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[Adventurer]

Published on Tuesday, October 3, 2006 by CommonDreams.org
The American Republic Died Last Week. At Least the First One
by Mark LeVine

The American Republic died last week. At least the first one.

Is there any other way to understand the meaning of the Military Commissions Law passed by the Senate last Thursday and soon to be signed by President Bush? Without any serious opposition from Democrats (twelve of whom actually voted for the bill, while none offered a serious threat to fillibuster it), President Bush has signed into a law a bill that guts the right of Habeas Corpus, legalizes the use of secret and coerced evidence, "clarifies" the Geneva Conventions to allow torture on the his command, prevents future war crimes prosecutions, and arrogates to himself the right to declare anyone--including American citizens--enemy combatants who can be dragged from their families, thrown in any prison he chooses, anywhere on earth, for however long he chooses.

There have been other terrible laws and legal decisions in American history to be sure. The confinement of native Americans to reservations, Jim Crow, the Dred Scott decision, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II--all these and more rank among the lowest points in our nation's history. But these actions were in keeping with the morality of their times. At least we, the people of the United States of America, continued to move closer toward the "truths" we've held to be self evident since our Declaration of Independence. They remained a beacon calling Americans to a future that would be more just and democratic.

But who can believe the future holds such a promise today? Has there been another moment in our history when we have gone so far backward, abandoned so easily ideals and values that most Americans assumed were settled long ago? Are we still living in the republic of Jefferson and Madison?

France, for reasons never quite clear to me before today, has had five republics. The first four were undone by military defeat, dictatorship, or the inability of the existing constitution to meet the political realities of the day. (The Fourth Republic ended when military officers staged what amounted to a coup in the French colony of Algeria, and threatened to conduct a parachute assault on Paris unless Charles de Gaulle was named President. Let's hope our generals in Baghdad don't feel the need to resort to such a tactic to preserve their or the country's honor).

Could it be that our blessed Constitution, one of the greatest documents ever penned by woman or man, is no longer capable of guaranteeing the truths that since the Declaration have been self-evident? Surely the present combination of unparalleled corporate power and greed, a messianic, divinely appointed President, and a citizenry lulled into complacency by decades of unconstrained consumption, presents among the greatest challenges ever to our Constitutional system.

Or perhaps the situation is, as I fear, even worse than this. Perhaps we, Americans, no longer hold the truths enshrined in the Declaration of Independence--"that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness"--to be so self-evident. How else to explain the near complete acquiescence of our society to this new law, and to all the abuses, from the launching of a disastrous war on demonstrably false pretenses, to torture and indefinite detention, unending occupation, unconstitutional eavesdropping, and other betrayals of our founding ideals, that have led up to its passage last week?

On Monday, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, Chapters 57 and 58 of the Book of Isaiah were read in synagogues the world over. I am not a religious person, but the Prophet's words have profoundly shaped my values and world view. In this reading, or Haftorah, Isaiah reminds the Israelites that God, who dwells "on high, in holiness," also--indeed, because of His position--"dwells with the lowly and humiliated." And it is precisely from this vantage point that God chastises Israel for its arrogance and conduct towards the less fortunate in its midst: "For your sin of greed I grew angry and smashed you, I even hid My face. Yet you wander off the path as your own heart, wayward, takes you...."

God orders Isaiah to "cry out aloud, don't hold back... Tell My people what they are doing wrong." Israel didn't listen, and so went into exile for a second time, to Babylon. But there it took the words of Isaiah and the other prophets to heart, and so was allowed to return to the Holy Land for one more go at fulfilling the terms of its Covenant with God.

Who will warn us today as Isaiah did Israel all those millennia ago, and will we pay more attention than did our ancestors? Do we even realize that we are quickly leaving civilization behind to wander in a wilderness far more dangerous than the threat of a host of bin Ladens? Who will lead us back home before it is too late?

Mark LeVine is a Prof. of History at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of "Why They Don't Hate Us: Lifting the Veil on the Axis of Evil." For more information see: www.culturejamming.org

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[ Interesting article. Do you think his fears are exaggerated?]

[EFLtrainer]

No. Not even slightly. I could never have imagined that during my lifetime the US Congress would legalize torture, wiretapping of the planet, etc.

We are headed for a bad, bad century if the true "moral majority" does not assert itself. Soon.

[thepeel]

A tad bit too much hyperbole, I think.

I am 100% disgusted that the precious American Idea is being tossed in the toilet, but I also have faith that as soon as the crooks in charge are tossed that these laws will follow them out. It is a relatively dark time for America, and it will pass.

The Republic will live.

[sundubuman]

what a load of tripe.

[sundubuman]

to test my above-mentioned hypothesis.....

I dare anyone to NOT WRITE what is on their minds........

Go ahead....feel the fear of silence........

Don't say a word that might oppose and destroy the evil Bush regime........

Just remain totally silenced by the fear, that our American freedoms have been stripped totally from us, even in Asian cyberspace.....

I weap for the future of our hard-earned freedoms...fought for over the course of centuries.......

so sad.....


Listen....absolutely no debate happening in America.....none....

zombietime......

[EFLtrainer]

[ddeubel]

We've talked reems of this and it seems so has the press / media. Still , so little gets done.

I have to reinterate. The fault is with a) the present docility of the American press which used to be the one holding the lawmakers to task and really knowing how to "muck about ".

b) the docility of present America, may I say apathy. They buy into patriotism, blind allegiance and uncritical thought. Duped by image and emotion. The cause of this.....much.

I do agree, hyperbole. But it is precisely hyperbole that we need. When you have a half dead man laying on the operating table, no heart beat -- you don't whisper in his ear. You defibrillate!

DD

[thepeel]

EFLtrainer, did you know that every single environmental indicator, less C02 emissions, has been on a steady pattern of improvement in the USA since the 70's? The environment will be fine, provided no atomic wars etc. Have faith in science.

And dd, again. Geesh. Every nation has blind nationalism. I've never been to a country whose people didn't think that they were the most important tribe on earth. The causes of this....many, I guess. But I would think the first thing to do would be to separate state and education. Keep those dirty cacksuckers off the minds of the children. But besides this, many Americans vote for "values". The democrats must learn how to appeal to the values voters and when they do that some sanity may be restored.

I miss Clinton, tho.

[Junior]

[thepeel]

J, I must strongly disagree.

America, and the rest of the West, is still very much Christian. Even if people don't attend church on a weekly basis, our culture rests on a "bed of Christianity" (to use the phrase of my Iranian friend). But that aside, the West will still be strong in 10, 20 or 100 years. Europe will have some problems with the muslims, to be sure, but those will be resolved (I used to think Europe would be lost, but now there is much talk in the open about ejecting the Muslims) and America may suffer economic dips and such from time to time. But that which makes the West so strong, our faith in modernity, our thirst for debate and criticism and a strong believe in rule of law and effective social/governmental institutions will keep us on top for a great many years.

J, I think that your rejection of the secular world can best be understood as a "final stand". The final kicks and screams of an old 'way of knowing'. I have little doubt that America will become more secular in the future, and accordingly, more strong.

Any talk of the death of the Republic is silly. Not the (healthy) environment, not terrorism, not blind nationalism, Bush or even (gasp!) secularism can lead to Western or American decline. It isn't hard to be strong when the competition is such crap.

[EFLtrainer]

BJWD's comments are all the more telling given it is the religious right that has got us into the current series of quagmires.

How ironic... or should I say, junior, such bullsh...

[thepeel]

Huh?

Dude, speak clearly. I never understand what you are getting at.

What that a slam at me or J?

Why do you have an avatar with a woman whose thigh is larger than the back of a 5 year old?

[Adventurer]

[miguel]

Unlike many Canadians I have a deep admiration for America, not so much for America now, but for the possibilities at its heart. The Declaration of Independence and the US Consitution have been guiding lights for progressive and liberal ideas for almost 300 years. However, it seems that the leadership has forgotten those ideals, and the populace has become insulated and complacent about the sufferings of others.
I personally think that the idea behind Prof LeVine's writing is pretty accurate. The Constition has been failing, and this new law completely subverts the freedom from government interference in the private sphere that is at the heart of the Declaration.
"and though the situation's grave, I think its what there is to save, this notion of the brave, and the asylum of the free." Good Riddance, There's no 'I' in team.

[miguel]

Unlike many Canadians I have a deep admiration for America, not so much for America now, but for the possibilities at its heart. The Declaration of Independence and the US Consitution have been guiding lights for progressive and liberal ideas for almost 300 years. However, it seems that the leadership has forgotten those ideals, and the populace has become insulated and complacent about the sufferings of others.
I personally think that the idea behind Prof LeVine's writing is pretty accurate. The Constition has been failing, and this new law completely subverts the freedom from government interference in the private sphere that is at the heart of the Declaration.
"and though the situation's grave, I think its what there is to save, this notion of the brave, and the asylum of the free." Good Riddance, There's no 'I' in team.