Today as we celebrate the anniversary of our nation, i came across an article that just makes me shake my head and wonder how do these people stay in office. If I am not mistaken the primary responsibility of the President of the United States of America is not to protect me, but to protect the Constitution. If the Constitution is protected and upheld then I am as well.
Our current lame duck President does not seem to understand the primary role of his position. On more than one occasion he has violated the very document that he swore to uphold. He has been quoted as
From the December 2005 Idaho Observer, Internet news site Capitol Hill Blue’s founder Doug Thompson wrote in his column on December 9 that in a private meeting with congressional leaders, President G.W. Bush was urged to take caution in implementing his new Patriot Act because it would potentially "alienate conservatives." According to Thompson, the president retorted by saying, "I don’t give a goddamn, I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way!"
During that same meeting, Thompson quotes an aide as telling Mr. Bush, "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law [the Patriot Act] undermine the Constitution." Thompson quotes the president as screaming back, "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face. It’s just a goddamn- piece of paper!"
Now comes an article where this whiny man is upset that the Supreme Court did what they were supposed to do and upheld the rights of detainees. Habeas Corpus has been one of the most important legal precedents dating back to 1305 during the reign of King Edward I.
Yet this administrations lack of knowledge or care of individual rights leads it to make statements like this;
"I'm sure that none of us want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed walking around our neighborhoods," White House press secretary Dana Perino said about al Qaeda's former third in command. "We are in uncharted territory, and we have never had enemy combatants afforded constitutional rights like all of us have, so anybody who thinks that they know exactly what's going to happen if a detainee challenges his detention - his or her detention - in court, they're not being honest because we don't know what's going to happen," Perino said
She is right of course, no one wants truly dangerous people walking the streets, but all of us want to make sure that laws of our nation are upheld and the Constitution is protected. The ruling does not mean that anyone dangerous to the United States will go free, it only means that they have a right to know what they are being held for.
I hope everyone has a safe, happy 4th of July and thinks about as screwed up as this country seems to be at the moment, the great truth about our great experiment is that somehow we come together and right the wrongs of those who may be in charge. We have that chance this election year and I am sure that Obama will lead our nation back to where is should be.