Re: Physicist Robert Bacher Dies at 99!

From: Henry Spencer (henry_at_spsystems.net)
Date: 11/22/04 

Date: Mon, 22 Nov 2004 21:03:40 GMT

In article <41A236C1.2010902@tabletoptelephone.com>,
Hop David <hopspageHATESSPAaMmM@tabletoptelephone.com> wrote:
>There used to be two great powers with Mutual Assured Destruction
>holding each in check.
>Now the U.S. is the single great military power. The gap between the
>U.S. and the 2nd greatest power is large...
>What then would be the deterrence to prevent the U.S. from abusing its
>power?

M.A.D. never did restrain superpowers from abuse of power very much. Both
meddled constantly in the internal affairs of other countries. As witness
Afghanistan and Grenada, even invading independent countries was perfectly
possible, if you were a little bit careful about *which* country you
invaded. (Grenada was fine, Cuba was not...)

Restraints on the abuse of power by the US, in particular, really have to
come from within. Constitutional restrictions like habeas corpus, the
right to a speedy trial, the need to justify a search warrant in detail,
the right to legal representation, the requirement that only Congress can
declare war, etc., are too important to be set aside indefinitely by a
President, no matter what excuses he makes. They are, if anything, even
more important in wartime than in peacetime. 

-- 
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend."    |   Henry Spencer
                                -- George Herbert       | henry@spsystems.net

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