Should a Brookings "expert" know what the presidential oath says?
I am the cut and paste editor at sooted so if you have a problem with my meager efforts at original thought you can actually F.O.
Also several e mailers have railed at my posting of whole articles, they too can F.O. I post them in entirety because people hate to click links and lose their place here at sooted.
I try and post the link in the title in case anyone is mislead that I might have actually penned anything other than snide pithy comments such as you see here...
From Glenn Greenwalds Blog at Salon:
SNIP
It's just so basic to our entire system of government that some Constitutional guarantees will impede efforts to maximize public safety (barring the police from searching homes without probable cause might make it more difficult to apprehend a dangerous criminal; banning double jeopardy and self-incrimination, and guaranteeing the right to counsel, might make it more difficult to convict a dangerous criminal; the guarantee of due process, free speech and a free press can make war-fighting more difficult). But that's the central choice the Founders made: that there are more important values than maximizing safety. If they didn't think that way, they would never have risked fighting the most powerful military on earth -- all for some abstract political liberty. By itself, that choice reflects the view that there are more important goals then keeping us safe. Tyrannies might be the best guardians of national security (though it is highly dubious that indefinitely locking up Muslims with no trial and no charges will Keep Us Safe), but either way: the U.S. wasn't created to be a National Security State. That's why the Constitution imposes numerous limits on the government that conflict with maximization of safety, and it's why the President is required to swear to defend the Constitution, not do everything possible to Keep Us Safe.
SNIP
You can argue with Glenns premises anytime you want, I think the dewd is airtight in most of his arguements and no way I could write anything near as clearly as he does to make a point. Thats why i'm copy and paste editor here.
Also several e mailers have railed at my posting of whole articles, they too can F.O. I post them in entirety because people hate to click links and lose their place here at sooted.
I try and post the link in the title in case anyone is mislead that I might have actually penned anything other than snide pithy comments such as you see here...
From Glenn Greenwalds Blog at Salon:
SNIP
It's just so basic to our entire system of government that some Constitutional guarantees will impede efforts to maximize public safety (barring the police from searching homes without probable cause might make it more difficult to apprehend a dangerous criminal; banning double jeopardy and self-incrimination, and guaranteeing the right to counsel, might make it more difficult to convict a dangerous criminal; the guarantee of due process, free speech and a free press can make war-fighting more difficult). But that's the central choice the Founders made: that there are more important values than maximizing safety. If they didn't think that way, they would never have risked fighting the most powerful military on earth -- all for some abstract political liberty. By itself, that choice reflects the view that there are more important goals then keeping us safe. Tyrannies might be the best guardians of national security (though it is highly dubious that indefinitely locking up Muslims with no trial and no charges will Keep Us Safe), but either way: the U.S. wasn't created to be a National Security State. That's why the Constitution imposes numerous limits on the government that conflict with maximization of safety, and it's why the President is required to swear to defend the Constitution, not do everything possible to Keep Us Safe.
SNIP
You can argue with Glenns premises anytime you want, I think the dewd is airtight in most of his arguements and no way I could write anything near as clearly as he does to make a point. Thats why i'm copy and paste editor here.
