Re: Obedience to Law (was Penology)

From: Forrest Bishop (forrestb@ix.netcom.com)
Date: Sun Aug 04 2002 - 19:36:23 MDT


----- Original Message -----
From: Lee Corbin <lcorbin@tsoft.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Sunday, August 04, 2002 12:23 PM
Subject: RE: Obedience to Law (was Penology)

> Charlie Stross writes
>
> > > A. Is the vote fixed?

In the US, yes. E.g. for US President, you may vote for Council on Foreign Relations member 'A' or Council on Foreign Relations
member 'B': your choice.

> > There's a long way to go down from here, but a state of war excuses
> > restrictions that would be unthinkable in peacetime -- and it looks to
> > me as if that's exactly what's being done.

> I think that it's always done when democracies are at war.

The US, (aside from not being a democracy) is not currently at war, as obedience to law requires Congress to issue either a
declaration of war or letters of marque and reprisal. It is not the executive's (the president) perogative to declare war- this
would be a clear violation of the oath of office and grounds for impeachment and perhaps imprisonment. Ignorance of the law is no
excuse.

> What would have happened in Britain in World War II, say
> 1942, to anti-war demonstrators or pro-German editorial
> writers. Anything? I know Bertrand Russell spent time
> in prison during WWI for, I think, pacifism. A nation's
> got to do what a nation's got to do to win.

Hey, you talking to me? I said, are you talking to me?
Look, my hands are tied; I'm just doing my job; it's policy.
So go ahead, make my day: click it or ticket, zero tolerance- it's the law
But don't rock the boat; keep your head down and nose to the grindstone
And if you don't like it Here, then why don't you go run with the herd over There?

--
Forrest Bishop
Chairman, Institute of Atomic-Scale Engineering
www.iase.cc


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