Wednesday, January 24

:: And Another Thing...

I'm still on a tear about the right to privacy, aka "the right to be let alone." You know, the whole "the word privacy doesn't appear in the Constitution" schtick. Well, for those who didn't see the trap that argument was setting up (courtesy of Robert Bork), here comes the "its an invented right / the word doesn't appear in the Constitution" argument, part II.

GONZALES: There is no express grant of habeas in the Constitution. There is a prohibition against taking it away. But it's never been the case, and I'm not a Supreme --

SPECTER: Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. The constitution says you can't take it away, except in the case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn't that mean you have the right of habeas corpus, unless there is an invasion or rebellion?

GONZALES: I meant by that comment, the Constitution doesn't say, "Every individual in the United States or every citizen is hereby granted or assured the right to habeas." It doesn't say that. It simply says the right of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except by --

SPECTER: You may be treading on your interdiction and violating common sense, Mr. Attorney General.

And so on. The term "separation of church and state" doesn't appear, either.

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