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Constitution

Why Roland Burris Matters to Barack Obama, Right Now

Rebecca Sive | Posted 11.11.2009 | Chicago

Read More: Health Care Reform, New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Stupak Amendment, Abortion, Senate, Constitution, Public Option, Abortion Rights, Harry Reid, Chicago News
Rebecca Sive

Roland could write an epitaph on that vaunted tombstone of his that actually matters. And, Roland, take note: By doing this, you will have saved the lives of millions of American women.

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"Justice Can't Wait:" Judicial Selection in the First 10 Months of the Obama Administration

Nan Aron | Posted 11.09.2009 | Politics

Read More: Filibuster, Senate, Judicial Nominees, Constitution, Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Obstructionism, Judges, President Obama, Politics News
Nan Aron

Alliance for Justice has released a new report on judicial selection in the first ten months of the Obama administration.

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Bush DOJ Official Agrees "Torture Memo" Lawyers Should Be Investigated

Nan Aron | Posted 11.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: Tortured Law, Department of Justice, Constitution, Eric Holder Attorney General, Attorney General, Torture Memos, Torture, Politics News
Nan Aron

A change in leadership does not eliminate the need to examine our system and learn from our history, even when -- especially when -- our Department of Justice was corrupted to the point of sanctioning torture.

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What is the "Message" Behind Increased Gun Sales?

Josh Horwitz | Posted 11.05.2009 | Politics

Read More: Gun Violence, Second Amendment, Insurrectionism, Insurrection, William Kostric, Gun Control, Founding Fathers, Constitution, Town Hall Meetings, Guns, Politics News
Josh Horwitz

Wayne LaPierre, CEO of the National Rifle Association, thinks Americans are stockpiling handguns, assault weapons and ammunition because they are going to be "attacked by politicians"?

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Genderless Marriage: Redefining the Debate

Kevin Armento | Posted 11.03.2009 | Politics

Read More: Marriage, California Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, Constitution, Civil Rights, Gay Marriage, Politics News
Kevin Armento

Re-branding marriage as a genderless institution such not only widens its scope, but does so in a way that puts it more squarely in line with the two biggest rights struggles of the twentieth century.

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Nicaragua: Déjà Coup All Over Again?

Javier Corrales | Posted 11.04.2009 | World

Read More: United States, Constitution, Democracy Promotion, Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega, Coup in Honduras, World News
Javier Corrales

This week, the United States helped bring an end to a serious political crisis in Honduras. A similar crisis is now brewing in Nicaragua, but this time, the United States won't be as lucky.

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Scalia Misquoted On Brown v. Board Of Education (CORRECTED)

Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Activist Judges, Justice Scalia, Brown v. Board of Education, Constitution, Antonin Scalia, Politics News

CORRECTION: An item posted here -- reporting that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said that if he were on the court in 1954, he would have dissen...

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Cheney: A Tortured Soul

Lance Simmens | Posted 10.26.2009 | Politics

Read More: Libby, Cheney, Valerie Plame, Warrantless Wiretapping, Bush Administration, National Security, Spiro Agnew, Wiretap, Guantanamo, Constitution, Vice President Cheney, Politics News
Lance Simmens

Mr. Vice-President, you and your President had eight full years to chart a direction for this nation. That direction was soundly rejected by the voters in the most recent national election.

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Goodbye/Hello 14 "Burning The Ships "

Patt Cottingham | Posted 10.17.2009 | Politics

Read More: Citizens, Buring Ships, Constitution, Dysfunction, Lobbyists, Hernando Cortez, Courage, Washington, Reform, Democrats, No Retreat, Committment, Republican, Politics News
Patt Cottingham

In 1519 the Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez anchored his 11 ships off the Yucatan Peninsula. Thousands of miles of ocean separated him from Spa...

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Marriage Rights Should Not Be Determined By Popular Opinion

Fred Silberberg | Posted 10.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: Jim Crow, Tyranny-of-the-Majority, Constitutional Law, Equal Protection, Discrimination, Full-Faith-and-Credit-Clause, Minority, Constitution, Separation of Church and State, Defense of Marriage Act, Gay Marriage, Marriage Equality, Activist Judges, Inside DC, Politics News
Fred Silberberg

Allowing marriage to become the subject of a popular opinion poll, as has taken place in this country, disturbs the very principles upon which this nation was founded.

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Shake the System

Gavin Newsom | Posted 10.13.2009 | Politics

Read More: Politics, California, Gavin Newsom, 2010 Elections, Economy, Constitutional Conv, San Francisco, Jobs, Constitutional Convention, Constitution, Politics News
Gavin Newsom

If we're going to put California back on the leading edge, we have to fix our broken system. Please join me in supporting a California Constitutional Convention and help participate in shaping it.

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"Wow, I'm an American!"

Dr. Peter Breggin | Posted 10.24.2009 | Living

Read More: Freedom, Self-Help, Peter Breggin, Values, Psychology, America, Founding Fathers, Constitution, Responsibility, Living News
Dr. Peter Breggin

We've taken the "wow" out of America. It's time to put it back. It's time to be proud to "Live like an American!"

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Happy Thanksgiving(?)

Paula Gordon | Posted 10.12.2009 | World

Read More: Enlightenment Nation, Constitution, Enlightenment, Thanksgiving, Canada, Sovereignty, Self-Government, God, World News
Paula Gordon

This and every second Monday of October, an entire First World nation takes the day off to cherish all that is best. Today is Thanksgiving Day. In Canada.

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Why Aren't Schools Teaching Our Children Their Rights and Freedoms?

John W. Whitehead | Posted 10.14.2009 | Home

Read More: Changing-the-Length-of-the-School-Year, Constitution, Longer-School-Year, Civic Education, Inside DC, Home News
John W. Whitehead

"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government."-- Thomas Jefferson According to President Barack Obama, makin...

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"...And Our Posterity"

Gary Hart | Posted 10.12.2009 | Politics

Read More: Law, Us Constitution, Constitution, Politics News
Gary Hart

The idea that future generations have a stake in carrying out the Constitution's objectives is profound. When we go to war, when we act on climate change, we do so not only for ourselves but also for our posterity.

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The Gun Issue Is Back in the Supreme Court: What Does It Mean?

Dennis A. Henigan | Posted 10.06.2009 | Politics

Read More: Distrt of Columbia, Second Amendment, National Rifle Association, District of Columbia v. Heller, Chicago, Gun Control, Constitution, Nra, Heller Decision, Guns, Politics News
Dennis A. Henigan

Although the Chicago handgun ban Supreme Court case involves interesting constitutional issues, even if Chicago loses, such a ruling is unlikely to prove a serious threat to state and local gun regulation across-the-board.

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This Week In Magazines: Obama The "Self-Entangling Giant"

James Warren | Posted 09.28.2009 | Media

Read More: Tribunals, Gary Willis, Detainees, Constitution, Executive Power, Nuclear Weapons, Guantanamo Bay, Torture, Leon Panetta, Congress, Obama, Entangled Giant, CIA New York Review of Books, Eric Holder, Bush, Media News
James Warren

No matter how much he might disdain the W. presidency, especially when it came to misuse of executive branch power, Barack Obama may be a "self-entangling giant" who is going down the same perilous path.

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Friday Talking Points [95] -- A Call To Action

Chris Weigant | Posted 09.26.2009 | Politics

Read More: Progressives, Al Franken, Chief of Staff, Reform, Alan Grayson, Paul Kirk, Aid of the Party, Emanuel, Midotw, Glenn Greenwald, Nancy Pelosi, Department of Justice, Most Impressive Democrat of the Week, Health Care, Peter Paul and Mary, Reid, Public Option, Democrat, House Progressives, Congress, Mary Travers, Democrats, Barack Obama, Ted Kennedy, Acorn, Progressive, Constitution, Mddotw, Rahm Emanuel, Party, Health, Blue Dogs, Harry Reid, Republicans, Senate, Healthcare, President Obama, David Kris, Sherrod Brown, Obama, Democratic, Democratic Party, Friday Talking Points, Fourth Amendment, Republican, Paul Wellstone, Pelosi, Defense Contractor, Co-Op, Baucus, Typewriter, Most Disappointing Democrat of the Week, Rahm, Representative Grayson, Trigger, Time for All Good Men, House, Franken, Rahmbo, Surreal, Fraud, Chris Weigant, Max Baucus, Kris, Politics News
Chris Weigant

The progressives and Blue Dogs are going to have a showdown. It is going to culminate not in statements to the press (or the lack thereof), not in some whispered whip count, but rather in a very public vote.

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The President in Chains

Gary Hart | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics

Read More: Bush Administration, National Security, Gary Hart, Matters of Principle, Military, Central Intelligence Agency, Constitution, Gary Wills, Department of Defense, George W. Bush, Obama Administration, Air Force, National Security Council, Politics News
Gary Hart

The national security state has become a kind of powerful prison with the president as warden. He has authority over it, but he cannot escape it.

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Am I Free to Speak?

Stephen Herrington | Posted 09.21.2009 | Politics

Read More: Government, Freedom of Speech, Supreme Court, Russ Feingold, First Amendment, John McCain, Corporations, Freedomworks, Hillary Clinton, Constitution, Town Hall Meetings, Politics News
Stephen Herrington

We have, for some decades now, been in an era that the framers did not anticipate, in which the reach and influence of money could shape the political landscape like never before.

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The Constitution & Health Care: Would Glenn Beck Say James Madison Was an Unelected Constitution Czar?

Dan Manatt | Posted 09.19.2009 | Politics

Read More: Glenn Beck, Constitution, Health Care, Politics News
Dan Manatt

To those fighting for health insurance reform suffering the slings and arrows, take heart: if the framers could pull off the Constitution under similar conditions, methinks there may be still be a decent shot for health reform.

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Why Health Care Reform May Kill the USA

Steven G. Brant | Posted 09.18.2009 | Politics

Read More: Constitutional Law, John Boehner, Maturity, Health Care Reform, Treason, Democracy, U.S. Constitution, Pbs Newshour, Constitution, John Wayne, Rebellion, Health Care, Barack Obama, Republicans, Politics News
Steven G. Brant

My waking nightmare was prompted by House Minority Leader John Boehner's appearance on the PBS NewsHour Thursday night. Why is he speaking so positively of "rebellion"?

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Three-Judge Panel Hears Challenge To Hillary Clinton's Eligibility To Serve As Secretary of State

Huffington Post | Elyse Siegel | Posted 09.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Judicial Watch, Hillary Clinton, Constitution, Lawsuit, Hillary Clinton Secretary of State, Politics News

A three-judge panel is hearing a case Wednesday morning that challenges Hillary Clinton's "constitutional eligibility" to serve as the government's Se...

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A "Person of Interest" Can't Be Arrested

Alan Dershowitz | Posted 09.16.2009 | Politics

Read More: Yale Murder, Raymond Clark III, Constitutional Law, Constitution, Annie Le, New Haven, Yale, Yale Student Death, Missing Yale Student, Murder, Crime, Person of Interest, Guilty Until Proven Innocent, Politics News
Alan Dershowitz

If Raymond Clark III was in fact taken away in handcuffs and compelled to go to the police station in connection with the Yale murder case, he was arrested. But in order to be arrested, there must be probable cause.

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Emerging GOP Theme: Nullification

Chris Weigant | Posted 11.14.2009 | Politics

Read More: Supreme Court, Gop, Bill of Rights, The People, Eighteenth Century, State, Wickard v Filburn, Secession, James Madison, Secede, Democratic, Scotus, Civil War, Perry, Governor, President, John C Calhoun, Republican, Jefferson, Pawlenty, Gonzales v Raich, New Yorker, Federal Government, Bonkers in Georgia, Union, Nullification Crisis, Rick Perry, Virginia Resolution, Kentucky Resolutions, States, State Sovereignty, Hertzberg, Alabama, States Rights, Democrat, Congress, Thomas Jefferson, Texas, 10th Amendment, Democrats, Minnesota, Hendrik Hertzberg, John Calhoun, Tenth Amendment, Nullification, Constitution, Chris Weigant, Madison, South Carolina, Georgia, Tim Pawlenty, Court, Calhoun, Politics News
Chris Weigant

The code words change over time (from "nullification" to "states' rights" to Pawlenty's "state sovereignty"), but the idea is the same -- we retain the right to ignore any laws we don't feel like following.

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