Let's talk about a pirate's life being brought back by Trump and MAGA.... - Belle of the Ranch

[TexasTowelie]

Well, howdy there Internet people. It's Belle again. So, today we're going to talk about the US bringing back a pirates life for me.

Senator Mike Lee of Utah introduced legislation that would bring back the Jolly Roger with a permission slip from the government. Just real quick, for those people not up on the pirate lore, here's some background information. During the age of the sail, governments would commission privateers to go after opposition shipping. Privateers were generally just pirates with a permission slip from a government. That permission slip was called a letter of mark. The practical difference between privateers and pirates was pretty slim. Other than while operating under a letter of mark, privateers were really supposed to avoid taking neutral shipping. Something pirates didn't need to do. Well, Senator Lee wants to bring back quote letters of mark and reprisal as a tool against the enemies of the United States.

Cartels have replaced corsairs in the modern era, but we can still give private American citizens and their businesses a stake in the fight against these murderous foreign criminals. The cartel Mark and Reprisal Reauthorization Act will revive this historic practice to defend our shores and seize cartel assets.

Okay, so there's a massive list of problems with this, but the one thing that showed up the most in the inbox is not one of them. We had a bunch of people asking if this was something they could really do. As weird as it sounds, this is about the most constitutional thing the Republican party under Trump has ever done. Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution explicitly grants Congress the power, quote, to declare war, grant letters of mark and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.

Now, having the power to grant letters of mark and it being wise to do so are very, very different things. When you grant a bunch of people the power to do violence in a setting like this, you're begging for unintended consequences. How long do you think it will be before a rich person has a mega yacht seized after something was planted on their boat? How long do you think it will be before an enterprising privateer realizes they could return with their seized cargo and sell it? How long do you think it will be before cartel aligned actors obtain letters of mark under false pretenses?

There's a reason the US renounced privateers in the late 1800s. Beyond that, anybody caught operating under a letter of mark would almost certainly be considered an unlawful combatant by the opposing power. Once this is all charted, the end result is that it's a ridiculously horrible idea that would open the door to all kinds of issues we haven't seen in the Caribbean or Gulf of Mexico for quite some time. It's just not unconstitutional. This should serve as a reminder that just because something is legal or constitutional doesn't mean it's necessarily a good idea.

Anyway, it's just a thought. Y'all have a good day.

[burrowowl]

1. I Love Belle she researches and does interesting topics