INTERESTING TIMES

 ​ "Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the president cannot pardon himself," the Department of Justice declared in 1974. The DOJ spelled it out just four days before Nixon resigned, explaining that the president's pardoning power "does not extend to the president himself." 

He spoke at O'Connor's on June 27 for the FFRF.  Overall what I learned from this retired polysci professor is that the framers of the US constitution intended to create a principle-based document that allows enough structure to prevent chaos, and enough freedom to allow evolution of our society and laws over time.  He never said anything like that, it is purely my restatement of what I walked away with.  Brudley is a good speaker and clearly has taught this subject matter in many different ways over the years.  When faced with a mature atheist audience in liberal Portland, he was able to skim over a lot of topis that he belabors for undergraduates.  One thing I liked about his speaking style (and will borrow): he said that questions for the purpose of clarification or elaboration are welcome during the presentation, all others had to wait until the end.  This prevents diversions from the topic and keeps it all moving along.

He started out saying that the independent judiciary is detailed in Article 1, and that it was clearly a priority for the framers of the constitution.  I also learned that Article 2 is the Executive article, and it is under this article that the constitution says that the president nominates supreme court justices and with the senates advice and consent these nominations can be confirmed.  The president is instructed to choose based on fitness and qualifications, and not on nepotism or cronyism.  The president is selected for this job because he is thought to be more insulated from the "passions and prejudices of the people".

Nowhere in the constitution does it say that the senate, or the people, should have any part in nominating judges.  The Federalist Papers have an article by Hamilton that specifically says there shall be "no exertion of choice on the part of the Senate".   Nowhere does it say that no SCOTUS judges may be nominated in the last year.  To his knowledge our current VP Biden was the first to say that a lame duck president should not nominate--which was an easy gotcha for the Republicans.  Brudney said that our system of checks and balances, and the separation of powers, is sometimes unproductive.  You could say that.  Stalemate potential is necessary in a principle-driven constitution that provides us with freedoms, and protects us from rash decisions by any branch of our government.

Here's the actual text of the EO. It looks kind of totalitarian on its surface, and the conservative blogosphere is screaming stuff like Obama seizes control over all food, farms, livestock, farm equipment, fertilizer and food production across America!!! But the Hot Air blog breaks it down relative to the old law, and it appears that the changes are really quite minimal. In the name of National Defense Resources Preparedness an assortment of agencies are authorized to do whatever they need to take over the means of production and supply the military. Which they already were.

NEW FEDERAL ACTION
US feds began emergency action Weds 11/24/10 (takes 30 days)
to outlaw 5 chems used to make synthetic marijuana
will be schedule 1 along with cocaine, heroin, etc
emergency ban-->illegal for 1 year while DEA and DHS study them
may not kill industry, will create new black market
15+ states and some Euro nations have already banned them
manufacturers already reformulating to circumvent bans, are in touch with distributors

came to DEA attention in 11/08 when US Customs analyzed "spice"
in 2010 customs seized a 110lb load
law enforcement will use chemical tests
will focus on distributors, not users
( notes )

She's running for congress. I met her today. I was downtown with a friend to go shoe shopping, and stopped by the festival in Heritage Square. It a marijuana legalization event and it was was fairly dead. ( She was trying to get my vote. )

I just took the time to watch Barack Hussein Obama's Cairo speech. People disparage his "polished words" but I am overjoyed to have a president who is both educated and moral. Obama speaks for me. I agree that it is time for all peoples, all nations, all races, all individuals to cease and desist from the disrespect and violence that have poisoned our interactions. It is time to see all sides.
( more )

http://nationalwriterssyndicate.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=2

This is the best article I've found on 9/11. Torin Wolf joined the army on 9/11/00. He explains why and how the government's story about the collapse of the World Trade Center is totally bogus, and has dozens of excellent supporting links. Thanks to aegis_one.