My good friend A Jacksonian has an excellent post which I recommend you click on at this point, before going further.
In the meantime, I wondered what the affect would be on our military personnel upon hearing or reading of the new SCOTUS decision. From Polipundit:
Thursday, June 29th, 2006(FLASH) Instrument of Surrender Signed by SCOTUS
This morning, the United States of America signed the instrument of surrender with al Queda and all affiliated terror organizations. The signatories representing the United States were Anthony Kennedy, Steven Bryer, John Paul Stevens, Ruth Ginsburg and David Souter.
The reason for this unconditional surrender was that while the Supreme Court Justices “support the troops” and particpate in drives to send old magazines to soldiers, they do not “Trust the Troops.”
In addition, this was a total rebuke of Chief Justice John Roberts whose lower court ruling was overturned.
Justice Stevens wrote the opinion. Terrorists have Geneva protection.
I only wish that this was sarcasm. These individuals have no idea what they have done.
I wasted 12 months of my life in Afgahnistan for this.
Support by the military in the GWOT is going to collapse.
UPDATE: This opinion will go from a ripple to a wave throughout the uniformed military. We were slapped by John McCain last December. Today, we are slapped by the Supreme Court. This afternoon, I am removing myself from the volunteer list at Human Resources Command-St. Louis to re-deploy. I will not be the only one.
There were also e-mails to PP, which included:
“$%^& the supreme court. They have no idea what we are going through. Major xxxxxxxxx”
“My third tour for what? SHIT!!! Captain xxxxxxxxxx”
“I want to go home to my family now. Master Sergeant xxxxxxxxx”
The Corner’s Andy McCarthy said:
Make no mistake: if this happens, the Supreme Court will have dictated that we now have a treaty with al Qaeda — which no President, no Senate, and no vote of the American people would ever countenance. (Compare this.) The Constitution consigns treaty-making to the political branches, not the courts, but a conclusion that Geneva protects Hamdan (and, by extension, his fellow savages) would ominously mean that the courts, under the conveniently malleable guise of “customary international law” can rewrite treaties to mean whatever they like them to mean.
I know that some have said “Wait BZ, calm down, all is not lost; the President has said nothing will yet occur though the law will be obeyed — and that perhaps it will ‘merely’ take Congress to make the right moves to satiate the SCOTUS.”
I still fear for my country, my fellow citizens and the brave American soldiers overseas.
ALREADY this ruling is having an affect on their morale and, moreover, their willingness to sacrifice for this country.
And I cannot now blame their reticence.
BZ
I agree with you sir. This is yet another slap in the face of our fighting men and women, as well as any loyal patriotic American.
How many enemies must we fight? The media, The SCOTUS, Murtha,Kennedy, Pelosi,Kerry and don’t forget about the terrorists. it appears as though they are all allied against America’s victory. I too am worried for my country.
Have to agree with Bushwack … this is a real mess, how many bloody faces does the enemy have? It looks like they want them to come and fight over here…. and they may get their wish yet.
EVERY decision one makes not only as an individual but as a nation has CONSEQUENCES. As I wrote on another comment section, our greatest strength is our greatest weakness in times of tribulation such as this:
Our judges near and far make decisions and issue edicts in a proverbial vacuum. A nice job if you can get it — but frequently much of Life consists of what affects us PERSONALLY — not only as an individual but collectively as a NATION.
And our judges, and our SCOTUS, do not yet understand that the paradigm has changed. They are still making decisions in a vacuum. Whilst the enemy profits from our long, wordy sentences, our debates, our references, our case law — and yet little of our law, any more, seems to be based upon precedent and logic.
And NATIONAL SURVIVAL.
Again, the Vacuum Theory.
We do this at our own peril.
And already our valiant soldiers are beginning to question:
“I could be working at my job in Kansas. Or I could be here subject to, essentially, standard criminal laws regarding my enemy.”
What choice do you think soldiers with families will make?
Be realistic.
BZ
Mr. Z- I thank you for the link!
Of course I also examine other ways to hold the Federal Government accountable. There are more checks and balances than just *within* the Federal Government. And the Constitution has set up the means and methods for the States to hold the entire Federal edifice accountable. If you can find one Governor or one State to actually walk up and do so.
We have been done a grave disservice since the Great Depression in continually turning to the Federal Government as the source of *everything*.
It is NOT.
Congress abdicates its duties and overreaches to protect itself from all laws, while spending the treasury for their own benefit in the way of nepotism and kickbacks.
The Courts now overstep into making up Treaty law, reserved for Congress, and recognizing a State, which is due the Executive.
And the Executive does not protect the Nation nor uphold the Just Laws of the Land.
The Trifecta.
Time now for the States to call in their chips and let this grand edifice either shift to do its duty or crumble.
We now await for one man or woman as a Governor to do so.
Or an irate people to join with their State to protect it and hold the Federal Government accountable by that action.
I will never, ever, vote for any member of this Congress for anything again. Those under the Executive now suffer from weak leadership and need ask: When will this man actually stand UP for this Nation?
We are a Shays away from 1786.
A nation of individuals joined together as One People.
One man with courage makes a majority. – Andrew Jackson
I do not want a White Knight, Black does just as well to call for accountability. But the call must be done… or the People will not be attending this Next election in any great number. And the Union will thus start to fold because of that.
And then things can get very hot this winter as the Summer of Our Discontent turns to coldness and bitterness. Strike while hot, to mold the metal. Strike cold and it will most likely shatter at the most frigid depths.
Here is, AJ, what I think may be coming — precisely because I do NOT have ultimate faith that our politicians will make the right decisions. Nor will any governor step up because that is not a politician’s nature.
I fear that leaves only one venue left: the people. And I fear that the people will continue and continue and continue to take it on the chin until there is nothing left but the spark of violence.
And those who partake in the spark will be labeled as loons though they will perhaps be the tipping point towards rule of the people once again. Because, of course, the rest of the Sheeple ENJOY getting what they can for FREE and with little or, best yet, NO work.
THAT is what I fear.
BZ
Mr. Z – That is the abyss of the Shays Rebellion… one more spark, just one, and this Nation is a tinderbox that will go aflame… perhaps smoulder a bit, but then the open flame will appear…
It is the inflection point of all metastable systems at the brink of instability. Appearances remain exactly the same, until the littlest of things suddenly changes the entire state of the system. Supersaturated liquids remain liquid until ‘one thing’ causes instant crystallization… Steel stressed to its breaking point will still support a load, until the lightest tap shifts the crystals that are stressed and it fails.
This Nation approached that in 1968-74 and stepped somewhat back, but that change of one party from Jacksonian based to Leftist based re-arranged the dynamics of the political system as a whole. It *appears* stable, but those that were slapped and felt dishonored by their party are ones that do *not* turn to the opposition. They do not think in those terms. Dishonored by one and no recognition of honor by the other, they walked.
And they taught their children that neither party *honors* the individual. That *both* parties adhere to ideology and not individualism. And that one should place no faith in those that do not understand personal honor, integrity, keeping one’s word, and carrying through with honorable actions once started.
These folks sit out in the cold.
Most of their children, though signing up to protect the Nation as volunteers, also have no belief in the vaunted two party system. As time went on and those that *did* try the *other party* found it to be uncaring to their concerns… they also walked out on the two party system, but NOT the Nation.
Thus, the entire political class, having read out those that understood this swath of the electorate and having adhered to ever more shrill, ever more polarizing, ever more venomous voices and their politics have drifted far from these folks that have been shut out of the system.
The mistake is to think that between Left and Right, Liberal and Conservative, that there is this ‘Center’. But that ‘Center’ is empty, because those that have walked out are NOT on that political line between these two things. And these folks wait… and watch… slapped once, they do *not* turn the other cheek. Those that find some value in the two party system will vote their conscience for individuals. But they have gone beyond mere insult for the two parties.
It is seething disgust.
And as the Union is further put at peril, and the political means to get recourse is actually STOPPED by BOTH PARTIES, neither of which they can adhere to, that disgust turns to cold rage.
Slowly to hatred.
These are not the British Colonists riled over lack of representation for taxation. Nor is it Shays and lack of recognition and payment for good works done for the Revolution. Nor is it that break along culture that the Civil War gave vent to.
This is seeing that those who have hailed the stability of the two party system have now sent the Nation into a death spiral. The Left and Right may actually work to further this spiral, because they do not recognize their own illigitimacy to this swath of the populace. They put out unenforceable laws or, even worse, do not enforce the ones there. Many hail the dissolution of the Union by wanting some sort of ‘social justice’ that is applied unequally based on perception and not deeds. Others think that freeing up money is ultimate freedom, not recognizing that freedom already is within We the People and needs no other freedom, save that of responsible government that *listens* to ALL of the People.
Not *just* those they are beholden to.
This two party system has driven the Federal system to the abyss, just as the Confederal system before it reached that same edge by NOT ADDRESSING ALL OF THE PEOPLE. If we adhere, as the People, to the Constitution, We can force redress via the rights of Our States and Our Selves.
One Governor in the Union can do this. Any of them as it is a Federal Union and a threat to One is a threat to All.
One State’s legislature can work with its Peoply and join its right to survive with the right of the People to bear arms and directly hold the entire Federal system accountable.
And We the People can make choices… we have a plethora of them. We have already withdrawn legitimacy of the Government away by moving the numbers voting to 50% of the voting age population and below. That has *not* sent a message. The next steps are those above and personal pressure over the next months to change things with the help of a Governor, a Legislature or via Amendment to the 1:30,000 mandatory for the House. That last will take some doing, but the turmoil it will cause will actually *stabilize* the entire system by drawing polarizing energy from it. If that is stopped, then We the People know We are heading into stagnant tyrrany, and the abyss would be a preferable choice to that. Voting as a write-in or ballot measure for a Constitutional Convention to be called by their State for the Union would take some doing, but would also work.
I suspect that actually showing up and demanding the ability to vote ‘No Confidence’ would send a shockwave through the electorate as the election system is not designed for it. One person would be a titter of humor… two people would be eyeblinks… three people demanding the RIGHT to withdraw their confidence from the Union would cause a ruckus… four people demanding that and being unwilling to move until their position can be legitimately COUNTED by the system would be a definitive pain… it would not take more than a dozen or so at the same polling station to start this and demanding… DEMANDING that their vote not only count but BE COUNTED. Do this at two or three or four polling places and the newsies will pick it up… the Left will try to exploit it, until they realize that there is No Confidence in THEM… those on the Right will assert that the Rule of Law should be upheld, but the basic RIGHT of Citizen participation in the election process is being denied and by trying to deny that voice they will be in direct conflict with the Constitution itself as the People are voting No Confidence in those making the Laws.
Any of these can serve as an inflection point and each leads in different directions. Some to peaceful ends and others to bloody revolution. The Left always wants the barricades first, and are thusly, idiots who deserve what they get. The Right does not support such things as it would ruin their fair ideas on what the Rule of Law actually *is*, and forget that when it does not include All of the People it is not seen as Just Law.
The summer warms… those on vacation chat and talk on warm beaches, over beer and drinks, with family… and ideas move slowly… the dog days of July and August approach and more appears on these horizons before the first condensing of September.
One spark… one dust mote… one tap at the wrong place…
And the abyss opens before us where there was apparent solid ground a moment before.
AJ: Precisely my fear; though I know what when or what form it will take.
BZ