Constitution
'We've come to this ignoble moment.' 'We have become like Serbia.' 12 Jul 2008 'I never thought I would say this, but I think it might, in fact, be time for the United States to be held internationally to a tribunal. I never thought in my lifetime I would say that, that we have become like Serbia, where an international tribunal has to come to force us to apply the rule of law... So we've come to this ignoble moment, where we could be forced into a tribunal and forced to face the rule of law that we've refused to apply to ourselves.' --Constitutional Law expert Jonathan Turley, on MSNBC's Friday 'Countdown,' discussing accountability behind US war crimes at Guantanamo.
Where Framers of the Constitution Fell Short
Supplanting the United States Constitution: War, National Emergency and "Continuity of Government"
US government has become dysfunctional. Neither of the major political parties will let the other accomplish anything, so we are left with major problems not even addressed. Special interests and big money control the agenda, and the Supreme Court made things much worse by allowing Corporations to spend as much money as they like to influence elections.
On January 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations are entitled to spend unlimited funds in our elections. The First Amendment was never intended to protect corporations. This cannot stand. Join our campaign to protest this decision. Protect our democracy! Free speech is for people — not corporations.
Is US still a Constitutional Government ?
The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis Bill Moyers
How to improve decision making. (Daniel Ellsberg)
Political Parties
It is clear that the two party monopoly has polarized people and government to an extent that the US is incapable of dealing with any serious challenges.
The two party monopoly does not work for the people. It has resulted in gridlock and dysfunction.
We should insist on Instant Runoff Voting or Range Voting for all of our elections as a first step to weakening the two major parties.
See this note.
Elections
Good Americans believe in fair elections in which all votes are accurately counted. Voting machines are currently manufactured by Republican partisans and their inner workings are trade secrets. For that and many other reasons (see the elections page), US elections cannot be trusted.
We need voting machines to be open source, transparent, standardized, and auditable. Procedures should be in place to provide security.
Range voting ought to be in place at all levels: State, Local, and Federal.
Almost everyone agrees that the electoral college should be abolished.
Election procedures need substantial reform, but it is not even up for discussion. Media, in its own downward spiral, doesn't talk about it.
Corporations
Corporations, to retain their charter, must act like good citizens. If they are too big to fail, they need public oversight. Yes, regulations. They are not people. If they act contrary to the public interest, they should lose their charter.
An amendment.
Presidency
Like many empires before, we are headed for an imperial head of state. It is contrary to the US Constitution that a single individual decides important matters on his own. Sometimes we have wise leaders, but more often they are quite fallible...if not outright self-serving. Congress has allowed much of its power to be usurped.
Another Republican bad idea is making the Presidency all-powerful. Bush, in signing statements made the law or distorted it beyond recognition. He thumbed his nose at international law.
Bush, like Nixon, argued that the President is above the law. The Constitution needs to be altered so that no President ever makes that mistake again.
The Danger from the Imperial Presidency
Intelligence
Secret agencies construct our view of the outside world, provide controlled versions to media, and frame issues to justify actions. The pretext for the war in Iraq, for example, was made to fit the policy.
Communism was a red flag used to justify an immense arms buildup and a justification for the permanent war. When the USSR fell apart, we needed a new adversary and that after a period of time became Muslims. We have engaged in a new crusade. Since religious war is politically incorrect, we now have a new enemy that can never be defeated: namely terrorism. Since terrorism will always be with us, we can have an endless war.
Secrecy is poisonous for a Constitutional government.
War Powers
The US has been at almost perpetual war since WW II. Most wars were carried out by the CIA, and none of them have been successful. We are now experiencing what Chalmer's Johnson has richly described as blowback. Although we spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually on 'defense', we are still seriously threatened by a few people with box cutters. The country is broke as a result. Republicans want to cut domestic spending though.
Without Congressional oversight, checks and balances are inoperable. Bush Republicans put the Constitution at risk by carrying on public dialog in secret, even Alan Greenspan admitted that the War in Iraq was about oil. All the other pretexts for the war have been discredited now. Massive quantities of emails from the White House have disappeared, so they are not available for Congressional scrutiny. A partisan Supreme Court, which also threw the election of 2000, protected Cheney's secret discussions of energy policy. Secrecy is a dagger in the heart of democracy and the Bush administration has maximized its use.
A fundamental assumption of the Constitution is the need for constant vigilance against concentration of power. Bush's FCC pushed for concentration of media, and in return media became lackeys for the Administration. He provoked two wars without any serious challenge. The Iraq War was based on twisted intelligence and that is a crime. Without a free press there can be no democracy.
Over the last centuries Europeans nearly destroyed themselves in horrendous wars. But they appear to have learned that a head of state who, on his own whim, can make war, can disappear people, can torture, can ignore habeas corpus, or can otherwise act without regard for law is a clear and present danger. After nearly destroying themselves, they have now limited their royalty to mostly ceremonial functions, and their people are more the deciders. That's what democracy is about.
In contempt of Congress, transparency, and democratic principle, Bush minions refused to testify before Congress. They should be held accountable and Republicans should be driven from office.
A few months ago, a 'blue ribbon' commission decided that the 1973 law which attempted to decide whether the Congress or the President had war power decided that the old law was 'quaint' and needed to be revised to give the President the power to make war after discussion with Congressional leaders. Get real. A President that can go to war at will and, without accountability, operate without restraint, is a dictator. In history, such strong-men governments have been typical of countries building empire.
National War Powers Commission
There is nothing in the Constitution that supports the policy of the Bush administration that we need to remake the Middle East. Anyway it likely cannot be done with military force.
Media
Media has become too corporate, too concentrated, and
its message is not in the public interest. Such media, particularly
talk radio, has clearly shown the way to fascism. There should be a mix of public and private media so that the
corporate voice is not the only one. Without good information, we cannot have
fair elections.
Secrecy
Arianna Huffington Karl Rove's Contempt for the Constitution and the Public's Right to Know
The Bush Administration was probably one of the most secretive. Lack of information led to dysfunctional Constitutional checks and balances.
Covert agencies with secret, undisclosed budgets continue to operate in
ways that Americans would never approve. They are (and ought to be)
unconstitutional.
FISA
FISA Bill's real target is freedom of the Press
Thank Senator Dodd for fighting FISA
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Senator Feingold: The Problems with the FISA Bill Posted: 09 Jul 2008 11:59 PM CDT  I
cannot believe that we are still debating the legality of this program on
the Senate floor, and that anyone seriously believes that merely notifying
the Gang of Eight - while keeping the full intelligence committees in the
dark - somehow represents congressional approval. -- Senator Russ Feingold
more... |
PDA
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Civil Liberties
Religion
Medieval religions are a major cause of wars and terrorism. They are divisive, often uncompromising, and since they indoctrinate with the unbelievable, they degrade education. They are often highly profitable as well. Some have become propaganda channels for Republicans and, as such, they enabled the disastrous Bush adventures, denied likely environmental catastrophe, and incited violence. If they preach violence, they should lose at least their tax exempt status.
The wall separating Church and State needs shoring up.
See other ideas for reform.
Links
People's Campaign for the Constitution
American Constitution Society Blog
Bibliography
A More Perfect Constitution: Larry J. Sabato
The Second Bill Of Rights: FDR's Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More Than Ever: Cass R. Sunstein
The Limits of Power, the End of American Exceptionalism: Andrew J. Bacevich
Constitutional chaos : what happens when the government breaks its own laws by Napolitano, Andrew P