WHERE HAVE I BEEN?
My husband emailed me an article on American Prowler, and
since I have a million things to do at work and love to
procrastinate, I got completely distracted and have been on your
site for the last hour (there goes my lunch time…).
I just wanted to write to thank you for what you do. Thank God
(literally) that there are smart people writing smart articles
about what’s really going on in and around our world. I appreciate
the wit and detail, the humor and well-versed exposes. Living in
Los Angeles, it can get pretty depressing trying to find “like
minded” individuals who see through the smoke and mirrors.
Anyway, just a quick note. Sincere thanks for the fabulous
website. And — we’ll read on…
— Deirdre Dickerson
NICE JOB
Re: Lawrence Henry’s America
on the Eve of War:
Dear Mr. Henry: Just wanted to write and thank you for your
recent article about our country and the nice people who live here.
It brought tears to my eyes for I too think we are heading for war
real soon. I love this country and can’t for the life of me
understand why we are so hated except for maybe jealousy. How sad.
Anyway, thanks for saying the things that I have been thinking. I
enjoy your column. May the Lord help this great nation and may we
all turn to him for guidance. Thanks for listening.
— Myrna Petersen
Cedar City, Utah
Lawrence Henry in his entry “America on the Eve of War” claims that
decimate was a method of controlling subjugated populations. In
fact, it was used to punish the cowardice of a Legion in battle.
The Legion was lined up and every tenth man was killed as they went
down the line.
— Joseph R. L. Simkins
Richardson, Texas
CONGRESS IN MIND
Re: Robert A. Levy’s reply in Reader Mail’s Congress,
the President and Habeas Corpus:
The placement of the habeas corpus language in Article I is not
necessarily dispositive of the question. Art. I deals not only with
the legislative power but also the national power. Art. I section
9, which contains the habeas corpus language also prohibits the
granting of titles of nobility by the United States (note not
Congress). Section 10 prohibits the states from exercising certain
powers that “nation states” would have otherwise.
Storey’s opinion and Marshall’s dicta are more on point. I
always have suspected that Taney’s decision in Merriman
was as much political as “legal.” One should remember that the
opinion was rendered when Taney was sitting as a Circuit Court
Judge. Further, after Taney’s legislative actions in Dred
Scott, one should treat all of his opinions with some degree
of caution.
— Charles Horgan
Robert A. Levy replies:
Thanks for your comment. Of course, the “Title of Nobility” clause
appears in the same paragraph as a parallel provision requiring
congressional consent. So it’s plausible that the entire paragraph
was crafted with Congress in mind. No matter: the executive power
to grant titles of nobility is non-existent, with or without Art.
I, sec. 9. In a government of enumerated powers, no power exists
unless it is affirmatively granted. Indeed, the “Title of Nobility”
clause, even as it applies to Congress, is almost certainly
unnecessary. My guess is that it was included out of an abundance
of caution to ensure that the legislature would not overreach in
carrying out its lawmaking role.
The habeas clause is different. It is, first, a prohibition of
power, but then, second, an exception to the prohibition, which
could thus be construed as a grant of power. It is not conceivable
that the Framers would have conferred habeas power on the executive
in such an obtuse manner — buried in a section of the Constitution
that is devoted to the legislature. That’s especially true for a
power that would permit the executive, unilaterally, to imprison
U.S. citizens indefinitely, for any reason, without charges filed,
absent judicial recourse of any kind.
By the way, seven of the nine justices thought that Dred Scott
should remain a slave. Should we ignore the subsequent legal
pronouncements of all seven?
MAHONY MONSTERS
Re: George Neumayr’s The
Cardinal’s Superdome:
Great article and very direct. What is really unbelievable is
that people like Mahony, Law and Egan can get to positions of power
and are able to maintain themselves in these positions at
unbearable monetary and spiritual cost to the Catholic Church and
the faithful.
Between these three and many others they have effectively
destroyed the Catholic Church for the next 30 or 40 Years.
The Dome (Cathedral) looks more like the “Seven Santini
Brothers” moving and storage warehouse on 9th Avenue in New York,
which will probably be its end use. I don’t want to insult the
Seven Santini Brothers. They had a great building.
Thanks for the story.
— Gene Brennan
Chatham, Mass.
Tell Neumayr his stuff is the aces.
— Chris Ferrara
Writer Neumayr is certainly entitled to exercise his First
Amendment right of free speech. His opinions about the
“catholicity” of the new Los Angeles Cathedral are fatuous and
slanderous. There is no such thing as one kind of Catholic
architecture. The author is one of numerous Catholics who suppose
that churches need to be Gothic or Romanesque in style in order to
be truly Catholic. This is nonsense.
— F. Jacks
EVE OF DESTRUCTION
Re: Jed Babbin’s Saddam
Delendum Esse:
About Mr. Babbin’s use of Latin: Actually, Cato said, “Carthago
delenda est,” which translates as “Carthage is to be destroyed,”
thus, “Carthage ought to be destroyed.” The gerundive plus the
present indicative. Not the infinitive of “to be” (“esse”) that you
supposed. A Latin quibble in an otherwise fine article.
— J.C. Shea
Not “Carthago esse delendum.” It was “Carthago delenda est.”
— Matt Bartle
THE OREGON PICTURE
Re: Bill Croke’s Outré
Oregon:
I am a 67-year-old native Oregonian who has lived in my beloved
state for my entire life. Bill Croke’s article on the state of
Oregon exactly reflects my own thoughts. I weep at what the
liberals have done to this one great and grand state with the aid
of the despicable Oregonian newspaper. Portland’s mayor,
Vera Katz, the state governor, John Kitzhaber, and one of the U.S.
senators, Ron Wyden, are prime examples of just how close to the
bottom of the political barrel we scrape for elected officials.
This trio is a poster group for the tax and spenders. Our state
budget is in a shambles because of a host of entitlements paid for
by weary and broke taxpayers. The Oregon Education
Association-dominated public schools are short changing their
students by reducing the number of instruction days because of
runaway spending and useless programs promoted by the left. Two of
our once prime economies, commercial fishing and logging, are all
but history due to the envirowackos’ efforts to kill them off. We
call these nut cases “watermelons” — green on the outside, red on
the inside. Ding-bat tree sitters cause no end of grief with their
stupid, filthy and dangerous activities.
My childhood memories living in northwest Portland during WWII
were of a city that was a great place to live. Today, it is a mess
and I cannot remember the last time I went downtown. The mayor has
waged war against the automobile which began with another liberal
former governor and mayor, Neil Goldschmidt. It was Goldschmidt who
killed a proposed second east-west freeway and instead gave us our
version of the Toonerville Trolley, light rail. So, all east-west
traffic is forced onto I-84, which is a very long parking lot in
mornings and afternoons. Parking spaces downtown have been either
slashed or rates raised to the sky. This not an auto friendly city.
The city of Portland is becoming world famous for its outrageous
building fees and restrictions. Owners of private property are
finding out that they may pay taxes for decades, but they cannot
use their property as in many cases it is labeled as a
“conservation zone.”
Anytime the Portland Police Department enforces the laws, it is
slapped down by the mayor and other bureaucrats and activists.
After the recent suppression of the riot when President Bush was in
town, some have called for the chief to resign. The rioters say
that they were “peaceful.” This flies in the face of a published
photo of a few of them climbing all over a patrol car.
My wife and I have lived in our home for more than 30 years and
we have reworked it to our dreams. However, it is up for sale as we
can no longer live in an area filled with gangs, illegal
immigrants, bums, hobos, crime and declining property values. It
began to slide downhill with the completion of the light rail that
brought these creeps from downtown out to the suburbs. They can
ride the light rail for free until caught by the fare inspectors
but they are back again very soon. The city of Portland caters to
their needs by squandering taxpayer monies on futile programs and
entitlements. This is mirrored on the state level as well. The
governor, a former trauma center physician, has pushed through a
Hillary Clinton style taxpayer supported state health plan for the
poor. The plan has been an utter disaster. Now, the governor wants
to balance the state budget on the backs of tobacco smokers with a
huge tax increase that the voters are currently voting on.
I could go on for several more pages, but you get the
picture.
— Al Martin
Portland, OR
NOW ANDY
Re: The Prowler’s Cuomos
Meet the Clintons:
As a member of the American electorate, I’ve noticed a couple of
things about the Clintons.
1. All you need in this country is 50% +1(not even 51%) to
get/keep power and get/keep it at all costs.
2. The only people you screw more than your enemies are your
friends.
These principles manifest themselves time and time again.
They’ve never cared if they insult the intelligence of the smarter
half of the electorate with lies, they don’t need them. And what
about Vince, Web, Susan, and now Andy?
Why would anyone support them or even want to be a part of
their
organization?
— Howard Wimbrow
Ocean City, MD
