Friday, August 30, 2013

Congress is not authorized to start a war with Syria, either

congressTAMPA, August 30, 2013 – Today, the British Parliament is debating the U.K.’s response to an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government against rebels and civilians.

This prompted Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas to tweet a picture juxtaposing the ongoing debate in Parliament with the empty U.S. Congress building.

Cruz and others have expressed the opinion that President Obama cannot take military action against Syria without consulting Congress first.

They’re wrong. Congress doesn’t have the power to start a war with Syria, either, under present circumstances.

Read the rest of the article at Communities@ Washington Times...

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Syria: The U.S. has learned nothing from Iraq and Afghanistan

TAMPA, August 28, 2013 —  “And now we’re back where we started. Here we go round again. Day after day I get up and I say I better do it again.”
Apparently, Ray Davies’ lyric has become the U.S. government’s foreign policy. Unfortunately, they’ve added a line to the chorus that Davies left out: Make sure you learn absolutely nothing from the day before.

Read the rest at Communities@ Washington Times...

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Amash amendment only enforced Patriot Act, not Fourth Amendment

Last week, Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., introduced an amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill. It required the NSA and other government agencies merely to obey the Patriot Act, not the Fourth Amendment. That the data to be collected are "relevant to an ongoing national security investigation" doesn’t mean that there is probable cause that the person whose records are collected has committed a crime.

The NSA and its defenders say that even the Patriot Act doesn't give them enough power. Read my op-ed about it below.