Doug Kmiec, conservative law professor, endorses Obama

[Tesha]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120641048754261255.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

A Conservative Endorses Obama

Barack Obama's speech on race relations played well in many
circles and helped secure him the endorsement of New Mexico
Gov. Bill Richardson last Friday. On Sunday, Mr. Obama was
also endorsed by a lesser-known but more surprising figure --
a constitutional law professor who headed the Office of Legal
Counsel for both Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Doug Kmiec is a respected professor at Pepperdine Law School,
where Ken Starr serves as dean. He certainly hasn't shown much
previous inclination towards political apostasy -- earlier
this month he was still serving as co-chair of the Mitt Romney
campaign's Committee on the Courts and the Constitution.



Mr. Kmiec made his endorsement known in a blog posting on Slate.com
so he clearly wasn't looking for too big a splash. But while he is
unlikely to be joined by a posse of other Reaganites, his reasoning
deserves some attention.

<more>

The original SLATE posting:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/convictions/archive/2008/03/23/endorsing-obama.aspx

Endorsing Obama

Today I endorse Barack Obama for president of the United States.
I believe him to be a person of integrity, intelligence, and genuine
good will. I take him at his word that he wants to move the nation
beyond its religious and racial divides and that he wants to return
the United States to that company of nations committed to human
rights. I do not know if his earlier life experience is sufficient
for the challenges of the presidency that lie ahead. I doubt we know
this about any of the men or women we might select. It likely depends
upon the serendipity of the events that cannot be foreseen. I do have
confidence that the senator will cast his net widely in search of men
and women of diverse, open-minded views and of superior intellectual
qualities to assist him in the wide range of responsibilities that he
must superintend.

This endorsement may be of little note or consequence, except perhaps
that it comes from an unlikely source: namely, a former constitutional
legal counsel to two Republican presidents. The endorsement will likely
supply no strategic advantage equivalent to that represented by the very
helpful accolades the senator has received from many of high stature
and accomplishment, including most recently, from Gov. Bill Richardson.
Nevertheless, it is important to be said publicly in a public forum in
order that it be understood. It is not arrived at without careful
thought and some difficulty.

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[Window]

1. K/R.

:kick:

[crispini]

2. .

:kick:

[Faryn Balyncd]

3. Kmiec & Bruce Fein expose the story the MSM ignores: "The GOP has ABANDONED constitutional values."

Constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein, once part of Ronald Reagan's Dept. of Justice, not only supported the 2006 Democratic congressional victory, but has been vigorously advocating impeachment, and was the prime mover among the dissident traditional conservatives and libertarians who founded the 10 point American Freedom Agenda:

The 10-point American Freedom Agenda would work to restore the roles of Congress and the federal judiciary to prevent such abuses of power and protect against injustices that are the signature of civilized nations. In particular, the American Freedom Agenda would:


* Prohibit military commissions whose verdicts are suspect except in places of active hostilities where a battlefield tribunal is necessary to obtain fresh testimony or to prevent anarchy;
* Prohibit the use of secret evidence or evidence obtained by torture or coercion in military or civilian tribunals;
* Prohibit the detention of American citizens as unlawful enemy combatants without proof of criminal activity on the President’s say-so;
* Restore habeas corpus for alleged alien enemy combatants, i.e., non-citizens who have allegedly participated in active hostilities against the United States, to protect the innocent;
* Prohibit the National Security Agency from intercepting phone conversations or emails or breaking and entering homes on the President’s say-so in violation of federal law;
* Empower the House of Representatives and the Senate collectively to challenge in the Supreme Court the constitutionality of signing statements that declare the intent of the President to disregard duly enacted provisions of bills he has signed into law because he maintains they are unconstitutional;
* Prohibit the executive from invoking the state secrets privilege to deny justice to victims of constitutional violations perpetrated by government officers or agents; and, establish legislative-executive committees in the House and Senate to adjudicate the withholding of information from Congress based on executive privilege that obstructs oversight and government in the sunshine;
* Prohibit the President from kidnapping, detaining, and torturing persons abroad in collaboration with foreign governments;
* Amend the Espionage Act to permit journalists to report on classified national security matters without fear of prosecution; and;
* Prohibit the listing of individuals or organizations with a presence in the United States as global terrorists or global terrorist organizations based on secret evidence.

While the MSM totally ignores this story, of the GOP 2008 candidates, only Ron Paul endorsed these American values, while other GOP contenders for the most part pandered to the Jack Bauer vote.

Meanwhile, every single democratic contender either endorsed or stated agreement in principle with the parallel 10 point American Freedom Campaign, spearheaded by Naomi Wolf and others.

(The American Freedom Campaign and the American Freedom Agenda are parallel organizations of both conservatives & liberals who support our common values of civil liberties, constitutional governance, and humane treatment of all, including prisoners of war and suspected terrorists. One organization was founded by libertarian conservatives who have in the past been primarily Republican, one by liberals.)

The MSM, meanwhile, gives the right wing, authoritarians now calling the shots in the "conservative movement" a free pass --------- the MSM, day in and day out, lets GOP propagandists get away with the preposterous claim that the "conservative" GOP "stands for strict constructionist constitutional principles."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The only "conservatives" who still stand for the US Constitution are NOT to be found in the GOP, or in the "unitary executive" contortionists in the Federalist Society.......

To the contrary, the only conservatives that still support our beloved constitution and our shared American values have LEFT the GOP, and have joined with Democrats ---- the only party who retains respect for such principles as habeas corpus, for just war principles, and for democratic governance.





Professor Kmiec's defection is just the latest example of the story the "Mainstream Media" WILL NOT TOUCH.





:kick:




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:kick:

[Tesha]

4. Thanks! Here in New Hampshire, people's perception of the NeoCon government....

Thanks! Here in New Hampshire, people's perception of the
NeoCon government is starting to get so bad that even staunch
Republicans are starting to support the New Hampshire Civil
Liberties Union (the local ACLU affiliate) in some of their
initiatives.

Tesha

[Tesha]

5. A kick for the evening crowd... (NT)

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[Tesha]

7. I'm surprised this got so little attention. Should I have made it more "flamey"??? (NT)

[depakid]

8. I don't know- depends on what your thoughts were

I'm not sure that's an endorsement that many folks with traditional Democratic values would find productive.

[Tesha]

11. I heard the fellow on NPR. And my thoughts were...

I heard the fellow on NPR. And my thoughts were:

a) He sounded pretty sincere and as though he'd given this
a lot of thought.

b) If it's reached the point that even CONSERVATIVES can't
stand the way our country is headed, there *JUST MIGHT BE*
some hope. Not much, but at least a glimmer.

Tesha

[elleng]

9. Maybe.

I'm suspicious. They do 'moles,' right?

[QC]

10. It's been posted several times over the past week or two.

And, as someone said above, it's the sort of endorsement more likely to make most Democrats suspicious than happy.