What Goes Around Comes Around: M.Moore in Trouble

[The Rabbi]

Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.  Now if they would just charge Pelosi for her Syria trip....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/ap_on_en_mo/film_michael_moore;_ylt=AjKVT4QoSkwNI0vBPsaOXges0NUE

LOS ANGELES - Academy Award-winning filmmaker
Michael Moore is under investigation by the U.S.
Treasury Department for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko," The Associated Press has learned.
ADVERTISEMENT

The investigation provides another contentious lead-in for a provocative film by Moore, a fierce critic of
President Bush. In the past, Moore's adversaries have fanned publicity that helped the filmmaker create a new brand of opinionated blockbuster documentary.

"Sicko" promises to take the health-care industry to task the way Moore confronted America's passion for guns in "Bowling for Columbine" and skewered Bush over his handling of Sept. 11 in "Fahrenheit 9/11."

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control notified Moore in a letter dated May 2 that it was conducting a civil investigation for possible violations of the U.S. trade embargo restricting travel to Cuba. A copy of the letter was obtained Tuesday by the AP.

"This office has no record that a specific license was issued authorizing you to engage in travel-related transactions involving Cuba," Dale Thompson, OFAC chief of general investigations and field operations, wrote in the letter to Moore.

[ilbob]

Not that i really care if something bad happens to this clown, but why should American citizens be prohibited from visting anywhere they damn well choose?

[The Rabbi]

Not that i really care if something bad happens to this clown, but why should American citizens be prohibited from visting anywhere they damn well choose?

Either for their own safety or because (in this case) it tends to undermine American foreign policy.

[richyoung]

Refresh my memory - what part of the Constitution gives the Fed.Gov the authority to prohibit travel to any country that we are not at war with?

[Manedwolf]

I believe it's considered a sanction against tourism dollars. Cuba is an island with nice beaches, and if Americans were allowed to vacation there, there'd be millions, if not billions, of American dollars going to Castro's government.

[richyoung]

...and what was the effect of that on Communism in, say China or Russia?

[K Frame]

I believe it's considered a sanction against tourism dollars. Cuba is an island with nice beaches, and if Americans were allowed to vacation there, there'd be millions, if not billions, of American dollars going to Castro's government.

Which would do a LOT more to topple Castro than 40 years of ineffectual sanctions.

[onions!]

I wonder how many tourism dollars would gravitate from South Florida to Cuba.& how long it'd take the entertainment industry to (re)gear up in Cuba.

It'd be interesting.

I'd go-if only to ogle the old cars.Lovely Latin Lasses would just be a bonus.

They don't have Spandex in Cuba do they?

[AJ Dual]

The biggest problem that I see is anyone who is of any fame or importance can usually work out a "deal" with .gov. I seriously doubt that anything significant enough to disrupt his "career" will happen.

Then Moore just adds his "persecution" and the attempt to "silence him" by .gov over the Cuba trip to his documentary for the additional gravitas, and the lefty moonbats swoon all the harder.

[The Rabbi]

Refresh my memory - what part of the Constitution gives the Fed.Gov the authority to prohibit travel to any country that we are not at war with?

Article II Section 2.

[Sindawe]

Article II, section 2 - U.S. Constitution.

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.


He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.


The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

I is just an ignorant pagan Rabbi, can yous'all point out the passage above that grants the Federal Government the power to restrict travel?

[De Selby]

Sindawe,

Where is the "right to travel" in the Constitution?

[The Rabbi]

Article II, section 2 - U.S. Constitution.

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.


He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.


The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

I is just an ignorant pagan Rabbi, can yous'all point out the passage above that grants the Federal Government the power to restrict travel?

Go research the various court cases that hinge on this passage and its interpretation.  Then come back and tell us what you've found out about the US Constitution and the US legal system.
Or you could just write annoying and disingenuous posts that reveal what you really think.  I know where my money is.

[Sindawe]

shootinstudent, "right to travel"

Amendment IX

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

[Sindawe]

Rabbi, you did not cite various court cases and opinions on the same.  You cited the Constitution, Article II, section 2. 

What you have done is akin to me pointing to a High School biology text when somebody asks about the role of stereochemistry in amino acid recognition by the ribosomes during protein synthesis.

[De Selby]

Sindawe,

He was right. See Youngstown Steel and Curtiss Wright.

I'm looking at Amendment IX.  I don't see the word "travel" in there.  Who says the right to travel was "retained by the people"?

Some rights and duties we draw out of the language.  The words wouldn't actually mean anything if we weren't able to do that.

[SomeKid]

While I see no Constitutional basis for a restriction on travel, seeing Moore get nailed will be fine with me.

shootinstudent, rights are not granted by the constitution. The Constitution and First 10As place restrictions upon the government. Unless someone can point to an exact spot in the constitution that states the government shall have the powers to restrict travel (or language saying effectively the same), the government legally has no power to restrict your travel.

What courts say may be law, but it does not equate constitutionality. If courts truly did have such immense power, then all of our complaints about unconstitutional gun laws would be moot since the courts upheld them.

[Antibubba]

Setting aside the "rights of Americans to travel" issue, let's look at why Moore went to Cuba in the first place.

The article never specifically says what was the purpose of the trip, but it's easy to infer:  "Sicko" is a "Documentary" about the American health and insurance system, and the emphasis on HMOs and for-profit insurance programs

for taking ailing Sept. 11 rescue workers to Cuba for a segment in his upcoming health-care documentary "Sicko,"

Why take ailing rescue workers?  Why, so he can show to a shocked America how Cuba, a poor Communist country, is able to take in foreigners to it's free-for-all health system and treat them--when thay had trouble getting trated at home after doing their heroic work!

Michael Moore is a gleeful and willing TOOL.

Of course they'll let these people in-anything to embarrass America.  Moore would have gotten similar receptions in Iran, Libya, and North Korea; it's good propaganda a fine gesture of goodwill by these misunderstood nations.  Never mind that ailing Cubans were shunted aside, perhaps to die, so that these American could get the very best that Cuba can offer.

What's the official term:  Giving aid and comfort to the enemy?  Tool.

[RadioFreeSeaLab]

I'm looking at Amendment IX.  I don't see the word "travel" in there.  Who says the right to travel was "retained by the people"?

You don't need to see it in there.  That's the whole point.  If it isn't specifically granted to the feds in the constitution, it is retained by the people.  Period.
As far as Cuba, as it's been said before, nothing would topple communism faster in that country than American tourists. 

[The Rabbi]

Rabbi, you did not cite various court cases and opinions on the same.  You cited the Constitution, Article II, section 2. 

Right.  The question Richyoung posed was where in the Constitution the President had that power.  I pointed to the relevant section of the Constitution.  He did not ask about court cases or statutes.
Since you questioned my answer, I directed you to research the court cases and statutes that depend on that passage and report back.  I predicted your inherent laziness in these things would not allow you to see for yourself that the president does indeed have such power.  I was right.

[Hawkmoon]

Sindawe,

Where is the "right to travel" in the Constitution?

The underlying rule of law is that that which is not expressly prohibited is permitted. The Constitution is essentially a contract between the People and their government. The government has only the powers granted to it by the Constutution. "Right to travel" does not have to be defined or stated (although it may be inferred from the freedom of association provision in the Bill of Rights). There is nothing in the Constitution granting the government any authority to prohibit travel, therefore any action doing so is unlawful.

I dislike Mr. Moore rather intensely, but I'd say all he needs to do is cite Jane Fonda as precedent, and ask what punishment she was subjected to for her little jaunt to North Vietnam ...

[The Rabbi]

Could you please cite any court cases upholding a "right to travel" based on the right to association, or any other part of the Constitution.

[Paddy]

The Constitution is essentially a contract between the People and their government.

I think not.  Actually, the 'government' is the people and exists only at our pleasure.  It is not a separate entity into which we enter any sort of 'contract'.

[The Rabbi]

The Constitution is essentially a contract between the People and their government.

I think not.  Actually, the 'government' is the people and exists only at our pleasure.  It is not a separate entity into which we enter any sort of 'contract'.

agreed.

[K Frame]

Thinking about this some more, I'd bet that the rational behind the travel ban is based in the commerce clause of the Constitution. That's been the universal catch all for so many Congressional power slams over the decades.