The American Spectator

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8.1.08 @ 12:01AM

(Page 3 of 7)

An apology is a meaningless gesture if not followed by action. In the Jewish tradition, repentance (teshuva) calls for more than words. The sinner is to recognize his sin, feel sincere remorse for the wrong doing, undo the damage and relieve the victim of the offense and resolve never to commit the sin again. For Christians, similar instruction apply, including, II Corinthians 7:10, "For the sorrow that is according to God worketh penance, steadfast unto salvation: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." Or simply John 8:10, "Go forth and sin no more." For Muslims, repentance, Taubah, calls for the cessation of the sinful act, regret and remorse, firm resolve not to return to the sin, and righting the wrong committed. Rep. Steve Cohen's apology for slavery was blatantly self-serving, condescending and an insult to all American citizens, be they the posterity of the anti-bellum age or immigrants of later generations.
-- Ira M. Kessel
Rochester , New York

Allow me to add a few things to Mr. Cline's excellent list of things for which our Congress should apologize.

The continued assault on personal liberty and American freedoms I'm not talking about the Patriot Act here (though, this act does go too far in some cases). No, I'm talking about increasing the power of the FCC and increasing the so called indecency fines levied against business who broadcast certain content. I'm talking about the continuing failure that is the War on Drugs, better described as the War on Personal Liberty. I call it thus because the government is not given the power to determine any substance as illegal, and because in execution our drug laws are used to imprison young men and women who have harmed no one, often not even themselves. It's used to justify knockless warrants on the barest of evidence, the strip searching of students, the warrantless search of personal vehicles, and in my own personal experience, the treating of our citizens as criminals when they reenter the country after an overseas trip. I'm talking about the laws against gambling. I'm talking about support bans on public smoking, 'unhealthy' foods, and other things. I'm talking about the continuously raised subject of censorship under many names and guises, from both the right and the left.

Wasting our time and money with unconstitutional "hearings."

Yes, I'm talking about the baseball steroid hearings. I'm talking about yet another hearing against oil company execs. I'm talking about the hearings about rap lyrics (no, I don't like them either). I'm talking about all of those hearings dating back decades where our Congress went and stuck its collective nose into subjects over which it had no constitutional authority. This does not include the hearings on the Bush Justice department. While these hearings are carried out as obvious partisan activities, the Congress does have the right and responsibility to check Executive action.

Allowing the Dollar to tumble.

While this might be considered an Executive failure, the Constitution puts the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the Legislature. The Congress is charged with providing a stable currency and care of interstate commerce. The failing dollar is their fault, and they really ought to do something about it.

Neglecting the duties charged to you in the Constitution.

The failure to maintain interstate commerce by allowing transport infrastructure to fall into disrepair. The failure to secure our borders (covered in Mr. Cline's excellent article, sorry for the repeat). The failure to review judges based on their knowledge and application of the Law and allowing dozens of Federal appointments to not be filled. The failure to properly fund and equip our soldiers, marines, airmen, and sailors. The failure to update copyright and patent laws to keep up with changing technology. The failure to even debate on treaties negotiated in good faith by our Executive. The failure to provide consistent, clear, and implantable Energy policy so that Americans can continue to enjoy their freedoms and pursuits in the modern world.

Climate Change hysteria.

The largest reason that we cannot have a serious, fact and science based discussion on Global Warming is the continued insistence by certain lawmakers to refuse to allow such. Rather than getting their aides to seriously research the subject, it's all become a question of how much power we're going to lose to the government this time and how much of a wreck it will be to our already struggling economy.

Slanderous charges against our Men and Women in Uniform.

I'm looking at you, Murtha. Need I really say more?

In short, Congress is a failure. If it were up to me, each and every member of Congress would come under review, challenged with their voting record against the Constitution, and then impeached out of office if their voting record demonstrated any constancy against the list provided by Mr. Cline and myself.
-- Charles Campbell
Austin, Texas

In reading about things that go on in the Capitol Building, I am often reminded of a distant cousin's musing, "No American is safe while Congress is in session" (Will Rogers)
-- Jeff Cook

Letter to the Editor

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