130 lines
6.2 KiB
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130 lines
6.2 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 6 Num. 91
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======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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SINISTER CONSEQUENCES
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=====================
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"Is there a big crisis coming regarding the budget? Very
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knowledgeable friends of mine from the beltway tell me that the
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crisis in some ways is more serious than the press lets on." So
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said Sherman H. Skolnick in a phone conversation on December
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28th, 1995.
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From my perspective, there is indeed a clash shaping up between
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the executive and legislative branches of our government. A
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foreboding was seen in King Klinton's leonine and imperial
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grabbing of executive power when he ordered troops to Bosnia
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recently without first seeking congressional approval. As pointed
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out by Rep. Dornan, just imagine if Ronald Reagan had done this
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during the 1980s: ordered 20,000 troops to Nicaragua and then, as
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an afterthought, mentioned that it would be nice if Congress went
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along with it. Just imagine if Reagan had done that and then
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responded to critics by saying that "It's O.K. These troops are
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'peacekeepers.' It's not 'war', it's 'peace.'"
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Skolnick takes these worries even further. In our conversation
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from last week he reached back to the times of the Stuarts in
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17th century England. At that time there was a clash between the
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king and the parliament which ultimately led to the beheading of
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Charles I. Charles used what was called the "prorogue" power to
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suspend the english legislative body. Civil war eventually
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ensued. Skolnick raised deep questions of Constitutional law,
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relevant to our current clash between branches of government,
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that have no easy answers.
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Skolnick wonders, "Does Clinton have the power to prorogue
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Congress? That is, to shut them down and not... that they can't
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go back into session without his permission? Some experts on the
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Constitution in the U.S., some say I'm wrong. Some say I'm right.
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But I believe that there is a prorogue power."
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Yet Skolnick is not absolutely certain. "I'm raising these
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questions," he emphasizes.
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"I think the opening and closing of Congress is such a formality
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that some people have forgotten what the power is to do it. And I
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think the power is the same as in the parliamentary system."
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"The Supreme Court and others have long since held that on the
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question of who sits in Congress, who doesn't sit in Congress,
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what goes on between the President and Congress, the House and
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the Senate, the Vice President sitting as the President of the
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U.S. Senate -- all those things are not subject to being
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challenged in a lawsuit in the courts."
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"So if in fact there is the prorogue power, the weird thing is
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that you won't be able to petition any court to interfere."
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BUT -- "There is a thing in parliamentary law: When a
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legislature, and presumably a Congress, when they go into session
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without the authority of [the chief executive], there's a name
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for that: it's called a Rump Parliament -- which means they have
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questionable validity. One historical example was in 1946, at the
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close of [World War II], in Italy. They were called a 'Rump
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Parliament.' The King (I think King Emmanuel) had fled. In other
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words, a number of the House of Savoy had fled the country. So
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there wasn't a king to put them into session. So they called that
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the 'Rump Parliament.' And I believe the same principle of
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parliamentary law would apply to our Congress. I know it applies
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to [Chicago's] City Council. I believe they had a situation
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several years ago where they had a rump session."
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"Can this Congress defy Clinton's perceived prorogue powers, go
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into session, defy him, and then later, their validity be
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questioned? (But I don't know that that validity can be
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questioned in court, as I said.)"
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"*But*, at that point, from a Constitutional standpoint, the
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Executive has the power to arrest them -- the word 'rump'
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presumes that it's illegal."
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According to Mr. Skolnick, a veteran of decades of court battles,
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"All these parliaments go under Roberts Rules of Order. So they
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have certain powers that are not otherwise spelled out in
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statutes and constitution -- regarding rump, regarding prorogue,
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regarding these little-known issues that are raised here."
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Skolnick underlined that there is a divided opinion amongst
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experts he has talked to. "That's the reaction I get," he told me.
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I asked Mr. Skolnick what would happen if Clinton were to call
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out the military and order Congress to be arrested.
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"I think the military would arrest *him*," was his reply.
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"Under the Military Code of Justice, the military officers have
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more power than the average citizen. They can't arrest Clinton
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when he has his President's hat on. But if generals and other
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lesser officers truly believe that their commander-in-chief has
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committed treason, under such high crimes they can arrest him.
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But not as President! They can arrest him as a commander-in-
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chief, under the military code."
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"I'm saying that we're facing possible sinister consequences."
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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I encourage distribution of "Conspiracy Nation."
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For information on how to receive the new Conspiracy Nation
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Newsletter, send an e-mail message to bigred@shout.net
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Want to know more about Whitewater, Oklahoma City bombing, etc?
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(1) telnet prairienet.org (2) logon as "visitor" (3) go citcom
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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See also: http://www.europa.com/~johnlf/cn.html
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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See also: ftp.shout.net pub/users/bigred
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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