Is it goodbye to Aussies?

think you might be stuck in your psychological development Jumpman

For close-in work, I've heard the best choice is a repeating-action, sawed-off shotgun with double-O buckshot for anything up to and including blowing holes in walls. Is that what they use in Australia on their gun-control laws?

As well as the various seperations of powers that create the checks and balances. Even if one man were to consolidate power as President, the States themselves would be a roadblock to any effective dictatorial control.

more turd wisdom from colosto meiji i love it and her too!

I thought the president could more or less become a dictator if he (or she) wanted in an emergency. Something about the constitution providing all the powers neccesary to preserve its existence.

oh hell no not in the united states. you are mistaken

The National Emergencies Act was passed in the 1970's to prevent abuse of the Powers of Emergency. It limits a declaration of National Emergency to 2 years and also has a Mechanism for Congress to override a Presidential Emergency Declaration

Right, so if congress didn't object then the president could become a dictator for two years then.

I love how my uncle, a veteran who served at Pearl Harbor, use to put it:

"I didn't fight for the flag. I fought for what it stands for."

If congress didn't object the president wouldn't be a dictator by definition.

Their ability to object over-rule and cut funding is a check on power.

There were always some limits on the emergency power but Brenda correctly points that Act makes them very clear and defined.

Well come on, dictators don't work on their own! The president can close everything down as long as he promises at the end of it there will be a constitutional government.

Not really, there are still limits to what can be done, even with a totally complicit Congress. And even IF a President were to truly seize power, thanks to the 4th Amendment and the Well Regulated State Militias, it could never truly be consolidated, Civil War would ensue, and The Aspiring Dictator would be faced with using nuclear weapons on his own country.

Quite a difference in a government doing what its told and a government choosing not to object.

The fact that there has never remotely been a dictator during the entire history of US Constitutional Government might be a testament to how well that portion of the system works.

In theory perhaps, but there are too many wildcards. It would be impossible to consolidate power. There would be elements in the federal Government, The Military, that would not go along. The fact that our government is so bloated and beareaucratic may be a blessing. There would be entire States that would rebel, governors would take control of National Guard units and State Police. In many parts of the country, the Fed is not looked upon too kindly as it is.

It's not our way. Born of revolution yes, but our way is to peacefully transform power, ensuring no one has too much power alone. Even after assisnations, there has always been an orderly sucession, and no president has tried to overstay his term of office forcefully. Our electoral system, whil far from flawless is for the nost part free of the violence that happens with regularity in many parts of the world. That's why it is impossible, in my opinion for there ever to be a dictator here, or despite Oliver Stone's entertaining paranoia, a Coup D' Etat.

True, also

Even the most famous abuses of presidential power

Jackson, Lincoln, and FDR -

have been pretty small-time compared to what actual Dictators do.

Yeah but we're talking extremes, Hitler (shit does that count as a Godwin?) was part of democracy at one point.

G'Day to All.

There has always been some hype or rumors that the Government will do something to prevent us Aussies from accessing the outside world. Truth is, they cannot control us as they believe they can, and their feeble attempts always blow away with the wind. This may be just another scare tactic such as when they tried to introduce the Smart-Card.

All in all, I believe this Firewall is for the their own in-house services to prevent these Politicians from being caught out with porn material on their computers as we so often see in the media.

I don't feel that this will be implemented to the general public as we don't really care for much of that crap anyway, but I do feel the schools and internal Governing bodies do require some protection from the temptations of such media.

These are just my personal views on this matter and should not be considered anything more.

Cheers.

Well I guess thats two of the major differences between America and Australia. You have people freely going around inciting hatred and violence towards gay people ,we dont. You have very high level of gun violence including regular massacres, we dont.
Hmmm something tells me that some control is needed.

I believe at some point in time when the rest of society has progressed and learnt from past mistakes and become more educated and less ignorant about certain things that people who try to take things backward because of their own bigotry and prejudice etc should be made to shut up. Its not stopping freedom of speech, its just stopping hatred, bigotry, prejudice, discrimination and destruction of and towards innocent people. Any sane person can see that.
How would Americans feel if some asshole started trying to take you back to the slave trade? Im pretty sure freedom of speech would not be welcome then.

A small , war ravaged, beaten down nation, whose poulation was demoralized, whose economy was stagnated and government that was weak. Totally differernt circumstances.

Actually I don't see those 3 as abusing their powers, but that's a discussion for another place.

Forget circumstances, I'm talking hypothetically. I'm not suggesting it's gonna happen tomorrow!

Even Hypothetically, I don't see it happening.

I was referring to

Jackson's forced relocating the Cherokee against a Supreme Court ruling in their favor

Lincoln's imprisonment of suspected southern collaborators without due process.

-and-

FDR's forced internment of US citizens of Japanese Ancestry.