Discussions of Executive Privilege and the Constitution that I have seen so far ignore the English Common law foundations of American Law.

In England the common law Courts are still referred to as the Royal Courts of Justice. They have become increasingly independent of the monarch of the day over the course of the centuries.

The idea of the Crown as an institution separate and apart from the person holding it currently has been well and increasingly established for centuries. This was the great struggle of the English civil war in the 1640s and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, both essential precursors of the assertion of the rights of english heritage Americans in the War of Independence.

Without the common law constitutional concept of the independence of the Judiciary, even though acting in the name of the King, the rule of law is impossible.Without curbs and limits on Executive Privilege in America, the freedoms and liberties of the American people and the operation of the other institutions of the American Republic become equally impossible.

A fairly large group of the religious right believe that the Bible indicates that Israel would be reborn and the Jews gathered back to the ancient land of Israel in the end times before the return of Christ. Most of these people also believe in the rapture-the LEFT BEHIND series of novels and films deal with this. Members of these groups are also often very fearful of the NEW WORLD ORDER, the U.N., the Illuminati and other threats to the U.S. evangelical Christian worldview.

These people fervently support the State of Israel in all that it does and its expansion into the entirety of the West Bank as a biblically mandated necessity- the land of Canaan was given to Abraham and his Jewish descendants in Genesis unequivocally and irrevocably in perpetuity. They see this return of Israel to the world stage as an imminent harbinger of the second coming of Christ and the dawn of the millenial age. They base all this on an interpretation of biblical texts.

Jewish people, inside and outside Israel have become increasingly familiar with these groups, and in a hostile and threatening world in which the United States is seen as their only truly reliable ally, they have increasingly embraced them out of political necessity and self interest.

Joe Lieberman, in his remarks about Abraham is merely reiterating a classic view of the promise of God in Genesis. His view of Israel as exceptional among the nations reflects the Torah position that Israel is to be a light to the nations and bring them to God. These same passages in scripture form the basis of the American idea of American exceptionalism, forged in a triumphalist evangelical protestant period of American history.

The problem with all this is the conflation of one interpretation of biblical texts with American public policy. For instance, some people referred to biblical texts about Babylon and the land of Shinar in the run up to the Iraq war. Likewise texts about Persia, modern Iran, indicating that they will attack Israel are now part of the strategic thinking on what America should do about Iran`s nuclear program.

Freedom of Religion is a wonderful thing. A political policy position based on a particular religious viewpoint is perfectly valid. But such policies need to be fully and openly debated in the marketplace of ideas when setting national policy- there must be full disclosure for full and informed decision making. For the great danger is that if American policy is clandestinely based on an erroneous reading of scripture the ensuing policy may be defective and disasterous.

I find it highly ironic that people who are so worried about the rise of a New World Order which will launch a massive assault on Christians and everyone else, bringing in a global dictatorship, are among the strongest supporters of George W. Bush who has done more to lay the groundwork for this sort of dictatorial executive power than any President in U. S. history. It reminds me of the supporters of the Inquisition who tried to ensure the triumph of Christ`s kingdom of love and peace by burning religious dissenters at the stake.

I agree with Glenn Greenwald that GOP fearmongering does not work but that is really beside the point.

The central issue confronting Congress and the country is the limitless and excessive expansion of the power of the executive at the expense of the constitution and the rights and freedoms of all Americans. Members of Congress have a duty to preserve the constitutional order which transcends partisan politics,and the people will understand this if members of Congress take a principled position on these matters and communicate it to the country.

Members of the armed services routinely put their lives on the line for their country. Surely it is not to much to ask members of Congress to take positions according to what is right and just rather than what may seem at the moment to be expedient.