"The American Constitution is, so far as I can see, the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man."
-- W. E. Gladstone 4 Term Prime Minister of Britain
We Americans tell ourselves many stories about our past and our purpose. Some of these stories are noble and some are shameful. Some are absolutely true, others must be seen in a historical context and still others are pure fiction. The best and most true story of our nation is the Constitution and the mechanisms for amending and interpreting it. At the core of all of the troubling events of the Bush administration is what the historian Gary Wills calls the "executive usurptions" of the Constitution. We need a president who understands and will defend the Constitution so that we can recover from the current administration's serious abuses .
In a commentary for The New York Review of Books, Wills listed the many ways GW Bush has trashed our nation's most important foundational element. He wrote that Bush asserted the executive powers to wage undeclared wars, create military courts, authorize extraordinary renditions, use secret prisons, employ severe coercive interrogation, hold trials with undisclosed evidence, conduct domestic surveillance, and "override congressional oversight in every aspect of government from energy policy to health services."
Wills posits that the Supreme Court will rule on the executive use of these powers. Currently we have four justices who are enthusiastic supporters of the "unitary executive". The next President will probably appoint at least two new justices. It is important that the new justices believe in what Cass Sunstein describes as "a strongly unitary executive branch while also believing that the President cannot make war, or torture people, or engage in foreign surveillance without congressional authorization." It will fall to the Supreme Court to "prevent the "the most thorough reworking and distortion of the Constitution in all our history."
Defense of the Constitution against "sweeping presidential power" is a very important reason to vote for Barack Obama.
Friday, October 31, 2008
#27- O'Reilly Says It Best
That's Tim O'Reilly, no the screaming, finger jabbing, self important Bill.
Tim O'Reilly is known for coining the term Web 2.0. He is a writer and leader in the open source movement. You can read his thoughtful and detailed endorsement of Obama here:
27. a Climate Change
I was always planning on writing about climate change but O'Reilly says it best so I will simply quote him without my own pontificating:
"the most urgent case for the election of Barack Obama was made by John McCain. Despite being an early and thoughtful advocate on the threat of global warming, he lost all credibility with his selection of Governor Palin as his running mate. We can not afford to take the risk of a Vice-President (especially for a candidate as old as McCain) who is scornful of science, denies human involvement in creating climate change, and is completely unprepared to tackle this most urgent of problems. If scientists are right, we have to act now. Every year counts. There is no "do over" on this issue."
The preponderance of scientists agree that climate change is a problem. Even the Bush administration has acknowledged the need to address warming.
O'Reilly also writes, "Climate change and energy policy can no longer be dictated by "politically possible" but must be dictated by "technically necessary." NASA's James Hansen has recently argued that an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 350 ppm looks to be the safe bet climate wise for humanity. We are already at more than 380 ppm!" You can read a pdf of Hanson's paper embedded within O'Reilly's endorsement.
27. b. Net Neutrality
I really hadn't thought about the candidates position on this issue until I read O'Reilly.
Net neutrality is a principle that endorses the free and open internet. It is not about free connections rather it is concerned with preventing ISPs from "blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination." (definition from SaveTheInternet.com) If you appreciate access to any Web site, whenever you wish- at the fastest speed- whether it's Amazon or your sister's family reunion site, if you like using any service- from online video to podcasts and sending instant messages- without paying extra fees to the telephone or cable company that provides you with Internet service then you support New Neutrality. .
Here is what O'Reilly says,
"I love the internet. It's been one of the most fertile grounds for technological innovation, wealth creation, and social change that our country has seen in my lifetime. I believe passionately in the "small pieces loosely joined" model that allows anyone to invent a compelling new service, find other people to use it, and grow a business without having to ask anyone's permission.
It's essential that we preserve the architecture of the internet.
Under the guise of free market experimentation, big companies with monopoly positions in local markets are asking us to change the fundamental rules that have served the internet so well. They want to be able to charge differential fees for different types of data traffic.
This will, quite simply, be the end of the internet as we know it, turning it into a network that works much more like the cellphone network, slow to innovate, hostile to its users, extracting profits through artificial barriers rather than true value creation.Barack Obama supports net neutrality"
I encourage you to read O'Reilly's endorsement.
Tim O'Reilly is known for coining the term Web 2.0. He is a writer and leader in the open source movement. You can read his thoughtful and detailed endorsement of Obama here:
27. a Climate Change
I was always planning on writing about climate change but O'Reilly says it best so I will simply quote him without my own pontificating:
"the most urgent case for the election of Barack Obama was made by John McCain. Despite being an early and thoughtful advocate on the threat of global warming, he lost all credibility with his selection of Governor Palin as his running mate. We can not afford to take the risk of a Vice-President (especially for a candidate as old as McCain) who is scornful of science, denies human involvement in creating climate change, and is completely unprepared to tackle this most urgent of problems. If scientists are right, we have to act now. Every year counts. There is no "do over" on this issue."
The preponderance of scientists agree that climate change is a problem. Even the Bush administration has acknowledged the need to address warming.
O'Reilly also writes, "Climate change and energy policy can no longer be dictated by "politically possible" but must be dictated by "technically necessary." NASA's James Hansen has recently argued that an atmospheric CO2 concentration of 350 ppm looks to be the safe bet climate wise for humanity. We are already at more than 380 ppm!" You can read a pdf of Hanson's paper embedded within O'Reilly's endorsement.
27. b. Net Neutrality
I really hadn't thought about the candidates position on this issue until I read O'Reilly.
Net neutrality is a principle that endorses the free and open internet. It is not about free connections rather it is concerned with preventing ISPs from "blocking, speeding up or slowing down Web content based on its source, ownership or destination." (definition from SaveTheInternet.com) If you appreciate access to any Web site, whenever you wish- at the fastest speed- whether it's Amazon or your sister's family reunion site, if you like using any service- from online video to podcasts and sending instant messages- without paying extra fees to the telephone or cable company that provides you with Internet service then you support New Neutrality. .
Here is what O'Reilly says,
"I love the internet. It's been one of the most fertile grounds for technological innovation, wealth creation, and social change that our country has seen in my lifetime. I believe passionately in the "small pieces loosely joined" model that allows anyone to invent a compelling new service, find other people to use it, and grow a business without having to ask anyone's permission.
It's essential that we preserve the architecture of the internet.
Under the guise of free market experimentation, big companies with monopoly positions in local markets are asking us to change the fundamental rules that have served the internet so well. They want to be able to charge differential fees for different types of data traffic.
This will, quite simply, be the end of the internet as we know it, turning it into a network that works much more like the cellphone network, slow to innovate, hostile to its users, extracting profits through artificial barriers rather than true value creation.Barack Obama supports net neutrality"
I encourage you to read O'Reilly's endorsement.
Corrections
I am a lousy typist which means I should be a great proof reader. I am not. Please forgive my typos.
That said I made an error in my Reason #26. I stated that Milton Friedman's son, David, had endorsed Obama. He hasn't although he believes Obama is better than McCain.
As I said in reason #26 many conservatives have endorsed Obama. There is even a name for them- Obamacons. Here are two more impressive ones.
Francis Fukuyama is a conservative philosopher and economist. He is currently a professor at Johns Hopkins. He was an advisor to Ronald Reagan, specifically was part of the brain trust that formulated the Reagan doctrine. During the past eight years he has become disillusioned with the Bush administration. In his endorsement of Obama, which you can read in The American Conservative, here:
Fukuyama said, "McCain’s appeal was always that he could think for himself, but as the campaign has progressed, he has seemed simply erratic and hotheaded. His choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate was highly irresponsible; we have suffered under the current president who entered office without much knowledge of the world and was easily captured by the wrong advisers. McCain’s lurching from Reaganite free- marketer to populist tribune makes one wonder whether he has any underlying principles at all. "
Great description of McCain!
Here is a second big name conservative who is endorsing Obama. Lawrence Eagleburger, a former Republican Secretary of State. At one time he was one of John McCain's strong supporters but he has withdrawn his endorsement, citing Palin as the major reason. You can read about it here:
Uhh--Sarah-that one less former Secretary of State who supports you.
That said I made an error in my Reason #26. I stated that Milton Friedman's son, David, had endorsed Obama. He hasn't although he believes Obama is better than McCain.
As I said in reason #26 many conservatives have endorsed Obama. There is even a name for them- Obamacons. Here are two more impressive ones.
Francis Fukuyama is a conservative philosopher and economist. He is currently a professor at Johns Hopkins. He was an advisor to Ronald Reagan, specifically was part of the brain trust that formulated the Reagan doctrine. During the past eight years he has become disillusioned with the Bush administration. In his endorsement of Obama, which you can read in The American Conservative, here:
Fukuyama said, "McCain’s appeal was always that he could think for himself, but as the campaign has progressed, he has seemed simply erratic and hotheaded. His choice of Sarah Palin as a running mate was highly irresponsible; we have suffered under the current president who entered office without much knowledge of the world and was easily captured by the wrong advisers. McCain’s lurching from Reaganite free- marketer to populist tribune makes one wonder whether he has any underlying principles at all. "
Great description of McCain!
Here is a second big name conservative who is endorsing Obama. Lawrence Eagleburger, a former Republican Secretary of State. At one time he was one of John McCain's strong supporters but he has withdrawn his endorsement, citing Palin as the major reason. You can read about it here:
Uhh--Sarah-that one less former Secretary of State who supports you.
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