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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 2002)
November 27, 2002 Page A4 O pinion Opinion articles do not necessarily reflect or represent the views o f USPS 959-680 Established 1970 A 4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., F F Portland, OR 97211 I E The Portland Observer d it o i -i n -C h i í f ,P u b l is h rx C ue I T I V I E m m i Michael Leighton D is r u ir r m s M 4 n a Mark Washington I) I I t ( T O I Paul Neufeldt Charles H. Washington A s s o c ia t e E d it o i Wynde Dyer o e * W K I T E K , PH O TO G R A PH ER David Plechl PosTMAsree: S e n d a d d re ss ch a n ge s to P o rtla n d O b s e rv e r P O B o x 3 1 3 7 , P o rtla n d , O R 9 7 2 0 8 __________ P e r io d ic a l P o s t a g e p a id In P o r t la n d , OR 1 S u b s c r i p t io n s a re $ 6 0 .0 0 p e r y e a r ___________ 5 0 3 -2 8 8 0 0 3 3 • FAX5 0 3 -2 8 8 0 0 1 5 • EMAIL: news@tnrtlandobserver.com subscriDtion@portlandobse ryer.wm ad$@eQrt!an(lQ{is£ryer The Portland Observer welcomes freelance submissions. Manuscripts and photographs should be clearly labeled and will be returned if accompanied by a self addressed envelope. All created design display ads become the sole property of the newspaper and cannot be used in other publications or personal usage without the written consent of the general manager, unless the client has purchased the composition of such ad. © 1996 THE PORTLAND OBSERVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, REPRODUCTION IN W H O LEOR IN PART W ITHOUT PERMISSION IS PROHIBITED. The Portland O bserver-Oregon's Oldest Multicultural Publication--is a member of the National Newspaper Association-Founded in 1885, and The National Advertising Repre sentative Amalgamated Publishers, Inc, New York, NY, and The West Coast Black Publishers Association • Serving Portland and Vancouver. Pke G l by The Portland Observer M ost A warded M inority ¿B blication by the C oast B lack P ublishers A ssociation FÔR * ^ 8 ® in acob G. H oknbekuek President B ush’s reaction to the Iraqi parliam ent’s rejection o f the newly enacted UN resolution autho rizing renew ed inspections in Iraq provides a fascinating insight into the direction in which our own na tion is headed. A ccording to the New York Tim es, President Bush said, “The Iraqi Parliam ent is nothing but a rubber stam p for Saddam Hussein. This g u y ’s a d ic ta tor, so w e’ll have to wait and see what he says.” But w a it a m inute! H a sn ’t it alw ays been P resi dent B ush’s posi tion that he — and he alone — decides w hether the U nited States goes to w ar against Iraq? Isn ’t it he who said that while he w ould like to have the sup port o f C ongress, he would make the ultim ate decision on w hether to go to w ar regardless o f w hat C ongress de cided? If p o sse ssin g the o m n ip o te n t pow er to decide w hether his nation goes to w ar is part o f w hat m akes Saddam H ussein a dictator, what does that say about President Bush, who claim s the exact same pow er as the Iraqi president? Is there really much difference in principle whether a dictatorial pow er is exercised by a self-appointed ruler or an elected H ©uses o f Dictators one? Isn’t the real point that the ru l ers o f the U nited States and Iraq ex ercise the same om nipotent and dic tatorial pow er to send their respec tive nations into w ar? It’s im portant to note that our Founders rejected the Bush-Saddam view that the pow er to declare w ar should be vested in the executive. Instead, w ith our C onstitution the Founders placed the pow er to declare o f am endm ents to our C onstitution by 3/4 o f the states. In fact, there have been 27 am endm ents to our C onstitution since its inception. C om pare that process o f co n stitu tional change to the one in Pakistan, which is ruled by another dictator, an army general who ousted the dem o cratically elected president and ap pointed him self ruler. He claim s the pow er to unilaterally amend the Paki s ta n i c o n s titu tio n w henever he w ants in order to provide him self w ith m ore power. President Bush, for his part, do esn ’t go that far but he does effec tively hold that he has the pow er to ignore c o n s titu tio n a l r e straints that he feels are either out-of-date or that have been regu larly violated, such as the d ecla ra tio n -o f-w a r provision, thereby enabling him to circum vent the am endm ent process provided in the C onstitution itself. President Bush should exercise caution before hastily criticizing the om nipotent pow ers o f foreign dic ta tors. A fter all, people ju st m ight start asking som e uncom fortable ques tions about the pow ers that h e’s ex ercising and the m ethod by w hich he is usurping them. < If possessing the omnipotent power to decide whether his nation goes to war is part of what makes Saddam Hussein a dictator, what does that say about President Bush, who claims the exact same power. 1 w ar in the legislative branch o f the governm ent — the C ongress. Thus the suprem e law o f the land — the law that controls the actions o f public officials — prohibits the president from w aging w ar w ithout an express declaration o f w ar from C ongress. And it also prohibits the C ongress from delegating its pow er to declare w ar to the president. The Founders also provided a pro cess by w hich the C onstitution could Jacob Hornberger is founder and be changed w henever the people con cluded that a change was needed. president o f The Future o f Freedom That process involves the approval Foundation in Fairfax, Va. Conservative Judge Hostile to Civil Rights T he H ighest S tandard of J ournalism and P ublishing ' y J The Portland Observer 2001-2002 The U.S. Senate last week approved the controversial nomination of the right wing extremist Judge Dennis W. Shedd to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the second highest court in the nation. The N A A CP strongly opposed Judge Shedd’s con firmation. The vote by the full Senate came after Senate Judiciary Committee, us ing a highly unusual voting maneuver last week, permitted the nomination to advance by voice vote. The Senate passed the nomination in a 55-to-44 vote, despite Judge Shedd’s record of organizations had strongly op posed the nomination o f Judge Shedd because of our concerns that his abiding hostility to civil rights as reflected in his judicial record would further radicalize an already extreme, right wing. Fourth Circuit Court o f Appeals. Judge Shedd’s confirmation means that he may serve on the Fourtk Circuit, which has the greatest num ber of African Americans living within its boundaries than any other U.S. circuit court in the country, for life. system atically precluding A frican Americans, women and the disabled from arguing their employment discrimi nation cases before a jury. During Judge Shedd’s 11 years on the federal district court in South Caro lina, he dismissed in whole or in part every employment discrimination case, with the exception of one case where the employer called an African Ameri can women a “N-.” Yet even in that case, Judge Shedd said it was an “extremely close question” whether or not to grant dismissal. The NAACP and other civil rights EDITORIALS for the Portland Observer The power to quit smoking is within your reach. Do you have an opinion on current events that hasn’t been discussed In other newspapers? If so, the Portland Observer editorial staff would like to know. Please fill our this form and attach a brief description of your editorial so we can contact you. Title, Author & Outline of Editorial: N a m e :________________________________________________ P h o n e : _____________________________________1 ----------------- Send your response to: The Portland Observer Editorial Staff, 4747 NE MLK Jr. Blvd., Portland, Or. 972 11 or fax 5 0 3 -2 88 -0 0 15 . Submissions can be made by emailing news@portlandobserver.com Subscribe’ „. „ ^Jortlanb ©baeruer We know how hard it is to quit smoking and we know what y works. Let us give you a helping hand. Call us today. 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