In his short presidency Lincoln seized an excessive amount of extra-constitutional power and wielded it ruthlessly without check. Lincoln ordered the naval blockade of Southern ports and seizure if shipping prior to the beginning of hostilities. Then he suspended the writ of habeas corpus and began arresting state legislators and a federal judge because they did not agree with him. He then blocked circulation of newspapers that opposed him and ordered marshals to arrest dissenters, draft resisters, war protesters and tried them before military courts martial. He advanced $2 million from the treasury to financiers for the short term and $440 million in “greenbacks” which were “funny-money” not adhering to the law stating money must be redeemable with gold. He seized railroads and ordered millions of dollars in locomotives and rolling stock be built. Then war came.
Woodrow Wilson copied Lincoln’s wartime seizure of powers before his re-election campaign on a peace platform. His powers were more institutionally organized because he had a pliant democratic congress to ratify his orders. His War Industries Board headed by Bernard Baruche, Wilson’s largest campaign donor, seized control of railroads and heavy industry. The Overman Act institutionalized control over food prices, the national import/export industries and forced the financial sector to finance the war with no complaint allowed. Newspapers were suppressed and protestors were jailed without warrant. Concentration camps were built at Fort Oglethorpe, GA and Chattanooga, TN to house more than four thousand German and Austrian citizens without legal recourse. Then war came.
FDR went further. When his plans did not alleviate the Depression four years after taking office, he took America off the gold standard and bullied the Supreme Court to accept his unconstitutional legislation with the threat of “court-packing.” In 1940, two years prior to war, he authorized warrant-less wire taps, sneaked the Navy onto a war time footing without congressional knowledge, and created a secret post war research staff to plan postwar American dominance of the UN. Then war came.
Obama has not yet had any dissenters thrown into prison. He has not suppressed his favorable press; why bother. But, he has seized extra-legal controls over our financial system, arbitrarily selected winners and losers in the private economy, fired executives and thwarted the mechanism of our bankruptcy laws and market forces. This endangers the entire country and the free world. With the 2010 elections fast approaching voters must become more educated on the issues and vote wisely if there is to be a future for following generations.
Opinion
STUMPTALK: The difference between Obama and ...
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Gary's World: The magical Star Wars summer of '77
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...
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Lion and the Lamb: When politics and religion meet
Several wealthy contributors to the Republican presidential campaign are once again trying to figure out how they can use a video clip containing three words that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright used in a sermon on April 13, 2003. Wright, now retired, had been pastor of the 6,600-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago when Barack Obama was a member there.
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Random Thoughts: Returning vets fight fire
Cemeteries are given special attention this week in preparation for Memorial Day next Monday. During the Civil War gracious ladies of the south laid flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers from both sides. The custom spread across the country and was called Decoration Day until the early 20th century.
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Tidbits: Finding more time in your day
If we had another two hours in every day, we'd all probably still be begging for just a little bit more to get all our stuff done before that clock strikes midnight and it's game over.
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Stumptalk: Hooray for the innovators
In his brilliant article in the Free Market, Daniel Sanchez says, “There will always be a one-percent. The well-being of the 99-percent depends on who makes up the 1-percent: innovative entrepreneurs or the state and its cronies. This in turn depends on the ideologies adopted by the 99-percent.” This is the way societies have always been organized and always will be.
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GARY'S WORLD: Graduates, create your own opportunities
Time flies. One day you have a baby boy who is fascinated with stuffed Miss Piggy and Kermit rattles and the next day he wants to wear his cowboy boots and hat with every outfit no matter what the occasion. Before you know it, he's playing in the elementary school band, going into high school, learning how to drive, driving to school, going to prom and graduating.
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RANDOM THOUGHTS: Truly a January in May
“It’s June in January” became a popular standard after Bing Crosby introduced the song in 1934. A strange thing happened last week. I call it a tale of ‘It’s January in May.’
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LION AND THE LAMB: Our challenged nation
Three major social justice issues have been a source of contention in our nation over the years, and interestingly, each of them has involved the subject of equality.
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WE THE PEOPLE: Repressing the ‘Grapes of Wrath’
Sometimes a hole appears, ever so briefly, in the curtain that hides the plans of those who control our government. One such opening occurred when Alan Greenspan testified to the Federal Reserve Board on Feb. 26, 1997. During that testimony, Greenspan revealed that “worker insecurity” was (in his view) a boon to the economy, allowing productivity to increase without causing workers to demand increased earnings.
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TIDBITS: Never stop moving forward, grads
This week is a week of celebration. According to my files of graduating seniors, Cumberland County will see more than 550 students earning their high school diplomas this week. Now, those youngsters will venture out into the world, armed with the knowledge and character instilled in them by their parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, teachers, principals, classmates, coaches and others.
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Gary's World: The magical Star Wars summer of '77


