With the most recent NBC poll showing sixty-eight percent of Americans see the

country as moving in the “wrong direction,” this represents a level of pessimism

about the nation’s future, seldom, if ever, seen before. While it is true that we are
immersed in a war without a discernable end, a President who is incapable of
resolving national problems, and a Congress mired in endless argument, the direct
effects of this incompetence are relatively unfelt by most citizens.
This in no way mitigates seriousness of the problems we face. A Middle East, where
peace is a distant dream, an immigration flood with no solution in sight, a national
debt beyond anything we have seen before, all confront us on a daily basis. Yet, the
nation has faced equal or more severe crises than currently experienced and have
met them with confidence, enthusiasm, and pride.
If this perception is correct, how do we explain the deep national depression in
which we find ourselves? Having lived through the Administrations of twelve
Presidents (Truman to Bush 43), I can remember no time when there was such
public cynicism, while at the same time an unwillingness to participate in changing
or managing the national leadership responsible for our problems.
In a recent blog, Joel Hirschhorn makes a telling comment:
“For a nation that was built on a revolt against oppressive
governance by the British, something has been lost from our
political DNA. We apparently no longer have the gene for
political rebellion. It has been bred out of most of us. And
those of us that urge a Second American Revolution are seen
as fringe, nutty subversives.”
It’s not as if there were no options available to people. Ultimately, as a nation, we
could “throw the bums out,” through the use of a provision of the U.S. Constitution
contemplating just such a situation as that in which we find ourselves. This is the
provision for a new Constitutional Convention.
Ar tic le V -- The Congress, whenever two thirds of both houses
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this
Constitution, or, on the application of the legislatures of two
thirds of the several states, shall call a convention for
proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to
all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when
ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several
states, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or
the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the
Congress; provided that no amendment which may be made
prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in
any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth
section of the first article; and that no state, without its
consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
Hirschhorn argues that we are not yet in sufficient distress to make the massive
effort which would be required for such a major reorganization of governance. He
further takes the view that the Internet provides a “release valve,” allowing free
complaint, while damping pent up demand for action.
There is little reason to doubt the validity of these arguments, but I believe that, at
this point in our national experience, there is an additional element at work. George
W. Bush and all who have been his ardent supporters, have introduced a cancer
into the system which has metastasized to an effect on the national spirit which
may prove to be fatal. This symptoms of this cancer are already manifest:
1. The Rule of Law no longer exists: The operation of any legal system requires that
once a law exists, it must be enforceable. George Bush has demonstrated that
breaking the law is readily achieved with complete impunity. From ending of
Habeas Corpus, the politicization of the Justice Department, the treatment of
prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay to the disregard for FISA protections, we see
a continuing pattern and practice of failing to even acknowledge law applies to
him. He is after all, “… the Decider!”
2. Congress is a law unto itself: Congress has chosen to take its own path, passing
legislation which directly counters the desire and needs of the citizens who they
represent. Moreover, they have failed to hold the President accountable for his
winding detour from the constitution. Instead, they focus on granting amnesty to
illegal immigrants, a position opposed by 80% of the citizenry. Presented with
overwhelming evidence from their own investigations, they are unwilling to even
issue a non-binding vote of No Confidence in the “leadership” of Alberto
Gonzalez.
The defining characteristics of the American spirit are those of honor , tr ust,
int egrity , self les snes s and sacrif ice f or o the rs. Telling the truth, keeping
promises, loyalty are the ideals which upon which all of our commitment to and
pride in country are based. There are, of course some aspects of American life
where these values remain constant. We see them reflected in the courageous
behavior of the vast majority of our combat-engaged military.
Yet, that qualities of behavior and attitude are far more the exception than the rule.
For most of us are sole experience with this nation’s leaders, be they in business or
government, leads us to distrust all that they say or publish. We have been fooled
sufficiently often, to have an instant response of distrust and cynicism.
That is the cancer that has spread unchecked, through the body of America. It has
spread into every facet of our interactions not only with institutions, but with our
personal lives as well. Do we have to look much beyond dishonesty to find the most
likely explanation for our soaring divorce rate? How about the billions in uncollected
taxes resulting from the cheating of average citizens? What lies abound on our
resumes? Then, there is the scandal of the protection of sexual predators by church
leaders. I challenge readers to identify any area of their lives where truth is the rule.
Worst of all is the spread of approval of dishonesty to our children. Do you need
evidence of that? Just spend some time reading this article about a major cheating
scandal by school administrators in Camden, New Jersey. While there are some
educators who will forever battle cheating by their students, its rampant prevalence
makes this effort a lost cause. In this kind of atmosphere, those students who seek
genuine knowledge must be the increasingly few, since reward comes all so clearly
to those who dishonor themselves, and choose to take the easy path.
I wonder whether this was the same mechanism that ended or diminished of the
great civilizations that have gone before, Greece, the Roman Republic, and the
British Empire. Those who question the threat of man’s influence on global warming
point to the cyclical history of world climate. Perhaps it is inevitable that all
civilizations, as wonderous and powerful as they may be at apogee, must fall into
the same pattern of decline and rebirth as those that have gone before.