March 20, 2006 at 11:34:50

Wanna Make This About Whos Hurting America? Bring it On!

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By Andrew Bard Schmookler (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

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Apparently, you think that you are called upon to support a president who insists �trust us,� rather than support the Constitution, that blueprint of checks and balances, whose very core principle repudiates the stand you are taking. James Madison, �The Father of the Constitution,� wrote in Federalist Paper # 51:

�If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.�

So which Senator is honoring his oath of office: you, Senator Allard, or Senator Feingold?

The Stakes Are High

This is a battle eminently worth joining. On the one side we have the Bushites who continually work to keep us Americans frightened of the terrorists. Sure, they pose a threat that needs to be addressed. But we shouldn't be so frightened of the terrorists that we lose our cool and throw out the great gift of our Constitutional government. What we should be most frightened of is losing that great gift.

That's the message from our Founding Fathers embedded in that oath of office: the key to our future is to preserve our constitutional system. So long as we have that, we can deal with whatever else history sends our way�including enemies that would attack us from without. In that constitutional system of checks and balances we find the proof that the danger that concerned our Founders most was the rise to power of domestic enemies to our Constitution.

Clearly, it is the stalwart few like Senator Feingold and Representative Conyers who are the true disciples of our Founders. It is they who are honoring their oath of office, and calling upon their colleagues in the Congress to stand with them to uphold the rule of law and the Constitution's system of checks and balances.

The politicians on both sides, and the mainstream media along with them, are not rallying to that call. The Republicans seem to think they will fare best if they're loyal to their president and betray their oath of office. The Democrats seem afraid that Americans are more persuaded by bogus arguments about defending us from terrorists than by valid arguments about defending the Constitution.

Neither side believes that the American people care enough about whether their president puts himself above the law, and claims powers unchecked by Congress or the Courts, that they need to rally now to preserve what's best about America. Let us who want to preserve America send the message strongly: We do care. We recognize that the soul of our country is at stake.

Seize the Moment

So the battle is a worthy one, and the moment is propitious. The means to channel our will has been presented to us. The Internet is laid out before us to enable us to bring all our forces to bear. We have a defined step to take�the very kind of thing for which a grassroots movement is well suited.

Let us all put our strongest efforts behind a petition drive. Let us add our names to the petition for censure, and to encourage others to do likewise and pass it on. Let's at least collect enough signatures for our message to make a strong impression on members of Congress of both parties, and on the news media.

www.progressivepatriotsfund.com/page/petition/censure0306

political.moveon.org/censure/

And let's reach out to people across the political spectrum. Because protecting and defending the Constitution of the United States is not a partisan issue. It's an American issue.

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Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. (more...)

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