Congressman.
• Why do you have to "put your two cents in"... But it's only a "penny for your thoughts"? Where's that extra penny going to? The extra penny goes to the federal gov't.
• Once you're in heaven, do you get stuck wearing the clothes you were buried in for eternity? I hope not. Who would want to be stuck wearing the same clothes for eternity.
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box? Square boxes I believe are easier to make than round boxes.
• How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage? I don't think the Soviet Union at the time were racing to put wheels on their luggage. There wasn't a luggage race.
• Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground? They are either suckers or they are looking into the windows of buildings.
• Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway. Doctors are taught in medical school that it is rude to laugh at their naked patients while they are in their presence.
• Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp, which no decent human being would eat? It's because the companies who make toasters are controlled by a strange secret group of people who like burnt toast.
• If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him? Because it was Jimmy who wrote the song.
• Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane? Probably, but it would tick off the other carpoolers because the hearse would be in a funeral procession going real slow.
• If Wile E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME crap, why didn't he just buy dinner? Because Wile E. Coyote is an obsessive/compulsive coyote. That and trying to kill the Roadrunner is funner than going out to eat at least to Wile.

There you have it. Now, you are less haunted.

Blocking Stupid Spending Bills

If Obama becomes president and the Congress and the House become even more liberal, what the conservatives could do to possibly block stupid spending bills from passing is to put innocuous riders on them that will tick off the libs. For example, a national holiday for President Ronald Reagan, Rush Limbaugh, and President George W. Bush (the holidays do not have to be on all on the same bill). See what happens when you don't have line-item veto? Operation Chaos continues! (Good thing I am not running for Congress or for the House.)

Hillary Clinton as an Independent Candidate?

If Sen. Hillary Clinton (HC) is not chosen or does not accept the position as VP she could run as an independent. There could be some reasons why this could be good:

1. The democratic voters in Florida and Michigan could vote for her in the general election and have their vote count.
2. She would not have to wait for eight years to run as president since Obama would probably run for another term if he won the presidency. If Obama does not win then she could be elected president or run again next time against McCain. Either way a win/win for her.
3. If HC ran as an independent then she can keep on the offensive against Obama. She would probably go on the offense against McCain too but that is the nature of the game.
4. HC would take votes away from Obama.
5. Running as an independent would cause strife and turmoil in the Democratic party. Operation Chaos continues!

If the independent party is already taken then she could run as the "pants-suit party" or something like that. Of course, she would have to pick a VP herself.

Ten Truths about American History

These ten truths are taken from 33 Questions about American History You're Not Supposed to Ask (2007) by Thomas E Woods, Jr. The truths are:

1. The Founding Fathers were generally wary of immigration and many of them warned about the consequences for the United States if immigration levels were not limited.
2. The American Indians practiced slash-and-burn agriculture, destroyed forests and grasslands, and wiped out entire animal populations.
3. A far greater scandal is that in his war against the Serbs, Bill Clinton aided and abetted the spread of Islamic radicalism into the Balkans.
4. Even in the absence of gov't, the old West was far less violent than most American cities today. Frontiersmen developed private mechanisms to enforce the law and define and enforce property rights.
5. Liberals supported all major American wars, including (initially) even Vietnam. On the other hand, traditional conservatives like Richard Weaver and Senator Robert Taft have been cautious about the use of military power, and skeptical of utopian claims about what it can accomplish.
6. As the US gov't has conceded only when forced to before the Supreme Court, the Social Security payments an individual makes are not an "insurance premium" but a tax, which does not give the individual the right to any benefit or earmark funds for him. The individual receives nothing but a promise "to tax your children to take care of you in your old age."
7. It was precisely Britain's own "living, breathing" constitution--and the oppressions it produced--that the Founding Fathers rebelled against.
8. Gov't intervention in the economy is counterproductive and ends up hurting the very workers it is supposed to help, as it hampers the very thing--capital investment--that raises our standard of living.
9. As a growing body of scholarship continues to show, the New Deal actually prolonged the Depression and crippled American capitalism.
10. Americans are actually less free as a result of changes in American labor law since the 1930s. It is simply a myth that workers have little to no bargaining power if they are not unionized.

An interesting book. If you get the chance, read it. I also have read his other book The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History (2004). A good book too.