The problem of the Presidency

We have forgotten how powerful one person has become over the course of seven years.

Today, the President of the United States is the most powerful person in the history of civilization. More powerful than Caesar, the Tzar, or the Fuehrer.

In the course of seven years, the President has assumed the following powers:

• He has assumed the power to spy on any person anywhere in the world, including American citizens, without a court warrant or judicial oversight;
• He has assumed the power to wage war against any nation, without a declaration of war from the Congress;
• He has assumed the power to use nuclear weapons against any nation without a declaration of war from the Congress;
• He has assumed the power to indefinitely detain any person he deems an enemy combatant without judicial oversight, and when confronted by the judiciary and told to cease, he continues to detain as many as 26,000 people in prison ships;
• He has assumed the power through presidential signing statements to ignore the laws passed by Congress and to execute only those with which he agrees;
• He has assumed the power to ignore obligations of international law concerning the rights and treatment afforded to prisoners of war.

All of this, the President has done in the name of fighting terrorism.

There is no “terrorism” exception to the Constitution.

There is no “terrorism” exception listed anywhere in Article II, which details the powers of the President.

The current powers of the President were unthinkable on September 10, 2001. Today, these powers are as accepted as the night sky.

These powers will be given to the next President, who will likely be either Senator John McCain or Senator Barack Obama.

Neither man has made any promise of giving up these incredible powers.

On the contrary, both men have a significant interest in keeping them.

No doubt, both men believe they can handle such power in a well-intentioned manner that will benefit the people.

No doubt, both men will abuse these powers the moment they have assumed them.

Nietzsche once wrote, “When you stare into the abyss, the abyss also stares into you.”

No matter how good a person is, they are oftentimes transformed by circumstance.

It is an old story: the well meaning politician transforming into the tyrant. It is an old story because the nature of power does not change.

Yet time and time again, people believe this politician or that politician will be different.

No, this is not true.

Power does not change. People have not changed. Power corrupts even the best of men and women. The awesome powers of the President will transform the next office holder into something of misery.

It is sad to speak to Americans today. They have forgotten the meaning of liberty. In 2001, they said, “We will invade Afghanistan, and we will be safe.” So they invaded Afghanistan, yet they still did not feel safe. They did not find the perpetrator of the horrible attack that had taken place months earlier.

Then in 2002, they let their President build a concentration camp in Cuba, outside of the law, where people could be tortured and made to sign false confessions. They said, “Let the President do this, it will make us feel safe if these people are tortured and housed in a jail in this manner.” Yet they still did not feel safe.

Then in 2003, they let their President lie to them and say that another country, Iraq, was a threat, that it had nuclear weapons. All lies. So they said, “We have not found Osama bin Laden, we have not secured Afghanistan, but we must invade Iraq, and we will be safe.” So they invaded Iraq, yet they still did not feel safe.

Then in 2004, there was an election and they said, “We still do not feel safe. We are at war. We must re-elect the man who led us into these wars, and then we will feel safe.” So they re-elected their President, yet they still did not feel safe.

And in 2005, they learned that their President had assumed great powers over the last five years, that he had assumed the power to spy, the power to make war, the power to detain, and the power to decide which laws to execute, all in contravention of their Supreme Law, the Constitution. They learned all of this, but they were still afraid, so they said, “We must give the President these powers, or else we will be attacked again. It is OK if he has these powers.” So they said nothing when they learned all these things, yet they still did not feel safe.

In 2006, there was an another election, and they realized they had to restrain their leader, their President. They said, “The Congress will change hands, and things will change.” In 2006, the Congress changed hands, yet things did not change. Things have proceeded on course.

Now, in 2008, there is another election, and they say, “The President will change hands, and things will change.” You see? Americans have still not learned.

In the meantime, their economy is in tatters, their cities are crumbling, their rights and liberties are totally destroyed. This is the destiny of a great nation, a nation founded on principles of democratic governance and republican virtue. It is all gone now.

Senator McCain will not make America safe. Senator Obama will not make America safe.

Only Americans can make America safe.

They must elect people into the Congress who will put limits on the President and demand the return of presidential powers illegally taken.

They must elect people into their state governments who will resist further encroachments of federal power.

They must remember their rights and liberties and sense of virtue and decency. They must be outraged that so much has been taken from them over such a little period of time.

The branches of tyranny are thick and manifold, and they suffocate and oppress. There is the curse of perpetual debt, of inflation without end, increasing costs of living, constant war, greater police presence. Today, the people suffer.

The people must see the root of their problems — too much power in the hands of too few.

They complain about the branches, but they refuse to strike the root.

The greatest threat to America today is not terrorism. The greatest threat is the threat of power, especially the power of the President.

Invade a man’s home, and you have made an enemy of an entire family, or perhaps an entire village. They will fight back.

Apologize, and the hurt will go away. Make restitution. Give it time. The man can become your friend, even after you have wronged him. People are kind on this Earth, and they are happy to forgive.

There is a way to stop terrorism. It is to encourage freedom.

Freedom, like charity, begins at home.

Restrain the president.

End the wars.

Focus on domestic issues, on the economy, on the health of the citizenry.

Return to the rule of law.

Apologize, and make restitution.

Terrorism will go away.

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 29th, 2008 at 12:58 pm and is filed under Alternative Living, Executive Power, Fear and Tyranny, Freedom and Democracy, Government Accountability. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.