American Conservative Union: WHO are they? Why are they attacking presidential abuses?

am i in an alternate universe?

i am adding an element to this diary as the discussion on the press conference by the American Conservative Union is discussed in blubryeyes diary here

as the American Conservative Union today absolutely excoriated the bush administration for abuses of our civil liberties and constitution as well as blaming congress for not following IT'S constitutional duty to provide checks on that powergrab, i wanted to know more about this organization.

i am stunned at what i found here at their site!  these are not the articles i expected - nor was that press conference today something i ever thought i would hear.  so, the question arises, who ARE these conservative leaders and what do they want?  

what gives me hope in reading this website and watching the presser today is that these conservatives appear to want what WE want!  a restoral of habeus corpus, restoration of our bill of rights, checks and balances in government, war by following the CONSTITUTION instead of executive whim, AND oversight and balance between the branches of government!

[original diary here]

bob barr is speaking right now on cspan2 regarding the abuses of patriot act and national security letters.  he is saying we cannot wait for 30 years for the courts to rule, we cannot wait for another election cycle to restore the bill of rights - we have to do it every day in everything we do!  

the chairman spoke of the unique crisis in our nation due to the state of "permanent war" since 9/11 that could go on into the next century without the restoration of checks and balances in our government.  

a former conservative deputy attorney general, bruce finn, spoke of the abuses of executive privileges to cover up everything from the failure in iraq to the abuses in katrina.

the cookie crumbles, folks - and it is happening fast!

at the end of the day if we lose this battle, if america loses this battle it won't be because we sat by and let it happen!

Finn is talking about the presidential signing statements.  he spoke of repeated abuses of this administration at the beginning.

this group has finally realized the deep threat that is to our country - finn is issuing a challenge to ALL americans to protect the constitution.

he is asking that all american aspirants for 2008 sign an american freedom agenda to support "these principles".

this is the conservative coaltion on presidential power.

go watch this - i am amazed that conservatives are saying that there are a lot of conservatives DO care about civil liberties.    Republican Ron Paul is talking about the carelessness of the "strict constitutionalist" term in selecting judges - and he is saying following article 1, section 8 - regarding declaration of war!

GO WATCH!!!  WATCH THE RERUN!! THIS IS AMAZING!!!

•  paul says that it is up to the people and

  the congress to rein in the power of the president!

  finn says it is the duty of EVERY branch of government to uphold the constitution - they should NOT duck and bow to allow the judicial branch to uphold it.

  holy cow!

  by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:33:51 AM PDT

•  diaried

  Someone beat you to it:

  http://www.dailykos.com/...

  by meowmissy on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:35:45 AM PDT

  •  Yeah

    but that diary sucked.

    LEAVE THIS ONE UP!

    by Tuffy on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:37:09 AM PDT

•  media just asked if it is an

  arrogance of power that is causing this (presidential abuse) - david keene says he doesn't think it is arrogance - he says that the framers assume that each branch will try to get as much power as possible and it is up to each branch to balance that out.

  he says that he doesn't think that people get together to say "i want to take away your freedom to be a bad buy - but when one group attempts to aggrandize, the motive of the government isn't in question, but WHAT it does IS in question..."

  [this is really SERIOUS for bushco - VERY serious - he has now lost the major part of his base very publicly!]

  by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:36:36 AM PDT

•  Looking forward

  to the C&L or youtube video of this.

  Gonna send it to the in-laws.  :)

  by Tuffy on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:36:47 AM PDT

•  Bruce Fein and Richard Viguerie kicked off

  The kicking Bush and his NeoCONS in the ASS.  This is the Libertarian Right.

  by deepsouthdoug on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:37:49 AM PDT

•  richard viguerie says that they will

  use EVERY tool of marketing available to inject this issue into the 2008 election.

  this is a major issue that our candidates need to get on board with immediately - they need to sign that pledge as quickly as they can get over there!

  am going to look for their website and link now - be right back.

  by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:40:37 AM PDT

•  today's landscape has far more followers

  than leaders... prescient words!

  the press actually seems to be awakening - they are asking serious questions - including a foreign accented correspondent asking about how the lack of voting impacts the congress' ability to check the executive branch.

  finn says that it has simply not always been the case that the congress has bowed to the political will of the executive branch. he is using fdr as an example in packing the supreme court. that effort was rebuffed by the democrats.

  he said we need to educate the congress that they work for the people! he says that many republicans supported the impeachment of richard nixon...

  more on partisanship  - david keene says there is a difference between what is good for the party and what is good for the republic.

  he says that the need for education among public officials is to what is the institutional responsibilities and what is party responsibility.

  by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:45:21 AM PDT

•  bob barr is saying it is difficult today

  to overcome the party loyalty - and the difficulty of a third party to interject in a meaningful way - but the work outside of the political arena might open up that process more.

  finn on listing secret evidence and listing of terrorists - he says if you introduce evidence and charge someone - you can punish - but it is the fact that you have an opportunity to charge and cross examine someone that is the differency between tyranny and civilized justice.

  DAMN!

  by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:47:30 AM PDT

•  Bob Barr(GA) NOT Auditioning For Dukes of Hazard?

  Compare these guys to the current Representatives who all seem to be trying to auditon for Dukes of Hazzard, Deliverance, or maybe L'il Abner and yearning for the days when congressmen spit tobacco juice right on the carpet.

  I mean they made fun of HRC for affect a southern drawl - what about Lindsay Graham?

  by bernardpliers on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:51:54 AM PDT

  •  i just looked up the american conservative

    union and was stunned at the criticism i found for the bush administration.  go here and read the article on "complete victory in iraq" through to the end.

    bush has managed to unite liberals and conservatives BOTH in agreeing on his lack of leadership and his abuse of power.

    for the conservative union to point out that even republicans supported impeaching nixon must bode an ill wind for george!

    by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:01:14 AM PDT

•  Bruce Fein for AG

  by cabinetman1 on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:54:10 AM PDT

  •  Okay, I gotta stop this. Bruce deserves

    credit for taking a stand against some of the more eggregious abuses by BushCo, and he has been writing in this area for a while, now. But Fein is not, and never has been a libertarian. I believe he is on record as saying John Roberts' appiontment to the SCOTUS was Bush's finest hour, or something like that. And Roberts has never seen a claim of raw, executive power that he didn't like. No, Fein is simply a reminder that even a broken clock is right twice a day.  

    by zashvil on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:26:24 AM PDT

    •  ah, but SOME clocks can be repaired...

      and if we can get these people on the same side, we can change what is happening in congress.

      they were right 100% when they said we need to email congress, use every marketing tool available to bring back the checks and balances - and he wasn't talking about emailing democrats, either!

      i don't care WHO fights beside me to save this country - the fact that they are fighting WITH us is all that matters!  we can sort out our differences when we get our country back!

      by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 12:02:28 PM PDT

•  Look for Lieberman to switch parties to protect

  Bush.
  He's a lockstep GOPer and is set to spring for the sake of Bush. He's not about the war, he's about Bush

  by cabinetman1 on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 10:56:28 AM PDT

  •  He believes that bush is his ticket to power

    If this works watch lieberman fold back into the Dem party as bush goes out in total disrespect.

    by Owllwoman on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:03:59 AM PDT

    •  ah, but if bush is going down, lieberman won't

      go down with him - he will "save" himself - that is why he is still not a republican - he can see the writing on the wall for georgie boy.  when the republicans and conservatives start talking impeachment, do you REALLY think that joe is going to go to try to align with that sinking ship?  

      not a chance!  joe looks out for joe.  period.

      by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:59:53 AM PDT

•  thanks edrie appreciate the liveblog n/t

  by buddabelly on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:02:01 AM PDT

•  I don't care if they are bandwagoning

  I have some doubts about these late additions to the "This ain't right!" that has been shouted by the sentient left for five years, but I say, let's make room for them anyway. More voices from different sectors will make a grand chorus  

  by alasmoses on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:06:10 AM PDT

  •  you know what i think? (just in case someone

    cares)

    i think that this is what america USED to be like - where people have honest differences but work toward one HONEST goal!

    conservatives, republicans and democrats alike USED to believe in trying to do what was good for the country, NOT what was good for the party.

    this divisive style of politics started with the newt gingrich contract on america based on the neocons who emerged during reagan's alsheimer years.  the takeover has been orchestrated by the same people who grabbed power then and have never stopped trying to keep a strangle hold over ALL americans.

    i am glad to see the conservatives stand up - now for more republicans to join in - and then we will TRULY have our america back!  

    the dems could NOT have made the harsh statements today that the conservative leaders made about the powergrabs and abuses of power by this administration.  those comments would have been labeled partisan.  with the comments coming from the conservative respected leadership, those comments are damning AND uniting for all those who have held those views in secret but only needed a force behind them to allow them to express said same (think moderate republicans).

    this nation has been cowed by fear - we know that and now the conservatives are saying the same thing.

    we are becoming one voice - united in taking back OUR government from those who would abuse it.

    just look at the subpoenas that WILL be issued to rove, meiers and others tomorrow.  bush's offer to keep "in secret" their "chats" is no longer acceptable by ANYbody!

    today marks the first day of the final days of the bush administration - the castration of the neocons has begun (and none too quickly!)

    thank you, american conservative union.  thank you!

    by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 07:32:35 PM PDT

•  Thanks so much.

  The commentary on the other diary was dreadful and proved the point that when it comes to the constitution the congress and the public are largely out to lunch.

  I almost never agree with conservatives but this group has been arguing against Bush for a long time. They're right that the reason we're at war in Iraq is because of a congress which didn't care to go to the mat against Bush on war powers.

  They're also right that most of the American public doesn't know what's in the constitution and that they don't vote. We need what they used to call civics back in the public school curriculum.

  Rep. Ron Paul is quite good on the constitution but if you go to his site and check out his other stances, it's like turning over a rock to see nasty things crawl out.

  by kateNC on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:19:22 AM PDT

•  This is amazing!

  With Bush's base now starting to fall by the wayside, we can expect his poll number to drop further into the mid 20s, perhaps low 20s.  At that point some of the House Republicans will pick up the Impeachment banner.

  by Randall Sherman on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:25:56 AM PDT

•  They had my focused attention until...

  ...one of the conservative union speakers said they hoped to get all Republican and <Democrat> 08 presidential contenders to sign on to their crusade or is charade. I think for the most part it is a sincere response by this group to try to correct the abuses of a fellow republican against the Constitution. But I am concerned it could also be used as a shield by some republican presidential candidates to protect them from the fallout caused by their unquestioned support of the bush administration the past 6-years. Guess we have to wait and see how real this adventure becomes.

  by kalihikane on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:45:44 AM PDT

  •  read the article on radicalizing

    conservatism - they are working to remake the conservative movement into its original form - which was not necessarily a bad thing in all aspects.

    i don't think that the conservatives are looking for a "republican" president as much as one who will protect the constitution.

    the "strict constructionist" comment today elucidated for me the idea that had there been a TRUE strict constructionist application of the law, we would NOT be in iraq today!  there is something to be said to returning to the constitution as a base instead of simply calling it an antiquated document.

    damn! never thought i'd be agreeing with conservatives - but then, the bushcos are NOT conservatives - they are neocons.

    finally the conservatives (legitimate ones) have realized that their ideology has been hijacked!

    by edrie on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 11:57:52 AM PDT

•  Boob Barr left the Republican party,

  and joined the Libertarian party. I still don't buy him as a Libertarian myself, since he endorsed draconian drug laws back in the day, but he's right on this issue.

  by McGirk on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 12:04:49 PM PDT

  •  "Bob Barr" not "Boob Barr"

    though, come to think of it, he has been quite a boob on occasion.

    by McGirk on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 12:06:01 PM PDT

•  When Al Gore made the most impassioned speech

  of his life, 14 months ago in DAR Constitution Hall in DC, his subject was saving the Constitution, he was sponsored by two conservative legal organizations, and Bob Barr partook in the program via remote hookup.  So you should not be so surprised, after all, IF there are any true conservatives left (and apparently there are), then truly we are both on the same side when it comes to curbing the executive abuse of constitutional power.  It's just that so many of them totally forgot what it was they were supposed to advocate, and, instead, turned their "loyalty" to winning political advantage instead of upholding their principles.  

  by hcc in VA on Tue Mar 20, 2007 at 06:51:27 PM PDT