- Joined
- Dec 3, 2009
- Messages
- 52,009
- Reaction score
- 33,944
- Location
- The Golden State
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Independent
The problem is it was never declared, ML should always be declared to make those things proper and only during a time of unrest, usually civil(not the case) or if a war effort hinges on it(not convinced here). Congress took over the power to declare war after 'Nam relegating the president's powers to short term police actions and truthfully I am okay with that but wish it had been done through amendment rather than legislation. My take is there just isn't a way to fully get back to constitutional principles immediately but we've got to start somewhere, the commerce clause and the tenth amendment are important to regain.
I'd reinstate the fourth and fifth amendments while we're at it.
The first mistake was allowing the president the power to fight an undeclared war. Once the Constitution had been ignored, and the balance of powers upset, it was much easier to continue to ignore the Constitution and give more and more power to government, and particularly to the executive branch.