Untitled Document
It should be obvious by now all hope of restoring a constitutional republic
is down the tubes, especially when our very own Congress critters have no understanding
of how the Constitution works or what the language of the document means. Consider
Republican senators Chuck Hagel and Lincoln Chafee as they questioned
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her testimony before the Senate
Foreign Relations Committee last week. Hagel and Chafee “were among several
lawmakers who asked Rice whether the Bush administration was considering military
action against Iran and Syria, and asked whether the president would circumvent
congressional authorization if the White House chose that option.” In
short, they wanted to know if Bush would violate the Constitution and asked
about this serious matter in a very pedestrian manner.
James Madison, the father of our Constitution, declared: “The
Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature the power of
declaring a state of war [and] the power of raising armies. A delegation of
such powers [to the president] would have struck, not only at the fabric of
our Constitution, but at the foundation of all well organized and well checked
governments. The separation of the power of declaring war from that of conducting
it, is wisely contrived to exclude the danger of its being declared for the
sake of its being conducted.”
Article I Section 8 of the Constitution specifically spells out that only Congress
shall declare war—and yet these two senators, either clueless or no longer
abiding by our founding document (as they are sworn) politely asked Condi Rice
if her boss will trample the Constitution, instead of demanding he follow the
law.
For some reason, very few people seem to notice the fact the Constitution is
all but dead. Few of us are outraged. I find it extremely disturbing we have
lost whole sections of the Constitution and only a few “constitutional
nuts” care. It seems the rest of the country—including Congress
and the courts—are oblivious, in a state of denial, or are in on the conspiracy
to destroy the country.
Obviously, we deserve the dictatorship we are in the process of inflicting
upon ourselves.
