Tag: Constitution

Happy Friday and welcome to the 15th installment (does this feel like a 30 year mortgage to anyone else?) in the Dog’s series on the United States Constitution. This series is taking a layman’s look at the Constitution and talking about what each part means. If you have never read the whole thing before, the Dog recommends that you do. After all it is the foundational document of our entire system of law, so it is worth knowing. If you have not been following this series you can find the previous installments at the following links;

Um, The Dog is having some technical difficulties this week, so there will not be any links, hopefully by next Friday we can get this resolved.  

During the Great Depression, Woody Guthrie traveled across America and saw the injustice, poverty, and despair of a nation suffering the consequences of Republican misrule.  In the city square, in the shadow of the steeple, by the relief office he saw his people.  They were hungry, out of work, out of hope.  But he never stopped hoping that someday, for their sake, for the sake of their children and grandchildren, America would become a land of economic and social justice.

As he was walking that ribbon of highway,

He saw what America was, but he also saw what America can be.

He saw above him that endless skyway,

He saw below him, that golden valley,

He never lost his faith that this land was made for you and me,

and wrote an anthem that still touches the heart of every American who hears it . . .

All right, Chicken Littles.  You wanna play “the sky is falling?”  Okay, I’ll bite.  How ’bout these possible outcomes?:

Cheney becomes Temporary President in January, 2009…or… casts a tie-breaking vote in Senate balloting to determine who will be Succeeder to the Decider…or…Obama is elected President, but is saddled with Cariboucuda as his Vice President…

All this misery – and more! – can be yours, for the simple price of an Electoral College vote of 269-269.  Join me, if you will, in the Cave of the Moonbat, where tonight’s theme is “The Implausible and its Potentially Apocalyptic Consequences upon Humankind.”  The subject is the ticking time bomb represented by the Twelfth Amendment – and just for fun, let’s look at some best- and worst-case scenarios it might spawn in the event of an Electoral tie.  The suggested headgear for the evening is a tinfoil hat; umbrellas might also be helpful, since everyone knows that the sky can’t be falling if you can’t see it headed toward you.  

Today is Constitution Day.

Once upon a time, Superman — arguably America’s most famous and popular superhero — fought “a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way”. Back in the 1940s and ’50s, truth and justice were seen as quintessential American values as American as mom, baseball, and apple pie.

But today, the belief that truth and justice is something America values is fading and along with it the United States Supreme Court’s global influence is waning too, reports Adam Liptak of The New York Times.

Since the Second World War, Superman has been fighting for “truth, justice and the American way” and since that end of the war, judges worldwide have been seeking out Supreme Court decisions “for guidance, citing and often following them in hundreds of their own rulings.”

But no more. Fewer foreign courts “seem to pay attention” to the opinions coming from the U.S. Supreme Court.

“One of our great exports used to be constitutional law,” said Anne-Marie Slaughter, the dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton. “We are losing one of the greatest bully pulpits we have ever had.”

Why has this happened? The answer largely comes down to conservatism and George W. Bush.

“Americans strongly oppose giving the president more power at the expense of Congress or the courts, even to enhance national security or the economy,”according the Associated Press-National Constitution Center poll.

“There is clearly a concern about executive power and the balance of power that comes out in a couple of different ways,” said Joseph Torsella, president of the Philadelphia-based organization. The nonpartisan center is dedicated to educating the public about the Constitution.

The dualistic mind is enjoying the on-going debate between “purity trolls” and “sell-outs.”  And most people on both sides of the issue appear to be quite certain of their stance.  Feeling somewhat queasy from the shaky ground under me, I’ve been looking in vain for the solid ground others seem to have found.  All I see is a Sophie’s Choice:  which one do you choose to kill–the Constitution of the United States or any chance of participation in the process?  I don’t know.  But I’m here to urge people to accept that we have a tough decision which cries out for meaningful, respectful debate.  And during this debate, may we keep in mind the most important political question we face–what action gives us the best chance of rescuing the constitution from imminent demise.