Burning the Constitution
September 19, 2002
President Bushs apologists hail him for
bringing moral clarity to the subject of terrorism. I
hadnt really noticed much moral ambiguity about 9/11; most
people seemed to think it was pretty awful even before Bush said so. My
own impression was that, in the time-honored fashion of political
leaders, he condemned terrorism unequivocally only because
there was virtually no dissent. We can all talk tough when everyone agrees
with us.
Moreover, it sounds
odd to use the words Bush and clarity in the same sentence.
His normal manner is one of confusion. Gerald Ford can now enjoy his
golden years in the assurance that his record for presidential
befuddlement has been shattered.
Bush doesnt
speak much English. He relies heavily on the syntax-saving device of
about. This isnt about weapons inspection.
Its about disarmament. Thats what America
is all about. And so on. About can spare you the
mental effort of constructing precise sentences. Its the next thing
to a grunt. No wonder cartoonists tend to make Bush look simian.
Bush has sworn to
uphold a Constitution he hasnt taken the trouble to read. He has
lawyers to read it for him and tell him what he wants it to mean. It
always turns out to mean that he is entitled to have his way. Since
Lincoln, many presidents have discovered that the Constitution is a
charter for one-man rule. Bush stands in what is by now a long tradition.
Fortunately for him,
few members of Congress read the Constitution either. Otherwise he
might be facing impeachment for usurping Congresss prerogative
of committing the United States to war. Instead, we are hearing that
Congress must unite behind the president. The Founding
Fathers would choke at such talk.
All presidents, not
just the really horny ones, should have to think about impeachment. It was
meant to be a readily available method of removing public officials for
misconduct, and not a rare and traumatic remedy akin to beheading a
monarch. Considering how many criminal presidents we have had, the very
infrequency of impeachment represents a grave failure of the American
system. For one thing, it might have spared us a ghastly civil war. It might
also have saved the Constitution.
True, a
few voices argue that Bush should get Congresss
support before launching his war; but this is only a feeble,
vestigial gesture toward constitutionality. Everyone understands that
its going to be his war; nobody suggests that he should be
penalized for waging it without Congresss approval, let alone that
declaring war is properly a congressional, not a presidential, initiative.
Anyone who insists on
observing the Constitution as written is apt to be accused of living in the
past or trying to turn back the clock. But what is the alternative to
keeping faith with Americas founding document? I can think of
only one: honest repudiation.
Writing in The
Guardian, a British newspaper, Jonathan Freedland draws
remarkable parallels between the Roman Empire and the American Empire.
Of course Americans think of their country as a democracy, and the term
empire offends their self-image. But maybe its time to
come to terms with reality and square language with practice. America
does have an empire, complete with a Caesar.
Even some pro-war
neoconservatives (if the phrase isnt redundant) are starting to
speak of empire approvingly. What about their claim that Israel
shares our democratic values? That presents no real
problem; it would be more accurate to say that Israel shares our
imperialistic values.
Accordingly, Bush
should make it official. He should formally declare that the United States
is now an empire. This declaration should be accompanied by a ceremonial
burning of the U.S. Constitution. It is no longer needed or observed, and its
only provisions that are still honored are those that have to do with
scheduling elections. Its limitations on the Federal Government are null
and void.
Burning the
Constitution would indeed restore clarity to our public life. Better an
honest empire than a bogus democracy (or, in the quaint language of our
ancestors, republic). It would relieve us of intolerable and confusing
double-talk, and might even help Bush himself understand what he is
doing. Empire, he might say, is what our country is all about.
Joseph Sobran
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