Ted Rall - Saturday July 6, 2002 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

It's the oldest trick in the book: slip an obviously unconstitutional Bill through congress and hope it remains law long enough to survive a court challenge. (Man: While some nancy-boy, mamby-pamby liberals decry slavery, I refuse to abandon a practice that's part of American culture.) A popular variant is an intentionally ridiculous compromise, as seen in the current Republican plan to extend the suspicion of the estate tax beyond 10 years. (Woman: But you suggested the 10-year limit so Democrats would go along with you!) (Man 2: Yeah, but it makes no sense for a death tax to kick in during year 11!) Now there's a new wrinkle in the annals of underhandedness: the president and Congress openly encourage people to disobey the law. (George Bush: Who cares what the courts say? Kids need to respect their country by reciting an unconstitutional oath that perverts its basic values.) Why not get laws passed after open debate, in a straightforward way, with the support of the courts? (Man 3: The founding fathers conceived a brilliant system of balances between the execrable, illegitimate and injudicious branches of government... now we're stuck with it.)

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