That, and trying to read the newspaper while driving, lol.
Yep, I know all about that; I get form emails, form snail mail, phone calls from aides (which I really love, especially after I ask them if they REALLY want me to show up to ask their constituent questions, lol). The vast majority of our elected reps are either uneducated (which is alarming), or just do not care what their limitations under the Constitution are, and have no intention to abide by them. Noone enforces them, so why should they? Ted "Chappaquiddick" Kennedy doesn't; most people believe he killed a girl in 1969, but he's been reelected over and over; now Obama is writing legislation in his honor (oh, wait...9 of 10 of Obama's appointees are tax frauds, including the Sec Treasury...nevermind...criminals are ok). Back on topic, VOTERS have reelected Teddy, assuming an honest electoral system; that's what gets me hot. Either we have a majority of stupid people voting, or the system is fraudulent (after all we have a 1/2 term senator, who made campaign speeches basically promising NOTHING, who refuses to provide birth and academic credentials, as President). In the first case, we need to overhaul the education system; if it's the second, we need a massive overhaul of government.
Sorry, got longwinded...
Ummm...the answer to all is way too many....
A) Marines are always on duty, 24/7...you have no "personal life".
B)The above does not mean you are not expected to exercise your intellect, judgement, and morals, or you end up with a My Lai Massacre (which was Army, just for info).
C)The United States Constitution is ALWAYS the ultimate authority for all decisions and actions by any and every Marine.
From what I understand from statements by govt reps (and I may be wrong, since I'm not there), there are no enemy combatants, only criminals, which makes sense since there is no terrorism, only "man-caused disasters" (per Napolitano, Director, Homeland Security). I wouldn't doubt it at all if our troops were being required to Mirandize suicide bombers.
That was what I questioned...the oath hasn't changed since I took it, and the Constitution always superseded any individual, but from what he told me, they've invoked the sedition acts: question the Commander in Chief in time of war, and you're going to the brig. Seems convenient, considering they're condemning Bush for invoking the War Powers Act, which is where that is contained.
Reposting a reply I put up earlier to another post:
You need to remember our current Director of Homeland Security views all former and current members of the US military as potential terrorist threats...and WE are the people expected to defend you from violations of the Constitution. As a side note, someone I've known personally for years is on active duty in the Army, and we spoke recently; apparently service to our elected officials has superseded defense of the Constitution.
Having said that, making classified info public can endanger other service members; on the other side of the coin, enlisting doesn't mean you check in your brain. The oath includes, "enemies, foreign, and domestic". Benedict Arnold gave loyal and faithful service...until he tried to pass the defense plans for West Point to the enemy. Anyone trying to weaken our nation is a traitor, in my humble opinion.
It's the system the site is on...it's a pain, but it's what we have at the moment. Just copy all posts, so you don't have to retype them; if it pulls the not logged in thing, you can paste it, and it usually goes through the second time.
I am heading out now to procreate as much as possible :P
Hate to say it, but the vast majority of our populace has no idea what a huge gift the Constitution is, nor it's content. They will misquote and misapply the 1st amendment, call upon the 5th when convenient, but wouldn't be able to go beyond that; we do not properly educate our young. They cannot paraphrase it, let alone quote it directly; because of this the elected and appointed officials of our government have been allowed to walk all over it for years. Our education system must bear the brunt of the responsibility for this, for accepting the limitations placed upon them by the very same officials who willingly violate the restraints our founders placed upon them.
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Thingamajig