"A Republic, If You Can Keep it"
It is troubling to see many among us who are willing to cut President Obama too much slack on the issue of human rights violations and his responsibility to "...preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."
The oath sworn by the President at his inauguration is extremely simple and unambiguous. The Founders recognized that there is simply no greater charge given to our President than the preservation of our Constitution. Without that, after all, we have nothing as a Republic. And any President who might choose to ignore or act in violation of our Constitution takes a very large step toward making of himself a king or a tyrant.
Like many Obama supporters, I too was somewhat willing to give Obama the benefit of the doubt when he claimed his inaction in pursuit of possible crimes was predicated upon a wish to "look forward." I did not agree with this approach. It angered me. But I could nevertheless find room in that for these crimes to be addressed in other ways, perhaps through Congressional action.
But then, Obama decided to uphold the "right" of the Executive to clearly violate the 4th Amendment (secret domestic wiretapping) and to support extreme rendition of foreigners at the will of the President.
In this, Obama moved from a position of being "too busy" or "disinclined" to personally pursue past violations of the Constitution to instead express his own willingness to assume extra-Constitutional powers in an effort to combat terrorism. This represents a willingness to violate his oath in pursuit of some "larger and much more important" objective.
My first objection here is that such a response to terrorism indicates a full capitulation to terrorism by becoming terrorists ourselves.
But my main objection here, of course, is that the Founders did not grant the President the authority to determine what extra-constitutional powers he might assume under certain circumstance. Instead, they very specifically required the President to swear an oath to honor the Constitution above all else in performance of his duties.
It was Benjamin Franklin who was asked at the close of the Constitutional Convention "Well, Doctor, what have we got--a Republic or a Monarchy?"
His response? "A Republic, if you can keep it."
In the last eight years, we have suffered perhaps the greatest challenge to this Republic in my lifetime. Cheney and Bush displayed an almost contemptuous disregard for our protections laid out in this document.
Yet, it is not Bush or Cheney (and certainly not Obama) who represent the greatest threat to the Republic. Instead, it is those among us who will acknowledge that these violations have occurred and who choose to overlook them in a misguided desire to "move forward." Without first restoring our footing on solid ground, we will move forward at risk of finding ourselves swallowed in quicksand.
Yeah, this protection of our Constitution is a big deal. And we best get that entered firmly into our collective consciousness and assume this duty as our number one priority if we choose to keep our Republic.
