Has Congress gone mad? Turned fascist? Sure seems like it.
When I first read this story, I almost couldn’t believe it was true:
Securing the nation’s borders is so important, Congress says, that Michael Chertoff, the homeland security secretary, must have the power to ignore any laws that stand in the way of building a border fence. Any laws at all.
Last week, Mr. Chertoff issued waivers suspending more than 30 laws he said could interfere with “the expeditious construction of barriers” in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Texas. The list included laws protecting the environment, endangered species, migratory birds, the bald eagle, antiquities, farms, deserts, forests, Native American graves and religious freedom.
One hopes the Supreme Court will smack them down. Hard. As Justice Kennedy has written, “Separation of powers was designed to implement a fundamental insight. Concentration of power in the hands of a single branch is a threat to liberty.”
It pisses me off that Congress handed homeland security (a joke of a department) so much power. I hope the Court goes for the throat. Or the balls. Whichever one hurts most.
What freaking security threat do they think will come from Mexico? Mexicans looking for work? Are they kidding? They aren’t worried about a security threat. This is a thinly-veiled disguise to close the US/Mexico border because it’s about the economy, NOT security. I don’t see Chertoff submitting any waivers for our US/Canadian border.
And the Canadians are so much more sinister with their maple syrup.
Seriously though, I’d give up maple syrup before I gave up Mexican food.
If he can suspend the laws of physics, then I’ll really be impressed.
Didn’t some of the 9/11 hijackers get into the US via Canada?
On a tangential note: a wall to keep others out today is a wall to keep us in tomorrow.
“a wall to keep others out today is a wall to keep us in tomorrow”
I agree.
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