Watch the full show here.
Show: Freedom Watch
Host: Judge Andrew Napolitano
Date: 06/26/2010
Transcript
Judge Napolitano: Speaking of the fidelity to the Constitution, with us are two members of the House of Representatives who are among the greatest defenders of the Constitution in Washington today. Congressman John Duncan of Tennessee and Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, welcome. In this country during crises does the rule of law still apply to, say, big oil companies, Congressman Paul?
Ron Paul: Well, let’s hope so, but sometimes you wonder about it. I don’t think the president is as concerned about the rule of law as some of us. But for him to just claim that he can close down all the oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico is an outrage. But it is rather symbolic of where we are today and that is, presidents just do executive orders. Matter of fact, this commission he set up, that I’m not too happy with, wasn’t even an executive order, it just appears. And the Congress just goes along with it. It’s that kind of stuff that governments are really out of control.
But the good side of this is the American people are waking up, and that’s what this freedom movement is all about. People have had enough of it, but they don’t seem to be getting the message here and maybe it will take November for them to get the message. So I’m hoping that that will happen, that the American people will keep the pressure on Washington. And with the bankruptcy of this country staring us in the face, I think the American people are going to get even more concerned.
Judge Napolitano: Congressman John Duncan, earlier last week your colleague from Texas, Congressman Barton, said that the president perpetrated a shakedown when he intimidated 20 billion dollars out of BP: just cough it up so that a political appointee could distribute it. Do you agree with that characterization?
John Duncan: Well, first of all, Judge, let me tell you that I was a judge for 7 and a half years in Tennessee and I’ve always admired the great work achieved, and I was pleased that this judge in Louisiana ruled that there was no evidence to support the president’s moratorium. I’m not going to defend BP and I know that our legal system will make them pay for everything that they are responsible for. But I have said in a speech on the House floor last week that we shouldn’t let environmental radicals who, I’ve noticed, always seem to come from very wealthy or very upper-income families, shut down our entire economy. They oppose drilling for any oil, digging for any coal, cutting any trees, producing any natural gas and they’re hurting a lot of poor and lower-income and working people in this country by destroying jobs and driving up prices. And that’s my main concern.
Judge Napolitano: Congressman Paul, Congressman Duncan makes a good point. But when someone defends BP’s right to due process, its right not to have the government intimidate 20 billion dollars out of them, that is not a defense of BP’s behavior in the Gulf, is it? BP should pay for all the damage it caused, but it should pay for it under the law, not under some ad hoc system that the president and the vice president just concocted for this crisis.
Ron Paul: Yeah, and this is what’s so bad about our system. You know, if you take the position that you defend the rule of law and it sounds like you’re defending BP, then the entire country jumps on you. The political system, they jump on Joe Barton and they jump on everybody. But that’s an issue of political correctness. What if he would have used the word “pressure”? “Yeah, he twisted his arm a little bit and made them do this”. And all of a sudden you could check with the PC police and see if you could say that. But this is really a problem. They just jump on this and they won’t look at things on the merit. So if you defend the Constitution and rule of law and it sounds like you’re giving some rights to BP, that doesn’t mean that we’re sympathetic to BP. We’re sympathetic to the system.
And it may well be that the 20 billion dollars might even limit the scope of what BP has to pay. What I don’t like is big business and big government being in bed together, and for some reason I’m very suspicious of some of these agreements because BP is not a free market company. I mean, they depend on our military and they depend on us and they like Cap and Trade. So I’m very suspicious of the whole mess.
Judge Napolitano: Congressman Duncan, you have rightly pointed out that the president was motivated by his desire to please the extreme environmentalist when they closed down the Gulf. And you were right to point out that Judge Feldman in Louisiana said he doesn’t have the authority to do it. What do you fear the president might do next as a consequence of this crisis in the Gulf?
John Duncan: Well, he’s the most far-left wing president that we’ve ever had in the history of this country. And I can tell you that we don’t have a far-left nation. I agree with everything that Congressman Paul just said. I don’t like this extremely big business, big government duopoly in which the main people that benefit from big government are the bureaucrats who work for the government and extremely big business.
But we have to realize, I love clean air and clean water as much as anybody, and I’ll tell you, though, that only in a free market, free enterprise system can you generate the excess funds to do the good things for the environment that people want done. And if we let this Air Club and some of these other organizations and the president take us so far to the left that we totally socialize our economy, we will destroy our economy and will greatly reduce our standard of living, and we don’t need to do that and our people don’t want us to do that.
Judge Napolitano: Congressman John Duncan, Congressman Ron Paul, fortunately we still have courageous federal judges who will uphold the rule of law and the constitution, as Judge Martin Feldman did earlier this week in New Orleans. Thanks very much for joining us, Gentlemen.
John Duncan: Thank you.
Ron Paul: You’re welcome.
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I take pleasure within the comments on this blog, it really gives it that community feel!
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dk-matai/gulf-of-mexico-danger-of_b_619095.html
this methane pocket is the real reason for the moratorium in addition to cap and trade.
The moratorium should be permanent on high methane pocket drilling everywhere until we have the technology to drill safely. Deep and shallow water drilling in 5 % methane oil pockets have not been an issue for the other companies that avoid the high risk ones.
If the government would just tell the truth, we could make real decisions
on top of that – part of getting a permit I am sure involves submitting a safety plan that involves saving wildlife other than walrus in the Gulf in case of a spill. so perhaps that is contributing to the delay?? These companies should stock booms, clean up suits, have ships ready to mobilize, etc to start day 1. So maybe start ordering them and help our economy with increasing the manufacture of some equipment
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If you support Dr. Paul and his Liberty message come check out my new blog, I think you’ll like it. It will be updated daily with news and videos for fellow liberty supporters
I posted this same video along with some of my own commentary here: http://bit.ly/c8ETeD
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Go get em’ where it hurts Dr. Paul! Keep it up!
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Remember Remember the 5th of November ?
lets c what happens.
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Correction, it’s actually November 2nd!
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Ron Paul 2012!!!! Our president is a disgrace. I never imagined I would say this about a president, but I hope to hell with him and wish the day he suffers as much as these poor people have suffered, and then some. SOB!!!
»crosslinked«
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BP owes more than $20b.
.
Government should stay out. This oil spill could continue for years and $20billion is not enough if the worst happens.
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Statists are too emotional, they should take a moment and try to understand what Ron Paul is saying.
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everybody is waking up, i been trying to convince my mother for 2 years and now all of a sudden she agrees with me. This has gone mainstream. maybe we can win this.
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LAST PRESIDENT TOOK US FAR FAR TO RIGHT! THEY WANT US TO BELIEVE THERE ARE TO GOVERNMENTS REPUBLICAN, DEMOCRAT THEY ARE THE SAME PEOPLE DIVIDING US WITH BIG LIES AND B.S TALK TO MAE US BE DIVIDED BECAUSE UNITED WE STAND & DIVIDED WE WONT. RON PAUL 2012
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go get ‘em Dr. Paul!
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Ron Paul will always be a man of principle, and I’m starting to like Duncan much more.
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RON PAUL REVOLUTION!
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America is being taken over by international banksters and the federal reserve is given unlimited powers are major threats for america.
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“BP is not a free market company” < - That’s your quote and the root of the problem.
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Masons don’t know the big picture till 33-i know a 32. They know some but not as much….
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i dont think all masons are in that secrative stuff including the founders. Some founders beleived in liberty and some like Hamilton especially, liked the British system with a central bank and big centralized government. Which is what a lot of these secret societies are for.
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@WalKnDude002
George Washington was a freemason
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RON PAUL!
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RON PAUL!
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END THE FED
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There are just two protecting the Constitution that gives them the power to govern …….
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Notice how balanced this interview is. I agree with the Judge at least 45% of the time but there wasn’t a Dem on hand.
Also that judge in NO was corrupt. He owned BP stock for the love of Darwin.
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I know it must seem unbalanced to you. But it’s nice to have a haven on TV finally that supports a libertarian view point. I’ve been lamenting for the last year shows like Bill Maher which is always stating any conservative view is hillbilly craziness, or neocons like Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly distorting the roots or just playing lip service to true conservative values.
I would love to see a show one hour once a week that had true progessives (Ralph Nader, Dennis Kuccinch), liberals (Bill Maher, Hillary Clinton, Obama types), neocons (Sean Hannity, Bill Crystal types) and conservatives (Ron Paul, Tom Woods). First, I think we’d find alot more common ground between the true progessives and true conservatives than one might think. We would finally see those suckers in the middle placed in real debates and laugh at there straw arguments. And finally the american public would get to hear some straight answers with solutions that are both morally sound and practical.
We don’t have that yet and won’t for a while. But whether you agree with the judge or not (which I whole heartedly do) there are not too many hosts on TV that give your their honest opinions because of worrying what the PC police will say or fear of having political opponents twist their words for voter points. I don’t feel the judge owes it to the dems or anyone else to promote views that aren’t his own. In my opinion no need to distill the truth until enough people understand. Trust me, it’s not a lack of convictions on the judges part.
P.S. I’ve really grown to hate Bill Maher. I hope that puppet gets canceled soon.
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I just wish our Dutch leader(s), would have something similar to the constitution af the United States..
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