Mario Cuomo to Clinton; read the constitution don't write new laws

[EV_Ares]

How Congress Forgot Its Own Strength

By MARIO M. CUOMO

SENATORS Jim Webb of Virginia and Hillary Clinton of New York are right to demand that the president go before Congress to ask for a “declaration of war” before proceeding with an attack against Iran or any other nation. But there is no need for this demand to be put into law, as the two Democrats and their colleagues are seeking to do, any more than there is need for legislation to guarantee our right of free speech or anything else protected by the Constitution.

Article I, Section 8 already provides that only Congress has the power to declare war. Perhaps the founders’ greatest concern in writing the Constitution was that they might unintentionally create a president who was too much like the British monarch, whom they despised. They expressed that concern in part by assuring that the president would not have the power to declare war.

Because the Constitution cannot be amended by persistent evasion, this mandate was neither erased nor modified by the actions or inactions of timid Congresses that allowed overeager presidents to start wars in Vietnam and elsewhere without making a declaration.

Indeed, asking for more legislation now would imply that the Constitution doesn’t mean what it already says.

It would repeat the mistake made by Congress in 2002 when it tried to delegate to President Bush the non-delegable power that the founders chose to give to the legislative branch. Congress’s eagerness to shed the burden making the decision by passing resolutions that purportedly “authorized” the president to decide whether to start a war denied the nation the careful Congressional inquiry intended by the Constitution.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/opinion/07cuomo.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[movonne]

1. Thank you Mario Cuomo..

[stlsaxman]

2. kick for peace!

:kick:

[DefenseLawyer]

3. He's right of course

although I don't think they were so much eager to shed the burden of making the decision as they were positioning themselves in what they perceived as the pro-war, pro-Bush political climate at the time. They did what politicians can almost always be counted on to do: go with the flow and cover their asses.

[Bitwit1234]

4. So.......Jim Webb writes the bill, Hillary just co-sponsors

and of course the Hillary bashers BLAME HER FOR IT...typical horseshit.

[AlGore-08.com]

6. Ummm... co-sponsoring a bill means you are helping to introduce it so it can be voted on

And co-sponsors get bragging rights that they were one of the main folks responsible if it becomes law.

So it's perfectly legitimate to criticize somebody for the contents of a bill they co-sponsor. If a co-sponsor doesn't agree with the contents of a bill, they shouldn't be sponsoring it.

[desi]

18. Somehow Jim Webb was excluded from the OP title

even though Mario included the Senator's name in addressing the bill. Clearly Mario was just directing his comments at Hillary ;-)

edit: Actually, let me quote Mario: "as the two Democrats and their colleagues

[MethuenProgressive]

23. That's tactical, so people give it an r&k! without reading it....

It's Roveschool...

[NYC]

5. The world would be a better place with Mario Cuomo

as president. I miss him.

[fedupfisherman]

8. Totally agree n/t

[Lugnut]

7. K&R n/t

[illinoisprogressive]

9. I wonder how many in congress actually know the constitution....

Jim Webb, being new, should have been informed. you can see why he may not be aware because he is new and all but, how many in the senate know the constitution and what it means.

[cali]

12. I suspect he's quite familiar with the Constitution. n/t

[Dr.Phool]

15. I'm sure Robert Byrd or Dennis Kucinich would be happy to give him a copy.

And after all, hasn't he sworn to uphold and defend it several times?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Not as many as know the phone numbers of their donors.

"It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." - Mark Twain

[JTFrog]

10. K&F'nR n/t

[malaise]

11. Thank you Mario

K & R

[SlingBlade]

13. Sad that a U.S Senator

Needs to be reminded of this. Actually I think its just a ploy to continue the dumbing down of the American people as to what the governments true responsibilities are under the Constitution and the abject failure of our representatives to hold Bush to that masterful document.

There is no excuse for what has been going on for the past 6 years !

[mntleo2]

14. What Mario Said

...really Senators, have some respect for THE CONSTITUTION, you know, that piece of parchment that thousands of our country people have freaking DIED for? Geeez!

Cat In Seattle

[sinkingfeeling]

16. While Cuomo is technically correct, I see no reason not to restate the

fact in another law. When I read the Constitution (particularly the Bill of Rights), I see all kinds of things that have either been 'overridden' by passed laws (i.e., FISA and warrants or Free Speech Zones) or should be the commonly accepted, but aren't acted upon, such as impeachment.

[rniel]

17. Oh yes

I'm sure the supreme court will go along with that.

:scared: :scared: :scared:

[Senator]

19. Earth To Cuomo: "Missed It By That Much"

Got it. The "Cut the Funding" panacea (rather, hoax). Or something else "legislative."

And When That Fails ... Then Can We Impeach?

It's good that Cuomo actually "gets it" -- that there's no need (and is actually damaging) to "legislate" what is already inviolably provided in the US Constitution. (Note to Leahy: You can't "restore" habeas corpus. It never got deleted.)

The sad irony is that he doesn't fully "get it" -- that the US Constitution is just some words on a page to these neofascist war criminals -- as would be even a unanimous act of Congress or ruling of any court.

Only Impeachment For Torture Can End The War.

And we already "have the votes."

Can't we just get on with it?

--

[Swamp Rat]

20. Ga-Ga for Mario too!

:D

[Kurovski]

27. That is quite the politically involved infant.

You should make one with a kitten and puppy, too. The crowd will go wild.

"Arf you for Gore? Sign the petition meow."

[Cetacea]

21. It's so good to see Mario Cuomo back in the circuit.

I could listen to that man speak all day! I would love to see him on the Supreme Court or in a major cabinet position soon.

[MethuenProgressive]

22. "SENATORS Jim Webb and Hillary Clinton are right"

Funny how the OP spun that into a slam of Clinton...
OK, so maybe not so funny.
I wonder how many of the 'recs' were from people who read the subject line, but not the content?

[Coexist]

24. didn't Ron Paul also say that at the last debate?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=61096&mesg_id=61096

[defendandprotect]

25. How about asking ole Mario to run --- ?????

I don't think he's very busy -- and he has a good mouth on him ---

[Kurovski]

28. K&R. (nt)

[WillyT]

29. Tell It Mario... Tell It True...

<snip>

Proceeding with the proposed legislation would also create the likelihood of still another failed Democratic legislative effort, because it would probably not get enough votes from Republicans to override a veto. Such a failure might have some political value as another reminder of the Republicans’ eagerness for war, but it would also remind voters that the Democrats have not been as effective as they promised in 2006 they would be.

<snip>

Same article.

You say it a lot nicer than I would Mario.

:shrug:

[Thickasabrick]

30. Perhaps we do need a bill to define "war". We could bomb them

and it still not be a war - I'm thinking a bill that would clarify any aggressive action against a sovereign nation is an act of war and must be approved only by congress.

I'm not sure what Webb and Hilarity are up to but some clarity as to what constitutes war would be good.