Bipartisanship: A New Winning Issue

Dick Morris ^ | 10/8/2012 | Dick Morris

[blueunicorn6]

OK. We have the Democrats who want to steal other people’s money and kill babies until the population of the world is down to 30 million people. And, eventually, they’re going to have to kill older and older babies to reach that goal. How do you compromise with thieves and psychopaths?
Nope, the Democrats are my enemies. I want them to lose every election and disband their party. I used to be a Democrat. I grew up in a union household. I know my enemies and how they do business. A thief wants your money and a psychopath wants you and your family gone. What kind of compromise should we make? Just steal half my money and only kill half my family? They’ll eventually want all your money and all your family gone. They KNOW that they’re smarter than everybody else.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

It’s important to remember what existed, and what did not, as institutions in the time of the founding fathers.

To start with, while British political parties had been around since the 17th Century, the US only had factions by the time of the constitution, so there is no mention of parties in the document. It can be argued even today that political parties have no constitutional authority, but they also have no direct constitutional restrictions of their activities outside of those that apply to everyone else.

Though they had the offices of Sheriff, Justice, Constable, Marshals, Night Watch and Conservators of the Peace, law enforcement was very fragmented, and citizens were expected to pitch in when a posse or the militia was needed. The big exclusion was the use of the military in police actions.

Highly regimented paramilitary and municipal police, as exist today, also lie generally outside of the constitution, excepting the Bill of Rights.

George Washington was America’s first great spymaster, controlling a large and effective network.

The founding fathers were also far from armchair philosophers about the harsh reality of war. The French and Indian War and Pontiac’s Rebellion were incredibly nasty, no quarters savagery at times.

[cripplecreek]

I think our founders would be rather shocked at today’s prisons and the things people are locked up for.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

The British in the 18th Century put a lot of prisoners on as many as 40 prison ships or gave them transportation. It gets stranger:

“Under English law, any Englishman could prosecute any crime. In practice, the prosecutor was usually the victim. It was up to him to file charges with the local magistrate, present evidence to the grand jury, and, if the grand jury found a true bill, provide evidence for the trial. If the victim of a crime won his case, the criminal was most often hanged or transported.

“Offenses fell into three categories according to their possible punishments: minor offenses, clergyable felonies, and non-clergyable felonies. Minor offenses such as petty larceny-theft of goods worth less than a shilling-were typically punished with punishments designed largely to shame the offender, such as public whipping or exposure in the stocks.

“The distinction between the second and third categories was whether or not offenders could claim benefit of clergy. Benefit of clergy originated as a legal rule permitting clerics charged with capital offenses to have their cases transferred to a church court, which did not impose capital punishment.

“By the 18th century, the application of the rule had changed in two important ways: The definition of clergy had been broadened to include anyone who could read (and, after 1706, any defendant whether or not he could read), and the church courts had lost their role in dealing with serious crimes. The result in many cases was that a defendant convicted of a capital felony could plead his clergy, be branded on the thumb, and be sent home.

“Many felons did not bring enough return to pay the merchant’s cost of transportation. The result was that felons who had been sentenced to transportation but whom nobody was willing to transport accumulated in jails intended as temporary holding places. After 1718, merchants were paid three shillings a head to transport.

“Still, the accumulation of prisoners waiting for transport created the idea of prisons themselves as punishment instead of just holding areas.”