As a Chief of Staff, you work at the pleasure of the President. Yet when you became an officer you swore an oath “…to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic and bear true allegiance to the same…”
As you witness first-hand Donald Trump’s counter-constitutional behavior (war has not been declared by Congress) and irrational statements (…a whole civilization will die tonight…), you are now in the unenviable position of having to forsake one for the other.
Its clear that, for some time now, the conservative majority on The Supreme Court has relied on what it calls "originalism" to make important decisions (i.e. What did the original words in The Constitution "really" mean? What was the clear "intention" of the original words of The Constitution?)
Often, it seems to me, "Originalist" decision-making is just an elaborate, intellectualized excuse to go backward in time when equal treatment under the law was an idea--not a reality; to travel back to the Good Ole Days, when white men's words were law and everybody else should be (like children of the time) seen and not heard. ...It needed a Civil War and several other vast, bloody political and cultural movements to finally achieve something resembling equality...
In your essay, you talk--as we have all talked constantly for some time now--about Congress's powers vs. The President when it comes to originating wars overseas...
Usually, as I mentioned before, "originalism" is used as an excuse to turn the historical clock backward several decades, or even to a time before The Civil War when men were men, women were household employees and slaves were slaves...a kind of NAZI wet-dream. ...BUT-- when it comes to modern "wars" perpetrated by the United States, in the yellowing copies framed in Washington it is written, as clearly as possible, that CONGRESS has the power to declare war; that the President has to ASK Congress for a declaration of war.
The fundamental "Intention" of the original founders was obvious-- NO MORE KINGS.. There's a genuine, complicated historical discussion about this issue, but the reality is--that despite the words of the original document--the President has, throughout our history, initiated incursions (not "excursions") attacks, invasions and actual wars without asking Congress-- The point is that once upon a time the king's word was law--and he, by himself, could initiate wars for any reason, on any scale, in any place.
So, we had a revolution to guarantee that the real power in this country was THE PEOPLE, NOT the KING (President). And the ideals of this revolution were institutionalized in our Constitution ...But, for a couple of libraries-worth of reasons, the President (the executive branch) little by little, took back the powers of a King and initiated wars all over the world--entirely without the consent or even the specific funding of Congress...
Vietnam was ENTIRELY a creation of the executive--a great crime against our constitution and the people of our country and of Vietnam...
Considering the terrible costs of that war (which the government also refused to call a war) it should have been the last of such great crimes... But it wasn't-- The practice of the President (the Executive Branch) carrying on wars by himself/itself has continued; even becoming--after WW2 and up till the present time--the RULE rather than an exception..
Now we have come full circle since our revolution... Once again have a king who has succeeded almost completely in ignoring the the moral and political truths of our founding document. And out of abysmal ignorance, racism and fear, the majority of the voting public, and the great majority of the current controlling political party does not find this to be a problem...
This current President has used this illegal power to initiate and carry on wars (without asking Congress for a declaration) and should be impeached as soon as possible.
The government of Iran is a clubhouse for religious and greedy gangsters and I would love to see it gone--but, at the moment I'm more concerned about what's happening in our country now. To get rid of Trump and his brand of gangsters and to dissolve his cult of true believers, I don't mind considering myself, as least this one time, an Originalist.
It's time to turn back the historical clock; to a time when THE PEOPLE, not the President/King were truly in charge of their own government, when a President couldn't declare war on his own whim or fantasy--and then assume the rest of us would follow along like a herd of lemmings, giving him a blank check--both morally and financially.
Not the first time Trump has put words into the mouths of the fallen but this time it comes on the heels of his reprehensible post showing how many fallen per war. And those two things coming so closely to the Dignified Transfer at Dover has tweaked a response of outrage.
I can already hear the spin….’the president was of course speaking in a broad sense, he wasn’t claiming to know that that exact sentiment was actually spoken by the decedents, he was implying that they had ‘spoken’ against Iranian nukes by the very act of their enlisting’. And then will come the name calling….’Dumocrats can’t understand anything, communists twisting the President’s words…’ 🙄
This, and all of the other contradictory behaviour and backpedaling that the Republican Party has become so adept at, that Mary so aptly outlines in this essay has become oh so predictable that it has begun to make me weary.
It’s a sad state of affairs, has been, and will be for several more ..whatevers… personally expecting he will move into the bunker with entourage and not come out when all or most is lost…pulling ‘ a McConnell’- no offense intended- just the facts, Mam.
Hello, Mary. I created a cartoon that was inspired by the obscenity at Dover AFB. I’d love you to see it. May I email it to you?
I'd love to see it. Send to mary@geddry.com
We should have a contest for who Trump will blame the coming recession on. I mean, besides Biden. Or Obama. Or Democrats in general.
Honorable Members of the Joint Chiefs:
As a Chief of Staff, you work at the pleasure of the President. Yet when you became an officer you swore an oath “…to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic and bear true allegiance to the same…”
As you witness first-hand Donald Trump’s counter-constitutional behavior (war has not been declared by Congress) and irrational statements (…a whole civilization will die tonight…), you are now in the unenviable position of having to forsake one for the other.
I trust you will ultimately side with your oath.
With due respect,
There is no respect due to any of them!
Its clear that, for some time now, the conservative majority on The Supreme Court has relied on what it calls "originalism" to make important decisions (i.e. What did the original words in The Constitution "really" mean? What was the clear "intention" of the original words of The Constitution?)
Often, it seems to me, "Originalist" decision-making is just an elaborate, intellectualized excuse to go backward in time when equal treatment under the law was an idea--not a reality; to travel back to the Good Ole Days, when white men's words were law and everybody else should be (like children of the time) seen and not heard. ...It needed a Civil War and several other vast, bloody political and cultural movements to finally achieve something resembling equality...
In your essay, you talk--as we have all talked constantly for some time now--about Congress's powers vs. The President when it comes to originating wars overseas...
Usually, as I mentioned before, "originalism" is used as an excuse to turn the historical clock backward several decades, or even to a time before The Civil War when men were men, women were household employees and slaves were slaves...a kind of NAZI wet-dream. ...BUT-- when it comes to modern "wars" perpetrated by the United States, in the yellowing copies framed in Washington it is written, as clearly as possible, that CONGRESS has the power to declare war; that the President has to ASK Congress for a declaration of war.
The fundamental "Intention" of the original founders was obvious-- NO MORE KINGS.. There's a genuine, complicated historical discussion about this issue, but the reality is--that despite the words of the original document--the President has, throughout our history, initiated incursions (not "excursions") attacks, invasions and actual wars without asking Congress-- The point is that once upon a time the king's word was law--and he, by himself, could initiate wars for any reason, on any scale, in any place.
So, we had a revolution to guarantee that the real power in this country was THE PEOPLE, NOT the KING (President). And the ideals of this revolution were institutionalized in our Constitution ...But, for a couple of libraries-worth of reasons, the President (the executive branch) little by little, took back the powers of a King and initiated wars all over the world--entirely without the consent or even the specific funding of Congress...
Vietnam was ENTIRELY a creation of the executive--a great crime against our constitution and the people of our country and of Vietnam...
Considering the terrible costs of that war (which the government also refused to call a war) it should have been the last of such great crimes... But it wasn't-- The practice of the President (the Executive Branch) carrying on wars by himself/itself has continued; even becoming--after WW2 and up till the present time--the RULE rather than an exception..
Now we have come full circle since our revolution... Once again have a king who has succeeded almost completely in ignoring the the moral and political truths of our founding document. And out of abysmal ignorance, racism and fear, the majority of the voting public, and the great majority of the current controlling political party does not find this to be a problem...
This current President has used this illegal power to initiate and carry on wars (without asking Congress for a declaration) and should be impeached as soon as possible.
The government of Iran is a clubhouse for religious and greedy gangsters and I would love to see it gone--but, at the moment I'm more concerned about what's happening in our country now. To get rid of Trump and his brand of gangsters and to dissolve his cult of true believers, I don't mind considering myself, as least this one time, an Originalist.
It's time to turn back the historical clock; to a time when THE PEOPLE, not the President/King were truly in charge of their own government, when a President couldn't declare war on his own whim or fantasy--and then assume the rest of us would follow along like a herd of lemmings, giving him a blank check--both morally and financially.
Not the first time Trump has put words into the mouths of the fallen but this time it comes on the heels of his reprehensible post showing how many fallen per war. And those two things coming so closely to the Dignified Transfer at Dover has tweaked a response of outrage.
I can already hear the spin….’the president was of course speaking in a broad sense, he wasn’t claiming to know that that exact sentiment was actually spoken by the decedents, he was implying that they had ‘spoken’ against Iranian nukes by the very act of their enlisting’. And then will come the name calling….’Dumocrats can’t understand anything, communists twisting the President’s words…’ 🙄
This, and all of the other contradictory behaviour and backpedaling that the Republican Party has become so adept at, that Mary so aptly outlines in this essay has become oh so predictable that it has begun to make me weary.
It’s a sad state of affairs, has been, and will be for several more ..whatevers… personally expecting he will move into the bunker with entourage and not come out when all or most is lost…pulling ‘ a McConnell’- no offense intended- just the facts, Mam.