George Will’s latest column is a pitch perfect observation on how President Obama’s State of the Union address betrays a longing for an “unfettered executive” branch by his administration and among his supporters. Will’s column is not without false notes. He implies by omission that the desire for an unfettered executive branch is unique to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Not so.

Rick Ungar digs up an argument ender for the idea that the Founders would never be in favor of mandated health care. They were…because they passed a VERY similar law in the 6th Congress. Rick…take it away… In July of 1798, Congress passed – and President John Adams signed – “An Act for the Relief [...]

Peter Beinart makes a good point about our massive defense budget and undeclared wars… In modern times, conservative presidents like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush have tried to reconcile their efforts to rein in federal power with their support for a large military and an interventionist foreign policy. But both times, the latter has [...]

This is why I can never get on board with judges like Scalia. Is he a smart guy? Of course. But the following? Not so much… From Callawyer comes this Q&A: In 1868, when the 39th Congress was debating and ultimately proposing the 14th Amendment, I don’t think anybody would have thought that equal protection [...]

In America, in matters of religious tolerance, there should be no close calls, no qualification of primary principles, and the first amendment should not be location dependent. I hold no quarter with the distinction of “rights” vs. right which strikes me as a Clintonian parsing for those looking to rationalize making the Cordoba Project move the mosque/cultural center.

This week the ACLU released a disturbing report documenting the permanent enshrinement of the Bush/Cheney definition of the Unitary Executive by the Obama administration. With the tacit acceptance of the Democratic Congress, the balance of power between executive and other branches continues to shift heavily to the executive. While distressing, the report is unsurprising as it was clear in the first few weeks of the new administration that Obama’s campaign rhetoric of rolling back the Bush/Cheney power grab was just that – empty campaign rhetoric.

I’ve found the base camp of crazy. Have a look: At the time that I am writing this, at least 20 – 30% of Americans understand thus far, know the true nature of President Obama, and the steps he is now taking to destroy freedom.  [...]  A real Second American Revolution is now on the [...]

Since Nick raised the issue of the Constitutionality of Congresses efforts to recoup the bonuses paid to AIG executives, I figured it would be worthwhile to share this post I wrote yesterday on my personal blog: The hyperbolic rage against the AIG bonuses has finally transformed itself into legislation: While American International Group Inc.’s chief [...]

I like the idea in theory, but I always thought that Governors replaced Senators because it’s too costly to have special elections and somebody needs to serve in the interim. Still, this seems like the type of amendment that could easily garner bi-partisan support. From Political Wire: The controversies surrounding some of the recent gubernatorial [...]

Thomas Geoghegan, a well-known liberal lawyer who is running for Congress in Illinois, had an op-ed piece in the The New York Times yesterday that raised a question I must admit I hadn’t known even was a question: are appointments by governors to fill Senate vacancies unconstitutional? The 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, adopted in [...]

It hasn’t reached the mainstream media yet, but in the days since Hillary Clinton’s nomination to be Barack Obama’s Secretary of State became official, there’s been some discussion of a little-known provision in the Constitution that could bar Hillary Clinton from serving at Foggy Bottom: [S]pecifically, Article One, Section Six, also known as the emoluments [...]

Vladimir Putin continues to consolidate power… From TNR: If any proof were needed that the Russian political system operates in its own time-space continuum, it came this morning, when the parliament decided to deal with the country’s economic meltdown by amending its constitution. The Duma fixed the 1993 text by decoupling presidential and parliamentary elections [...]

Jon Meacham and Ashton Kutcher discuss Prop 8… I agree with both of them, but Ashton more so. The idea that people voted on somebody else’s rights and relationships is crazy. In the end, I wish the government would get out of the business of marriage and set up a separate civil union system so [...]

Philadelphia is shaping up to be a key city in a key battleground state in this election, but machine problems and long lines may plague the polling stations and voter disenfranchisement will be a serious risk. Unfortunately for voters, the people charged with running a smooth election in Philly seem surprisingly unconcerned. Philly’s veritable election czar, Marge Tartaglione (D), in particular, shocked ANP with her comments at a recent hearing. See more videos at http://americannewsproject.com

I’m sorry folks, but the following argument is RIDICULOUS and I can’t believe it’s coming out of the mouth of somebody so close to the presidency…much less the Governor of one of our states. I mean…WTF? Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama’s associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. [...]

She keeps on stumbling… Doug breaks it down… Palin’s statement is particularly interesting mostly because it ends up becoming a fundamental misreading of what Jefferson meant when he said that the First Amendment had erected a “wall of separation” between the political and clerical worlds — namely his assertion, widely accepted during the Founding Era, [...]

until such time that additional protections for the governed can be built into the Constitution, we the governed can address this Constitutional defect on our own – by never voting one party into control of the Presidency, Senate, and House or Representatives. By voting for divided government.

How are you feeling this morning? I’m not feeling great. I am a little unhappy about the news. You might not have noticed, as this was only the third most important story yesterday. Based on television news coverage, the most important political story yesterday was Rev. Jesse Jackson caught making crude remarks about Obama on [...]

Keith Olbermann reverses himself (sort of) and expresses some mild criticism of Obama’s position on FISA (sort of) in a “Special Comment“