BREAKING - PRESIDENT BUENROSTRO EXECUTIVE ORDERS ELECTION RESULTS
President Manuel Buenrostro has issued Executive Order #7, that orders:
That the election results, as properly tabulated and released by the Elections Council Chair and Attorney General on May 24, 2006, be recognized immediately and that Oren Gabriel, Vishal Gupta, Joyce Liou, and Jason Chu immediately assume their executive roles with all their powers and privileges, including but not limited to, the power to spend money, make appointments, and issue further Executive Orders consistent with their responsibility under the ASUC Constitution.
This, of course, would overturn the Judicial Council decision which convicted these executives of cheating to win their seats and lied to avoid getting caught. Anyone else see this as problematic?
More analysis to come later.
The full text of the EO and cover letter can be found here.
Next they’ll say it was the SQUELCH! party that set fire to the Reichstag.
Comment by Anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 3:06 pm
Executive Order #8:
Whereas Oren Gabriel’s kinda cute and his brother was President,
it is therefore resolved that he be ASUC dictator for life
It is further resolved that Ilana Nankin assume the dynasty upon his death.
Comment by anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 3:12 pm
Way for things to get farcical (is that a word?) when I only have two days left in Berkeley. Have fun being absurd without me, kids.
Comment by Andy R. — June 27, 2006 @ 3:16 pm
Of course I am not one who was completely sold on the validity (or at least solidness) of the rationale behind the JC decision, but I’m just wondering if an EO can overrule a ruling by the JC. I thought the power flowed in the opposite direction?
BTW- the full text EO page is given the date stamp of year 2004, it might need correcting.
Comment by Eddy C — June 27, 2006 @ 3:28 pm
what’s the point of even having a judicial council if the president can override any of their decisions. oh yeah, f*ck manny.
Comment by staff sergeant anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 3:32 pm
race ya to file suit…
Comment by anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 3:47 pm
Eddy - I put the EO and Cover Sheet in the archives and linked to them so that they wouldnt get in the way of reading the main page. I assure you, this was sent out this afternoon.
Comment by Ben N. — June 27, 2006 @ 3:50 pm
wait, what?
How the hell does manny have any rights to do this?
Comment by nuance — June 27, 2006 @ 3:57 pm
is oren as much of a retard as his brother jesse?
Comment by mano — June 27, 2006 @ 4:00 pm
Wow.
Funniest/craziest parts of executive order:
- Winning by 219 out of nearly 10,000 votes is called an “overwhelming majority.”
- The pretense of acting objectively on behalf of the ASUC. Buenrostro pretends that he is protecting the ASUC from a lawsuit that would supposedly be hard to defend. Who exactly would be filing such a lawsuit, ahem, ahem? — his party.
- 4 out of 7 justices is characterized completely inaccurately as a “small minority.” Even 4 out of 9 would not be “small minority” in my opinion, just “minority.”
- The Judicial Council is blamed for creating a constitutional crisis when the executive order REALLY creates a constitutional crisis.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 4:03 pm
Good to know we’re living in a third world junta.
Comment by Simon — June 27, 2006 @ 4:17 pm
Erm yeah, I think the executive overruling the judiciary is a slightly larger constitutional crisis than a party’s executive slate being disqualified.
Comment by Anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 4:22 pm
Not in the mind of SA folks
Comment by Beetle — June 27, 2006 @ 4:25 pm
3) seating of an ineligible Justice to hear the dispute;
WHA????
Comment by Anonymity — June 27, 2006 @ 4:26 pm
Reinstate SA BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY?
Comment by Anonymity — June 27, 2006 @ 4:27 pm
Also, if the “first day of the regular summer semester” has passed, Manny isn’t even president anymore.
Comment by Beetle — June 27, 2006 @ 4:27 pm
Wow, I thought I was joking, but that reads exactly like the torturous logic of a third world dictator.
I especially like all the parts at the end where he says “You can’t overrule this, don’t even try, and I hereby for no obvious reason decree that you can’t even consider this matter until the senate starts next year”
Comment by Simon — June 27, 2006 @ 4:28 pm
Beetle with an excellent point. Could Lauren Karasek just issue an executive order overruling this?
Comment by Simon — June 27, 2006 @ 4:29 pm
Lauren’s not president either. Of course, if you only take the first part of the executive order (proper tabulation), she is.
Comment by Beetle — June 27, 2006 @ 4:32 pm
No, Lauren was never confirmed as an exec. The votes haven’t even been re-tabulated.
Comment by bobby gregg — June 27, 2006 @ 4:33 pm
So can I issue an executive order, since I’m just as much president as Manny is?
Comment by Simon — June 27, 2006 @ 4:35 pm
So,the big question now is, How the hell do we stop/fight this? Perfect opportunity for BCR / CalSERVE / DAAP & everyone else that’s not a SA tool to accomplish something huge.
Probably the splashiest move would be for ever non-SA person to resign in protest (thus giving SA no moral authority and making the statement that if SA de-legitimizes student government, there is no point in playing along with the farce), but that would never happen (no one has enough balls).
Comment by nuance — June 27, 2006 @ 4:36 pm
nuance, that’s a little extreme for the time being. let’s just hope the ASUC Auxiliary believes in the constitution and follows the Judicial Council’s rulings.
Comment by bobby gregg — June 27, 2006 @ 4:40 pm
Even if everyone resigns, SA still has our money.
Comment by Beetle — June 27, 2006 @ 4:43 pm
Lauren would also never be that disrespectful to the association, the students, and the Judicial Council.
Comment by Punch My Ballot — June 27, 2006 @ 4:45 pm
Bah, this is hardly over and done with.
This is gonna smell bad even to people who don’t give a shit about ASUC politics. Manny’s executive order could actually end up being a public embarassment for the university.
Comment by Simon — June 27, 2006 @ 4:46 pm
Also note that one of the reasons for his action is protecting the ASUC from potential legal liability. For future presidents, follow these instructions:
1) Desire something
2) Threaten to sue over it
3) Issue an executive order giving you that something, claiming that you are protecting the ASUC from legal liability. For good measure, also issue an executive order that prevents the Senate from meeting anymore, so they can’t overturn it.
Comment by Beetle — June 27, 2006 @ 4:47 pm
This is the biggest mockery of the system. Manny and Oren should be ashamed of themselves.
Comment by Anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 4:50 pm
This is a really sad legacy for Manuel Buenrostro. He seemed like a decent enough president. He could have been remembered for resolving the GA-ASUC conflict, but instead he’ll be remembered for this.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 4:50 pm
ISRAEL INVADES GAZA!
BUSH CUTS WELFARE IN HALF!
FLAG BURNING AMENDMENT FAILS BY ONLY 1 VOTE!
STUDENT ACTION GRABS POWER WITH CHEAPEST TRICK SINCE NIXON!
it’s a sad day for cal students, for americans, and for humanity
Comment by nytimes reader — June 27, 2006 @ 6:31 pm
The flag burning amendment always only fails by very few votes. I’m just happy it didn’t pass.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 6:53 pm
Bush never cut welfare in half. Bush expanded that shit.
Comment by Anonymity — June 27, 2006 @ 7:17 pm
If you want to know who REALLY cut welfare (thank God) it was clinton. But sorry carry on with the real convo. nytimes reader get your facts straight.
Comment by Anonymity — June 27, 2006 @ 7:18 pm
I wonder if anyone will care about this tragedy. I really hope this EO isn’t effective because knowing some basic separation of powers, what can the Jcouncil do to stop this? On the other hand, the chances of SA winning this appeal now is about 0%.
Jim, are you also for other types of free speech? I believe any content based speech should be allowed. Flag burning, pornography, hate speech, cross burning, symbolic speech, and no one tell me that there’s a difference between the above listed. There isn’t. Just because someone likes a form of speech over another doesn’t make the other more or less valid.
Comment by RepBast1984 — June 27, 2006 @ 7:26 pm
I’m for all speech that is currently constitutionally protected as determined by court rulings.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 7:34 pm
Obviously the JCouncil is holding the asuc hostage for not holding important hearings over the summer in a timely fashion. Atleast the ASUC can function over the summer and the Senate will be able to solve this conflict within the ASUC once they are in session.
Comment by voter — June 27, 2006 @ 7:35 pm
Be it further ordered: Any further action on this matter not be undertaken until after the ASUC Senate returns to campus in the Fall of 2006 and the Judicial Council is properly reconstituted to its full nine members.
TRANSLN: You can’t evaluate my EO or rule on this issue until the ASUC officers and Senate, controlled by the party in dispute, have the chance to alter your body’s make-up.
Manny, this shit is clumsy and stupid, I expect better.
Comment by McMike — June 27, 2006 @ 7:39 pm
*P.S.: By being “for” free speech, I don’t mean I necessarily endorse the content, or think people should not consider the consequences of their speech.
As for welfare, yes Clinton did sign the draconian welfare reform law in 1996, but Bush issued new rules today that dramatically increase work requirements and that are hard to meet in what I think will be an impending economic downturn.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 7:40 pm
Let’s make the ASUC a parliament with 100 Senators, and ministers chosen by said senate instead of execs.
Also, all such negociations must take place in one long session in a sugery demonstration room (you know, with 360deg viewing), where the senators must purchase copious quantities of beer for students to down as they heckle and shout.
Comment by McMike — June 27, 2006 @ 7:50 pm
That’s a pretty thin disguise you’re wearing there, “voter.”
And reminder, only the Judicial Council has jurisdiction to “solve this conflict within the ASUC.” According to the Constitution (which some of us value), the Senate has no place in these proceedings…and neither does the President. So what, until the senate is in session your precious SA execs have absolute power? Ever the paternalistic Student Action philosophy: fuck the means, everyone’s better off if we’re in charge. So what, exactly, have you done with your office this year?
Comment by anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 7:52 pm
voter (#36), that’s a very good spin on the executive order, and almost convincing — were it not for the order’s clear biasedness in favor of Student Action (the “overwhelming” 219 votes) while at the same time pretending to be objective in worrying about protecting a lawsuit that would be filed *by* Student Action.
The Judicial Council is holding the ASUC hostage? No.
Rather, Student Action is holding the ASUC hostage by threatening the whole institution in response to a legitimate disqualfication of their executive slate based on their signatory’s clear, irrefutable, shameless perjury.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 7:55 pm
B U L L S H I T - the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. Manny continues to be an idiot…and the ASUC continues to fail.
Comment by Anonymous — June 27, 2006 @ 8:05 pm
Jim, I’m for expanding free speech beyodn what is now legal. R.A.V and Miller do not go far enough in allowing 1) hate speech and 2) obscenity. It’s simply viewpoint and/or content discrimination.
Student Action is set up for a failure. This EO, if made public (thanks not in part to the Daily Cal’s webpage going to hell). Once again, they’ve managed to take strong supporters and turn them against SA.
Comment by RepBast1984 — June 27, 2006 @ 8:48 pm
Beetle raises a good point, Manny’s not President anymore. All of the executive offices are currently vacant. The Senate is free to meet to appoint officers in the event of vacancies, but that would create a constitutional crisis in itself, as the question is whether they would be acting executive officers until the election results were certified, or be the proper officers due to the delay in results.
Nobody is going to see this as a fair resolution. I personally was waiting for the J-Council to chicken out and overturn their own ruling, but no student is going to see an executive order from an ex-President that is a blatant power grab. This could really affect SA’s numbers next year.
Comment by J Koo — June 27, 2006 @ 9:34 pm
They didn’t see the GA power grabs. “No one will care” is my prediction.
In terms of his being president or not, it’s not quite that simple, since he extended his presidency by Executive Order, which is apparently routine in these situations. But I don’t think it gets him out of the mess, as I discuss here.
Comment by Beetle — June 27, 2006 @ 9:41 pm
Cameron, can you educate me more, or direct me to good web resources, as I am not well-versed with Supreme Court cases regarding these issues? I only have general principles. It is interesting to learn and think about.
Beetle, I think if a major party runs on this as one of its issues next year, people might care. Otherwise you’re right, most voters won’t consider it.
Comment by Jim Fung — June 27, 2006 @ 11:12 pm
haha. total chaos. student action is digging its grave. brilliant!
this is a great pretext for students to storm and occupy the second floor of eshleman and “relieve” oren of his occupancy if the wiener monkey tries to install himself.
Comment by mano — June 27, 2006 @ 11:46 pm
Mano, the organization of an occupation and subsequent celebration [for reclaiming the office from SA and the evil empire] is already being discussed by many unrelated groups. We’ll see how that goes.
Comment by Ed — June 28, 2006 @ 12:50 am
HAHAHA FUCK OREN GABRIEL AND MANNY BUENROSOTRO. cheaters.
Comment by Anonymous — June 28, 2006 @ 8:40 am
no matter what happens with this, SA still sweeps the exec elections next year.
Comment by Anonymous — June 28, 2006 @ 8:50 am
SA senators are being suspiciously silent on this…
Comment by captain duh — June 28, 2006 @ 9:17 am
Ed: very good, thats what i wanted to hear.
Comment by mano — June 28, 2006 @ 9:38 am
You know there are lots of future congresspeople and city council members attending Berkeley right now. This is good practice
Comment by krise — June 28, 2006 @ 11:36 am
no way will SA sweep next year. This is the destruction of SA
Comment by Anonymous — June 30, 2006 @ 5:02 pm
Yes SA sweeps next year if CalSERVE continues to do idiotic thigns like not run executives. They had the PERFECT slate this year and they chose to do moronic things.
Comment by RepBast1984 — July 1, 2006 @ 12:16 am