Letters to the Editor
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scooter
Scooter worked real hard on that post. Took him days to collect those little dried-grass figurines. Don't pick on him like that.
LEAVE SCOOTER ALOOOOOONE!!!!!!!!!
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Kovie
"To expect and wait for the courts to fix the messes that we find ourselves in right now is naive and, frankly, lazy, if not cowardly."
If a top painter could paint a masterpiece that would change what he considered wrong with the world, would he not do it? Or would he lay down his brush and start drawing cartoons?
Glenn is a high profile litigator, well trained, and obviously well educated. He claims that our country is rife with violations of the law, and that we are all one jackboot away from fascism. The courts are the designated places for violations of the law in our system, are they not?
It seems to me Glenn should lay down his keyboard and take up his briefcase. A federal lawsuit only costs a couple of hundred dollars and an injunction hearing could be set within weeks of a filing.
I wouldn't call that lazy or cowardly. I would call that having the courage of one's rhetoric.
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Glenn, regarding defeatism
I don't agree that our political system is worthy of the benefit of the doubt. I am not particularly defeatist, but I do think we need deep and fundamental reforms to our constitution. You, as a civil rights attorney, have probably focussed much of your time on the explicit legal protections that the Constitution affords our citizens. For what it's worth, that part of our Constitution is pretty damn good. I am exceedingly proud of the Bill of Rights, and would only want to see it supplemented if it is to be changed at all.
However, we need to think about how our political structures have helped to create the politics that we now have. To that end, I would suggest that you spend some time now examining the first part of the Constitution as it is the part that actually constitutes our democracy. If we look at Art. II of the Constitution, we find no explicit limits on the President other than the vague requirement that he faithfully execute the laws. Article I contains many explicit limits on the Legislature.
We like to tell ourselves that ours is a government of checks and balances where the various branches compete for power. That competition and those checks are supposed to limit the power of all the branches, but there are no real limitations or checks on the Executive. The Executive, meanwhile, actually functions as a third chamber of the Legislative and has the ability to completely paralyze that branch. Congress has neither the authority nor the ability to reign in the Executive. When the Executive violates the law, we are reliant on the Executive to investigate and punish itself. Congressional investigations, while a nice side show, have no power.
I firmly believe that to get through this--to overthrow Bush's legacy, we will have to amend the Constitution. Some suggested revisions:
1. Reform our election system to allow for a mixed proportional representation system similar to Germany's.
2. Explicitly limit the power of the Presidency, including defining the commander in chief power, defining the power of the President to create his own law, and eliminating the concept of Executive Privilege.
3. Lower the standard for overriding a presidential veto, or removing the presidential veto altogether.
4. Limiting judicial terms, perhaps to 18 years.
5. Removing the electoral college and reforming the method of electing the president. (I would take France's system as a model.)
6. Limiting conditions under which military force can be used.
7. Changing the power of the Senate, or perhaps allowing the House to override the Senate.
8. Ensure that the President is accountable to the Congress.
Those are just off the top of my head. These are the sorts of things that have to happen for us to revitalize our democratic culture.
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Depression, Angst, and What to do in a scrum of 300 million people
Our main role, I think, is to choose our leaders wisely. On the rugby field, the scrum is composed of eighteen pairs of legs, all pushing, pulling and kicking for possession of the ball and it's direction. Here, we're talking a scrum of some 300 million pairs of legs--chaos--and the ball represents the political direction of a large and wonderful country.
If we choose wisely, our leaders will be smart and good and will lead us to solutions. I guess that's why we call them leaders. We don't need to do it all ourselves. We just need to make better choices about our leadership.
It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they did. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it’s up to us to do the very same thing!
We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens' right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive branch and the President's apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.
I endorse the words of Bob Barr, when he said, and I quote: "The President has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."
A special counsel should immediately be appointed by the Attorney General to remedy the obvious conflict of interest that prevents him from investigating what many believe are serious violations of law by the President. We’ve had a fresh demonstration of how an independent investigation by a special counsel with integrity can rebuild confidence in our system of justice. Patrick Fitzgerald has, by all accounts, shown neither fear nor favor in pursuing allegations that the Executive branch has violated other laws.
Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress should support the bipartisan call of the Liberty Coalition for the appointment of this special counsel to pursue the criminal issues raised by the warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the President, and it should be a political issue in any race -- regardless of party, section of the country, house of congress for anyone who opposes the appointment of a special counsel under these dangerous circumstances when our Constitution is at risk. Secondly, new whistleblower protections should immediately be established for members of the Executive branch who report evidence of wrongdoing -- especially where it involves the abuse of authority in these sensitive areas of national security.
Third, both Houses of Congress should, of course, hold comprehensive-and not just superficial-hearings into these serious allegations of criminal behavior on the part of the President. And, they should follow the evidence wherever it leads.
Fourth, the extensive new powers requested by the Executive branch in its proposal to extend and enlarge the Patriot Act should, under no circumstances be granted, unless and until there are adequate and enforceable safeguards to protect the Constitution and the rights of the American people against the kinds of abuses that have so recently been revealed.
Fifth, any telecommunications company that has provided the government with access to private information concerning the communications of Americans without a proper warrant should immediately cease and desist their complicity in this apparently illegal invasion of the privacy of American citizens.
Freedom of communication is an essential prerequisite for the restoration of the health of our democracy.
It is particularly important that the freedom of the Internet be protected against either the encroachment of government or efforts at control by large media conglomerates. The future of our democracy depends on it.
In closing, I mentioned that along with cause for concern, there is reason for hope. As I stand here today, I am filled with optimism that America is on the eve of a golden age in which the vitality of our democracy will be re-established by the people and will flourish more vibrantly than ever. Indeed I can feel it in this hall.
As Dr. King once said, "Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us."
From Al Gore-- "The Limits of Executive Power: Restoring the Rule of Law"
January 16, 2006 . Washington, D.C.