Let them eat cake! Or at least let them move to Texas!

Perhaps this thread should be entitled, "Let them hate so long as they fear."?

Caligula liked it...

Still, the "Let them eat cake!" one does hold out the promise of important heads rolling.

I hear he's personally leading Amer... Amercian...Americanin (sod it) US troops into Syria and Iran when he's fixed Iraq. Is this a modern form of colonisation?

I wonder if "Burning" realises that the dollar sign was invented by slave owners? One slave being a particular weight of silver.

The crossbar on the dollar sign represented the pin on the manacles to distinguish the slave from real silver in the accounts.
Originally there were two crossbars but the slavers got lazy and dropped one crossbar. Perhaps inflation took its toll? That'd sure make him proud to be Amer ...Americia .... Amaniac (sod it) a US citozzen.

We were amused by GWB's comment about how "the de-watering" of NO was going well.

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:
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But he wasn't voted into office in the first place ... he lost the popular vote, and if not for the illegal and partisan intervention of the Supreme Court, would have been shown to have lost the electoral vote as well.

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Maybe, but enough US citizens voted for him to let it be claimed, even if it was finally snatched.
I am hoping that Bush's loss of popularity (even before Katrina) might be enough to cause his downfall before the end of this term of office, if people can get themselves together to start an effective campaign. Hell - even some Republicans are wanting his scalp! Not quite sure who would replace him though. Could the first female President be black and REPUBLICAN? Oh.. the irony.
Seriously though, a Black Woman President would be the perfect start for a new age for the better. Just think of the significance of that in the chequered history of the USA!
Like I said; the bigger the swing to the extreme, the bigger the backlash. What a proud day that will be. (Shame she's batting for the wrong side).

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quote:

Originally posted by Rasher:
Could the first female President be black and REPUBLICAN? Oh.. the irony. Seriously though, a Black Woman President would be the perfect start for a new age for the better.

Condoleezza Rice as President would not herald any new age of anything even remotely better ... just more of the same.

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quote:

Originally posted by Rasher:
(Shame she's batting for the wrong side).

Is she batting at all?

Yeah. I was thinking of the significance rather than the politics

If he won't go through shame perhaps he can be pushed?

Is there a charge of corporate manslaughter in the USA?

As CEO of usa.com "Burning" chose to reward those who funded his election expenses and reduced maintenance funds for the N.O. levies against his own expert advisers' reports.

The casualties of this deliberate decision (repeated over several years) are lying in the temporary morgue.....

Bush's presidency is a travesty, no doubt about that, but at least there's an upside, if you can call it that....he cannot be re-elected, since the US constitution restricts presidents to two terms, maximum.

Nice to see you back, Rasher, albeit briefly.

Cheers,

Jon

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quote:

Originally posted by JonR:
Bush's presidency is a travesty, no doubt about that, but at least there's an upside, if you can call it that....he cannot be re-elected, since the US constitution restricts presidents to two terms, maximum.

Don't look now, Jon, but here it comes:

H. J. RES. 24
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the 22nd amendment to the Constitution.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 17, 2005

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SABO, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

But wait ... there's more!

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a political ally of Arnold Schwarzenegger, introduced the Equal Right to Govern Amendment in July 2003, a few weeks before the actor declared his candidacy in the recall election in which Californians ousted Democrat Gray Davis as governor.

If Hatch's amendment is adopted, an immigrant who has been a naturalized citizen for 20 years could run for president or vice president.

Have a nice day!

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They need a %75 majority to change the Constitution though, don't they?

The beauty and strength of the American political machine is that it was written by Americans 200 years ago when they won independance. This is a thing to be very proud of and I certainly have a huge respect for it, and those Americans that build their own country on it. If that means it can be ammended along the way by people like Bush & Arnie for their own ends, then that has to be accepted as being fundamental to the original spirit of the constitution. It has to remain living, workable and relevant. It takes one hell of a lot to ammend though, and I seriously doubt that either attempt would be anything like successful - I certainly hope not anyway. But you can't embrace the constitution without respecting challenges for it's ammendment, whatever the circumstances and however awful and deluded the challengers. The American Constitution is not a museum piece.

Thanks Jon for your kind words - but I'll be off again now.
See ya.

quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:
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quote:

Originally posted by JonR:
Bush's presidency is a travesty, no doubt about that, but at least there's an upside, if you can call it that....he cannot be re-elected, since the US constitution restricts presidents to two terms, maximum.

Don't look now, Jon, but here it comes:

H. J. RES. 24
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to repeal the 22nd amendment to the Constitution.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

February 17, 2005

Mr. HOYER (for himself, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, Mr. SABO, and Mr. PALLONE) introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

WTF??

Having said that though, isn't it the case that consitutional amendments have to go all the way to the Supreme Court, and that the process takes several years? Mind you, with Bush putting allies in convenient places, I suppose anything is possible

Bye, Rasher, for now.

Cheers,

Jon

Nicely said Rasher (if you're reading this).
The idea of an American born president is obviously not original with the founding of the country but came along later as a projectionist maneuver.
The fear of a "foreigner" coming in as president and departing from American ideals has some intriguing aspects... Especially given the root canal / colonoscoping we give our candidates, at least these days. We do actually vote in our president... It is quite possible the first term of GWB was rigged, but the second one wasn't, he won according to our rules and processes.
Arne COULD make a decent run here, and that brings me simultaneous fear and shame. He appears to be in WAY over his head in CA (the 7th largest economy in the world!) and will likely implode politically with his womanizing, lack of management and administrative skills and other behaviors. Many people can't separate the man from the movie characters though.
David

Fred

quote:

But he wasn't voted into office in the first place ... he lost the popular vote, and if not for the illegal and partisan intervention of the Supreme Court, would have been shown to have lost the electoral vote as well.

Which President has won the popular vote?

JIm

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quote:

Originally posted by Jim Lawson:
Fred

quote:

But he wasn't voted into office in the first place ... he lost the popular vote, and if not for the illegal and partisan intervention of the Supreme Court, would have been shown to have lost the electoral vote as well.

Which President has won the popular vote?

JIm

Jim, I'm not sure if this is what you're asking, but all but four (of 43) US presidents have won the popular vote.

• Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but lost the election to John Quincy Adams (1824)
• Samuel J. Tilden won the popular vote but lost the election to Rutherford G. Hayes (1876)
• Grover Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the election to Benjamin Harrison (1888)
• Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the election to George W. Bush (2000).

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http://bobdylan.com/songs/blowin.html

Sadly as apt today as it was way back then.

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quote:

Originally posted by JonR:
isn't it the case that consitutional amendments have to go all the way to the Supreme Court, and that the process takes several years?

quote:

Originally posted by Deane F:
They need a %75 majority to change the Constitution though, don't they?

Amendments must have the approval of the legislatures or conventions of three-fourths of the existing states before becoming part of the Constitution.

Given both President Junior's and Schwarzenegger's currently very low approval ratings, it's not likely either of those amendments would be ratified. But the fact that they're even being proposed is very, very scary.

Fred

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Well, from what you say Fred it looks like any change would come too late for Dubya anyway - phew!

Cheers,

Jon

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quote:

Originally posted by JonR:
Well, from what you say Fred it looks like any change would come too late for Dubya anyway - phew!

Probably that's so.

But theoretically there's plenty of time to do it, and it would a very interesting test. While there are many more so called "red" states than "blue," it's not a given that every legislature of a red state would approve giving Bush more terms ... it would come down to counties, and the more populous counties have more representatives, and are also more likely to swing blue (Cook County in Illinois, for instance, largely consists of Chicago, which would go for more Bush).

Anyway, given that even some Republicans are now disgusted with Bush, it's probably just a hypothetical discussion.

Fred

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quote:

Originally posted by fred simon:
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[President Bush] engaged in small talk, reminiscing at one point about the days when he used to party in New Orleans, and mentioning that [wealthy Republican Senator from Mississippi] Trent Lott had lost one of his houses but that it would be replaced with "a fantastic house - and I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch."

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But, Fred, you left out the best part- while W was sayin' that he got all teary-eyed! Friggin' got choked up 'cause one of his posse lost his second (or third) house... For fucksakes...