Interesting Quote

The only thing of interest that I have seen in this thread is that Abraham Lincoln was not a fan of the precedent established in Marbury vs. Madison which has been the law of this land since 1802 and is one of the only "uniquely American" things cultural or otherwise discussed in this thread (at least it was at the time established having already been abandoned by those we had rebelled against).

But even that is not terribly shocking as no president or congress after being elected by the majority of the American people have been, nor should be expected to be excited about the possibility that the laws they pass in the name of and at the request of those that have elected to them may be struck down as an overreach of their power.

However any study of American history not commissioned by partisans to promote a predetermined outcome would show that without the judicial check upon the overreach of the slight majority over the determined minority the US would have torn itself apart many times over and already be a footnote in the course of history.

Of course this all depends on a supreme court that is not comprised of those who would in fact go out of their way to legislate from the bench. This has historically not been a problem, you put in smart and well educated people who love their country… give them a lifetime appointment and a reasonable salary and they should have no reason or motivation to do anything but do their best to interpret the law to the best of their abilities. Even the most egregious partisans that have been put on the Supreme Court in the last couple centuries usually mellow with age and become more even handed as they get farther from the place where they were beholden to those who sponsored their career.   I will say that I am a little concerned with the motivational aspect of some on the court these days who continue to derive serious outside compensation of various forms from proclaimed partisans, and the increasing arms race between both sides to put younger and younger (and dumber) judges into lifelong posts. But this too will pass.

As for the far less interesting letter from a guy that used to be with Proctor and Gamble but is now just another guy that makes money selling books to people who like to read things that agree with what they already believe… he should stick to flavor of the week corporate speeches. We could have had a good talk about constitutional law instead of diving back once again into the trite old mud of the politics of personal defamation.

The forum (and world) would be a better and more interesting place if we were arguing the merit of the president’s policies and actually comparing them to previous presidents policies and not just keep repeating phrases like “failed socialist agenda” or questioning his patriotism or Americanness.

If I was Obama I wouldn’t release my grades either.. if he got a 4.0 in law school then the 24/7 din of savage, rush, Hannity, colter, etc would tell us how he was an out of touch intellectual elite that can’t be trusted, if he got a 3.0 then he was a moron on drugs who can’t be trusted. Then the so called liberal media would spend the next week telling us how rush, Hannity, colter, et al say that Obama is an intellectual snob/moron and that although Obama denies it that it was just all normal two sided politics and either one could be right.

The guy is the president of the united states of America after coming from broken home and being raised by his grandmother… struggling to find himself and occasionally causing trouble in his early adult life and then getting his act together and bearing down and concentrating on his studies. Then getting married having kids and making a bunch of money. You may not like his policies but his life story is about as “uniquely American” as they come.

Riley wrote: Joe, I knew you wouldn't be able to keep resisting. Not to hijack this thread, but has anyone read Bill O'Reily's "Killing Lincoln". I did recently and it was really interesting. I don't know much about the Civil War and I don't think the book has a political spin to it, but it was a very interesting read on the end of the war and last days of Lincoln's life. He was not a popular president.

I read "Killing Lincoln" ... a little simplistic but, I have certainly read worse. I also didnt read any real insidious motives to it, and believe that the few factual errors were a bit overblown due to who O'Reily is, but when you make your living being an opinionated jerk you can't expect there not to be a few people checking your work for mistakes. There are better books available that cover the same subject matter but if a few people read his book because of his fame that wouldnt have otherwise been looking to spend some time researching american history then I am all for it.

My favorite Lincoln book is Goodwin's "Team of Rivals"... but I am a bit biased in that choice as secretary of state William Seward gets a lot of treatment in that book and he lived in my home town. I have a few friends on the board at his former home and now Museum so the release of the movie "Lincoln" later this year based on a portion of "Team of Rivals" has us all hopeful that we will see a few extra visitors through the Museum in the next couple years.

who is the go to guy to shout lefty policy? it seems the far right are always up on the pulpit polluting the air??? i dont get it, where is our Rushes, Becks, fox news????and it does even in some strange way seem the righties on this forum shout the loudest???? maybe its just me

maybe its a cry for help?

I guess i will be the one...210,000 jobs were added to the economy last month, and the big three has had record sales in which they havnt seen since 2007...puttin money in them there hillbillys pockets and they is buying some cars lol, needless to say, thats how the economy works

The number was actually 120,000 jobs, but then why let facts cloud the picture.