The Forgotten Vision And Values Of The American Constitution
by William Hanna, 26 April 2018
“[w]hen
the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to
which every American was to fall heir.”
the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution
and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to
which every American was to fall heir.”
Martin
Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968).
Luther King Jr. (1929 – 1968).
The
extent to which that vision and values of the American Constitution have become
a reality can be measured against the 2016 election of a barely literate
psycho, racist, sexist, and consummate liar for President by “We the People.”
It is very doubtful whether the combined transgressions of all 44 previous U.S.
presidents — their barefaced lies, their malicious attacks on opponents and the
critical media, and their blatant disregard for the rule of law — could come
anywhere close to equalling those achieved by Donald Trump in a little over a
year.
extent to which that vision and values of the American Constitution have become
a reality can be measured against the 2016 election of a barely literate
psycho, racist, sexist, and consummate liar for President by “We the People.”
It is very doubtful whether the combined transgressions of all 44 previous U.S.
presidents — their barefaced lies, their malicious attacks on opponents and the
critical media, and their blatant disregard for the rule of law — could come
anywhere close to equalling those achieved by Donald Trump in a little over a
year.
Equally
certain is that the state of the union is now at its worst since being
established on July 4, 1776 with a set of beliefs including the premise
that all people are created equal, whether European, Native American, or
African American, and that these people have fundamental
rights, such as liberty, free speech, freedom of religion, due process of
law, and freedom of assembly. While the intention of such an American concept
may have been noble in theory, ignorance, double standards and hypocrisy have
precluded its becoming an actuality both domestically goo.gl/zaALf5 and in
foreign policy goo.gl/UWxV3k.
Having said that, it must also be recognised that the calamitous state in which
America now finds itself is not Donald Trump’s fault, but the fault of the
American people who put him in the White House instead of the hoosegow.
certain is that the state of the union is now at its worst since being
established on July 4, 1776 with a set of beliefs including the premise
that all people are created equal, whether European, Native American, or
African American, and that these people have fundamental
rights, such as liberty, free speech, freedom of religion, due process of
law, and freedom of assembly. While the intention of such an American concept
may have been noble in theory, ignorance, double standards and hypocrisy have
precluded its becoming an actuality both domestically goo.gl/zaALf5 and in
foreign policy goo.gl/UWxV3k.
Having said that, it must also be recognised that the calamitous state in which
America now finds itself is not Donald Trump’s fault, but the fault of the
American people who put him in the White House instead of the hoosegow.
American
foreign policy with its presumptive arrogance of bringing democracy to other
countries peaked in Vietnam when U.S. freedom-providing largesse was launched
from 30,000 feet by B-52 bomber aircraft that dropped both Dumb and Guided
Bombs, Fuel Air Explosives, Napalm, and Agent Orange in what can only be
described as abhorrent war crimes. By the end of that war, seven million tons
of bombs had been dropped on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia which was more than
twice the amount of bombs dropped on Europe and Asia in World War Two. The
war’s casualties included an estimated two million Vietnamese civilian deaths
with massacres such as My Lai by U.S Forces; the U.S. herbicidal warfare
programme’s use of Agent Orange which killed or maimed some 400,000 and to this
day is still afflicting three million as a result of birth defects — and that
is without counting the millions more of their relatives who bear the brunt and
hardship of looking after them; between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese
soldiers killed; some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters
killed; and about 58,200 members of U.S. armed forces who died or were missing.
It was for the U.S. a costly, divisive, and increasingly unpopular war which in
1973 led to the U.S. forces withdrawing with their tails between their legs and
the unification two years later of Vietnam under Communist control.
foreign policy with its presumptive arrogance of bringing democracy to other
countries peaked in Vietnam when U.S. freedom-providing largesse was launched
from 30,000 feet by B-52 bomber aircraft that dropped both Dumb and Guided
Bombs, Fuel Air Explosives, Napalm, and Agent Orange in what can only be
described as abhorrent war crimes. By the end of that war, seven million tons
of bombs had been dropped on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia which was more than
twice the amount of bombs dropped on Europe and Asia in World War Two. The
war’s casualties included an estimated two million Vietnamese civilian deaths
with massacres such as My Lai by U.S Forces; the U.S. herbicidal warfare
programme’s use of Agent Orange which killed or maimed some 400,000 and to this
day is still afflicting three million as a result of birth defects — and that
is without counting the millions more of their relatives who bear the brunt and
hardship of looking after them; between 200,000 and 250,000 South Vietnamese
soldiers killed; some 1.1 million North Vietnamese and Viet Cong fighters
killed; and about 58,200 members of U.S. armed forces who died or were missing.
It was for the U.S. a costly, divisive, and increasingly unpopular war which in
1973 led to the U.S. forces withdrawing with their tails between their legs and
the unification two years later of Vietnam under Communist control.
The
anti-war sentiment in the U.S. had by 1967 witnessed Martin Luther King Jr.
becoming not only the country’s leading opponent of the Vietnam War, but also a
staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy which he viewed as being militaristic.
In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech delivered at New York’s Riverside
Church on April 4, 1967 — a year to the day before he was assassinated — King
accused the U.S. of being “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world
today.” Time magazine’s reaction was to describe the speech as
“demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi,” while The
Washington Post echoed that King had “diminished his usefulness to his
cause, his country, his people.” The following is an excerpt from King’s speech:
anti-war sentiment in the U.S. had by 1967 witnessed Martin Luther King Jr.
becoming not only the country’s leading opponent of the Vietnam War, but also a
staunch critic of overall U.S. foreign policy which he viewed as being militaristic.
In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech delivered at New York’s Riverside
Church on April 4, 1967 — a year to the day before he was assassinated — King
accused the U.S. of being “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world
today.” Time magazine’s reaction was to describe the speech as
“demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi,” while The
Washington Post echoed that King had “diminished his usefulness to his
cause, his country, his people.” The following is an excerpt from King’s speech:
“ . . .
At this point I should make it clear that while I have tried in these last few
minutes to give a voice to the voiceless on Vietnam and to understand the
arguments of those who are called enemy, I am as deeply concerned about our
troops there as anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting
them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalising process that goes on in any
war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to
the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none
of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. Before long they
must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese,
and the more sophisticated surely realise that we are on the side of the
wealthy and the secure while we create hell for the poor . . . ”
At this point I should make it clear that while I have tried in these last few
minutes to give a voice to the voiceless on Vietnam and to understand the
arguments of those who are called enemy, I am as deeply concerned about our
troops there as anything else. For it occurs to me that what we are submitting
them to in Vietnam is not simply the brutalising process that goes on in any
war where armies face each other and seek to destroy. We are adding cynicism to
the process of death, for they must know after a short period there that none
of the things we claim to be fighting for are really involved. Before long they
must know that their government has sent them into a struggle among Vietnamese,
and the more sophisticated surely realise that we are on the side of the
wealthy and the secure while we create hell for the poor . . . ”
The
debacle in Vietnam, however, subsequently proved to be the rule rather than the
exception because since June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day ― when
U.S. General George S. Patton climbed onto a makeshift platform in southern
England and proudly informed thousands of American soldiers that “Americans
play to win all of the time . . . That’s why Americans have never lost nor will
ever lose a war, for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American” ― U.S.
forces have experienced little other than military stalemate and loss. They
have not actually won a single war on the ground ― not in
Afghanistan, not in Iraq, not anywhere. They simply lay waste to
infrastructures and destroy millions of lives before leaving despair and
devastation in their wake.
debacle in Vietnam, however, subsequently proved to be the rule rather than the
exception because since June 5, 1944, the day before D-Day ― when
U.S. General George S. Patton climbed onto a makeshift platform in southern
England and proudly informed thousands of American soldiers that “Americans
play to win all of the time . . . That’s why Americans have never lost nor will
ever lose a war, for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American” ― U.S.
forces have experienced little other than military stalemate and loss. They
have not actually won a single war on the ground ― not in
Afghanistan, not in Iraq, not anywhere. They simply lay waste to
infrastructures and destroy millions of lives before leaving despair and
devastation in their wake.
“ . . .
If America has a service to perform in the world and I believe it has it is in
large part the service of its own example. In our excessive involvement in the
affairs of other countries, we are not only living off our assets and denying
our own people the proper enjoyment of their resources; we are also denying the
world the example of a free society enjoying its freedom to the fullest. This
is regrettable indeed for a nation that aspires to teach democracy to other
nations, because, as Burke said, ‘Example
is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.’
If America has a service to perform in the world and I believe it has it is in
large part the service of its own example. In our excessive involvement in the
affairs of other countries, we are not only living off our assets and denying
our own people the proper enjoyment of their resources; we are also denying the
world the example of a free society enjoying its freedom to the fullest. This
is regrettable indeed for a nation that aspires to teach democracy to other
nations, because, as Burke said, ‘Example
is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other.’
“There
are many respects in which America, if it can bring itself to act with the
magnanimity and the empathy appropriate to its size and power, can be an
intelligent example to the world. We have the opportunity to set an example of
generous understanding in our relations with China, of practical cooperation
for peace in our relations with Russia, of reliable and respectful partnership
in our relations with Western Europe, of material helpfulness without moral
presumption in our relations with the developing nations, of abstention from
the temptations of hegemony in our relations with Latin America, and of the
all-around advantages of minding one’s own business in our relations with everybody.
Most of all, we have the opportunity to serve as an example of democracy to the
world by the way in which we run our own society; America, in the words of John
Quincy Adams, should be ‘the well-wisher to the freedom
and independence of all’ but ‘the champion
and vindicator only of her own’.
are many respects in which America, if it can bring itself to act with the
magnanimity and the empathy appropriate to its size and power, can be an
intelligent example to the world. We have the opportunity to set an example of
generous understanding in our relations with China, of practical cooperation
for peace in our relations with Russia, of reliable and respectful partnership
in our relations with Western Europe, of material helpfulness without moral
presumption in our relations with the developing nations, of abstention from
the temptations of hegemony in our relations with Latin America, and of the
all-around advantages of minding one’s own business in our relations with everybody.
Most of all, we have the opportunity to serve as an example of democracy to the
world by the way in which we run our own society; America, in the words of John
Quincy Adams, should be ‘the well-wisher to the freedom
and independence of all’ but ‘the champion
and vindicator only of her own’.
“If we
can bring ourselves so to act, we will have overcome the dangers of the
arrogance of power. It will involve, no doubt, the loss of certain glories, but
that seems a price worth paying for the probable rewards, which are the
happiness of America and the peace of the world”
can bring ourselves so to act, we will have overcome the dangers of the
arrogance of power. It will involve, no doubt, the loss of certain glories, but
that seems a price worth paying for the probable rewards, which are the
happiness of America and the peace of the world”
Senator
William J. Fulbright (1905 – 1995) The
Arrogance of Power, 1966.
William J. Fulbright (1905 – 1995) The
Arrogance of Power, 1966.
Ultimately
it is up to the American people to accept responsibility for their country’s
actions and choose between policies and programs that enhance global relations
such as the following:
it is up to the American people to accept responsibility for their country’s
actions and choose between policies and programs that enhance global relations
such as the following:
The Fulbright Program: goo.gl/Njf2Rs, and https://eca.state.gov/fulbright
Or, the
disastrous pursuit of global hegemony with over 800 military bases in more than
70 countries and territories abroad — Britain, France, and Russia combined have
only about 30 foreign bases — that have been instrumental in conducting the
endless wars responsible for the killing of more than 20 million people in 37 “Victim
Nations” Since World War Two.
disastrous pursuit of global hegemony with over 800 military bases in more than
70 countries and territories abroad — Britain, France, and Russia combined have
only about 30 foreign bases — that have been instrumental in conducting the
endless wars responsible for the killing of more than 20 million people in 37 “Victim
Nations” Since World War Two.
