Hey hey --
You didn't cause offense to me. I am just a little touchy at being called unpatriotic -- or a fucking traitor -- because I dissent and disagree with the course the country has taken in the last 6 years. I don't intend to say that the democrats are perfect, and certainly there were things that Clinton and other presidents on both sides of the aisle did that have pissed me off, but the fact of the matter is that this very government was founded on the principle that the people govern, that they have a right and a duty to dissent when they feel the government is out of control, and is not listening to the people.
The government is us. You, me, little grandmothers, everyone. We are the government. That is enshrined in our Constitution.
I completely understand the position that you are in; that dissent among soldiers is very dicey and dangerous and that you have sworn oaths no less binding than the President's, but the fact of the matter is that the president is a servant of the people of the country; he is not a king. He may not take away rights guaranteed citizens by our Constitution. Here is the president's oath of office:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The president is fond of saying he took an oath to protect the people of America. This is not so. The Constitution was written to protect the people (especially the Bill of Rights). The president's job is to make sure that the Constitution survives. That's what protects you and me; not the president.
Thus, he may not decide that he will obey laws passed by congress simply because he thinks otherwise; he may be the decider in some areas, but in others the Congress and the Courts have an equal say: they are, as the founders established, coequal branches of government. The power to declare war is vested in the Congress, not the president -- no matter what he thinks.
And he has done things that violate his oath. Treaties, once ratified (as an example), become the supreme law of the land. Some of the things that his lawyers have concocted as his "executive privilege" run contrary to the Geneva Conventions; the Geneva Conventions, because we are signatories, are the supreme law of the land. Habeas corpus -- the right to have your day in court -- is enshrined in the constitution, and he has wormed his way around that by detaining indefinitely American citizens he thinks are a danger. It is these things and others that I am angry about it. As I tell people, I am the son of a soldier and the brother of a soldier, and I could not be more proud of the service they do and have done; it makes me cry to think all you have given up to do what you do, and I am so proud of you. And I love my country -- but I do not love it no matter what; I do not love it when our leaders begin to act arrogantly and without regard for the welfare of American citizens and the people in the rest of the world.
The United States of America is, as the framers and founders wrote, a country of laws, not of men. If we the people see that our leaders are cutting corners our outright breaking the law, then it is time for dissent. And dissent in the face of bad government is the highest form of patriotism. Re-read the Declaration of Independence, or if you have a chance, the Federalist Papers. Many of us feel that we are up against another "King George." No one I know is talking revolution, but we are talking about empowering Congress to exercise its most fundamental role: establishment of policy and oversight of the executive. The Congress is our voice; it is our only way of making sure that what happens is representative of what we, the people, want.
We are the government. We are in charge. Not Bush. Not the Congress (except inasmuch as they are representative of our will.) Not the Courts (except in their capacity to interpret law.)
I am not naive; I do know that there are things that the government needs to do behind closed doors, and I do know that sometimes the President will have to act contrary to the short-term interests of a whimsical and easily-swayed people. But outright breaking the law is a violation of his oath. Condoning torture is so egregiously anti-American I cannot even talk about it. Twisting the laws that Congress passes so that the President feels free to do what he wants makes us a country of a man, not a country of laws.
These are the things that bother me right now; these are the things that mean to me that it is time for dissent; it is time for the people to exert their power, through their elected representatives, to bring this country back to being a force for good instead of a hated country, a country that cannot claim any longer to be above petty tyrannies in codifying torture as policy, in the denial of habeas corpus to her own citizens, in putting the welfare of giant corporations over the welfare of the needy.
What is happening is wrong, and it is as a patriot that I am mad. If I did not care about my country, none of this need bother me. But because I am an American and I was once proud -- and hope again some day -- to be an American, it infuriates me. It is wrong, Nick, it's just wrong what's going on right now. There is every reason to believe that the administration is planning attacks on Syria and Iran -- against the express opinion of nearly 80% of the people in this country and against the better judgment of career diplomats and ranking military.
That's just wrong. These people are quite literally out of control.
So I am mad. And the previous Republican Congress completely shirked its oversight duties, covering this administration's ass every day, engaging in corruption on a scale we have not seen since the 19th century. So in November when we took back the congress I was hopeful that things could change.
But we will see. The president continues to issue "signing statements" in which he -- not the courts, as has been the tradition in this country since 1803 -- decides what the law "means." This is deeply frightening; this is how tyrants work. This is a crucial time in our country's history, and if we don't dissent and if we don't make these things more public so that people can see what's happening, we are sliding down the road to a petty dictatorship. Our economy is already on the verge of becoming another Argentina thanks to these stupid tax cuts for the rich and profligate spending that would shame even Caesar. All we need to complete the picture is someone who considers himself king.
You may think this hyperbolic and over the top, but I do not think so. Everything this man has done has been to set himself and his judgment above the judgment of the Courts and the Congress -- and not just in matters in which he is Commander in Chief. He has done it domestically as much as militarily. Career military brass -- big brass, big brass with experience in what the military is for and can do, are starting to dissent. Constitutional scholars are freaking out. Career diplomats -- the people who know how to get other countries to help rather than hate us -- are pulling their hair out and retiring in droves.
Never forget this country was founded on dissent. I know that you are not free to do it, but I would only ask that you not think those of who do dissent are traitors. We are not. We love our country, or else we wouldn't give a shit.
Okay, sorry about the rant. It's just that I am not only mad, I am also scared, and mostly I am sad. I am an idealist: I see this country as potentially the single greatest force for good that the earth has known. And we are pissing it away. We are bankrupting the treasury so that your son is never going to have as good a life as you have had; you and I are not going to have as good a life as Dad has in his retirement. We are snubbing allies, which in the world today is profoundly dangerous, because we cannot do everything ourselves (we simply do not have the personnel or materiel resources). And we are killing young men and women in Iraq and ruining families every goddammed day -- for what?
But you: never, ever, ever doubt how proud I am of who you are and what you do. Never. I admire you far more than you know, and I love you for the job you do as well as because you are a good man. You are a good soldier, Nick, and I love you for that as much as anything. You make me proud. Very proud. I get teary just thinking about it. Except for perhaps a brief period in your late teens and early twenties (hee) when you were still finding your place in the world, I have always admired you.
When I see people with those stupid magnetic stickers on the back of a fucking gas-guzzling SUV (how many service personnel's lives have we ruined because we cannot figure out that we don't need those things?), it pisses me off. I want to stop them and say, "Do you have a father or a brother or son over there? Does that fucking magnetic ribbon make you feel good?" I want to tell them, take that fucking thing off, buy something that doesn't mean we'll have another generation of young people in the desert, and then go vote for democrats. Democrats have consistently -- HUGELY -- voted for services and benefits for you guys. The republicans HAVE NOT. They vote for bombers and and tanks, but they do not vote for personal armor or vote to pay to up-armor HUMVEEs. They strip funding from the VA. They lie. They do not do soldiers any good. They have done a great public relations job in convincing so many Americans that republican take care of the troops, but all you have to do is look at the votes. They lie.
In a recent rank ordering of "grades" awarded to Representatives and Senators by a non-partisan group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, not one republican scored higher than the lowest-scoring democrat. Not a single fucking one. The democrats vote to support you guys. The republicans do not. So don't listen to what they say; look at what they do.
Okay, here I am, ranting again. I'm sorry. I know you have enough to worry about. But if you hear guys bitching about traitor democrats, you need to remind them about who it is that really cares for you guys, who is it that understands that foreign policy is not simply blowing people up -- or sending other people's sons and husbands to blow people up -- who understands that although the president is commander in chief once war has been declared, he is not a king at home. And besides, no war has been declared.
Grr.
Sorry! I did it again. I just want you to know that I am a patriot. I love this country. But patriotism means being involved in politics, in making this country the greatest country that it can be. Not just the best in the world, but the best that it can be. And that is what I am engaged in, even though I am a liberal democrat. :)
And again: do not ever doubt how proud I am of you. Every time that I came to visit you and got to meet the people you work with or I tell people about your service and what a first-rate soldier you are, my chest is swollen with pride. You are a good man, you are a good soldier, and I love you.
Take care, and come home safe or I'll kick your ass. And don't think I can't do it. I may be old, but I'm crafty.
m
PS I'll get that book and read it. If you want to read something eye-opening, read Chalmers Johnson The Sorrows of Empire. I really liked it. It's not partisan (liberal), but it's written by a career foreign-policy expert and is a real shock to read. If you can't get a copy, I can send mine to Edie for you for when you get home.
