Act Two: The Struggle Continues

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By Ernest Partridge (about the author) Page 3 of 4 page(s)

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Today, our national security is endangered by a substandard system of education, by the lack of high speed mass transit, by an aging physical infrastructure, and most of all by dependence upon foreign sources of oil. Under the rubric of "national defense," at least half of the existing military-industrial complex might be converted to research, development and manufacture of these acutely needed national assets. For example, the same technologies that produce rocket bodies and air frames could produce state-of-the-art railroad cars. All this could be done, for the most part, without moving facilities out of key congressional districts, and with the loss of few workers indeed, this conversion would doubtlessly create more jobs.

Impossible? Impractical? On the contrary. Consider the conversion of the American economy to war production in 1942, and then back to consumer goods in 1945. All that is required this time is public support, political will, and the inspiring leadership of a new president.

Restoring the Rule of Law

Under the Bush/Cheney regime, almost all of the ten amendments of the Bill of Rights were effectively scrapped (the Second Amendment excepted of course). International treaties, which have the status of law, were violated. Habeas corpus, an eight-hundred year old right of citizenship, explicitly mandated in the Constitution, was casually set aside. Under the guise of "signing statements," George Bush announced his intention to ignore acts of Congress at will.

In effect, the status of ordinary Americans was transformed from that of citizens to subjects of the arbitrary exercise of executive power.

Yet the erosion of the rule of law was scarcely mentioned in the presidential campaign.

The new President, a former professor of constitutional law, must announce clearly, unequivocally and immediately that the rule of law has been restored to the United States. He must demand the repeal of the PATRIOT Act and the Military Commissions Act, and he must, as promised, close down the Guantanamo facility. And he must announce that violations of the law by any members of his administration will result in prosecutions and punishments to the full extent of the law.

It should go without saying, that as citizens of the United States, we are all entitled to the protection of the rule of law. And yet, tragically, after eight years under an outlaw regime, this entitlement must now be demanded, persistently, until all our citizen rights and the rule of law have been fully and securely restored.

The restoration of the rule of law raises a daunting question: What is to be done with the outlaws who have occupied high offices since January, 2001? Will George Bush summarily pardon the culprits, including perhaps himself? If so, what then?

Full pardon and comfortable retirements for all the malefactors will be an affront to justice from which our legal system and our body politic may never fully recover. For we will then have set a precedent of crimes and misdemeanors in high office without accountability.

Barack Obama has had little to say about how he might deal with the crimes of his predecessors. Perhaps he is prudent to withhold comment before he takes office. He needs to know, as do we all, just what Bush might do in his final days in office. In addition, it might be wise first to accumulate additional evidence of malfeasance before taking action.

So it is probably too early to tell just what to do with the criminals of the Bush/Cheney regime. The facts must first come forth and events must play themselves out.

But somehow, sometime, the criminals must be held accountable for their crimes against the state and against the American people. For if not, what assurances do we have that they will not be repeated?

A Progressive Capture of the Democratic Party

For most progressives, the Democratic Party is the lesser of two evils. So much so that many progressives could not bring themselves to vote for the Democratic candidate, and so they either abstained or voted for a minor candidate.

I count myself among those who are extremely dissatisfied with the Democratic Party. The dismally low public opinion of the Democratic Congress, which has approval ratings lower even than those of Bush and Cheney, is well-deserved.

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Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. Partridge has taught philosophy at the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He publishes the website, (more...)

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