In Your Face Destruction of the Constitution

It should be obvious by now all hope of restoring a constitutional republic is down the tubes, especially when our very own Congress critters have no understanding of how the Constitution works or what the language of the document means. Consider Republican senators Chuck Hagel and Lincoln Chafee as they questioned Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during her testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. Hagel and Chafee "were among several lawmakers who asked Rice whether the Bush administration was considering military action against Iran and Syria, and asked whether the president would circumvent congressional authorization if the White House chose that option." In short, they wanted to know if Bush would violate the Constitution and asked about this serious matter in a very pedestrian manner.

James Madison, the father of our Constitution, declared: "The Constitution expressly and exclusively vests in the Legislature the power of declaring a state of war [and] the power of raising armies. A delegation of such powers [to the president] would have struck, not only at the fabric of our Constitution, but at the foundation of all well organized and well checked governments. The separation of the power of declaring war from that of conducting it, is wisely contrived to exclude the danger of its being declared for the sake of its being conducted."

Article I Section 8 of the Constitution specifically spells out that only Congress shall declare war - and yet these two senators, either clueless or no longer abiding by our founding document (as they are sworn) politely asked Condi Rice if her boss will trample the Constitution, instead of demanding he follow the law.

For some reason, very few people seem to notice the fact the Constitution is all but dead. Few of us are outraged. I find it extremely disturbing we have lost whole sections of the Constitution and only a few "constitutional nuts" care. It seems the rest of the country - including Congress and the courts - are oblivious, in a state of denial, or are in on the conspiracy to destroy the country.

Obviously, we deserve the dictatorship we are in the process of inflicting upon ourselves.