LINCOLN VERSUS THE CONSTITUTION By Dennis Raitt The potentate of stupiditude has struck again! In his column in the Tallahassee Democrat of May 7th, Gerald Ensley said: "There are some things I just don�t understand. It seems curious that the same people who defend the Confederacy are also the first to defend the U.S. Constitution, which the Confederacy attempted to destroy." Well, I�m here to help with his understanding! After Lincoln precipitated the firing on Fort Sumter, he assumed dictatorial powers. He first bypassed his constitutional duty to call Congress in times of emergency. He calls out 75,000 troops for the invasion of the South with total disregard that it is the duty of Congress to make such a decision according to Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. Why didn�t Lincoln follow the Constitution and call out the Congress? Why did he on, April 15, 1861, call Congress to meet almost three months later in July? And then only after he had driven the nation into a headlong war? Obviously, he didn�t want Congress involved. Then he orders the blockade of Southern ports, an act of war, requiring Congressional resolution. On April 21, he orders the navy to buy five warships, an appropriation act requiring Congressional approval. On April 27, he suspended the privilege of habeas corpus, nullifying every civil liberty of every citizen. Soon thereafter he started shutting down newspapers that were not supportive of the war. When Congress met in July, it rubber stamped Lincoln�s wishes with the realization that any expression of doubt about all these extraconstitutional acts would have put one in danger of being arrested and tried for treason against Lincoln. On the night of September 12, Lincoln had the whole Maryland Legislature arrested and locked up in prison at Ft. McHenry, afraid that there were Southern sympathizers. In London, the Saturday Review noted, "It was as perfect act of despotism as can be conceived. It was a coup d�etat in every essential feature." In his reign of terror he shut down hundreds of newspapers: The Chicago Times, the Journal of Commerce (N.Y.), the Morning News (N.Y.), New York World, the Philadelphia Evening Journal, the Christian Observer, the Republican Watchman (Pa.), the Missourian, the Herald, the Democrat (N.H.), the New York Herald, etc. Public discussion, free speech, and the free press were strangled. Lincoln was thus the imperial magistrate, with full despotic powers. Lincoln told Congress that he had the right to suspend the Constitution in order to save it. The Supreme Court made a valiant effort to check this reign of tyranny under Chief Justice Roger Taney over the writ of habeas corpus, probably the most important provision of the Bill of Rights. Lincoln not only ignored the Supreme Court�s ruling, but then writes an order for the arrest of the Chief Justice, who was then in his eighties. Lincoln thus put himself above Congress, above the Supreme Court, and above the Constitution. He was an absolute ruler, like the tyrants of Rome, to which Taney said: "And if the President of the United States may suspend the writ, then the Constitution...has conferred upon him more regal and absolute power of liberty of the citizen than the people of England have thought it safe to entrust to the crown." In one of his strangest acts of contempt of the Constitution, he created the state of West Virginia, in contravention of Article 4, Section 3, which required the approval of the sovereign state of Virginia. It seems curious that the same people who defend the federal government�s quest to destroy the Constitution are the same ones who disparage the South� s right to form a new government. I guess no one ever said you had to be educated to be a columnist for the Tallahassee Democrat. Dr. Dennis Raitt Columnist for www.yourvillage.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
