The Commander in Chief, Too Much Power in the Hands of One Person
No matter how things turn out in Mesopotamia, President Bush will undoubtedly continue to consider the war in Iraq a smashing success for the rest of his life. He has chosen to simply ignore the majority of Americans who believe that invading Iraq was a mistake. Bush governs as though he were king. When it comes to the US Armed Forces, one man and only one man is in complete control.
Article 1, Section 8
The first page of the Constitution states that Congress shall have the power to declare war, but Congress has completely abdicated that responsibility. The last time Congress declared war was during World War II.
President Truman sent troops into Korea without a Congressional declaration of war in the 1950s. We then failed to obtain a surrender from, or sign a peace agreement with, the North Koreans. As a result American taxpayers are still paying for the 50,000 troops we’ve had stationed in South Korea for over 60 years.
Empire Building
Since Truman, presidents have repeatedly sent our troops into foreign countries without a declaration of war. These presidential initiatives put us in Cuba, Viet Nam, Panama, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Haiti, Nicaragua, Grenada, Kosovo, Bosnia and Kuwait. We still have military bases in many of these countries. The sun never sets on the United States Empire.
The Corporate Model
CEOs exercise tremendous influence over the companies they lead. But they don’t make decisions from a bubble. Shareholders expect the Board of Directors to weigh in on initiatives requiring a major investment of human and capital resources, particularly when it involves a radical change in the direction of the company (country).
The US Military on the other hand has no board of directors. The Commander in Chief calls all the shots when it comes to direction of the most powerful organization in the world. America needs to transfer Commander in Chief responsibilities to a small elected group.
Commander in Chief, Cuba, Viet Nam, Panama, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Haiti, Nicaragua, Grenada, Kosovo, Bosnia, Kuwait, Korea, Truman, Bush, king, empire
March 28th, 2008 at 6:46 am
SO….
fighting fascism in 1942-1945 was OK…
but fighting oppression in 2008 is NOT?
4,000 soldiers dead, and the protesters are out of control….The U.S. Army lost many more than that in ONE DAY on OMAHA beach, June 6th, 1944….
AMERICA HAS GONE SOFT….
YOU CAN’T TAKE CASUALTIES ANYMORE…
LET THE SOLDIERS GET ON WITH THE JOB….
SUPPORT THE VETERANS, DON’T REPEAT THE MISTAKES OF VIETNAM…
When 9/11 hit, you were all for it…
Now, 4,000 deaths later it’s not such a good idea?
AMERICA HAS GONE SOFT….
IF YOU CARE SO MUCH, VOLUNTEER TO HELP THEM FINISH THE JOB FASTER…
OTHERWISE, SHUT UP, SIT DOWN, AND LET THE U.S. MILITARY GET ON WITH IT…
Soft bastards….your grandfathers would be ASHAMED….you know, the same ones that ran up the beach at Dog-Easy-Green and survived..
Soft buggers….
March 28th, 2008 at 6:55 am
The Arabs are laughing at you….THEY KNOW that you just can’t hack the role of global policeman….
Ulysses S. Grant knew that to win a fight, you have to see the thing through to the end…
REMEMBER LINCOLN AND GRANT AT THE WILDERNESS..THEY DID NOT SANTION ANOTHER “McCLELLANESQUE” ABOUT FACE…
THEY PUSHED ON SOUTH….
AND SAW THE JOB DONE….
Remember?….Most of you young Americans have probably never heard of “The Wilderness”….or “The Angle” at Spotsylvania….or Cold Harbour…
FACE IT…you’ve gone soft. Some Policemen just don’t make it home from the end of the shift…..It’s the price you pay for
PAX AMERICANA
April 7th, 2008 at 4:37 am
[…] missile defense program serves as a prime example of such unwarranted influence run amok. The president purposely antagonizes Russia on missile defense rather than using good old fashioned diplomacy to […]
April 13th, 2008 at 5:34 am
[…] love open political discourse so much that we’ve enshrined it in the First Amendment to our Constitution. Even two hundred years ago, the founders realized that government suppression of dissenting […]