Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Notes From All Over, Part 1 -- January 7, 2020

Oh, let's start with this one -- it got CNN's attention. LOL.

Link here.


On impeachment: great op-ed. Senator Mike Lee -- "the Senate is not a jury." Google it over at Fox News. Helps me understand the process.
Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 of the Constitution does state that senators “shall be on Oath or Affirmation” when trying an impeachment. And that oath includes the promise to “do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws,” similar to the oath taken by ordinary juries.

But Article III, Section 2, Clause 3 specifically sets impeachment apart from jury trials, providing that “The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury.”

Why does the Constitution specifically separate juries from impeachment?

Because the authors of the Constitution knew impeachment – for good or ill – was an inherently political act. James Wilson, one of the nation’s first Supreme Court justices and one of the principal architects of the Constitution, described impeachment as “confined to political characters, to political crimes and misdemeanors, and to political punishments.”
On the Democrats and Iran: great op-ed. Senator Joe Lieberman, WSJ. He begins:
President Trump’s order to take out Qasem Soleimani was morally, constitutionally and strategically correct. It deserves more bipartisan support than the begrudging or negative reactions it has received thus far from my fellow Democrats.
The president’s decision was bold and unconventional. It’s understandable that the political class should have questions about it. But it isn’t understandable that all the questions are being raised by Democrats and all the praise is coming from Republicans. That divided response suggests the partisanship that has infected and disabled so much of U.S. domestic policy now also determines our elected leaders’ responses to major foreign-policy events and national-security issues, even the killing of a man responsible for murdering hundreds of Americans and planning to kill thousands more.

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