Clipmarks | graphictruth's 'constitution' clips

Former state science director sues over intelligent design e-mail

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:40:30 GMT

clipped by: tabsey

AUSTIN – A former state science curriculum director filed suit against the Texas Education Agency and Education Commissioner Robert Scott on Wednesday, alleging she was illegally fired for forwarding an e-mail about a lecture that was critical of the teaching of intelligent design in science classes.

Christina Comer, who lost her job at the TEA last year, said in a suit filed in federal court in Austin that she was terminated for contravening an unconstitutional policy at the agency that required employees to be neutral on the subject of creationism – the biblical interpretation of the origin of humans.

The policy was in force even though the federal courts have ruled that teaching creationism as science in public schools is illegal under U.S. Constitution’s provision preventing government establishment or endorsement of religious beliefs.

“The agency’s ‘neutrality’ policy has the purpose or effect of endorsing religion, and thus violates the Establishment Clause,” the lawsuit said.

Tags: are, emails, part, of, intelligent, design

Can we impeach him now?

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:37:49 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: Seriously. It's not whether we could, it's when he will be held accountable and how.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

NEW YORK - A newly disclosed secret memo authored by the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in March 2003 that asserts President Bush has unlimited power to order brutal interrogations of detainees also reveals a radical interpretation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The memo, declassified yesterday as the result of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, cites a still-secret DOJ memo from 2001 that found that the "Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations."

Relying on the earlier memo, the March 2003 memo argues that the president has authority as Commander-in-Chief to bypass not only the Fourth Amendment but the central due process guarantee of the Fifth Amendment as well.

"This memo makes a mockery of the Constitution and the rule of law," said Amrit Singh, a staff attorney with the ACLU.

Render Unto Ceaser

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:46:55 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: When people make their faith a reccomendation to the voters, it becomes important to review and consider their statements in light of the faith they claim and consider the implications that arise if we believe they are sincere - and also the implication that arise if we find their professed faith is in conflict with their ambitions.

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

I have a serious problem with the ultimate credibility of both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, which has nothing to do with their politics. It's with what both claim to inform and shape their politics, their faith.

But if we are to praise men of faith who do their best to honor the words of Christ as they understand them in the world, we must heed Matthew 6:24 :

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Which means, alas, that neither man should, in conscience, be running for political office, knowing full well that they cannot and must not serve two masters.

The only question is this: which one will they choose to betray?

Tags: optional. separate by commas., constitution, culture, ethics, mike huckabee, pro-life amendment, mitt romney

Who would Jesus torture

Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:06:50 GMT

clipped by: Geshizar
clipper's remarks: Welcome to the new Christianity. Or is it The new BS. Maybe those of you who would condone torture during the week and attend your temples and cathedrals on Sunday truly don't believe in your God. Why else would you make an argument for rather then against. Now it shouldn't bother me I,m a heathen, fortunately I still maintain a since of moral decency, you know, like what is written in some of those dumb ass documents like the CONSTITUTION and THE BILL OF RIGHTS. If all you so called people of faith would get together there would be more then enough voices to effect a change, right? After all yours is the moral outraged, just and family oriented party is it not? Just like to say Thank you for living up to my worst suspicions. The entire lot are self-righteous, blathering hypocrites.

Clip Source: www.progressivedailybeacon.com

The Republican Party is supposed to be home to a lot of Christians and that might be true. Judging by the view of most Republicans, however, the Party doesn't appear to contain very many Christ-like people. It is hard to imagine Jesus Christ waterboarding someone while sermonizing on turning the other cheek, or loving thy neighbor, or doing unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

And yet, a lot of Republicans, Christian Conservative Republicans, are vocal supporters of torture.

He isn't just any old Christian; Pat's a Christian Pastor ... that's like being Christian-squared. And Robertson supports Rudy Giuliani, who enthusiastically defends the use of torture. Both men are quick to rationalize their bizarre backing of torture by employing the "Terrorists torture so we should too," defense.

Tags: torture, hipocites, mindless turds

Huckabee Soft-headed on Crime

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 22:37:53 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: The more you look behind the smiling, nice guy, small town preacher facade, the more you realize you have met a plot device from a Steven King novel...

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

this is not about a governor carefully reviewing a case and finding grounds for reasonable doubt - in Huckabee's case, the process appears to be whimsical, insensitive and entirely inexplicable to the legal community.

When you talk to prosecutors around the state, many of them will tell you they're unhappy that Gov. Huckabee pardons criminals without letting law-enforcement officials or victims' families know why he's doing it, as he's required by law.
___ "He doesn't take giving clemency very seriously," complains Saline County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Herzfeld, who will push for new legislation next year to make the clemency process less secretive.

signally and contrary to the Arkansas state constitution, he refuses to explain his reasons for granting clemency.

Tags: mike huckabee, e, pardon, politics, rapist, rape, republican leadership, wayne dumond

You don't have to be a Libertarian to say things like this...

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:07:29 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: ...but if you say them frequently and loudly, you probably are.

But aside from probably being a Libertarian, you would also be correct.

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

The Constitution does not "grant" the right to bear arms or any other right, rather, it recognizes rights that exist whether authorities like it or not and restricts the extent to which Government can request a delegation of those rights in return for better results than individuals could manage for themselves.

Tags: constitution, government, politics, liberty, libertarian, 2nd amendment

Brownshirt Media

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 16:52:49 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: extract from a long post that should have been two shorter posts...

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

Faux New's John Gibson, who asserts White House deserves medal for outing Plame, in essence arguing that Plaime's "higher duty" was to her ~~Fuhrer~~ ~~Leader~~ President, and NOT to the Constitution. Recall that she took an oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic. As an intelligence professional, concerned with the very vital issue of nuclear proliferation, that very explicitly does NOT exclude would-be "Dear Leaders" of any nationality - especially not our own.

We tolerated the Iraqi Information Minister because everyone knew perfectly well what would happen to him if he did not dispense his twaddle with all the sincerity he could muster. One could even admire his ability to play the game so well, knowing that everyone knew it was a game.

But one does wonder why Gibson is playing the same game with no greater hope of success.

Tags: brownshirts, media, propaganda, bush administration

Bush Antichrist?

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:41:48 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: Nah. He's all too human, merely a criminal and a bully. But that's evil enough, don't you think?

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

I don't happen to believe in a literal Antichrist - but in the sense that he seems compelled to ask "What Would Jesus Do" so that he can do the complete opposite, while piously citing his Christian Values as the justification for outraging all of them, I cannot help but think that he's as close to a literal Antichrist as I ever wish to see.

Tags: abuse, bush administration, constitution, ethics, republican leadership, impeachment

The friend of my enemy is my... friend?

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 20:06:55 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: But the overwhelming majority of the outrage reveals a depth of hatred, bigotry and ignorance about law, constitution, spelling, grammar, logical construction, evidence, rational argument, ethics, reason and most especially the Bible that I suspect that the supporters for his former stance were as persuasive to him as those he'd been arguing against.

Final two 'graphs:

But the overwhelming majority of the outrage reveals a depth of hatred, bigotry and ignorance about law, constitution, spelling, grammar, logical construction, evidence, rational argument, ethics, reason and most especially the Bible that I suspect that the supporters for his former stance were as persuasive to him as those he'd been arguing against.

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

There's a famous unattributed quotation from WWII, alleged to be uttered by a Peer of the Realm: "This Hitler fellow makes it impossible for a gentleman to be an Anti-Semite."

That quotation leaped to mind as I read the reactions of socially-conservative voters to the news of San Diego's Mayor

Jerry Sanders' tearful reversal of his stance on Gay Marriage.

Tags: ethics, government, bizarre, gay marriage, san diego

The government that governs most, governs worst.

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 11:45:41 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: Of course, we don't have a government; we have a giant Ponzi scheme.

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

I'm a Libertarian and my faith in any particular socio-economic system is tied directly to my own Libertarian litmus test. "What's in it for me?"

This undoubtedly sounds selfish and anti-social, but both ethically and economically, if I do not first consider my own interests, any concern I have about the interests of others will be purely theoretical. I will have no money and no power and therefore my concerns about others will be utterly irrelevant.

whatever you do, people will act according to their own perceived self-interest, whether or not you think they should from ANY given social, moral, economic or philosophical viewpoint.

This is why "The government that governs least, governs best." That government generally avoids setting up positive feedback loops that destroy the whole system in the name of maintaining it.

Tags: activism, constitution, ethics, government, republican leadership

Plan A WAS Quagmire!

Sat, 25 Aug 2007 16:13:34 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: It's vitally important for concerned citizens to band together and take a stand against an engineered dictatorship here in the United States.

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

It is very difficult to impose a dictatorship on a wealthy, secure nation - which is what we were when President Clinton handed off the Presidency to the Shrub. Now we are a debtor nation, both personally and nationally, with such levels of debts that many of us are effectively slaves to giant corporations that are no longer headquartered in the US, making them far less accountable to US law.

What we are seeing is the engineered collapse of the US economy - and far more critically, it's position of moral and social influence over the world's population.

Tags: bush administration, congress, constitution, government, impeach the president

A shot across the bow of the Ship of State.

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:54:46 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: Probably the best argument for impeaching Bush and Cheney is to forestall that which they might do, rather than convicting them for what they have already done.

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

If the constitutional process of impeachment is under way when President Bush orders our military to begin a war against Iran, there is a good chance that, rather than salute like automatons and start World War III, our senior military would find a way to prevent more carnage until such time as the representatives of the people in the House have spoken. This administration's capacity for mischief would not end until conviction in the Senate. But initiating the impeachment process appears to be the only way to launch a shot across the bow of this particular ship of state. For it is captained by a president with a psychological makeup likely to lead to new misadventures likely to end in a ship wreck unless the Constitution is brought alongside and a new pilot boarded.

Tags: activism, bush administration, congress, constitution, impeach the president, impeach

If you can't do anything else, wear a t-shirt.

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:11:05 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: There's nothing like a t-shirt and a trip to the mall to get the word out.

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

This is actually sparked by something Randi Rhodes said some months back,

She said, at the very least, you can wear a t-shirt! If you are a social sort of person, if you like shopping, if you go to the mall or the movies, put on a shirt that takes a stand and wear it. Yes, it takes some guts. You might endure some rude stares, maybe even rude questions about your patriotism. But that's the whole idea. Have some answers ready to go. Remember, if you are wearing your message to a mall during peak hours, it could be seen by hundreds, even thousands of people. That, folks, is something. It's something very important, because it said you, personally find this message important enough to be seen in public.

When the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny." -Thomas Jefferson

Tags: t-shirts, activism, first amendment, cultural warfare, constitution, civil liberties, patriotism, politics, quotations, thomas jefferson

Ron Paul wins ABC poll with None of the Above as a distant second.

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:52:26 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth
clipper's remarks: This seems like a genuine phenomonon!

Clip Source: a.abcnews.com

The 10 Republican candidates running for president jousted over the issues and with each other Tuesday night at the second debate of the primary season.

Tags: ron paul, activism, constitution, ethics, iraq war, patriotism, politics

Why Al Gore is wrong about impeachment.

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:31:18 GMT

clipped by: graphictruth

Clip Source: www.graphictruth.com

I think at the very least, Bush should have to go to the Senate to defend himself against impeachment. While Al Gore's argument against impeachment is persuasive IF you are looking at this as the malfeasance of one man, it is in fact about the subversion of our Republic by a coterie of conspirators over a period of 50 years. Bush is their sock-puppet, no more, but someone has to be the fall guy, to be held accountable for the desecration of the Constitution. If there "is no consensus" about Bush, per se, I think that as testomony illuminates under the slimy rocks that composes his power base, that a consensus will emerge.

Tags: al gore, impeachment, republic, civil liberties, constitution, activism, bush administration, patriotism, politics