Christine O'Donnell is Right!

[demwing]

If it isn't in the Constitution, in exact words, it has no place in our government.

So...

What else "Isn't in the Constitution" ???

Tea Parties?
Corporate Citizenship?
Jesus?

What's your top pick for "Things We Should Remove From Government Because It Isn't In The Constitution?"

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. death penalty

corporations

[hobbit709]

2. In her case, women can't vote.

[Hosnon]

3. Air Force. nt.

[SlimJimmy]

9. Formerly the Army Air Corps, a subsidiary of the "Army".

Which is named in the US Constitution.

[Hosnon]

10. The OP asked about exact words. I'm not arguing that the Air Force isn't constitutional.

It's in there for the same reason that "separation of church and state" is.

ETA: And your argument isn't the reason. Something does not shed its unconstitutionality simply by placing it "under" something else that is constitutional. The Air Force is constitutional because of some combination of the Common Defense Clause, the Necessary and Proper Clause, the Army and Navy Clauses, and the understanding that the breadth of the constitution extends beyond its explicit language.

[SlimJimmy]

18. There are 18 enumerated Congressional powers, the Army and Navy powers are listed below:

ARTICLE ONE SECTION EIGHT

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

The Army Air Corps and subsequently, the US Air Force, Coast Guard, and US Marines came into being because Congress was authorized in the Constitution to make rules and regulations for the land and naval forces. This is not rocket science.

[Hosnon]

23. By drawing a distinction between naval and land forces, the drafters likely

disfavored that sort of back-door constitutionality. Subsuming in that way renders the distinction meaningless.

As those on the Right often say: The Constitution can be amended. An Air Force is not explicitly authorized by the Constitution. Want one? Amend.

[SlimJimmy]

26. I respectfully disagree. The framers were BRILLIANT in their wording.

They left it to Congress to promulgate the rules/regulations for the military knowing that advances would occur that they could never imagine, and that changes would be necessary. That's why the 18 enumerated powers are so important when discussing the Constitution. They are truly the blue print for the extent and limits of Congressional power.

[Hosnon]

27. I respectfully disagree with myself as well.

I said up-thread that I think the Air Force is constitutional. Main point: just because concepts aren't explicitly in the Constitution doesn't mean they are unconstitutional.

[SlimJimmy]

28. Agreed (nt)

[MindPilot]

4. right to privacy, a woman's right to choose...

Never mind, they are already working on removing those.

[A wise Man]

5. Photos of Sarah Palin for a start

[Jim__]

6. Good point! Dems should use that in debates when GOPers say it's not in the Constitution.

They could trip them up pretty readily. After all, the constitution certainly doesn't give corporations the right to donate to political campaigns.

[WCGreen]

21. It does, to the logic of the corporate goons.....

Since a Corporation is an individual, in the eye of the states and the IRS, then they should be allowed to participate in the electoral market place. But then they should, as Murray Hill claims, then be able to run for and hold elected office.

[JoePhilly]

7. The only "arms" you can own are those that existed when the 2nd

Amendment was written.

And if you want others, you need a constitutional amendment to add them.

[breadandwine]

8. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY ISN'T IN THE CONSTITUTION.

But we can't get rid of THEM because


WHAT WOULD JEEEEEEESUS SAY??????????

[safeinOhio]

11. teh 10 Commandments

or the Holy Ghost.

[demwing]

32. Absolutely. I'm tired of the Ten

GEORGE CARLIN ON THE 10 COMMANDMENTS


Here is my problem with the ten commandments- why exactly are there 10?
You simply do not need ten. The list of ten commandments was artificially and deliberately inflated to get it up to ten. Here's what happened:

About 5,000 years ago a bunch of religious and political hustlers got together to try to figure out how to control people and keep them in line. They knew people were basically stupid and would believe anything they were told, so they announced that God had given them some commandments, up on a mountain, when no one was around.

Well let me ask you this- when they were making this shit up, why did they pick 10? Why not 9 or 11? I'll tell you why- because 10 sound official. Ten sounds important! Ten is the basis for the decimal system, it's a decade, it's a psychologically satisfying number (the top ten, the ten most wanted, the ten best dressed). So having ten commandments was really a marketing decision! It is clearly a bullshit list. It's a political document artificially inflated to sell better. I will now show you how you can reduce the number of commandments and come up with a list that's a little more workable and logical. I am going to use the Roman Catholic version because those were the ones I was taught as a little boy.

Let's start with the first three:

I AM THE LORD THY GOD THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME
THOU SHALT NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN
THOU SHALT KEEP HOLY THE SABBATH
Right off the bat the first three are pure bullshit. Sabbath day? Lord's name? strange gods? Spooky language! Designed to scare and control primitive people. In no way does superstitious nonsense like this apply to the lives of intelligent civilized humans in the 21st century. So now we're down to 7. Next:

HONOR THY FATHER AND MOTHER
Obedience, respect for authority. Just another name for controlling people. The truth is that obedience and respect shouldn't be automatic. They should be earned and based on the parent's performance. Some parents deserve respect, but most of them don't, period. You're down to six.

Now in the interest of logic, something religion is very uncomfortable with, we're going to jump around the list a little bit.

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL
THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS
Stealing and lying. Well actually, these two both prohibit the same kind of behavior- dishonesty. So you don't really need two you combine them and call the commandment "thou shalt not be dishonest". And suddenly you're down to 5.

And as long as we're combining I have two others that belong together:

THOU SHALT NOT COMMIT ADULTRY
THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR'S WIFE
Once again, these two prohibit the same type of behavior. In this case it is marital infidelity. The difference is- coveting takes place in the mind. But I don't think you should outlaw fantasizing about someone else's wife because what is a guy gonna think about when he's waxing his carrot? But, marital infidelity is a good idea so we're gonna keep this one and call it "thou shalt not be unfaithful". And suddenly we're down to four.

But when you think about it, honesty and infidelity are really part of the same overall value so, in truth, you could combine the two honesty commandments with the two fidelity commandments and give them simpler language, positive language instead of negative language and call the whole thing "thou shalt always be honest and faithful" and we're down to 3.

THOU SHALT NOT COVET THY NEIGHBOR"S GOODS
This one is just plain fuckin' stupid. Coveting your neighbor's goods is what keeps the economy going! Your neighbor gets a vibrator that plays "o come o ye faithful", and you want one too! Coveting creates jobs, so leave it alone. You throw out coveting and you're down to 2 now- the big honesty and fidelity commandment and the one we haven't talked about yet:

THOU SHALT NOT KILL
Murder. But when you think about it, religion has never really had a big problem with murder. More people have been killed in the name of god than for any other reason. All you have to do is look at Northern Ireland, Cashmire, the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the World Trade Center to see how seriously the religious folks take thou shalt not kill. The more devout they are, the more they see murder as being negotiable. It depends on who's doin the killin' and who's gettin' killed. So, with all of this in mind, I give you my revised list of the two commandments:

Thou shalt always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nookie.
&

Thou shalt try real hard not to kill anyone, unless of course they pray to a different invisible man than you.
Two is all you need; Moses could have carried them down the hill in his fuckin' pocket. I wouldn't mind those folks in Alabama posting them on the courthouse wall, as long as they provided one additional commandment:

Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself.

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

12. How about illegal wars which are not declared by Congress

which have nothing whatsoever to do with defending the United States of America.

Pretty sure that's not in the Constitution.

[jdlh8894]

14. Let's dig up LBJ and ask him!!! n/t

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

16. Well, I could give you his current phone number

but it's in area code 666, so I think you can figure out how that conversation will go.

Yeah, breaking one commandment 58,000 times for no reason will pretty much guarantee you a warmer climate :(

[madmax]

13. Please, please GOP offer up more like her. nt

[mstinamotorcity]

15. Blackwater,XE,WMD,

halliburton,ignorance,Breitbarht,Glen Beck, Rush Limpdick,Spannitty,Chuck Norris,Rand Paul. Well none of these things are in the Constitution.:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[deutsey]

17. Nothing specifically prohibiting cannibalism

bon appetit

[AnArmyVeteran]

20. Er, define 'cannibalism'. I think I might have violated the law last night.

[deutsey]

22. The Founders must have condoned cannibalism

because they make no specific prohibition against it in the Constitution.

:evilgrin:

[AnArmyVeteran]

19. The Air Force, abolition, women's suffrage, etc...

The right wingers want to go back to the good old days when blacks were 3/5ths of a human being, when women, blacks and native Americans couldn't vote, when only the white man could own property, when slavery was the law of the land and when there were no labor laws to prevent little children from working 18 hour days, no evironmental laws and no civil rights laws.

[Kweli4Real]

24. The Right to Privacy

which was developed in exactly the same manner as the separation of church and state ... through judicial fiat.

[ieoeja]

29. And yet the very man who wrote the 1st Amendment said it created a wall of separation.

But you, of course, know better than the author what it means.

You are not seriously one of those who believe we have no rights not specified in the Constitution, are you? If you are, might I suggest you read the 9th and 10th Amendments to the Constitution?

[Kweli4Real]

30. One of us is misundercomprehending here ...

I'll admit that I only briefly scanned the OP; but I thought it called upon us to cite to another long standing "right" that has been extended to We D. People that does not appear in the four corners of the Constitution.

I cited to the right to privacy. It is a "right" that appears nowhere in the document.

I am not saying that there is no separation between church and state; rather, I am saying that this concept was created in the same manner as the right to privacy ... through judicial interpretation.

Are we on the same page now ... Or, do I have to go back and actually read the entire OP?

[ieoeja]

31. No, you can just read this briefer explanation instead.

The OP was looking for RW hypocrisy on the subject. It was asking for examples of things they want from the gov't, but that are not in the Constitution.

So "right to privacy" and "separation of church and state" are not what the OP was looking for as the Right opposes those.

:)

[Kweli4Real]

36. Okay

[Octafish]

25. CIA

Secret Government.

[SoCalDem]

33. Glocks & Uzis are not in their either

:evilgrin:

[Gabi Hayes]

34. get rid of ALL the amendments, including the bill of rights, as it, STRICTLY speaking,

is not in the constitution

IOW, bring back slavery

no women, minorities vote

no income tax

senate elected the way it used to be

stuff like that

[demwing]

35. Get your GOVERNMENT hands outta my WHAT?

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_gfXgxtBKpR8/SpAdQbETfiI/AAAAAAAAAWQ/5uxgyYwb3AY/s400/Say+No+to+Government+in+Medicare.jpg

MEDICARE?

I sure don't remember seeing Medicare in the Constitution