CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS
Are We in a Constitutional Crisis? (cont)
By
- E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
Last week I characterized the Democratic Party’s reaction to the Robert Mueller investigation as amounting to poor sportsmanship and a violation of unwritten law. Unwritten law requires courtesy and comity by all political players of whatever Party and is characterized by good will and good faith in the face of unfairness or loss. The President of the United States is not immune from this requirement; in fact, a President’s behavior and language is subject to a very high standard as is the language and behavior of Supreme Court justices and leadership in the House and Senate. We would hope all persons holding public trust would be cognizant of this type of law and speak and act accordingly. Courtesy is the oil in the machinery of government.
We are about to be deluged by de-classified documents related to the Mueller investigation. You will recall that the primary purpose of the appointment of a Special Counsel was to determine if the Russian government had conspired with the Trump campaign to alter the election results in favor of President Trump. After an extensive look no conspiracy was found. The report was delivered to the Attorney General, under whose authority the Special Counsel was created, and reviewed and summarized by the Attorney General himself. That should have ended the matter as the report amounted to an ex parte or one-sided prosecutorial treatise. Volume II of the report should never have been written or, if it was required as part of the scope of the investigation, should not have been made public as it defames without indictment. This was also done to candidate Clinton by James Comey of the FBI right before the election with disastrous results for her campaign.
Had good sportsmanship prevailed, and the will of the American people respected, Miss Constitution would not be concerned that the system itself might be injured. After all, a new election is just around the corner. The report, however, was not accepted and new accusations of treason have been leveled at a sitting President by Congressional leaders de-legitimizing his governance under Article II of the United States Constitution. These accusations are not a function of proper Congressional oversight; this is now resistance amounting to revolution enunciated by those with a very high standard regarding their language and behavior. Not only is this high standard important as an example to the citizens of the United States it has great impact on those foreign powers who wish America ill. It weakens the international standing of an American President in very dangerous times of international upheaval.
The ultimate sovereign under our system is the People themselves. How should they look at this situation?
First, let’s remember the basics of the system itself. The Founders structured government power as limited and diffused because government abuse of power is forever to be feared. Our system splits power between the states and the federal government and then divides federal power in a very complex way so that there is a great deal of shared power. Hence the special need for courtesy and comity. Our Founders wanted a type of governmental effectiveness and efficiency without overreach into the rights and liberties of individuals. When you allow the federal government to become this large and bloated you are guaranteeing the creation of a “swamp” of self-serving elected and non-elected persons that eventually overwhelms individuals and even the sovereign – The People. It is self-perpetuating corruption. Persons selected to “investigate” are part of the swamp themselves and have an interest in not exposing the whole story clearly. Robert Mueller knew that his report should not have been allowed to be written the way it was written. He did it anyway. He knew the chaos it would cause. We don’t know what the other three reports will say but all who are writing them are part of the system they are investigating. If the people want the whole truth they will likely have to demand an independent commission of private sector persons of high caliber to actually give them facts they can understand.
Second, the Founders were not naïve enough to think that you could set up highly questionable powers and expect public servants not to abuse them. They would tell us not to set them up in the first place. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 and its numerous amendments have created a secret court that relies on the integrity of the information delivered to it and the integrity of the persons who represent that information. Our 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution does not permit secret general warrants against American citizens. All the so-called minimizing procedures in place for protecting the identities of Americans under this Act have been abused. Innocent Americans have been targeted, pimped, spied upon, trapped, discredited, defamed, arrested at gunpoint, thrown into solitary confinement, and worse. Accusations are routinely leaked and then used as “proof” of guilt. The whole thing reeks of the Inquisition and is completely outside the bounds of the system.
Miss Constitution hopes some adults will emerge to calm down the whole mess by speaking out about the need for good faith and good will by our elected and appointed officials. Miss Constitution hopes that all former Presidents speak with one voice regarding the issue of courtesy and comity. What will come out of the new disclosures of formerly classified material may provide a bright line for us regarding culpability and the hope is that new legislation can correct the obvious flaws in some of our laws. Good sportsmanship must prevail no matter what the result – no gloating; full acceptance; unbiased reporting; and a return to an understanding that we are all Americans together in this very rocky boat.
copyright©2019 M.E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
