Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Not that I have all that many veteran contacts, but I hear this a lot more from non-veterans that from those who actually served.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I find this to be non-responsive. But I think my post was misleading. I should have said:

I really wish someone would explain this mindset, because it applies to cops as well as soldiers. The willingness of people who are not cops or soldiers to completely overlook lots of awful, terrible shit done by certain cops or soldiers because cops and soldiers generally take these jobs knowing they are dangerous jobs just makes absolutely no sense to me.

It's like, because you took a dangerous job that is often underappreciated, civilians think you should excuse or overlook acts that amount to crimes for anyone else.

TM

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I don't dispute what you say, but the attitude I see is (also) an organic one, coming from people who served. And it's less a reaction to criticism of policy, and more of a conviction that soldiers and vets are more righteous and deserving, and less appreciated.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

2

Sometimes having your cousin get shot can change the way you look at things.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Let's end the week on a more positive note. I got this from the same site as something you posted on facebook. And I like it.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2...o-get-everyone

TM

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Scalia: nothing in the Constitution appears to prohibit harsh treatment of suspected terrorists.

The Fifth Amendment: "...nor shall any person ... be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..."

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

I think Scalia, and, to be fair, the court in general historically, would not find that to apply to action of the US government taken against foreign persons on foreign soil.

Of course, it's still a fucked up view, but it's a fucked up view that has prevailed for a long period of time.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

On the federal/state issue, there is no real dispute that the Fourteenth Amendment makes the Due Process Clause apply to the federal government.

Otherwise, perhaps Scalia was making your point, and it's a little hard to tell from the news story, but I doubt it. Over more than two hundred years, the Court has had many opportunities to create exceptions to the principle of the Due Process Clause, and I'm sure Scalia knows them far better than I do, but it beggars disbelief to think that the Founders, familiar as they were with the way people had been tortured by the King of England over the previous centuries, would think that they were giving that power to a chief executive who simply claimed a serious, exigent need.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

No, no. You were right America is just awesome.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

What makes it so clear? Due Process and Cruel and Unusual Punishment are either God-given rights or they are not. The Brown and Ferguson cases (actually, non-cases) are all the argument we need on racism and intolerance.

As it happens, I'm pretty convinced that we are better than them, because we still have the right to learn about this, be outraged about it, and, until Top Chef Amputee premieres, talk like some small number of us thinks something should be done. That's a pretty thin thread.

Calling Dr. Mengele
 

The quote below is from this article. It sums up one way in which we are better than al-Qaeda or IS

Isn't that what you learn when you first start hazing people in school? Use a wet towel because they don't leave marks.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

As Adder says, I haven't seen this attitude nearly so badly from soldiers and cops as from those who want to use the "more deserving" meme to prevent criticism of policy (i.e., of stupid wars), with respect to soldiers, and to prevent or push back on dealing with this country's ongoing history of racism (in the case of cops).

No one seems to raise the "but cops are different and much more important" defense when (prominent white) people complain about civil forfeiture. It's only when an unarmed black man -- or some other 'bad' person, like a protestor or homeless man -- get shot that we hear how important it is to always honor police.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Does Scalia have a different view about police beating confessions out of people?

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Okay - so I've been roundly ridiculed for thinking America is better -- in its conduct, values, and aspirations -- than al Qaeda or ISIS. I get it.

So, for those who believe the opposite -- since we're just the same, why should we give a shit about torturing people suspected of participating in and supporting 9/11 and similar attacks? Why shouldn't morality be relative -- we can improve ourselves after those people are dead?

Sidd (a little tired of the sanctimony) Finch.

Re: Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.
 

Well, he wouldn't dismiss that offhand and would bloviate about it for many pages because, after all, he'd have to refute the bleeding heart liberals like Adams and Jefferson and Madison who raise due process and cruel and unusual punishment arguments.

But, no, of course not, that's permitted too.