Attitude to the Constitution. (2/12/08)
Huckabee wants to change Constitution. Wants to eliminate civil rights to worship evangelical God?
Huckabee wants to change the Constitution.
"[Some of my opponents] do not want to change the Constitution, but I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards."
- Mike Huckabee, campaigning in Michigan last night. 1/14/08
Huckabee Schmuckabee - The Athenaeum
CLINTON WON'T COMMIT TO RENEW CONSTITUTION
Date: Thu Feb 7, 2008 6:17 pm ((PST))
The Nation - Illinois Senator Barack Obama has finally signed the American Freedom Pledge, joining his fellow Democratic presidential candidates in encouraging the restoration of basic Constitutional principles after the battering they have taken during the Bush-Cheney era.
All the Democrats, that is, except New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
The effort to get presidential contenders to sign on the American Freedom Pledge has been promoted by organizations ranging from the Center for Constitutional Rights to Human Rights Watch, MoveOn.org , Amnesty International USA, the Brennan Center for Justice, the Campaign to Defend the Constitution, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and True Majority.
The pledge is anything but radical. It simply asks candidates to affirm a statement that reads: "We are Americans, and in our America we do not torture, we do not imprison people without charge or legal remedy, we do not tap people's phones and emails without a court order, and above all we do not give any President unchecked power. I pledge to fight to protect and defend the Constitution from attack by any President."
The often embarrassingly cautious Obama campaign had been slow to sign on to the pledge. Earlier this week the American Freedom Campaign, which is promoting the pledge, revealed that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, Ohio Congressman Dennis
Kucinich and Alaska Senator Mike Gravel had signed the pledge, while former North Carolina Senator John Edwards and Delaware Senator Joe Biden had responded with supportive statements. After a release from the freedom campaign noted that Obama and Clinton had not committed to the Constitution, Obama's aides moved quickly.
Recognizing the value of distinguishing their candidate from Clinton, the front runner in most polls, they got Obama to sign the pledge.
The freedom campaign is promising to turn the heat up on Clinton and Republicans presidential contenders -- aside from Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who signed on to a similar American Freedom Agenda statement promoted by conservative defenders of the Constitution.
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The Next President Could Reverse Bush-Era Secrecy
Secrecy News from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy Secrecy News
The next President of the United States could single-handedly do what years of advocacy, investigation, legislation and litigation have yet to fully accomplish, namely to uncover the concealed record of the Bush Administration's two terms in office on everything from warrantless wiretapping to extraordinary rendition.
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See "The next president should open up the Bush Administration's record" by Steven Aftergood, Nieman Watchdog, February 7:
Nieman Watchdog