Quote:
Ashcroft said the government would uphold the Constitution. "We have no desire whatever to, in any way, erode or undermine the constitutional liberties here," he said.
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Forgive me if I don't feel terribly reassured by guarantees by this Admininstration reassuring me that about their respect for the Constitution.
Apparently, VADM W. Poindexter is working away in some Pentagon office, formulating a plan to compile a database on all Americans. Now, for those of you who don't know, this man is NOT a convicted felon by the sort of technicality that generally makes conservatives rant and rave about the legal system. He and his cohort, Ollie North, deliberately ran a scam out of the White House to contravene the will of Congress.
I know, I know - more liberal sour grapes because most of the public yawned at Iran-Contra, right? Just another liberal pissed because the good guys won one, huh? Nothing could be further from the truth.
Leaving aside the whole arms sales to rouge nations discussion - and gawdamitey knows this administration sure doesn't want to talk about Pappy's role in that - and leaving aside the concept of giving arms to thugs attempting to overthrow an elected government we didn't like - there is a fundamental problem with the whole scenario. If you are an American, regardless of your feelings about getting the hostages back, regardless of your feelings about fighting Communism in Central America - IF YOU ARE AN AMERICAN you cannot find what those people did admirable, or respectable, or anything but criminal actions nearly to the level of treason.
Now, if you hold to some ideology that regards democratic institutions as an annoyance, I can understand. If you believe in a system where the executive can decide what it wants to do and do so unchallenged by the other branches of government, you are free to do so. If you are driven by some form of ideaology, or if you are willing to compromise the basic principles this nation is founded on, I can understand why you might admire these men.
If you are an American who believes in the system we live under, however, I kind of think you would find the actions of the Poindexters and the Norths of this world despicable. And if you're not upset that this jackoff is now working away in a Pentagon office, you really ought to be ashamed of yourself.