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Barr Code blog on hiatus
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Barr Code blog is on hiatus. Bob Barr has formed an exploratory committee to gauge voter interest in his presidential candidacy as a Libertarian.
Read earlier Barr Code entries
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Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For those who still believe the current Bush Administration respects the Fourth Amendment, they might have an interest in reading a recently-released Department of Justice Memo from 2003 that provides legal opinion that torture of detainees in US custody is permissible unless it causes “death, organ failure or permanent damage.”
While this “torture memo” does not deal directly with the broader issue regarding whether President Bush is bound by the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures when conducting warrantless surveillance of US citizens on domestic soil, a footnote in the document refers to another — still classified — memo written also by Department of Justice lawyers in 2001. That footnote reveals that at least at the time it was written in late 2001, the Administration believed the president was not bound by the Fourth Amendment in conducting warrantless surveillance within the United States, so long as the chief executive believed he was doing so for national security reasons as “commander-in-chief.”
While more recently, government lawyers have indicated this dismissive view of the Fourth Amendment’s protections is no longer “operative,” the fact that Justice Department lawyers had concluded the Fourth Amendment’s guarantees against warrantless searches and seizures can be ignored at will by a president, is truly breath-taking in its scope and effect. And even the more recent statements by government lawyers seeming to disavow the 2001 position are unclear.
Home school ruling should strike fear
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Home schooling is an important component of Georgia’s educational framework. Many thousands of families across the state school some 40,000 children in their homes. It is a system that continues to work well for Georgia parents so inclined.
From my own experience as a member of Congress who personally reviewed hundreds of applications for admission to our country’s military academies, I can attest to the fact that high school seniors who had been home schooled for all or part of their academic careers competed favorably in all aspects of academics with students who attended public or private schools. Georgia is not alone in recognizing the value of home schooling; virtually all other states do as well.
However, that vital system of home schooling is now threatened. Georgia parents, legislators and others who care about fairness and choice in education, and who value parental rights and individual freedom, should take note and take steps to ensure that a recent court decision in California does not take hold in our state.
While those of us east of the Mississippi, particularly here in the South, are aware that California courts generally render decisions favoring maximized government control and minimized individual liberty, a recent appeals court in that state is breathtaking in its disdain for historic notions of individual and family freedom.
The California Court of Appeals has effectively outlawed home schooling, and the ripple effects of this judicial tsunami may be felt even here in the Peach State.
The facts underlying the California case did not even relate directly to the institution of home schooling, but rather involved alleged abuse and neglect. Notwithstanding this, the decision took an unexpected turn when the majority ruled that every child in the state must be enrolled in and attend full time either a public or accredited private school, where they are to be taught only by state-certified teachers. Only parents who are state certified could home school their children.
The intent of the California jurists to completely abolish home schooling could not have been clearer: “Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children.” To ensure the message was not misunderstood, the court held that violators could be prosecuted and jailed. With the stroke of a judicial pen, home schooling parents in California became common criminals.
In Orwellian language, this decision sends a clear message that children are to be considered obedient wards of the state. Parents who might disagree with the state-developed and state-sponsored curriculum or teaching methods are slap out of luck. Home schooling is simply not an option.
The California court decision not only bows to longstanding cries from teachers unions that home schooling undermines their role, but also wholly disregards the unique needs and wants of both parents and students who choose to home school. For many children, home schooling is the only viable alternative to a system that is not effective in light of their specific needs and desires. Home schooling also offers a constructive way of keeping children from becoming dropouts, by promoting tailored curricula to help students excel and want to learn —- traits glaringly lacking in much of the public school population.
Even more troubling is the risk this decision poses to home schooling nationwide. California, as the nation’s most populous state, unfortunately serves in many respects as a model to other parts of the nation. The huge number of textbooks used by California’s public schools, for example, often prompts publishers to tailor the content of their publications to that state’s desires.
Clearly also, the California court decision raises the truly dangerous possibility that shortsighted courts in other parts of the country will rush to act in a similar fashion. There is the harrowing specter of dissolving entirely a family’s right to control education.
Rather than calmly waiting for the effects of the California court’s opinion to be felt here, Georgia legislators and other state leaders should be speaking loudly and clearly against this destructive decision. They should already be reviewing our laws as they relate to home schooling —- to strengthen them against the onslaught that has now been empowered by the California Court of Appeals.
A de facto ‘Central Bank of the United States’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When the Federal Reserve Bank (“The Fed”) was set up nearly a century ago, it was not and was not intended to be a “Central Bank of the United States,” in the sense that many other countries, in Europe and elsewhere, have one, central bank to implement government policy and directly regulate the economy. I have noted, however, in recent articles describing how the Fed has stepped in to “save” us from the “mortgage crisis” that the Fed is more and more referred to simply as the “central bank.”
Interesting. And, of course as we all know, none of us as mere citizens have any say whatsoever in what the Fed does or who runs it. The “Governors” of the Fed are appointed, as is the Chairman; none are elected by or accountable to the people. The Fed is greatly increasing its power not just over banks and interest rates, but investment houses, securities firms, and all manner of financial entities; and not a single voter elected any of its members, and there is absolutely no way we can change them or the course they chart, if we wanted to.
Real ID Act heroes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Only three states — Maine, New Hampshire and South Carolina — continue to hold out against the pressure and threats by the federal government as it tries to force 100% of the states to comply with the Real ID Act. These three states are true heroes.
The Real ID Act for the first time in our history establishes a national identification card, by forcing the states to create and issue only driver’s license meeting precise federal standards, and linking all state databases together for the federal government to access. A number of states have objected to the cost and inconvenience posed by the program (every person wishing to have a driver’s license under the Real ID Act would have to apply for a new one), and to the privacy-invasive nature of the process; but only these three states have refused to comply or to beg the federal government for an extension.
The Department of Homeland Security is threatening that no citizen of any state refusing to comply or which has not begged for extra time, will be able to use their current driver’s license for any “federal purpose,” such as airport security or access to a federal courthouse or Social Security or Veterans Affairs office.
At least there are governors in three states (plus Montana, whose governor refused to comply, but who was granted an extension anyway), who still possess backbone and an understanding of federalism. They deserve our support.
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Should you not be perfectly barren and fully accursed, “Dusty,” your children are to be pitied. A woman voicing support for a treasonous faction of homosexual draft-dodgers’ sending good men and women to die killing innocents on... read the full comment by Will Jones | Comment on Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying Read Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying
Will Jones@4:19 Thomas Jefferson would not have had anything to do with the likes of you. He had an extraordinary mind whereas you….oh nevermind. I don’t read books by religious fanatics or bigoted blowhards. It is a waste of... read the full comment by Dusty | Comment on Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying Read Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying
Copyleft, I did answer that question, you’re just not getting it. The president is obeying the law. He has NOT brought anyone to TRIAL without obeying their 4th amendment rights. Since he is not the attorney general, he never would anyways.... read the full comment by Gunnar | Comment on Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying Read Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying
Hey Copyleft, Your buddy David Duke is here agreeing with you. Two of a kind!!... read the full comment by Dusty | Comment on Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying Read Documents reveal sweep of Bush doctrine on domestic spying