state violence, paramilitaries, settler colonialism, the costs and legacies of empire, and some baby pictures
Friday, June 5, 2009
btw
New post yesterday at Cliopatria, complete with batshit-crazy comments from William Hopwood.
2 comments:
Skef
said...
I don't know if this is fair, but it seems strange to complain about a lack of checks and balances in this process (which is the direction the comments went in), when it is congress voting for a law allowing the executive to have this authority, and presumably the law could be challenged in court on constitutional grounds (most likely unsuccessfully ... I don't know much but I can't think of anything compelling the release of this kind of information there).
It seems like we're in a classic "people who have forgotten that authority generally winds up being abused getting roughly what they deserve, and people who haven't forgotten unfortunately getting the same thing" situation. The trick is figuring out when to leave before it's too late. Now?
Checks and balances have to be ongoing to matter, and have to relate to the processes of governance. If the law is challenged in court, but upheld, what checks and balances continue?
To answer your last question: Yes, but how? And to where?
Itinerant historian, former infantry soldier, and the author of "Court-Martial: How Military Justice has Shaped America, from the Revolution to 9/11 and Beyond," forthcoming from W.W. Norton.
2 comments:
I don't know if this is fair, but it seems strange to complain about a lack of checks and balances in this process (which is the direction the comments went in), when it is congress voting for a law allowing the executive to have this authority, and presumably the law could be challenged in court on constitutional grounds (most likely unsuccessfully ... I don't know much but I can't think of anything compelling the release of this kind of information there).
It seems like we're in a classic "people who have forgotten that authority generally winds up being abused getting roughly what they deserve, and people who haven't forgotten unfortunately getting the same thing" situation. The trick is figuring out when to leave before it's too late. Now?
Checks and balances have to be ongoing to matter, and have to relate to the processes of governance. If the law is challenged in court, but upheld, what checks and balances continue?
To answer your last question: Yes, but how? And to where?
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