[Peace-discuss] Defending Liberty

[ppatton at uiuc.edu]

Defending Liberty
by Robert C. Byrd
 

The Constitution of the United States of America is sheer 
genius captured on parchment. The delicate balance of 
authority -- the system of checks and balances and separation 
of powers -- has served as the foundation for our liberties, 
providing for the flexibility needed to accommodate two 
centuries of change and growth while also inspiring people 
around the world to strive for liberty.

The Constitution is designed, as Chief Justice John Marshall 
observed, "to endure for ages to come." But our national 
charter is being threatened as never before by reckless 
disregard for its wisdom.

Especially since Sept. 11, 2001, I have viewed with 
increasing alarm the erosion of the people's liberties at the 
hand of an overreaching executive and a less than vigilant 
Congress. This White House wraps itself in the garb of 
patriotism while running roughshod over the very ideals for 
which the first American patriots sacrificed. A concentrated, 
manipulative and ruthless grasp for power by an arrogant 
executive which eschews the need to answer questions, seek 
counsel or build consensus is a dangerous phenomenon, 
especially in these troubled times.

This Bush administration preys on fear, twists the truth and 
relies on extreme secrecy in an unprecedented display of 
contempt for the American people.

Let President Bush speak for himself. "I'm the commander," he 
told journalist Bob Woodward for the book, Bush at War. "See, 
I don't need to explain -- I do not need to explain why I say 
things. That's the interesting thing about being the 
president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say 
something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an 
explanation."

In this country, the people are sovereign. The first three 
words of the preamble to the Constitution are "We the 
people." The people are always owed an explanation by those 
who serve them. For any public servant to believe otherwise 
is arrogant in the extreme and can be costly at home and 
abroad.

Consider the cornerstone of Mr. Bush's foreign policy -- the 
doctrine of pre-emption, the first-strike war. This doctrine 
is unconstitutional. It cuts the people's representatives -- 
the Congress -- completely out of decisions to send Americans 
to fight and die.

Look to Iraq, the first testing ground for this radical 
doctrine. America is not safer because of Mr. Bush's war.

Instead, we have forged a cauldron of contempt for America, a 
dangerous brew that may have poisoned efforts at peace 
throughout the Middle East and, indeed, the world, while 
giving rise to generations of young people who now hate 
America for its aggression and for shameful debacles like the 
horrors at Abu Ghraib. We have squandered the goodwill of the 
world. Such has been the price of the Bush doctrine of pre-
emption.

A weak Congress buckled in its vote to authorize force in 
Iraq. The country was misled by an administration that waved 
the bloody shirt of 9/11 then subtly shifted the blame to 
Saddam Hussein, despite the fact that there exists no 
demonstrable link between the two.

The White House propaganda machine convinced the country and 
Congress that it was unpatriotic to question the president; 
that it was damaging to our troops to question the war; and 
that it now serves no purpose to rehash the events that took 
us to war. But we must learn from an examination of the sad 
mistakes that have been made. Nearly 1,000 Americans have 
died in Iraq. No president must ever again be granted such 
license with our troops and our treasure.

Each generation of Americans has the responsibility to renew 
the framer's legacy, and to make this nation shine as a 
lasting beacon of hope for the world. "Eternal vigilance is 
the price of liberty." We must reacquaint ourselves with the 
Constitution and forge new links with our history. Congress 
must reinvigorate its defense of the people's liberties. Amid 
the sound and fury of election-year politics, all of us must 
take a long, hard look at the kind of country we want to 
leave to our children.

Robert C. Byrd, the senior Democratic senator from West 
Virginia, is the author of Losing America: Confronting a 
Reckless and Arrogant Presidency (W.W. Norton & Co.)