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Libertarian Republican #352

AMERICA ON THE 4TH OF JULY.
 
I do not know the full text of the Declaration of Independence, but that is the key to understanding July 4th.
 
It is a day where the founders put our revolutionary principles on paper for everyone's benefit.
 
I have never seen The Declaration of Independence in its entirety.
 
I know certain books put the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights together because they are the key documents of the Revolutionary Era.
 
You can get these books in Barnes and Noble bookstore, but I cannot tell anyone right off the bat.
 
Black's Law Dictionary might be a source for this issue.
 
Kids are not taught these documents in school anymore. 
 
I am assuming that US History Classes would be the appropriate place to deal with the long term implications of these documents, which are only discussed on piecemeal basis rather than a dramatic basis.
 
In essence, the key to the Fourth of July is the Declaration of Independence itself in its entirety and the Declaration, Constitution, and Bill of Rights need to be more broadly taught in school.
 
 
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Libertarian Republican #351

SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS.
 
I do not know of any section of the Constitution that says the number of Supremes has to be 9.
 
I know from a general reading of history this number has gone up and down.
 
I suppose Congress could pass a bill along the lines of increasing the number to 100 if they wanted to.
 
I am no Constitutional Scholar, but I do know that Courts in other democracies do not have the same power as our judges.
 
Where does the power of judicial review come from?  Marbury vs. Madison in 1803 or thereabouts.
 
It was an invented power of the Marshall Court, but the Constitution is silent on Judicial Review as far as I know.
 
Is the Supreme Court a coequal branch of government?  It is a creature of the executive by appointments and it is a creature of the laws of the Congress and Senate Confirmation.
 
The Framers did not totally explore the roles of the court.  Outside of the Electoral College, it is the least defined area of Government.
 
The Supreme Court is a Committee of Review that appear's to have a veto in our system on laws, but does it have the power to write legislation.
 
Roe v. Wade being the prime example.
 
In essence, Judges have caused some big problems: Dred Scott (Civil War), Plessy v. Ferguson (segregation), and on several other issues.
 
I say appoint some people who are not prior judges or lawyers to the Supreme Court.
 
Constitutional Scholars maybe.
 
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Libertarian Republican #350

MCCAIN.
 
McCain needs a campaign strategy to deal with Obama.
 
He has battled Obama to a draw so far, but no one has cataloged all of Obama's strengths and weaknesses.
 
McCain is an open book to the Congress and I would think they would find McCain more trustworthy and predictable.
 
Obama is good at the art of using words as well as the science of using words.
 
Obama may be thought of as a creative writer who translates words along the lines of a lawyer.
 
Lawyers deal with issues on a case by case basis.
 
That means they can be a trial attorney yesterday, a prosecutor today, and a corporate lawyer tomorrow.
 
Their collective reputation is so bad because nobody knows where they stand with lawyers.
 
Barack was an academic or Constitutional Law Professor so that might explain his idealistic rhetoric.
 
Academics have a different mindset.  You know that term the Ivory Tower.
 
A Community Organizer is a fancy term for community activist, labor union organizer, or something to that affect.
 
To Obama its a code word that those of us unenlighted to this term will remain confused whereas his supporters will understand.
 
In essence, he uses words as a way to get his point across without causing himself any political damage.
 
Not unlike Reagan or Clinton.  He has Lincoln on the brain.  Patience, Forbearance, Humility, and an internal arrogance.
 
In essence, a man who trained for pre-television politics when communications was not instantaneous and everybody apply's a microscope to your words.
 
In essence, he prepared for 1860 rather than 2008.  Television is simple and it can be cruel when the public is angry at you.
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Libertarian Republican #349

THE SUPREME COURT ON HABEUS CORPUS.
 
The Supremes have said that GITMO Trials are unconstitutional.
 
They talk about the suspension of Habeas Corpus.
 
They are right if they say the President cannot suspend Habeas Corpus.
 
They are wrong if they say Congress cannot suspend Habeas Corpus.
 
The Constitution says Congress can suspend Habeas Corpus.
 
The Pentagon Programs can deal with this issue.
 
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Libertarian Republican #348

THE CANADIAN BORDER.
 
The Canadian Border is a flank in the terror war.
 
It is too long for massive amounts of manpower to be deployed to guard it.
 
Yes, it is easy to cross because I have family that live's in the Mid-West who have crossed the border without major inconveniences.
 
Airplanes make sense, but you would need to go higher and cheaper.  Spy Satellites integrated with ground forces.
 
I think its called the Global Positioning System.
 
Instead of 100000 Border Patrol Agents, you might need 40000 with spy satellites tied into the system.
 
A quiet and effective way to keep terrorists out and costs down.
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Libertarian Republican #347

FARC.
 
I do not know the origins of this Marxist-Leninist Group.
 
I know they have a long history of terrorism.
 
Bush as usual thinks circular in relation to FARC.
 
It appear's that they might want to demobilize and return to normal every day life.
 
I do not know of a terrorist group anywhere else in the world that has ended a terror campaign.
 
Europe did have terrorist groups during the cold war and come to think of it I do not remember anyone of them still in existence.
 
The Italian Red Brigades as an example.
 
If FARC is ready for peace then the key is to turn over the radical minority among them to the Colombian Government for prosecution.
 
The 'moderate' majority would need to be reeducated for assimilation into Colombian Society.
 
I have seen former Islamofascist Terrorists on TV or should I say I have seen former Islamic Fascists on TV.
 
So, yes, they can be integrated into the wider society.
 
The key is to get the most radical members into prison for life.  So that terrorism does not start again in Colombia.
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Libertarian Republican #346

OBAMA.
 
Barack has credibility problems, but his public speaking, charisma, and poise block out his miscues with his supporters.
 
A Wordsmith.
 
He says he will continue to gather information.
 
He says he will refine his policies.
 
The Nomination Contest is controlled mainly by Liberal Voters in the Democrat Party.
 
The General Election is decided by the General Public.
 
Liberals want out of Iraq so Obama tilt's left in the primaries.
 
Liberal Voters power diminishes greatly in the general election because they will definitely not vote for McCain.
 
General Election Voters become numb to the escapades of the candidates operatives, journalists critiques, and general election voters are nowhere near as passionate about politics as primary voters.
 
In essence, Obama is learning to manipulate the general public as he goes even though he has not changed his position in his own head.
 
That's a lot like Reagan in the 1980s who Sam Donaldson said that Reagan saw words as flexible tools or a picture is worth a 1000 facts even though the reality is much different.
 
In essence, again, Obama is a typical politician in that he bends his position to suit the political environment.
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LIbertarian Republican #345

ECONOMICS.
 
Let's see, we have 94% employment rate.
 
We have only lost 450000 jobs.
 
We are in the beginning of a recession or more likely a mini-recession.
 
Uncertainy in business and/or the public or the press.
 
People and Businesses maybe strapped for cash to continuing business.
 
Consumers want to keep spending money, but their personal debt level is too high to sustain the consumer sector.
 
Service Industries are feeling the pinch and manufacturing be working fine.
 
Consumer Staples like retail, residential construction, restaurants, and other support services may be hurting even though export industries are doing fine.
 
A bunch of mini-sector-recessions rather than a general recession.
 
In essence, an uneven recession in terms of the sectors that are feeling it.
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Libertarian Republican #344

GITMO AND THE SUPREME COURT.
 
Gitmo has been operating as a prison for five years without court approval.
 
The Supreme Court as usual screwed the situation up further by declaring military commisisions as unconstitutional.
 
I would suggest at this point that GITMO be closed and the terrorists be returned to their home countries for disposal.  Execution included.
 
We should have come up with a judicial system before this, but we did not and so we are left with another Bush legacy mess.
 
I suggest turning the detainees over to their national governments by trading for something their government wants in return.
 
In essence, take these terrorists off our hands, do with as you please, and we will give you this in exchange.  A Trade if you will.
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Libertarian Republican #343

AFGHANISTAN.
 
The way to control Afghanistan would be like Germany after WW II when it was divided into four occupation zones.
 
The Western Sectors were reunited after a few years and about 20 years ago the East was reunited with the Wester Zone.
 
The idea might be take the various provinces of Aghanistan that are pacified and turn them over to the Europeans, while leaving the more violent areas to our forces and the Aghan Army.
 
Its not the greatest solution, but an occupation based on the German Model would divide Afghanistan up and leave little room for travel.
 
Counterinsurgency in part depends on reuding the freedom of movement of rebel forces.
 
If you close off separate provinces in terms of communications then the enemy has a harder time adapting.
 
In essence, occupation zones based on provinces, while integrating populations within those provinces into the contemporary world.
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Libertarian Republican #342

ECONOMICS.
 
The economy has a lot of structural imbalances that need to be corrected.
 
Higher energy costs.
 
Housing crunch.
 
Higher Exports.
 
Food costs more.
 
It sounds like people have run out of money.
 
They may decide that staying home at the lake on the weekends is cheaper than going to the beach for the week.
 
They may decide to cut back on the frills of a glamorous night out by going to the movies instead.
 
Simply, people are cutting corners to save money.
 
Exports are up.
 
Producing more goods by companies and exporting them instead of selling goods in the United States.
 
In essence, the economy is shifting away from consumption towards production for export.
 
The automakers are the problem on this point.
 
If I was the CEO of one of those companies I would shut down production of all nonselling cars and increase production of all those fuel efficient cars that are selling.
 
Transfer all younger workers who are lower cost to these employers from plants that are shutting down to these small car factories.
 
Lay off everyone else with a year's pay and 5 years of medical.
 
That means ending production of SUVs and Trucks and MiniVans.
 
As long as gas prices continue to go up and automakers continue to make SUVs and the like they will continue bleeding financially.
 
In the final analysis, strip away everything in a company that is nonessential and get back to the basics of service and manufacturing.
 
Also, a recession may or may not happen, but the companieswho wait to make changes could be in for a rude awakening the longer they wait.
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Libertarian Republican #341

OBAMA SPEECHES.
 
Obama has given three big speeches in three days.
 
He is merely trying to set the agenda.
 
I call it machine gun logic.
 
Overwhelm, your political opponent with a bunch of ideas, while not making a target of yourself.
 
Is he succeeding.  It depends if anyone is listening or if he is allowed to refer to them in the media on an ongoing basis.
 
He is trying to set the agenda or terms of debate.
 
If he is allowed to continue unmolested then he set's himself up like Bill Clinton in 1992.
 
The man with the plan.
 
The other guy does not care.
 
In essence, Obama is playing to his strength on domestic issues by trying to set the agenda.
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Libertarian Republican #340

FREE TRADE AND THE NATIONAL INTEREST.
 
Free Trade has not worked well for the American Worker or American Companies.
 
It is too disruptive and causes massive dislocations to the economy.
 
Free Trade Agreements were meant to provide a structure, but they are apparently not that good or do not work.
 
The National Interest says buy American First and then our European and East Asia Allies.  We should cancel our trade agreement with China.
 
Latin America want's to remain independent of us for political reasons.
 
Africa is Europe's territory.
 
We should have something of a trade alliance with the Russian Federation, but the logistics might prove daunting.
 
India could easily take China's place as everyone's low cost supplier.
 
Outside of Iran, Syria, and Israel I do not see how you can safely do business in the middle east.
 
In essence, practice the national interest rather than free/fair trade.
 
Buy/Sell/Trade.  If we have something you want and you have something we want then we can do business.
 
Free Trade is good in theory, but lousy in practice.
 
Better for consumers than workers, but its ironic workers are consumers.  Lower Prices lead to lower wages.
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Libertarian Republican #339

THE MIDDLE EAST.
 
Israel may want to attack Iran's nuclear capacity, but that would be against the international interest.
 
The United States is Israel's main security backer and ally.
 
The Europeans do the most business with Israel.
 
I do not know what Ariel Sharon would say, but if the United States cut off all aid to Israel if it would then attack Iran.
 
We threatened to do this them in Iraq 1 and it worked.
 
Israel would cease to exist as a viable entity as a result.
 
AIPAC and the Jewish Lobby in the United States would have to be told to go to helll in the short run.
 
However, their influence on policy is way out of proportion to the number of voters they repesent.
 
THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ.
 
The Bible say's there will be wars and rumors of wars throughout history.
 
If you attack Iran then you have started a wider war and Iran will strike back if you corner them.
 
If a high level military delegation goes into Iran to talk to their government.
 
Then that delegation has more power than does a diplomatic delegation.
 
In essence, if a general or admiral comes calling then the Iranians might think we are serious about engaging them on a multilateral basis.
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Libertarian Republican #338

HUMAN RESOURCES RECRUITER
 
If you are looking for high quality people who do not have a good work record or are currently unemployed.
 
Then you go to University Academic Departments or University Alumni Associations to find these people.
 
Current students looking for an internship, nearing graudation, unemployed after graduation, or unemployed because of a loss of other work.
 
Yes, they are there in colleges and universities.  They have an ability to move around and adapt.
 
And, with the economy tettering on the brink of recession most likely they will stay put for several years.
 
People nearing retirement can serve as mentors or as part time supervisors.
 
Professional Work requires more Professional People.
 
College Students will work and if they see long term potential for salary and benefits they will stay.
 
Older people have vast experience, but may not want to deal directly with the public because of lifetime burnout.
 
In essence, people who have college experience or military experience make better workers in terms of electronics or collections.
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