Spectator & Society Journal

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Very interesting paper. I found the Constitutional article to be quite thought-provoking.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Given the widespread use of IRV & STV in Atlasia, does it really make any difference to have a fractured right-wing? Now if these right-wing parties refused to cooperate with each other (like all French parties in regards to FN), it would be a serious issue.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Thanks, afleitch, for completely skipping over what I've promised to do for the position to attack my views

opebo, another Marxist, is an Associate Justice and I don't see the fuss over his being there.

     FWIW, he's already on the Supreme Court & will be for as long as he wants to be. If he were just being appointed to the Supreme Court now, I trust that there would be no less controversy over that appointment.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     I was going to make a comment about how the odds of such an amendment being tabled would inevitably be poor since the Senate these days tables hardly anything. Then I realized that tabling a bill means something different in the United Kingdom.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Ludlow Amendment goes to the People

'War Idol' may be coming to Atlasia in the form of the Ludlow Amendment, a convulted attempt at bringing the power to declare war to 'the people' through a referendum. Except 'in the event of an invasion of the Republic of Atlasia or attack upon its citizens residing therein.' Spectator and Society wonders where the Senate has been these last ten years where the biggest threat remains an attack on it's citizens outside it's own borders.

The linkage of such attacks with any individual nation is of course somewhat wooly. Never the less the threat of a rogue nation attack on our diplomatic services, on shared services such as the UN and on innocent Atlasian's is a real threat. This amendment if passed and the protracted affair of simply declaring war on an agressor is dangerous; it allows any agressor to launch wave after wave of attack on Atlasia internationally while the Senate and the people become involved in an unnecessary slow waltz to war.
   

     That makes no sense, as the Ludlow Amendment has no impact whatsoever on the speed with which the country can marshal its forces for war. The Senate can respond just as rapidly as it always has. It is merely the case that if the people reject the war in referendum, the troops must be withdrawn & the war effort must end.

[Associate Justice PiT]

Ludlow Amendment goes to the People

'War Idol' may be coming to Atlasia in the form of the Ludlow Amendment, a convulted attempt at bringing the power to declare war to 'the people' through a referendum. Except 'in the event of an invasion of the Republic of Atlasia or attack upon its citizens residing therein.' Spectator and Society wonders where the Senate has been these last ten years where the biggest threat remains an attack on it's citizens outside it's own borders.

The linkage of such attacks with any individual nation is of course somewhat wooly. Never the less the threat of a rogue nation attack on our diplomatic services, on shared services such as the UN and on innocent Atlasian's is a real threat. This amendment if passed and the protracted affair of simply declaring war on an agressor is dangerous; it allows any agressor to launch wave after wave of attack on Atlasia internationally while the Senate and the people become involved in an unnecessary slow waltz to war.
   

     That makes no sense, as the Ludlow Amendment has no impact whatsoever on the speed with which the country can marshal its forces for war. The Senate can respond just as rapidly as it always has. It is merely the case that if the people reject the war in referendum, the troops must be withdrawn & the war effort must end.

Thank you, the blatant lies being spread about the Ludlow Amendment by the War Party around here are growing quite offensive.

     If anything, the Ludlow Amendment seems too weak. When the United States invaded Iraq, we reached Baghdad within about three weeks. Within 60 days, devastating if not outright defeating almost any country in a focused attack would be a trivial matter. In cases where the country that the Senate wishes to attack has not attacked Atlasian citizens abroad, I think the war should only be allowed to continue for 15-20 days without approval in referendum.