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Kerry Thomas: Anti-Bush progressives don't understand Constitution

Kerry Thomas  —  7/08/2008 5:21 am

Dear Editor:

John Nichols seems to think that Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is somehow supporting the Constitution by adding her name to the list of "progressive" House members who support Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich's articles of impeachment against President Bush,

According to Nichols, the articles of impeachment "detail a litany of abuses ranging from the dispatching of U.S. troops to fight undeclared wars to warrantless wiretapping to the sanctioning of torture and the radical abuses of authority associated with the administration's campaign to discredit critics such as former Ambassador Joe Wilson."

It's almost embarrassing that an editor of a big city newspaper has such a fundamental lack of understanding of the U.S. Constitution. But, then again, it's a Madison newspaper, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

The Constitution, in Article I, Section 8, vests the power to declare war with the Congress. In Article II, Section 2, that same Constitution also says, "The president shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States."

Once Congress issues a declaration of war, or authorizes the use of military force, it is the exclusive authority of the president to promulgate that war.

Despite Baldwin's opposition, Congress' Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq was signed into law on Oct. 16, 2002, and authorized the president "to use the armed forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate" in order to "defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq."

Nichols is also upset about allegations of torture of enemy prisoners of war. These enemy prisoners do not belong to a formal national military organization covered by Geneva Convention protections. Even if you afford them the recognition of soldiers, it's war. They want to kill our soldiers. They want to kill us. Torture, while distasteful, is a tool in the arsenal of the military. The commander in chief must use all available tools to safeguard the nation. Torture of enemy prisoners is not an impeachable offense.

I'll agree with Nichols that the republic is under assault, that the rule of law is being undermined, and that the underpinnings of the American experiment in self-governance hang in the balance.

The threat comes from people like Baldwin, Kucinich, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus. These people are socialists, who, given the opportunity, would impose the tenets of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on us all.

The Constitution was written to limit the power of government, not to be the Big Brother institution we've allowed it to morph into. It would be refreshing if the people who claim to champion the Constitution would read the document from time to time.

Kerry Thomas

Sayner

Kerry Thomas  —  7/08/2008 5:21 am