Topic: Rand Paul has balls

So, why is it that Rand Paul, a Libertarian, was the only senator with the balls to stand up to Obama's scary presidential power grabs by doing the longest filibuster in history? Of course, a few other senators joined him later, but still, he did most of the talking.

Hey, Libertarians may be naive, but you've got to admire their audacity.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

When George Washington called out the militia to put down the Whiskey Rebellion he was going to serve warrants and let local sheriffs make the arrests.  He wasn't going to kill Americans on American soil.  Nope. No way.

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Libertarians are not naive. Republicans and Democrats are.

The Yell, the reasons for the Executive powers to be used against insurrections as present in the Constitution were actual insurrections which happened between the Declaration and the Constitution.

There's nothing remotely resembling an insurrection occurring in the United States. There's absolutely no evidence (no cause for the slightest suspicion) of such a thing.

Yet DHS is buying billions of rounds of ammunition (including rounds which neither police nor military use). Police are being militarized. Thousands of armored military combat vehicles are being purchased for domestic use. The military is holding drills in US urban areas--getting them ready to occupy US soil, and getting US civilians used to them being there.

Yes, The Yell, the Constitution allows the executive branch to use the US military to defend against insurrection.

Where exactly is the evidence that such an insurrection is occurring? DHS is buying enough ammo for decades of sustained war, buying thousands of armored vehicles, and training both federal and local forces in military tactics in urban warfare. And conditioning public servants to fire on civilian targets.

I talked to a friend's son last weekend. An army intelligence officer currently stationed in Europe. His father is rather Conservative/Libertarian. At some point in conversation I mentioned pregnant women targets for civilian law enforcement, and his immediate response was to affirm that he would shoot a pregnant lady before she shot him.

Of course I wouldn't object to shooting anyone in self-defense, even a pregnant lady. But why would a pregnant lady shoot at him? How in the world was he SO conditioned that all context of the conversation was lost and he was immediately defensive?  He's conditioned to be on a power trip. He's conditioned to be an arrogant, unthinking bitch of authority.

At mention of shooting civilians, all context of the conversation dropped from his mind. Conditioning kicked in. Yes, shoot the pregnant lady. Shoot the kid. Shoot all threats. Threats are defined as whatever the authority structure tells you they are. Thought off. Shoot what you're told to shoot.

That's how the Nazis, Soviets, and Chinese carried out atrocities against tens of millions. Their soldiers weren't evil, barbaric animals. At least, they didn't start out that way. They were conditioned to view everyone their command structure deemed threats to be actual threats. They were conditioned to view everyone their command structure deemed threats to be the equivalent of actual combatants.

So what if the pregnant lady isn't armed? She's resisting YOU. She's threatening YOUR AUTHORITY. She's threatening YOUR POWER. She threatens ORDER. She's attacking your COMMAND STRUCTURE. She threatens AUTHORITY ITSELF. She threatens SOCIETY ITSELF. KILL. KILL. KILL.

I'm not questioning Constitutional authority. I'm questioning your ability to think for yourself. Because you haven't provided any evidence or argument whatsoever that what DHS and the rest of the federal government is doing is REMOTELY necessary to protect against any insurrection or rebellion, let alone one which doesn't exist and there's no evidence is forming to the tiniest degree.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Because you haven't provided any evidence or argument whatsoever that what DHS and the rest of the federal government is doing is REMOTELY necessary to protect against any insurrection or rebellion, let alone one which doesn't exist and there's no evidence is forming to the tiniest degree

There. you go. again.  The mention of the Whiskey Rebellion was evidence and argument.

The argument is that our first president was going to kill Americans on American soil without a warrant or any due process.

There IS now a war going on, and the Congress has been satisfied that it used its congressional authority to authorize the use of force.

I think Holder had the best answer actually. Yeah they COULD drop bombs on enemy combatants on US soil without regard to citizenship, but, they wouldn't.  Why would you blow up a guy who successfully infiltrated the US?  You can grab him, wring him out, and bury him alive in a Supermax.

The notion that a war is different from insurrection is not supported by anything in the Constitution.

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Mention of the Whiskey Rebellion was evidence for the reasons the executive branch having the authority to defend our sovereign government from insurrection.

It is not evidence of such an insurrection today.

You're conflating completely different points. You're confused.

What war is going on? Against the American people? DHS is warning that white people who value freedom are the biggest terror threat, and the "war" is on "terror."

So, even though no such person has bombed America or shot Americans in decades, if we accept that any such person ever has, we're at "war" against them?

Again you conflate the legality of action of the executive branch as legally authorized by Congress with actual reason and/or justification.

Holder didn't limit himself to "combatants." Your ears need cleaned.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

6 (edited by The Yell 27-Mar-2013 20:28:48)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Mister Spock wrote:

Mention of the Whiskey Rebellion was evidence for the reasons the executive branch having the authority to defend our sovereign government from insurrection.

A distinction between "war" and "insurrection" is nowhere in the Constitution.

You imagined it.

I owe no loyalty to your imagination.

You're conflating completely different points. You're confused.

 

You're confused if you imagine  a difference.

What war is going on?

I'm sure you really know the answer.

So, even though no such person has bombed America or shot Americans in decades, if we accept that any such person ever has, we're at "war" against them?

Hell. Yes.

Again you conflate the legality of action of the executive branch as legally authorized by Congress with actual reason and/or justification.

Please explain this sentence.
Unless you mean that lawful war is unconstitutional without your continual permission? We don't need your continual permission.
End the war, or the war continues.  And it is the war that binds you.

Holder didn't limit himself to "combatants." Your ears need cleaned.

Any traitor we shoot at is a combatant.
If they stand still, they're well-disciplined combatants!  Haha!

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Chris the oath I took included "enemies foriegn and domestic". Aka a clear seperatation of the two

Additionally in one of the various Acts there is the clause prohibiting deployment of US troops on American soil except when specifically authorized by Congress.

I do not believe a soldier in Afghanistan has the right to fly a drone over LA and sight in on someone with a hellfire for having robbed a FDIC Insured bank with a gun.

I also am wary of a Federal Officer using hellfires... they should use a Bushmaster 50 cal. Faster to hit the target, less total collateral damage plus the munitions are cheaper.

Everything bad in the economy is now Obama's fault. Every job lost, all the debt, all the lost retirement funds. All Obama. Are you happy now? We all get to blame Obama!
Kemp currently not being responded to until he makes CONCISE posts.
Avogardo and Noir ignored by me for life so people know why I do not respond to them. (Informational)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

The "war" authorized by Congress is supposedly on terrorist threats to the United States. Examples of such threats are presumably the 9/11 hijackers and a handful of other would-be Arab/Muslim attackers from the Middle East.

Yet DHS documents reveal that they're most focused on white guys who value freedom, none of whom have attacked the United States. You're pretty much accepting that our government is at war with literally everyone, and they can kill literally anyone. Which, of course, they don't have the legal authority to do.

The Constitution hasn't been amended, and Congress cannot pass laws which violate the fourth of fifth amendments. It's still illegal to bomb Americans who aren't in combat or imminent threats. Laws supposedly permitting it are illegal. The fact that the current administration redefines the words "imminent" and "threat" and "combatant" doesn't change the Constitution, and it expressly forbids what they're doing and what Congress has authorized.

If there was an insurrection, they could legally combat it. Since there isn't one, they have no legal authority to bomb Americans or put their hands down children's pants.

The "war" authorized by Congress is an endless war against anyone and everyone it wants to search or kill, sidestepping Constitutional protections. Congress does not have legal authority to waive the Constitution whenever it's convenient. They passed a law saying they can do whatever they want. Unfortunately for them, the Constitution, the source of their legal authority, does not grant them the power to pass such a law. It's illegal, and our courts would strike it down if they were (A) not corrupt and (B) literate.

You accept your government's right to shoot you for your political beliefs which don't adhere to Obama's vision of America. That's what you're arguing here. That they can literally shoot you for being a traitor, and it'll be legal because shooting you makes you a combatant.

That's not American, and that's not legal in America.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

Re: Rand Paul has balls

The war is on Al Qaeda.

You cannot have a war and then say "But the President can't act like a wartime president."

Your duty is clear, to end the war.

Keeping the war without trying to win it, is unAmerican and clear proof of unfitness to hold office. 

The Constitution hasn't been amended, and Congress cannot pass laws which violate the fourth of fifth amendments. It's still illegal to bomb Americans who aren't in combat or imminent threats. Laws supposedly permitting it are illegal. The fact that the current administration redefines the words "imminent" and "threat" and "combatant" doesn't change the Constitution, and it expressly forbids what they're doing and what Congress has authorized.

Check the record, libertarian.  In all our wars, except the most recent, we fired on US citizens.  We know there were US citizens pressed into British naval warships.   We bombed on US citizens on DDay and drowned US citizens aboard Japanese troopships.  There was no "due process" to undertake before exercising violence, even on US soil, even in US cities.  This is more invented, unecessary, and illegitimate "due process" invented solely to interfere and prevent the proper exercise of warfare against enemies.

You understand it is perfectly impossible to share proofs of conspiracy with overseas targets in federal court with lawyers, without endangering the lives and effectiveness of surveillance against future conspiracy.

You understand this and embrace it.

Chris the oath I took included "enemies foriegn and domestic". Aka a clear seperatation of the two

No, that was  a joining of the two as far as your duty.

Additionally in one of the various Acts there is the clause prohibiting deployment of US troops on American soil except when specifically authorized by Congress.

The 2001 AUMF was such authorization.

I do not believe a soldier in Afghanistan has the right to fly a drone over LA and sight in on someone with a hellfire for having robbed a FDIC Insured bank with a gun.

Yes it should be a San Bernardino County Sheriff's SWAT team with pyrotechnic tear gas

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Where is Al Qaeda located?

How will we know when we've won the war? An absence of attacks won't indicate anything, since we've had virtually that for more than a decade. Two idiots who couldn't even set off bombs don't qualify as warfare by literally any definition, sorry. Oh, wait, that one idiot military psychologist enabled by a "gun-free zone" and PCness in the military who emailed a dude counts as warfare.

How can we defeat them while we fund them in Libya and Syria?

On that note, why are we funding and arming them if we're at war with them?

Your claims literally make no sense. And none of them make legal Congress declaring endless war and that the 4th and 5th amendments don't apply to anyone they call an enemy of the state.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

11 (edited by The Yell 28-Mar-2013 02:30:56)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

If the war makes no sense, the duty of loyal Americans is to end the war while preserving the powers of the government to fight sensible wars.

NOT to continue the war and forbid the government to fight any war effectively.

Our asskicking heritage informs us of our duty.  Obey your heritage and fulfill your duty.

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

An absence of attacks won't indicate anything, since we've had virtually that for more than a decade. Two idiots who couldn't even set off bombs don't qualify as warfare by literally any definition, sorry. Oh, wait, that one idiot military psychologist enabled by a "gun-free zone" and PCness in the military who emailed a dude counts as warfare.

Stop using literally until you literally learn the definition.

Yes an attack with duds is still an attack. 

No an absence of attacks does not end the state of war.  google "sitzkrieg"

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

13 (edited by V. Kemp 28-Mar-2013 05:22:01)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

An attack by two or three idiots with virtually no support--and literally no state support except that of the USA--is literally not "warfare" by literally any definition.

You actually believe people selling newspapers in the Middle East start work at 6 am saying "Damn I hate America," and are still raging about America at the end of the day. You actually think they care about you or us. You actually think you're as much the center of their lives as you are of yours.

Most people in Afghanistan don't know what 9/11 is to this day.

Ignorant sheep like you, eager to be terrified by whatever your masters tell you, are far more dangerous than the tiny number of zealots who actually desire to attack America. History shows most of them are just seeking power locally by calling for hatred against a foreign enemy; none of them have carried out attacks themselves, and very few have shown any interest in or ability to inspire others to attack either.

Those that have had any success have had an eerier number of lucky breaks in millions of dollars from the USA, tours of the Pentagon, and lucky asylum rulings despite major evidence of supporting the 9/11 hijackers. If you were actually concerned with security and winning a "war," you'd probably start by examining the failings of the same US federal government which has both allowed attacks to occur, refused to investigate those connected to attackers, and continues to fund and aid "Al Qaeda" organizations to this day.

You have absolutely no comment on the fact that DHS memos all warn about white freedom lovers in the USA being the biggest threat (enemy) in this "war" on terror. Fitting, because this fact makes your stance that endless war against everyone is a ridiculous re-conception of what "war" is. And a redefinition of the war into something which would fit better in  Orwell's 1984 than reality.

Congratulations, you're the number one enemy of America (white "conservatives" have a stigma of valuing liberty, and DHS pegs these as the #1 terrorist threat, #1 enemy of America), and you accept Obama's argument that he has the legal authority to kill you without trial or any due process whatsoever.

Watch out which publications you expose yourself to, or what you say. Someone might confuse your dissent with the actions of authorities with terrorist thoughts. They're extremely related, warns DHS.

In fact, I'm not comfortable talking to a terrorist on this forum. I don't want to risk being confused with having your terrorist ideologies by talking to you. People talking about small government, freedom, and afraid of gay people are the #1 terrorist threat to America, DHS has warned me. And that's you. Good talk. Have a nice day.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

14 (edited by The Yell 28-Mar-2013 05:30:20)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

You actually believe people selling newspapers in the Middle East start work at 6 am saying "Damn I hate America," and are still raging about America at the end of the day. You actually think they care about you or us. You actually think you're as much the center of their lives as you are of yours.

Yeah I'm thrown by the riots with American flags being burnt.

Most people in Afghanistan don't know what 9/11 is to this day.

How's Dr. Paul know that one? Letters to his newsletter by Afghan readers?

In fact, I'm not comfortable talking to a terrorist on this forum. I don't want to risk being confused with having your terrorist ideologies by talking to you. People talking about small government, freedom, and afraid of gay people are the #1 terrorist threat to America, DHS has warned me. And that's you. Good talk. Have a nice day.

Nice talk not to mean anything.  That's what you do, isn't it?  "If you support the war you're a sheeple but I won't end it because I want credit for being tough"

You have absolutely no comment on the fact that DHS memos all warn about white freedom lovers in the USA being the biggest threat (enemy) in this "war" on terror. Fitting, because this fact makes your stance that endless war against everyone is a ridiculous re-conception of what "war" is. And a redefinition of the war into something which would fit better in  Orwell's 1984 than reality.

So?
End the war.
Defund the DHS.

But that's straight thought and action based on thought, and you libertarians don't do that.  You do street theater.  "Our next dance represents the violence inherent in the hypocrisy of a bipartisan conspiracy"

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

15 (edited by V. Kemp 28-Mar-2013 07:51:27)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Says the guy consistently ignoring 90%+ of what I said.

Theatre is putting your head in the sand them pretending to be educated on topics you know literally nothing about.

Ohnoes, somebody gave them an American flag to burn, and everybody knows we fund dictators and oppress people in the region so they're not real in love with us. Better declare war on freedom loving white guys in America over it. That makes sense.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

Re: Rand Paul has balls

You have absolutely no comment on the fact that DHS memos all warn about white freedom lovers in the USA being the biggest threat (enemy) in this "war" on terror. Fitting, because this fact makes your stance that endless war against everyone is a ridiculous re-conception of what "war" is. And a redefinition of the war into something which would fit better in  Orwell's 1984 than reality.

I addressed this by telling you to end the war if you think the war is unwinnable or silly.
For some reason libertarians can't deal with consequences and duties.
You prefer meaningless controversy and street theater.
You prefer to continue a war you condemn.

Of course it doesn't matter, to the wartime powers of the USA, that the DHS says that.
Of course your theories on the imagined distinction between insurrection and war are unsupported by the Constitution. 
The Constitution makes no distinction between insurrection and war.
As George Washington called up the militia to shoot down US citizens on US soil without a warrant or hearing, it follows a president fighting a war has that same powers.  Washington acted after the enactment of the 4th Amendment, and, only a libertarian could imagine Washington had no clue what the Bill of Rights meant.  Of course, so many many of you do claim that.

Theatre is putting your head in the sand them pretending to be educated on topics you know literally nothing about.

 

Good description of your conduct.

Ohnoes, somebody gave them an American flag to burn, and everybody knows we fund dictators and oppress people in the region so they're not real in love with us.

Which is it, I'm a fool who imagines they think of us at all, or, they are so right to hate us?  Which is it? They don't think about us or hate us, or, of course they don't like us?  Which is it?

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

the fact that someone cant distinct between a foreign threat and a domestic threat terrifies me. your willing to throw away all human rights for a false sense of security.

18 (edited by V. Kemp 29-Mar-2013 00:03:21)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

He's not even addressing that point.

In response to my arguments he just says "well end it." Because obviously appeals to majorities are logical arguments.

Why bother thinking or arguing anything? By his logic, the sheep herd is always right. If they were going to do something, they'd have been herded into doing it already. Arguments are irrelevant because they don't think, they just do as they're told.

I made no claims that the Constitution distinguishes between "insurrections" or "war," The Yell. Please learn to read before responding to my posts that we may have a discussion.

What I said is that Congress doesn't have the legal authority to declare an endless war against everyone, nullifying the 4th and 5th amendments without the due process of amending the Constitution.

But, because I actually said that, you didn't respond on that topic.

Where's the evidence of insurrection of white freedom loving people against our federal government, The Yell? If there's actually a war going on in which they're the biggest terrorist threat, shouldn't you have any evidence to show for it? If it's a war, by definition shouldn't there be a lot of evidence?

You continually accuse me of theatre while refusing to respond to anything I've actually said. There's no need to be so defensive. And it's certainly not productive.

Debate over on the grounds that you declined to particupate. I won.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

Re: Rand Paul has balls

the fact that someone cant distinct between a foreign threat and a domestic threat terrifies me. your willing to throw away all human rights for a false sense of security.

The point of this thread is that Rand Paul did a great job hollering that the President can't use lethal force on Al Qaeda in America.  We're at war with Al Qaeda. 

In response to my arguments he just says "well end it." Because obviously appeals to majorities are logical arguments.
Why bother thinking or arguing anything? By his logic, the sheep herd is always right. If they were going to do something, they'd have been herded into doing it already. Arguments are irrelevant because they don't think, they just do as they're told.

I see, you are justified BECAUSE you won't rally a majority of voters to a legal solution to all your complaints.  Cause that's herd mentality.  You'd rather continue a war you think is unwinnable and bitch about it.

I made no claims that the Constitution distinguishes between "insurrections" or "war," The Yell. Please learn to read before responding to my posts that we may have a discussion.

You lie.

The Constitution hasn't been amended, and Congress cannot pass laws which violate the fourth of fifth amendments. It's still illegal to bomb Americans who aren't in combat or imminent threats. Laws supposedly permitting it are illegal. The fact that the current administration redefines the words "imminent" and "threat" and "combatant" doesn't change the Constitution, and it expressly forbids what they're doing and what Congress has authorized.

If there was an insurrection, they could legally combat it. Since there isn't one, they have no legal authority to bomb Americans or put their hands down children's pants."  -Kemp, post #8

What I said is that Congress doesn't have the legal authority to declare an endless war against everyone, nullifying the 4th and 5th amendments without the due process of amending the Constitution.
But, because I actually said that, you didn't respond on that topic.

Go get an English vocabulary.  "Hell no, you're wrong" is a RESPONSE.

Yes, Congress has the legal authority to declare an open-ended war. 

IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE WAR, END THE WAR.

You continually accuse me of theatre while refusing to respond to anything I've actually said

If I don't agree with you that is a response.  If I say, "so what, it's not your call, you can end the war or put up with it" then I've answered every complaint about the war you can make. 

There's no need to be so defensive.

Everyone note the date and time Kemp asked me to be more offensive.

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

20 (edited by V. Kemp 29-Mar-2013 10:14:08)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

The point of this thread is that the president has not ruled out killing American citizens, on American soil, who are not imminent threats. It took Rand Paul's "balls" months to drag this admission out of the administration.

The point of discourse, argument, and debate is to make a case for one's position. I'm not advocating continuing the endless war against everyone that you support here. I'm arguing against it. I don't know what point you think you're making with your appeals to the majority (logical fallacy).

I know a majority of Americans aren't aware of the 1984-esque war on everybody. I know that a majority of Americans aren't aware of what's going on, and many wouldn't care even if they knew (they just want their welfare, social security, and the self-righteous attitude they derive from pretending that just paying their taxes makes them good human beings). Pointing out the obvious point that most Americans are sheep and support the authoritarian government of the USA/Orwell's 1984 isn't an argument. I know they are. That's why I'm making an argument against their apathy. Pointing out that they're apathetic isn't a counterargument.

"Defensive" and "offensive" are not opposites, in this context. Defensive is the way you refuse to address points and change topics frequently to post a response without addressing most of what I've said. You continue this still. Offensive, as the opposite of that, would be to actually respond to everything I've said and post real arguments ("attacking" my positions, "offensive" in a different context). Offensive in the context you used it would be to intentionally offend me, to insult my sensibilities--which is a different definition than the one in which offensive/defensive are opposites.

"Go get an English vocabulary." Clever word play to harp on something that isn't there! But entirely unproductive. Merely a distraction from your inability or unwillingness to respond to anything I've said.

Then explain to me how an endless "war" with "Al Qaeda" (who we're funding to this day) somehow equates with freedom loving white guys being an insurrection.

Since the two aren't related, and there is no insurrection, everything I said regarding law is correct. You're choosing to ignore the law and pretend there's always a state of endless war in America, and there is always an insurrection in America, despite a complete lack of evidence of such a war, let alone insurrection.

You can certainly argue that America is at war, since we start them frequently. But there's certainly no insurrection in America. That's so ridiculous it's downright psychotic. I've never seen someone speak such indoctrinated nonsense as you're proposing here. It reminds me of 1984 more than anything else, and a few things do remind me of it every now and then.

Your views are a fine example of how the American people have been herded to always support authoritarians, whether Republican or Democrat. Both parties are filled with peoplel who are willing to give up their freedoms for a sense of security offered by Big Brother.

Because of what?

A guy who failed to bomb a plane but succeeded to burn off his genitalia? Ohnoes terrorist masterminds managed to produce a guy who can't make or set off a bomb. We'd better suspend the constitution because this horrific threat cannot be combated without a state of war and suspending legal rights of Americans? Ridiculous.

A single gunman enabled by a "gun free zone" who emailed a dude in Africa? Ohnoes terrorists have email! We'd better suspend the constitution because this horrific threat cannot be combatted without a state of war and suspending legal rights of Americans! The war won't be over until no person who doesn't like the USA has access to email! It's too dangerous! Invade! Bomb! Suspend all legal rights of Americans until the email threat is gone! Ridiculous.

An inept guy who failed to set off a bomb in NYC despite a complete lack of interference from anybody? Ohnoes, terrorist masterminds again managed to produce another guy who couldn't make or set off a bomb. We'd better suspend the constitution because this horrific threat cannot be combated without a state of war and suspending legal rights of Americans! Ridiculous.

And it doesn't strike you as odd that the "war" is supposedly against Muslim radicals, yet DHS claims white freedom lovers are the biggest terrorist threat. You don't respond to this point, despite my having made it repeatedly, because it's so ridiculous there's nothing you could say to explain it or justify it.

Of course a fictitious war against radical Muslims across the globe doesn't equate with a state of war (exception to Constitutional protections of certain rights) impacting the rights of freedom loving causation Americans. Even accepting Al Qaeda as a horrible menacing enemy we're at war with despite their inability to harm us doesn't equate with a war against white guys who like freedom. They're not the enemy you're claiming we have in the war you're pretending we're having (which you must claim to legally bypass Constitutional protections of rights).

What does a "war" against a network of people who badmouth and attack America on very rare occasion have to do with the rights of freedom loving white American citizens? Nothing. And no such war qualifies with Constitutional exceptions to the 4th and 5th amendments. The guys you're claiming don't have rights under the law because we're at war aren't the guys we're supposedly at war with. Literally nobody has argued that white Americans who value freedom are Al Qaeda terrorists (enemy combatants), yet's you're claiming that's what they are under the law.

That's why Rand Paul asked for Obama's explanation of the legal basis for his actions, and for what actions his administration thinks it has the legal basis to engage in. That's why his administration's refusal to reveal that information is such a big deal. His administration isn't claiming it has the legal authority to use military force against enemy combatants. We all know and accept that. His administration is refusing to state that it doesn't have the legal right to kill anyone it wants for any reason it wants. His officials have made clear they're redefining words like "imminent," "threat," "combatant," and others to legally justify literally any killings the administration wants to.

That's the problem. That's why Paul demanded an explanation of the administration's legal policy

Our government is claiming a "war" on "terror" and that the biggest enemy is a group of people who have never attacked America. That's ridiculous. That's insane. The law of the Constitution doesn't remotely allow for such an excuse to bypass 4th and 5th amendment rights of Americans.

Claiming "gotcha" and accusing me of  saying something I didn't is silly and unproductive. Especially because literally nothing I've said relies upon a distinction between "war" or "insurrection" in the Constitution. You're just droning on about irrelevant false claims of details to avoid responding to anything I've said.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Kemp I'm getting very tired of your lies.  Your outright deliberate falsehoods.  When I answer your points by saying they are wrong, I have responded to you.  I do not have to ACCEPT your claims and then argue presuming you are correct in identifying the problem. 

"You're wrong, we don't have to do that" is a perfectly logical response. 

Yet you lie and say I don't respond to you.

Also you continue to spout outlandish absolutes and superlatives that have no bearing on what you write.  You are in love with the word "literally" without any clue what it means.   It is not a synonym for "OMFG".

You started this thread praising an idiot who says a wartime President can't fight a war on US soil against US citizens. 
I pointed out an example of our first president doing just that.

In discussing that example, you do not deny that Washington did call out the militia.  You can't.
You don't deny he didn't get a warrant to arrest anybody.  You can't.

Instead, you initiated an argument over the different rights of the government, granted in the Constitution, to fight "insurrection", with the limitations of the Constitutional wartime powers of the government, which are limited by the Amendments, you say.

You said that "of course" if there was insurrection, the government could do what you complain it's doing; but there is no insurrection.

By saying this you relied on a distinction between war and insurrection.  You insist, without basis, that the War on Terror must be fought with due process; you insist, without basis, that wars against insurrection don't have those limits.

You repeated this basic point in your post above, and then, lie again and say that "literally nothing" you've said makes that point.  And then lie saying I don't respond to your points.

In September 2011 the United States Congress authorized military force against Al Qaeda in accord with the War Powers Act, which Congress has declared allows for military operations without a formal declaration of war if the President makes reports to Congress every 90 days.

Of course I am referring to this authorized war, not to some "imaginary" state of permanent war.  We are at war by a specific act that you can specifically revoke.  If you can't stomach the war then go ahead and revoke it.

That's my response to all your complaints: go ahead and revoke the specific authorization of military force.

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

Re: Rand Paul has balls

Chris if you break his conditioning I will set up a Gubanatorial Committee on your behalf.

Everything bad in the economy is now Obama's fault. Every job lost, all the debt, all the lost retirement funds. All Obama. Are you happy now? We all get to blame Obama!
Kemp currently not being responded to until he makes CONCISE posts.
Avogardo and Noir ignored by me for life so people know why I do not respond to them. (Informational)

23 (edited by V. Kemp 29-Mar-2013 20:41:50)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

I'm sorry that my language is over your head, The Yell. My vocabulary is very simple. I don't think it's my fault. It seems obvious that you choose to ignore the majority of my points and arguments. There's nothing I can do about this. If you are not confident enough in your position to respond to most of what I say in any way, that's your failing, and I trust that any readers of this drivel will pick that up for themselves.

Additionally, If you think I've misused the word "literally" to describe something which is not literally true, please provide an example with which I may beat you over the head with the fact that you're incorrect and bitter over it.

You keep saying complete nonsense like this:
"You started this thread praising an idiot who says a wartime President can't fight a war on US soil against US citizens.  "

Which is false, because I never said that.

What I did say is that US citizens are not the claimed "Al Qaeda" enemy that we're supposedly at war with. What I did say is that white freedom loving Americans are who DHS is targeting despite the war supposedly being with somebody else. What I did say is that this doesn't make sense, and that a war with one group doesn't justify violating the rights of another group based upon exceptions in time of war. We're not at war in America. There is no insurrection (war).

You can bicker about a dozen guys from across the world not liking us all you want, the fact is that there is no evidence whatsoever which has ever met any criteria for literally any definition of "war" going on in America today. Your claim that there is is completely psychotic.

A "war" on African pirates wouldn't meet the legal requirements to ignore the 4th and 5th Amendments of Americans at home, because the claim that they're African pirates is ridiculous. They're not the "enemy" of the "war." A guy driving his kids home in Minnesota is still protected by the 5th amendment even if we're fighting a "war" on pirates in Africa or radicals in the Middle East who we arm and fund. Hell, he'd still have rights even if our government wasn't actively aiding the enemy it claims it's waging war against.

This is the sort of thing you never respond to, and never have, choosing instead to pretend I claimed some distinction in law between insurrection and war and bickering about it, explaining how you made up the distinction as if it matters or I care.

An insurrection would be a war. You're making the distinction, not me. You're stretching language to the point of complete ridiculousness, not me.

And you again make appeals to majority, that if a majority hasn't elected leaders to end the endless war, then clearly it's actually a war and both legal and rational. Because Congress passed a law that says we're at endless war with an enemy who we're still funding and arming to this day. Nevermind that this isn't a "war" as the word was used in the Constitution (nor an insurrection nor anything else the language makes exceptions to the Bill of Rights for). You're on a tirade of logical fallacies, refusing to read or respond to anything I've actually said. If the people in Orwell's 1984 didn't rebel, then there was nothing wrong with their government! Strong argument.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]

24 (edited by The Yell 30-Mar-2013 00:53:53)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

And you again make appeals to majority, that if a majority hasn't elected leaders to end the endless war, then clearly it's actually a war and both legal and rational.  Because Congress passed a law that says we're at endless war with an enemy who we're still funding and arming to this day. Nevermind that this isn't a "war" as the word was used in the Constitution (nor an insurrection nor anything else the language makes exceptions to the Bill of Rights for).

First off this is dead wrong.  Congress doesn't have to make you happy about the war for it to have authorized a real live war.  It's Congress, and it voted for war.  The war is therefore legal.

And when you're wrong about whether or not we're at war, then every other argument you make based on the declaration that we're NOT at war, is wrong.  Right there. 

And secondly, I do not make any "fallacy" of an appeal to a majority.  I'm saying your complaints about the uselessness or meanness or cruelty or lack of racial focus, or whatever man, of the non-war, is solvable by ENDING THE WAR.

The war is lawful because Congress begun it.
After you end it, it will have been lawful because Congress voted on it.
You can't transform it into a unconstitutional war.
But you can END it.

With those two points I counter everything you've brought to the table.

You're totally wrong that Congress can't declare a war if it doesn't suit your secret unAmerican ahistorical definition of a war; all your complaints about that war are PROPERLY and FITLY resolved by ending the war.

Filibusters for no damn purpose are harmful.  Rand Paul is proving unfit to serve.

What I did say is that US citizens are not the claimed "Al Qaeda" enemy that we're supposedly at war with.

We ARE at war with Al Qaeda.

Adam Gadahn.
John Walker Lindh.
Anwar Al-Aulaqi.
Nidal Malik Hasan.

US citizens ARE the enemy we're fighting.

And obviously you're not reading my posts, I pointed out how you lie when you claim you say "literally nothing" about the difference between war and insurrection, and then I quoted you giving your theory of that difference.  I already posted it and you can read it.

The core joke of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is that of course no civilization would develop personal computers with instant remote database recovery, and then waste this technology to find good drinks.
Steve Jobs has ruined this joke.

25 (edited by V. Kemp 31-Mar-2013 00:37:09)

Re: Rand Paul has balls

"First off this is dead wrong.  Congress doesn't have to make you happy about the war for it to have authorized a real live war.  It's Congress, and it voted for war.  The war is therefore legal."

Congress doesn't have the legal authority to declare an endless war on everyone as a way to effectively nullify the fifth amendment. You seem to have difficulty comprehending that the Constitution is the ultimate legal authority in the United States. Redefining the word war and labeling everyone as enemy combatants is not a power granted to the US Congress.

Obviously I would support ending the nonexistent "war" Congress has authorized to keep sheep like you terrified into surrendering your rights. Pointing out that sheep like you are the majority and people with positions like mine do not hold legislative majorities is not a logical argument, it's an appeal to the majority.

You've never responded in any way to the ridiculousness of this "war." You've never responded to the fact that we're supposedly at war with extremists from one part of the world but DHS is focused on terrorist threats from freedom loving white guys, who are stripped of their rights because of the supposed war with Al Qaeda of which they are no part.

You haven't countered anything, you've bickered about irrelevant details and ignored most of what I posted.

You never quoted me claiming the Constitution distinguishes, you quoted me and then ranted how you ignorantly concluded that I must reason that because blah blah blah blah. I said nothing I've said relies upon such a distinction. Good job quoting me out of context. That's about as productive as the rest of your evasive ranting that we're at war and our nonexistent enemy has turned 4 weirdo Americans against us.

Ohnoes 4 weirdos in decades. Better declare eternal war against everyone. Better forget about the Bill of Rights. We've got an insurrection of enemy combatants of numbers that can be counted on one hand!

Law requires knowledge of language and the meanings of words which you clearly lack.

Rand Paul was demanding to know the legal doctrine of the administration. His argument was that Americans deserve to know whether their government thinks it has the right to assassinate them. You're arguing for tyranny: That the people, who are sovereign and elect their leaders, don't have the right to know what the policy of their executive branch is regarding assassinating Americans. No wonder you're so evasive, dishonest, and nit-picking so much.

[I wish I could obey forum rules]