Now is the time for Hilary Clinton to take a bold position that in one brilliant, courageous stroke shows the nation that she is more willing to pursue true reforms of the two-party plutocratic political system than Obama is.

Thomas Jefferson and Al Gore. Both spokesmen for truth, both statesmen of exemplary principle. But are we truly heeding their words?

My hope that we have not labored in vain, and that our experiment will still prove that men can be governed by reason." --Thomas Jefferson to George Mason, 1791. ME 8:124

"I have so much confidence in the good sense of man, and his qualifications for self-government, that I am never afraid of the issue where reason is left free to exert her force." --Thomas Jefferson to Comte Diodati, 1789. Papers 15:326

I confess.  I was unhappy when they said, "impeachment is off the table," but I dismissed it as a tactical dispute.  At least we knew there were "no more blank checks" and Congress would starve the beast by exercising the power of the purse.  When they capitulated, I was vexed.

When the AG told Congress he didn't recall any Constitutional guarantee of habeas corpus, I was stunned.   I didn't realize Art. I, Sec. 9 of the Constitution was a figment of my imagination.  At least that explains why no one uses it anymore.  

This week really surprised me, though.  I hear Congress just granted more unchecked powers to Gonzales.  I can't understand how that happened.  It's like no one recalls his testimony.  It was awhile before I figured out the problem: we haven't been supportive enough.

Instead of calling them Vichy Democrats who cower in front of glass-jawed bullies, we should be supporting them.  We've done it before.  We can do it again.  In 2006 we gave them a mandate.  You and I know the majority of America was behind them.  The problem was they didn't feel it.  That's our fault.  We need to show them we're behind them.

Working together, we can solve this ...

On the Friday before July 4 Republican Senator Arlen Specter showed his respect for the U.S. Constitution and his anger about President Bush's repeated pissing on it by introducing the Presidential Signing Statements Act of 2007.  What happens to this crucial bill will test both congressional integrity and courage.

I once stated that Earth In The Balance was Al Gore's soul on paper. This book is then his heart, and it is well worth the read.

The gutters are clogged with the dead
The ones who couldn't join in
The others refusing to sing
The ones who are losing their voice
The ones who've forgotten the tune.
Excerpt "God Bless America," Harold Pinter, January 2003

Preceeding generations had every reason to believe those following them would step into the breach and continue the vigil over this nation's Constitutional freedoms and, if necessary, fight to preserve them. They believed, like George Washington warned -- "Government is a "force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." And they remembered, from generation to generation. Unfortunately, those following our generation will have no such luxury.

We blew it.

As Deaking stated "In this Constitution, although much is written much remains unwritten", then surely the need for an OFFICE OF THE GUARDIAN, a constitutional council, that advises the Government, the People, the parliament and the Courts is wll overdue to be created, as politicians of all political colour and judges alike simply after more then 100 years of federation still do not know and neither so comprehend what is constitutionally appropriate in certain constitutional issues.

The topic below was originally posted in my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday this week had me thinking about other pioneers with grace, wisdom and decency. One figure worth remembering is Barbara Jordan. It happens January 17th was the 11th anniversary of her death at the age of 59. Jordan was a rare figure who combined gravitas with humility. She broke down barriers to walk the corridors of power but never forgot where she came from.

Educated in the public schools of Houston, Jordan graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952. Upon earning her B.A. in political science and history from Texas Southern University in 1956 she graduated from Boston University Law School in 1959. Think about that for moment - a black woman from Texas earned a law degree in 1959.

You may not want to know this.  Americans have been successfully brainwashed to fear exactly what their revered Constitution gives them the right to have.  Those smart Framers of the Constitution decided that we needed exactly what the establishment, pro-status quo elitists who run our plutocracy do NOT want us to have.  There is even a well funded semi-secret group organized to prevent what we the people have a right to.  

Has the brainwashing worked?  You bet it has.  In the absence of public furor, for over 200 years Congress has not done what Article V of the Constitution says it "shall" do.  Congress has never issued a call for an Article V convention of state delegates to consider constitutional amendments, in response to two-thirds of state legislatures asking for one.  That numeric requirement - the only specified requirement in Article V - has been satisfied, with 50 states submitting over 500 requests.  Such a convention operating under authority of the Constitution would be a fourth, impermanent branch of the federal system, not beholding to the three permanent branches.  Such independence has been cartooned into a frightening monster.

In Al Gore's magnificent treatise on government and the excesses of presidential power that he delivered a year ago, he used the phrase, "the consent of the governed." He called those of us who are the governed to seek within us the same spirit that steered our forefathers through the tossed and stormy seas of great change to birth a nation to now guide us to a new "golden age." His words were daring, bold, brave, visionary, and at the same time reminiscent of that very spirit that first saw us fighting an empire and changing the course of history. They were words that made me proud for the first time in a long time to be an American.

To: Presidential Candidate John Edwards

Subject: Winning the presidency by defending OUR Constitution

I am intrigued by your clear populist and progressive orientation, particularly your focus on addressing economic inequality that is harming working- and middle-class Americans.  There is another issue that is ideal for you to champion.  I beg you to open you heart and mind to something that likely has escaped your attention.  In a nutshell: Congress has steadfastly ignored a clear provision in Article V of our Constitution that empowers the states to have Congress call for a convention of state delegates to consider proposals for constitutional amendments.

No matter how awful you think our government and political system have become, odds are you do not know about this travesty of justice, an incredible failure to honor our fabled Constitution.  This failure has removed the sovereignty of we the people, and made Congress much more powerful than it should be.  Let me acknowledge that even though I have been pegged as "Democracy's Mr. Fix It," until recently I too was ignorant about this blatant disregard for a key part of our Constitution.

Our Founders were acutely aware of the need to create a mechanism for we the people to, when necessary, circumvent the political power of the federal government.  They built in a critically important form of direct democracy that, however, our elected MISrepresentatives have refused to implement.  Here it is: Article V of our Constitution specifies two distinct routes to amending our Constitution: "The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress..."

It's typical to criticize the Congress which just ended as a "do nothing" congress, one that spent more time on internal feuds than on getting things done.  But nothing could be further from the truth.  Actually, this was an extremely accomplished Congress, and one area where this Congress achieved almost everything it set out to do, comes in the nips and tucks applied to the Bill of Rights.

Like the Geneva Convention, the Bill of Rights was previously full of vague, difficult to interpret terminology.  How can any government agent be expected to apply terms like "secure in their persons" or "but upon probable cause?"  Such ambiguity can only lead to problems that stand in the way of the State taking proper action against all who oppose order.

This Congress has worked in hand in iron hand with the Executive branch, cutting red tape that kept the nation from a secure, orderly future.

As there have lately been so many changes to the basic functioning of the United States -- a shift of powers here, a whittling away of rights there, it seems a good time to issue a revised version of the basic operating document.  This is the real Republican Contract with America.

We the Republicans of the United States, in Order to prevent any challenge to our continued Supremacy, free ourselves from the Confines of Justice, placate the Tranquil masses, degrade the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of War Profiteering for ourselves and our Friends, do ordain and establish Constitution 2.0 for the United States of America.

While the media was focused on the story of Goldstein's, er... Zarqawi's latest death, there was another story that got very little play.  This was from the most important "central front" of this global war -- the home front.  I'm talking about a recent case where secret evidence was used to charge people with  crimes the jury didn't think they committed, yet they were still convicted and sentenced to terms the judge felt were unjustified.

As someone on Dkos so eloquently put it:

"Going after people based upon 'what they are thinking'
should set off alarm bells in any thinking person's head."

You read that right.  The department of pre-crime is handing out warrants to the thought police, and they're forcing courts to hand out life sentences.