the united states constitution, i've come to believe, was written and ratified at the last possible historical moment where you could have gotten a constitution as basically undemocratic as the united states constitution is. if you look at the 1820s, and afterward, you find very different kinds of constitutions for better or for worse, by 1846, the new york constitution convention which is very influential and lots of other states has adopted the practice of electing judges. most judges in the united states are elected or are electorally accountable. now, this is very controversial. a lot of people really don't like this. but there are really interesting aspects and there's something to be said for an elected judiciary as well as to criticize it. as you move to the west coast, but not only the west coast, you find much more direct democracy, initiative and referendum. the ability of people basically to go around the legislature. the united states constitution is committed exclusively to representative democracy. there is not an iota of direct democracy in the united states constitution. 49 of

-- >> that i will support and defend -- >> that i will support and defend -- >> the constitution of the united states -- >> the constitution of the united states >> and the constitution of the state of california -- >> and the constitution of the state of california >> against allen miss foreign and domestic -- against all enemies foreign and domestic -- >> against allen miss and domestic -- >> that i will bear true faith and aline of scrimmagens. >> that i will bear true faith and aline of scrimmagens >> to the constitution of the united states. >> to the constitution of the united states. >> and to the constitution of the state of california. >> to the constitution of the state of california. >> that i take this obligation freely -- >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion -- >> without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion -- >> and that i will well and faithfully -- >> and that i will well and faithfully -- >> discharge the duties upon which i'm about to enter. >> discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter -- >> and during such time -- >> and during such time -- >>

i, christina olague -- do solemnly swear -- that i will support and defend -- the constitution of the united states of california -- against all enemies, foreign and domestic -- that i will bear true faith and allegiance -- to the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california -- that i take this obligation freely -- without any mental reservation -- or purpose of evasion -- and that i will well and faithfully -- discharge the duties -- upon which i am is about to enter -- during such time as i hold the office of -- member of the board of supervisors -- and transportation authority -- for the city and county of san francisco -- congratulations. >> thank you. [cheers and applause] >> please welcome the newest member of our board of supervisors, supervisor for district 5, christina olague. [cheers and applause] >> wow. thank you all for coming out here. most of you i have known for a long time. and, you know, i feel really overwhelmed right now. i am a little nervous. i did prepare a speech, because i was afraid if i did not write things down that i would stumble ov

i, edwin lee, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states nstitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california. that i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation, or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties, upon which i am about to enter during such time as they hold office of mayor for the city and county of san francisco. congratulations, mr. mayor. [applause] >> now ladies and gentlemen, the 43rd mayor of the city and county of for samsung could sann lee. [applause]

that i feel about this issue comes from the fact that, in 1961, the cuban constitution was identical to that of the united states. those words in that constitution did not protect us. words do not protect you. understanding and be leaving in the words do. -- and believing in the words do. we today have a serious problem in that regard. the "new york times" three weeks ago -- "time" magazine three weeks ago reported as a cover story how the constitution is under siege, and "newsweek" about two months ago had a cover story about the failure of americans to understand our government. some very scary statistics. two out of every three graduating high-school students today believe that the three branches of government are republican, democrat, and independent. that is an actual poll. 75% of all americans don't know that religious freedom is protected by the first amendment. 75%. more americans can name the judges on "american idol" than on the supreme court of the united states. what does this mean to us? how did we get here? well, first of all, unless the next generation understands the obligations imposed by the co

. >> i, ross mirkarimi, do swap -- solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united statesstitution of the state of california against all enemies foreign and domestic. that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states and the constitution of the state of california. i take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion. i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter. during the time that i hold the office of sheriff of city and county of san francisco. congratulation>> congratulation. [cheers and applause] >> believe it or not, this is one of the happiest days of my life. [cheers and applause] thank you, mayor. thank you for being a dear friend. thank you forswearing me in. thank you very much to all of you. i am going to begin by introducing my family again. i know that they have been introduced before, but they mean some much to me. please acknowledge my wife, iliana, and my son, theo. [applause] my mother, my mother who is here. there she is. hi, mom. [applause] my aunt, patr

, and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states, and the constitution of the state of california, that i will take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of the division -- evasion, and i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter, and during this time as i hold the office of a member of the board of examiners, high- rise sprinkler building owner seat of the city and county of san francisco. thank you very much. >> thank you. commissioner hechanova: we all look forward to working with you. >> item 5. update on process for cancelling permits and notification of customers. >> good morning, commissioners. we have put in your package item 5, which is the process for the cancellation of current applications. this is the main concern of the commission. right now, we send out a 21-day notice prior to the cancellation of any application for permits. as you see in the table, there are two values that are set for the cancellation. any project up to $1 million has 360 days fr

. >> it takes a wrecking ball to the united states constitution. this legislation authorizes the military to indefinitely detain individuals without charge or trial, including the detention of u.s. citizens on u.s. soil. >> stephen: oh, that's ridiculous. we will not lock up americans indefinitely. eventually they will die. (laughter) >> stephen: but to placate the habbuous huggers, an amendment was added stating nothing in this section shall be construed to affect existing law. that then made the bill acceptable. in the same way it's acceptable to say your mother is a whore as long as you add an amendment saying, if she is not, disregard the previous statement. (laughter) >> stephen: of course, of course no one came out harder against this bill than barack obama who vowed to veto it. fortunately president obama was smack down by a man with some balls. commander in chief obama who signed the ndaa into law on december 31st. happy new year. now he knew that by doing this his voters wouldn't like it. so the president added a signing statement that sai

i, and george gascon, do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states, and the constitution of the state of california against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and i will bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution of the united states, and to the constitution of the stick california, and i take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that i will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which i am about to enter during such time as i hold the office of district attorney of the city and county of san francisco. congratulations. [applause] >> thank you. [applause] >> it is really a tremendous honor for me to be here today. first, i want to say a few words in spanish. [speaking spanish] to my sons, you are incredible. i am so proud of all of you. before i go on, i also want to say a few words to the people behind me. these people have made the difference for me. i am going to start with mayer brown, who became a friend a long time ago. has always been a supporter, someone that i trust his counsel, and

voters because they voted in a unanimous opinion based on the iowa constitution and the united states constitution on any issue involving gay rights. an anonymous political action committee comes in and takes one sentence out of an opinion of these judges who have been on the bench for years and years and years and defeats them, removes them at the polls and actually suggests that this is -- this was in the words of the organizer -- that this is a wake-up call to the judiciary. actually, it should be a wake-up call to all americans that we have a serious problem. we should not allow anonymous pac's to come into states ended the judges based on one sentence is opinion. they are going to have one, let them registered and let them decide -- let the people decide whether or not those judges acted in a way that was consistent with the constitution. as a result of that, one of the things i have asked, and this will be one of the most interesting debates in the next three weeks in toronto, is the judicial recusal coming before congress. i think the republican party versus white, which is the case that sa