7 Comments so far

1. White Rows January 30th, 2007 5:30 pm

   From the protest in DC:

   “Bush is not the ‘decider’…
   Bush is the LIAR”

   Is Congress the decider?

   The US citizenry become the deciders when they learn the meaning of the words “GENERAL STRIKE”… mumble it now, write it on bathroom walls, chant it at the next demonstration…

2. Katie Bull January 30th, 2007 8:33 pm

   What are the existing precedents in the uses of the Constitution that would allow for Congress to stop the war? Or, maybe the question is, what are the sections of the Constitution that offer the congress the “broad authority” to stop the war?

3. Vince Lawrence January 30th, 2007 11:26 pm

   I had the same idea as White Rows upon MLK’s anniversary. Non-violent but forceful protest. A general strike. However, I don’t think it is in American DNA - unfortunately. Would any sitting politician have the guts to call for it? Maybe Dennis Kucinich?

   Considering Katie Bull’s question: imagine an earlier time in a country before democratic government resting on a constitutional basis. A megalomaniacal ruler drags his people into a war that connot be won, is plunging the populace into financial ruin, and engendering the hostility of all of their neighbors. What organization of words and ideas is necessary to depose that ruler and bring that country back to a rational existence? Now go back to the first paragraph.

4. IMuser January 30th, 2007 11:29 pm

   It’s as if Congress believes the Sec 3c of JR 114 overides Sec 8 of the War Powers Act and makes them incapable of passing legislation demanding an end to military occupation even though too many of the premises stated in JR 114 have proven false.

5. MA_Matriarch January 30th, 2007 11:59 pm

   Asking General Alberto Gonzales for his views is like asking Bush. I don’t know where that is going to go.

   Bush has already stated if in fact money is not appropriated he will go forth with it anyhow.

   The only way I know to end this is to have this administration impeached.

6. White Rows January 31st, 2007 11:02 am

   Our nation violated international law by invading a sovereign nation; it circumvented the UN to do so. It lied on the world stage to carry out a war of aggression–primarily over resources and for profit. There is no greater crime. Talk of the war powers act and its specific provisions is a distraction, in a sense. Of course Congress can stop the war–they can impeach Bush for starters!

   However, in response to Vince’s suggestion that a congressperson would have to CALL for a General Strike (in response to my first comment), that is silly! The whole point is that the US PUBLIC is the ‘decider’ when they learn they have the ultimate power, the ultimate trump card–the General Strike. It can happen anywhere, nothing prevents it. Spread the idea as a theoretical possibility… Read “BIRTH OF OUR POWER” by Victor Serge. Never forget.

7. Vince Lawrence January 31st, 2007 3:42 pm

   Please lets not turn this forum into just another local battlefield of name-calling and personal attacks. White Rows the point I was trying to make is just the same as what you made. All of the talk of the Constitution and War Powers is pointless; This administration and their enablers are immoral, illegal, and must be removed.

   And I did seriously consider just how a general strike might come into being. By progressives, bloggers, and pundits who can’t even get their views and legitimate objections aired in the msm? Asking which sitting politician might call for it was not a search for constitutional legitimacy but a search for a voice that could not be ignored by the msm!
   Can you imagine the media panic if just one elected representative had the courage to do such a thing? Well, it might just work.

   I did not mean to insult, discredit, or disparage your remarks and if you think seriously about what I am saying you may agree that it has some merit. Then again, you may not. There is very little time left to spread the thought as a theory; the time to act is now.

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