Thanks
For Dick Cheney
By Joel S. Hirschhorn
30 June, 2007
Countercurrents.org
When
someone in high elected office shows the nation how vulnerable our Constitution
is, we should be thankful for the wakeup call. Like many ruthless dictators,
evil kings, and monster generals, Dick Cheney is the leading practitioner
of the ends-justify-the-means mentality, where only his vision of the
desired ends counts. And if this means disregarding and disobeying the
Constitution, torturing prisoners, killing thousands of American soldiers,
disrespecting Congress, destroying our environment, embracing the invasion
of illegal immigrants, increasing out national debt, and disregarding
the will of the vast majority of Americans, so be it. Serving corporate
interests rather than serving the people is Cheney’s brand of
patriotism.
Cheney’s self-righteous
ego is bigger than George W. Bush’s, and what makes Cheney more
striking is that he is enormously smarter and more competent than Bush,
his token boss. He is so dangerous and frightening that no impeachment
of Bush effort ever stood a chance. Not as long as “President
Cheney” enters your consciousness. Cheney became Bush’s
shield.
When reality hits the fan
we use the-lessons-learned approach to stay sane. With his finger-in-the-eye
disdain for what anybody else (or history) thinks of him, Cheney offers
a far better lesson learned benefit than the stumbles and fumbles of
Bush-the-smirker. Bush is a joke. Cheney is a monster.
Take Cheney’s current
view that he is a part of the legislative branch, not the executive,
so he does not have to comply with an Executive Order on reporting use
of secret materials. It is wildly inconsistent with his prior claims
of executive privilege. But Cheney has no use for logical consistency.
Only what Cheney wants matters. (The only law that Cheney regularly
obeys is gravity.)
When we witness the brazen
acts of Cheney and Bush we should envision these types of constitutional
amendments.
An amendment could explicitly
state that the Vice President is a member of the Executive Branch, and
the Office of the Vice President must comply with Executive Orders.
And perhaps we should consider a statement of the criteria that the
President can invoke for firing the Vice President with the consent
of Congress.
And why not consider a different
method of breaking ties in the Senate. If someone from the Executive
Branch can do it, then why not someone from the Judicial Branch? Why
not the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court? Or, better yet, why not
make the constitutional solution what is the House uses. A tie vote
means that the question fails. We could eliminate the position of President
of the Senate.
As another example, consider
the frequent assertion of executive privilege by Cheney and Bush to
withhold information that Congress believes it needs. The Constitution
does not provide for executive privilege. Considering how strong the
presidency has become and the predilection to invoke executive privilege,
we need an amendment that explicitly says there is no such thing as
automatic executive privilege. Any assertion of it should be presented
to the Supreme Court and only it should rule that it is appropriate
in a particular case to protect the national interest.
As the final example, consider
the clear need for an amendment that prohibits the President from using
any kind of signing statement to announce and justify not obeying part
of a newly signed law.
We can give thanks for Dick
Cheney just like we give thanks eventually that a catastrophe or disaster
makes us stronger in the future. He has exposed constitutional weaknesses.
The principles that define the best of our nation must be protected
through amendments that learn from history. In particular, how the ingenuity
and boldness of people has allowed them to disobey and dishonor those
principles. Dick Cheney sought and achieved power sufficient to make
a mockery of our nation’s finest principles and he was enabled
by George W. Bush who apparently sought more guidance from his God than
from our Constitution.
One thing is clear. History
provides little confidence that Congress will propose constitutional
amendments that deserve full public discussion. Now is the time to use
what our Constitution offers us: an Article V convention for proposing
amendments. If we are to make our federal government work for the good
of we the people, then we require the nation’s first Article V
convention – the goal of Friends of the Article V Convention at
www.foavc.org. Why is it now so appropriate? Because Americans now have
so little confidence in Congress, the President, and the Vice President,
and because the corruption of politicians by money has reached unprecedented
heights.
As much as politicians deserve
our mistrust, we the people deserve to have an Article V convention.
Politicians fear it because they know the public will support amendments
that make the government subservient to us – the sovereign American
citizens. Politicians are not supposed to rule us. They are so supposed
to justly represent us. But they do not. They represent the moneyed
interests that control them. As Thomas Jefferson said, “An elected
tyranny is not what we fought for.”
Our Constitution should not
allow the government to make us victims and our nation hated by so much
of the world. That’s what Cheney should teach us. Now, it’s
up to us.
Pray that a petulant Bush
does not learn from Cheney, exploit the Constitution by resigning, and
create President Cheney.
[Joel S. Hirschhorn is the
author of Delusional Democracy and a founder of Friends of the Article
V Convention.]
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