Americans can genuinely take pride in the Constitution of the United States, it is unequaled among nations of the world. Yet Americans tend to take pride in America for the wrong things, and tend to violate their most precious asset, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
American soldiers and Presidents of the United States take an oath to defend their nation but the oath requires them to also protect and defend the US Constitution.
The greatest tragedy of the Bush Administration is the blatant violation of the Constitution and Bill of rights. In violating the Constitution, President Bush has trashed each soldier under his command who took the oath to defend and protect the Constitution. Americans have every right to be proud of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and Americans should be ashamed of the violation of the Constitution by President Bush's spying on American citizens without a justified Warrant.
To say, "America is great," says nothing about either America or greatness; there is no communication. The statement requires clarification.
Assuming that America is referring to the United States of America, then America is defined as a sovereign nation, one that is well recognized. ‘Great’ is an adjective that could mean a number of things but for convenience sake, the meaning of ‘great’ used in contest with America, is ‘being beyond the average’. So, to say that America is great begs the question; what is great about America?
To a patriot or a chauvinist (and there is a difference), America could be ‘great’ or beyond the average in economic opportunity, wealth, natural resources, or democracy (democracy exists to degree). However, to an enemy of America, America could be ‘great’ or beyond the average, as in a ‘great pain in the ass’. As a matter of fact, America can at times be a ‘great pain in the ass,’ to the patriot, when America is at times mismanaged or leaders have corrupted American values.
To a chauvinist, American can do no wrong. Personally, it is my belief that America has too many chauvinists, which is bad for America because if the chauvinists rule America, the nation does not have to justify its image or greatness.
To study American History and Geography is to discover many ways in which America is beyond the average when compared to other sovereign nations. However, it is to belabor the obvious, to state that half the sovereign nations of the world would be great or beyond the average in almost everything.
In my personal assessment of my America’s greatness, there is only one aspect of greatness that cannot be matched by any other sovereign nations in the world and that is American democracy! America is not the only democracy in the history of the world: there was ancient Athens; there was Switzerland in 1291; and there was America which was created in the image of both Athens and Switzerland. But the democratic Republic of America is unique in its Constitution and in its Bill of Rights. Constitutional America is far from perfect, but it has continuously improved over its more than two hundred years of existence. It is the greatest in the world!
Becoming a soldier in the United States Army is an exhilarating and illuminating experience, among other things. An American soldier takes an oath to defend America, but the oath goes beyond defending America, a soldier also vows to defend the Constitution of the United States. The reason for including the Constitution in a soldier’s oath is self evident. To a soldier taking that oath, the Constitution takes on a whole new meaning.
The Constitution provides that when the President of the United States takes office, he or she takes the following oath: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." In America, it is evident that the U.S. Constitution is a sacred trust.
The Constitution of the United States of America is unequaled, unparalleled!
In American politics, the two party system prevails. In terms of issues, there is little that separates the two parties, and to prevail requires compromise, compromise, compromise. However, in the institution of American Constitutional government, the United States Constitution can never ever be compromised!
Unfortunately, in the history of the United States there have been incidents where the U.S. Constitution has been compromised by heroic Presidents of the United States, in times of chaos and exigency. For example, President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War and President Franklin Roosevelt imprisoned American citizens of Japanese heritage during World War II; in both cases, in the aftermath of the emergencies, the Presidents were censured for violations of the Constitution. Those violations of the Constitution are dire marks on otherwise heroic behavior and the otherwise greatness of America.
When it recently became public knowledge that President Bush had carried on a covert operation of spying on American citizens in violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, by interception and recording of electronic communications of Americans without a valid Warrant, Democrats and Republicans alike were aghast. President Bush defended his clandestine violations of the Constitution as a power of a President to defend the nation in time of war. However, President Bush’s Oath of Office, like that of all Presidents, included the requirement that he ‘preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."; there is no provision in the Constitution for a President to violate it, in war or peace.
The spying operation by President Bush, in violation of the Constitution, was a shameful act. That President Bush suffered no consequences for violating the Constitution and his oath of office, compromises and dishonors the Constitution of the United States. Under these circumstances, America has failed the American Constitutional forefathers efforts to create a truly great constitutionals democratic Republic.
Americans in all walks of life must be made aware of our nation’s currwent failure. Certainly, President Bush has failed the American soldiers, especially those in harm’s way, who are fulfilling the obligations of their oath to defend the American Constitution.
In summary, that aspect of greatness for which America has no equal is the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. For America to be the greatest democratic Republic in the world, the U.S. Constitution cannot be compromised in any way, shape, or form. When the Constitution is violated, America’s greatness is totally diminished!