Constant's pations

If it's more than 30 minutes old, it's not news. It's a blog.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Public Standards For Congress

The problem with the Chamber rules is they depend on the Chamber to enforce them.

What happens when the Congress suppresses information about their illegal conduct, and refuses to take action?

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We've seen what happens when Congress is complicit with war crimes: It suppresses information. Fortunately, there are prosecutors working in other nations to bring these Members of Congress to justice.

The issue going forward: How can we create a system of standards that We the People use to evaluate leadership and increase public oversight of Congress?

Congress does not have the power to put itself above the law; rather, we can make new rules which assert the existing powers we have--The right to get information, and punish those who fail to cooperate with the Rule of Law.

Something besides self-management of Article 1 Section 5 is needed.

We need an entity that moves and shakes up Congress. This Congress has failed as an entity to timely self-regulate or engage in self-oversight, much less review the illegal activity in the Executive Branch.

We need a mechanism to mandate outside reviews when Congress fails to act. Congress has the duty to enforce the law and preserve the Constitution. When it defies the Supreme Law, it cannot assert supremacy when it is not supreme. Rather, the State Attorney Generals should be encouraged to openly defy the DoJ Staff, and challenge their illegal war crimes in District Courts.

Illegal DoJ Staff memoranda has violated State laws. State officials and contractors have illegally assented to illegal orders, contracts, and other unlawful things which violate Geneva. Congress and the DOJ Staff have no power to enforce these illegal contracts. The States should take the Congressional investigation of Foley as the needed reminder that the States have some reviews to do as well.

States need to review the range of contracts which support illegal US government activity and war crimes. Where the US government refuses to timely cooperate with that investigation, the States should use this evidence as the basis to bring charges against Federal officials.

When the self-policing function in Congress fails, there needs to be a means by which We the People have a ready means to review matters and timely bring this illegal activity to a resolution.

We need some better tools to check the Federal government. The problems with Iraq were known well before the invasion. Once illegal combat operations started, the states should have timely moved to end the illegal support for the unlawful war crimes.

___ Where are the governor's letters to end national guard support for illegal combat operations in Iraq?

___ Where are the State Attorney General memoranda and legal papers bringing suit aging state entities for supporting illegal war crimes?

We need to have a faster mechanism that will conduct rigorous fact finding when Congress fails to act and the DoJ Staff counsel does nothing to prosecute Members of Congress for their complicity with war crimes.

The States of Maine, Missouri, Vermont, and New Jersey have reviewed the illegal NSA activity. The states should share ideas and a common strategy when the Federal Government fails to enforce the Geneva Conventions, protect the Constitution, or timely investigate war crimes.