Yesterday will not be remembered as a day of pride for the government of the United States. Whatever the intentions of passing FISA in its new form, the deed itself was regrettable, to say the least.
DailyKos registers a wide range of impressions on the left. Reactions ranged from minimization to resignation to indignation. There have been repeated attacks on Barack Obama and other 'party leaders' for not throwing themselves on top of the grenade in an attempt to stop legislation that too many others were dead set to pass. It appears that stepsare under way to have the new law challenged on grounds of constitutionality. So a lot of the commentary has dealt with the need to either rescue the Constitution of the United States, or conversely, to have the Constitution rescue us.
I regret having to tell you that neither of those will work, for as much as I hate to break it to you, and would rather not, in fact the original Constitution is regrettably already defunct. It is already regarded as mere literature by those with the power, and has been for some time.
If you do not believe me, or if you would like to discuss, please read on.
LOSS
The Constitution didn't stumble off a roof. It was murdered. It died of the equivalent of multiple organ failure, after being battered to death by republican thugs for 8 years. But even before that, it had been weakened by unchallenged, unpunished abuses of power for decades. So, no one - not Obama, not Pelosi, not even a George Washington, were he to rise from the grave - can revive it now.
But what a loss it is. It was a fabulous document, a milestone in the history of humankind. It outlived almost all other earthly Constitutions, but like every document, it was only ink on a piece of paper, it couldn't protect itself from the blows it received. Instead of rushing to its defense with all available means, which was their primary duty, almost everybody in a position to intervene just stood by, and at most made a couple of indignant speeches.
DENIAL
Reading and shouting the Declaration of Independence or the Preamble to the Constitution over and over will not bring the latter back to life. For one thing, the United States is relatively independent, at least of the kings of other nations - shhh, don't mention Saudi Arabia - moreover, any piece of literature can be read and reread, as the original Constitution I’m sure will be, in future centuries. But engaging in such acts for a while is understandable anyway. Something died whom you've been with all your life, and of a violent and unexpected death.
It’s not easy to accept, but at some point, we have to face the facts. It didn’t happen yesterday, and it didn’t happen overnight. In fact, Barack Obama was still in the Illinois state senate, and by then irreparable damage had been done. Because when the people who are entrusted with discharging the supreme law of the land instead take it apart, and those entrusted with protecting it just stand by or cheer, it's over. You can't put it back together.
This isn’t about a podunk county deputy not telling somebody their miranda rights. It’s not about a fundamentalist judge shoving the ten commandments down everyone’s throat. As serious as that is, and it gets even more serious, it could never bring down the main edifice of the state. But it's another thing when the highest levels of all three branches of national government - the judiciary, in fairness, only in part - plus the press, work together to criminally dismantle the legal foundation of the country in order to commit even more heinous crimes against their own people, and then cover it up. No one comes back from that, ever.
Let's say that again, in case it hasn't caught up yet:
But it's another thing when the highest levels of all three branches of national government [...] plus the press, work together to criminally dismantle the legal foundation of the country in order to commit even more heinous crimes against their own people, and then cover it up. No one comes back from that, ever.
That something like this would happen was more likely than you may think. An integral purpose of the original Constitution was to provide a defense against tyranny. It so happens that tyranny in the 21st century operates very differently from tyranny in the 18th.
ANGER
When the facts have finally sunk in, we’ll have to deal with anger. The urge to find somebody to direct it at is also justified. In this case, it is necessary to the health of the nation. So, shall we deal with it?
It's not difficult. For there are some, too many, who are directly responsible for this abominable crime, and let's start with them: crackpot, 'constructionist' justices - in fact, anything but that, oath-breaking generals, scoundrel rubberstamping lawmakers, subversive tank-thinker vermin, not to speak of the administration's mafia. What about all these people? It falls upon the powers of the future the tasks of deciding the penalty. Personally, I would not recommend leniency. Just to be clear, a lifetime of impoverished, irrevocable exile would be rather lenient on some of these scoundrels.
Then, what about the enablers? The even larger crowd of those who let the murder go ahead, being too craven, lazy or selfish to use their position to stop or mitigate it? There are many gradation of guilt here. We range from the non-news journalist to the appeasing committee chairman. A lifetime of banishment from the public thing, in utter disgrace, is more necessary than sufficient. Think of it as a perpetual restraining order. Wherever the centers of power of the future may be, an irrevocable order to stay back at least 50 miles, no calling, no emailing. I wouldn’t want to see them in as much as a post office.
Sounds harsh? You bet it is. And deserved, too.
Now what about 'We the People'? Those who did not have the legal standing to stop this? What about collective punishment consisting of working tirelessly until a new contract is in place between the People and their Government. Not the 90's Newt scam, the real thing. This is a long term project. It would easily take more than a year. It may take more than the mandate of the next president - incidentally, the serious problems of the country like health care and economic reform cannot be reined in even by a Barack Obama with unlimited powers, without putting a new framework in place and enforcing it with a lot of new people. But it is inevitable that, within the lifetime of most of us, there will be a Constitution 2.0.
ACCEPTANCE
How is it possible to even start? Think about this: when a government grossly, deliberately and harmfully breaches the contract with its people - the Constitution - it undermines its own authority more than anything else. So, the whole impeachment, recall, voting out, etc. thing is not so much impossible as it is unnecessary. As the failures now in charge built everything on legal quicksand, although it will take time to eradicate the noxious practices they brought to the public sphere, their structural legacy will be neither long-lived nor relevant, just as their show trials based on confessions obtained through torture are ending in embarassment one after the other.
Let’s be absolutely clear about something. It’s not time to stop mailing checks to the IRS, or to stop paying parking tickets. Anarchy isn't in the interest of society. There are other options.
First, the States are in principle sovereign. Their legal systems and the infrastructure to coordinate among them is already in place. Most of the body of common laws will remain in effect unless invalidated by specific terms of a Constitution 2.0. On the federal level, most elements of the status quo will continue in force for as long as necessary, as usual in such cases. A provisional government (without paul bremer) could help in some cases, but that can be evaluated after the elections , which are very close anyway, take place.
Speaking of elections, there is a candidate who embodies the best of the American spirit, as much as a real-life politician can. He can steer the country through this storm and all the other near term challenges. For all his charisma, and his organization, and his leadership skills, he won't take power without the help of the People, and I don't mean just donating money. That may be enough if you are very rich and very quadriplegic, mute, and illiterate. Barack Obama, and our country beyond him, needs much more than that. So I don’t want anybody to get the impression that I suggest we should scrap all the good work already done to put a good person in charge.
There are also people who did the right thing in high office, often without the recogniton that always seem to elude those who maintain ethics in position of power, without being tainted with complicity in what happened after. They did mostly the right thing, and they can be trusted, again, with helping with a fresh start. One of them was a good recent president - not perfect, certainly, but very good. However, I don't think enough people will see him as having his hands clean enough of this. Another former president is getting rather old, but to this day retains, as much as anybody, all the intellectual and moral credentials to oversee, with limited powers, a re-founding of the framework of the United States. And these are just two, there are also many others who may be acceptable to a broader cross-section of the country.
BEYOND ACCEPTANCE
The thing is, once the shock subsides and acceptance takes root, so much seems possible. Imagine a world without presidential pardons dished out to those who took the fall for the ringleader. Imagine a world without lifetime-appointment of unqualified ideologues to the supreme court. Imagine a world without electoral congress. Imagine a world where most people understand what the second amendment means without interpretation of ajudicial high priest. Imagine a world without 'lobbying', but with a really independent media. Imagine a world where people are people, and companies are companies. Imagine a world where war is only waged in self-defense and as a last resort.
Update:
Regarding the poll, looks like I can't edit the poll lines after the diary is published. If you select 'Other' could you clarify what that is in a post? Thanks