Franken reads 4th Amendment to Justice Department official

Al Franken ROCKS.

Senator Franken is certainly doing a good job representing this constituents viewpoint. We’ve got a keeper in Al Franken.

I love Al Franken!

We need many more just like him, and so many others need to relinquish their posts, based upon the laws they paseed not passing constitutional muster.

Ask the HARD questions of the criminal suplicants who are destroying the only laws that provide for individuality and freedom found in our great constitution.

Sure nobody followed it so close YET…but if we did, would it not be a great society filled with compassion and justice and fairness?

Something to be desired, no?

Finally, someone is getting the point. It is quite obvious that someone needs to read the Constitution and selected Amendments to the DOJ and FBI along with a few other law enforcement agencies. I celebrate the MN Senator actions and hope that he keeps it up until they get it.

They sure took long enough to let him have a seat.

Thank you, Al Franken, for speaking for people and their rights.

I cannot seem to fathom why the hard-line police state stance is SO entrenched into the GOP? Why do they preach small government and then in the same breath wish to insure greater ease of imprisoning American citizens? Why are they so opposed to health care reform? It seems anything that would empower police and pad the pockets of corporations is the only rallying cry for the GOP. I do not consider myself a dem or pub, but despite their propensity for massive spending, and least the Dems seem SOMEWHAT interested in preserving some of our rights. All government scares me now, much more than terrorism ever could. Our political terrorists in America seem hell bent on enslaving everyone. The “Drug War” the “War on Terror.” Two crusades seemingly concocted to erode our rights entirely. The 9/11 “Truthers” certainly don’t look so “out there” any more.

Hallelujah! It’s about time someone took up the post of protecting the rights of the US citizen. Obviously something we foolishly have left up to Congress in the past. Thank you Al.

I respect and trust the judgment of President Obama on everything except Israel. Leave Israel alone and do what ever is necessary with everything else.

Haha! Can’t argue with the Written word of the Constitution itself! Al Franken absolutely Rocks! We need more (D) Senators to follow his lead and cut through all of the unmitigated Crap that gets flung from the right.

Thanks Sen. Al

Thanks AL! Keep holding the Spirit and the Letter of the law for all to see. Remind everyone what our Constitution says, because honestly most Americans don’t know it very well outside of free speech and the right to bear arms. Our forefathers paid for our Civil Liberties with Blood and their Lives. For What? So that “Lawyers” can posture that they are protecting us when they are depriving us of our rights? Those who wish to quibble with the Constitution defer to other branches of Government instead of to the very people that allow themselves to be governed.

Senator Franken rightly points out that the Constitution very explicitly states what is expected of all 3 branches of government. Those who wish to weaken the Constitution subvert it at every turn and then say it is “out of date”. No, it isn’t. There are people (read: David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division) in our Government that refuse to follow or actually be subjected to the very rules of the document they have sworn to uphold. Senator Franken is doing his Job of representing the peoples’ right to civil liberties and very courageously. Other “elements” of the government are actively working to steal our liberties away in the name of “Protection”. The arm of oppression always disguises itself as “being in our best interests” when actually it is diametrically opposed.

One does have to admit that it -is- surreal that a comedian knows the US Constitution better than an assistant attorney general of the US. But then the Patriot Act is surreal, too.

Its about time somebody took the government to task on the 4th Amendment. If the government has knowledge of terrorist activity, then it should have absolutely no problem in receiving a warrant for the wiretap.

THIS is the type activity (Big Brother watching and overreaching governmental powers) that our Founding Fathers had in mind when they included the 4th Amendment in the Constitution.

The stripping of our rights is also another thing that I’m sure al Qaeda is proud of, in addition to trying to bankrupt us via the war costs.

I love it. Franken observes wryly that most Americans aren’t lawyers and read the “pretty explicit” language of the 4th Amendment. So funny how Kris got flustered because he knew there was no way out.

Amen!

So it’s not judicial activism to eliminate the 4th Amendment protections, but to entirely misinterpret the 2nd Amendment, is a mark of judicial neutrality. Thanks for showing some balls, Al, now if only Obama and all the other Dems would join you and stop worrying about appearing ’soft on crime’ or in favor of the fabrication of judical activism…which Obama has continued to perpetuate. As a former Harvard Law Review editor, that is truly a sad pathetic state of affairs for our judiciary. It’s time for someone to say that judicial ‘neutrality’ is a code word for conservative ideology–nothing more. That’s why since the Warren court, individual rights have continued to be repealed, and our prison rate has skyrocketed, and courts have okayed faith based initiatives, since the whole separation of church and state thing shouldn’t be subject to common sense analysis either. If only we had an actual democracy and judges were actually independent. (Most are former prosecutors, like most trial judges, meaning the presumption of innocence and most other sacred laws protecting the accused are not really practiced by dickwad judges who obviously presume a client’s guilt, no matter what evidence exists to, not only cast doubt upon, but to demonstrate, the accused’s innocence. We need to fine and imprison judges for that…instead they still have the power to do that to lawyers who call out their bigotry, mistreatment, and failure to follow the law.

Al is such a magnificent poser. Gotta love that guy.

Oh, I hope Al’s staff is printing these comments for him so he knows how proud we are!

“…the law’s requirements that the person be described, though not named…”
So if a person is simply described as “an arab” then any arab can be wiretapped?
Interesting twist to the Constitution. So flexible. You can even ignore chunks of it, like
“…a well ordered militia…” That is simply superfluous. I love it. I don’t know why so
many people in government try to subvert it.

let’s hope Al and his federal colleagues don’t forget the 9th and 10th amendments either – goose, gander, sauce and all…

lmfao… Franken is such a joke. Are you all seriously trying to make me believe that the democrat party is now the party of strict interpretation of the constitution? Seriously? Where’s the “nuance” the “penumbra”, the “living breathing document” you hippies are always railing about.

Go for a walk, posers.

I agree, “Go Al Franken!” Well done. Keep fighting for our rights under the Constitution.

Please also press for expanding the Justice Departments Torture Probe to include all that Conspired To Torture (which is a Federal Crime with a 20 yrs to life penalty).

Prosecuting just the CIA Agents that followed the orders of Bush and Cheney’s Torture Co-Conspirators will accomplish almost nothing in protecting we voters against right wing extremists. The higher ups caused the Torture and they must pay for it. The extremists who advocate torture of captives may very well eventually use it against Americans.

Many of our Congressional Democrats are reluctant to even discuss the word Torture in public and are refusing to investigate and prosecute even the obvious torture crimes of Bush and Cheney. We voters will have to push them hard to get them to call for torture prosecution.

Get out in the streets in front of your Congressional Representative’s office and raise hell. Start your own “prosecution” protest group.

KEEP ASKING ALL POLITICIANS AT ALL PUBLIC EVENTS

“WHY DO YOU SUPPORT TORTURE?”
If they aren’t actively calling for enforcement of our Federal Torture Laws, They DO Support Torture and a dual standard of Justice.

SIGN THE PETITIONS
Demanding
prosecution for all those leaders
in Bush’s Administration that
Conspired to Torture at ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

http://ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

Only Prosecution Stops Torture, Abuse of Power, our Constitution & Rule Of Law

As every English teacher can tell you (retirees like me included), citing primary sources is an absolute requirement. A crisp new copy held up by the newest of our senators? Priceless.

Now, the question is: who is going to read the 10th Amendment to Franken, Reid, Pelosi, and Obama and stop their un-Constitutional power grab over the private sector?

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Since the 9th Amendment was mentioned above but not cited, here is the text:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

The entire Constitution and Bill of Rights can be found here:

http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/freedom/constitution/text.html

The journalist Ms. Eviatar mis-represented. “Surreal” was mentioned in regards to Senator Frankin’s question and hence his thought process.
Minnesota and it’s corrupt election officials deserve Sen. Frankin but not the rest of the country.
This is the same dogmetic thinking that systematically stripped our national intelligence agencies of their abilities to effectively detect compelling, action-able information and prevent 9/11. But with few high profile targets what does Minnesota care?

I think they should make elected officials read and understand ALL the Constitution. It’s great Al pointed out the 4th Amendment being trampled on, but Congress, the President and the Supreme Court all seem to thumb their collective noses to the Constitution, regularly. It’s a great start but we need more Constitution-conscious lawmakers, like Ron Paul, only true example I can think of right now.

He’s good enough, he’s smart enough, and darn it, I like him!