CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Call For A Military Coup

I never thought it would happen here.

Martin Lewis, the British-born Hollywood-based humorist, writer, producer, TV and radio host, and political extremist, calls upon the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to arrest the president of the United States:

General Pace - you have the power to fulfill your responsibility to protect the troops under your command. Indeed you have an obligation to do so.

You can relieve the President of his command.

Not of his Presidency. But of his military role as Commander-In-Chief. ...

In addition to relieving him of his command as Commander-In-Chief, you also have authority to place the President under MILITARY arrest.

Effectively, this lefty loon is advocating a military coup against the elected government of the United States. Too bad he is ignorant of, or chooses to ignore the Constitution.

If Lewis has such an advanced case of Bush derangement syndrome, he should consider returning to his British homeland. Or, since Lewis would prefer a General for a leader, he could try living in Pakistan.

At Captain's Quarters, Ed Morrissey has more, posting that Lewis wants to turn America into a banana republic, run by military strongmen.

Lewis could also try living and working in one of those countries.

Avoiding The Constitution

California's voters' recent tendency to vote overwhelmingly Democratic in presidential elections results in the presidential nominees practically ignoring the state. Being ignored causes the state's legislators to feel slighted. Like a spoiled child demanding attention, the lawmakers are trying to change the Electoral College so that presidential campaigns must engage in some "serious sucking up" to California's powerbrokers.

To soothe their hurt feelings, and ensure they are no longer ignored by presidential nominees, the legislature passed a law designed to make an end run around the U.S. Constitution and elect presidents by popular vote.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the legislation requires that California's electoral votes go to the nominee who gets the most votes nationwide — not the most votes in California.

The legislation AB 2948 is part of the Campaign for the National Popular Vote's "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote."

The Group's website explains the Constitutional end run:

A federal constitutional amendment (requiring two-thirds of Congress and 38 states) is not required to change the state laws that currently specify use of the winner-take-all rule. Nationwide popular election of the President can be implemented if the states join together to pass identical state laws awarding all of their electoral votes to the presidential candidate receiving the most popular votes in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The proposed state legislation would only come into effect only when it has been enacted, in identical form, by enough states to elect a President—that is, by states possessing a majority (270) of the 538 electoral votes.

The U.S. Constitution establishes a legal vehicle for the proposed coordinated state action, namely the “interstate compact.” Examples of existing interstate compacts include the Colorado River Compact (which divides water among seven western states) and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (a two-state compact). Interstate compacts are enacted by states in the same way they enact ordinary legislation. It is settled constitutional law [that] an interstate compact is [a] legally enforceable contractual obligation among the states belonging to the compact and all of their officials.

Supporters of this proposal to amend the Constitution without actually amending it hope that enough other states pass similar laws to make up a majority of the Electoral College votes. That could be as few as 11 states. Similar legislation is pending in five states: New York, Illinois, Missouri, Colorado and Louisiana.

Growing up as a rural country bumpkin, I appreciate the protection the Electoral College offers the less populous rural states, keeping power from being even more heavily concentrated in the more urbanized states.

The Electoral College keeps small states from being ignored. If presidents were elected by direct vote, a candidate would only have to focus his campaign on the dense population centers, such as New York City, Boston and Philadelphia, to win an election. The "national" campaign could take positions that benefit the population centers and harm those in the rural areas.

Governor Schwarzenegger has not taken a position on the bill. I urge the Governor to veto it. If it is indeed a good idea to elect presidents by popular vote, let's debate the issue and amend the Constituition instead of doing an end run around it.

Judge Limits Searches Of Convention Protestors

Marc at Cranial Cavity is all over U.S. District Judge Sweet's decision preventing New York City Police searching demonstrators’ bags outside the Republican National Convention.

In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union Judge Sweet prohibited the New York Police from searching the bags of all demonstrators at the Republican Conventiion:

The plaintiffs’ claim for injunctive relief with respect to the bag search policy is granted, and the NYPD is hereby enjoined from searching the bags of all demonstrators without individualized suspicion at particular demonstrations without the showing of both a specific threat to public safety and an indication of how blanket searches could reduce that threat. Less intrusive searches, such as those involving magnetometers, do not fall within the scope of the injunction.

Judge Sweet's 78-page decision is available here in PDF format.

The ACLU couldn't be happier.

Marc is not happy, the cops are mad , the New York Daily News is ballistic, and New York Mayor Bloomberg promises an appeal.