Don't Throw Away Liberty

Probably one of the most chilling statements ever made by a tyrant was Caligula's warning: "Remember, I can do anything to anybody."

Few tyrants have ever had such total power. Even in Caligula's case, he wielded such power for a relatively short time before he was killed. The only tyrants in our time who could have made such a statement were Joe Stalin and his admiring fan, Saddam Hussein. In both cases, they literally could do anything to anybody, provided, of course, they could get their hands on them.

Stalin was by far the greater monster, probably the greatest monster in the 20th century. His victims numbered in the millions. He exerted total control over a vast nation, and he was feared by all who knew him. Just how afraid people were of Stalin is illustrated by his death.

Sometime during the night, Stalin suffered a stroke. He lay on the floor of his bedroom, alive but unable to speak or move, half the night and nearly all of the next day. Personal servants who had been in his employ for years were so scared of him that they dared not even knock on his bedroom door when he failed to appear in the morning. They waited late into the afternoon, and even then did not dare go into the room. They called the secret police instead.

Saddam obviously did not inspire that kind of fear, but plenty of people were afraid of him, and with good reason. I've often said that the worst possible job in the world would have been to be Saddam's public-relations adviser. He had a nasty habit of greeting advice he didn't like with gunfire or the torture chamber. I was amused by the statement of one of the Iraqis who was allowed to meet with Saddam after his capture. He complained that Saddam showed no remorse. Well, of course, he didn't. Psychopaths are incapable of remorse. He will go to his grave believing everything he did was the "right thing to do."

We in America need not fear someone assuming absolute power. But we should remember that just as absolute power corrupts absolutely, relative power can corrupt relatively speaking. Anybody with power over someone else can become a tyrant — a schoolteacher, a policeman, a parent, a military drill instructor or a schoolyard bully. To be a tyrant is simply to impose your will on another by force or threat of force without lawful authority.

To borrow a phrase from Winston Churchill, the abuse of power is something up with which no American citizen should ever put. We should ever be on our guard that people with authority over others never abuse that authority. It is one of the continuing duties of citizenship. And it's not easy.

My main objections to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are that both were undertaken without a formal declaration of war by Congress, as the Constitution requires. President Bush didn't ask for a formal declaration, and Congress gave him a resolution. Both branches of our government disregarded the Constitution. Congress conceded a grant of power to the president that the Constitution does not authorize. This is an abuse of power.

The Constitution is a fragile thing. It can protect our liberties only so long as we the people firmly insist that all elected officials obey it. If we allow parts of it to be disregarded, then we invite the disregard of all of it. As all of the wise men in our nation's past have warned, the main threat to our liberty will never be a foreign conqueror but our own apathy coupled with the unbridled ambition of our own politicians.

I wish Americans took their Constitution more seriously. It is not a historical document. It is as binding today on every federal official as it was the day it was ratified. Americans should consider violating the Constitution as being the unforgivable public sin and vote against every single person who does it.

There is everything right with saying to a congressional representative, a senator or a president, "You know, I like you, and I agree with a lot of the things you've done, but you've violated your oath of office, and I can no longer support you." That's putting the Constitution where it belongs, ahead of public-opinion polls, partisan politics or even personal feelings.

If we don't take better care of our Constitution, we will find ourselves one day living in a very unfree society, and the result of more than 200 years of blood, sweat and tears by better people will go into the trash can of history. It's bad enough to lose one's liberty; it's even worse to throw it away.

Saddam obviously did not inspire that kind of fear, but plenty of people were afraid of him, and with good reason.

Gee, Charley, just last week you were saying that the disheveled state that Saddam was in when we pulled him out of that hole showed he wasn't really a threat.

President Bush didn't ask for a formal declaration, and Congress gave him a resolution. Both branches of our government disregarded the Constitution. Congress conceded a grant of power to the president that the Constitution does not authorize. This is an abuse of power.

Uh, Charley, the Constitution does not state the manner in which war is to be declared. Bush attacked Iraq after a resolution was passed by Congress authorizing force. Congress gave its assent. Bush did not act without the backing of Congress.

I've often said that the worst possible job in the world would have been to be Saddam's public-relations adviser. He had a nasty habit of greeting advice he didn't like with gunfire or the torture chamber.

"You weak minded fool! He's using an old Jedi mindtrick!"

Charlie makes some valid points. In the 60s, Congress used the fraudulent Tonkin Gulf Resolution to give the President the power to commit troops to Vietnam in any number he wanted and for as long as he wanted. In essence, they abdicated their right to declare war. After passing the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, the cowards in the Congress proceeded to snipe at the President over the conduct of the war - the very same Congress that gave him the authority to commit the troops.

In the 80s, the Congress again abdicated its responsibility to declare war by passing the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act gave the President the ability to commit troops for as much as 60 days to a hostile engagement before Congress had to get involved to extend or terminate the commitment.

Congress has typically taken these cowardly approaches to circumvent the Constitution and avoid taking responsibility for what may later be considered "unpopular" wars. In all candor, the cowards we have in the Congress today aren't worthy of the position and, had we had this same bunch in office in 1776, we would still be a British colony.

It's bad enough to lose one's liberty; it's even worse to throw it away.

To late!

The Constitution was discarded with the ratification of the 16th and 17th amendment. All that remains are a few loose ends which are handled with considerable ease.

Wow, Charley. A whole column and only one idiocy (the gratuitous and erroneous dragging in of Churchill). Better paper your day room with this one cuz sure as shootin', you will come out screaming in red Keds with you hair on fire next time.

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