Baetjer to Frist to Baetjer to Frist

[arisbe]

Two days ago Howard Baetjer, a Towson University economist, wrote an open letter to Princeton classmate Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader:

Bail Bush out, Bill. Bail us all out. Call your colleagues together, rescind officially any authority Congress has given to the executive branch to declare war on Iraq, and state publicly that the decision on declaring war with Iraq shall be made by Congress alone, as required by Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution.

Today Senator Frist replied:

At the end of the day, what divides us on this issue are not legalities and constitutional niceties. We differ on the best means to address the threat posed by Saddam Hussein — for surely there can be no doubt about the threat posed by this brutal dictator.

And Professor Baetjer responded:

There are two other key differences between us. The first concerns our view of the appropriate role of the American government. I believe that role is to protect the lives and property of people in the territory of the United States. You suggest that it includes

the liberation of the Iraqi people, the foundation of democratic government in Baghdad, and the spread of peace in the Middle East.

Where in the Constitution is the U.S. government directed to liberate other peoples and found governments?

The final difference between us is the crucial one. It’s a different view of the sheer capabilities of politicians and bureaucrats. You believe that American officials, once the destruction and bloodshed end, actually can accomplish “the liberation of the Iraqi people, the foundation of democratic government in Baghdad, and the spread of peace in the Middle East.”

I believe this is hubris...

The positions have been stated with clarity and intelligence. Click on the quotations above to see the complete documents, which may well find a place in the history of our era.

Comments

[stonemirror.livejournal.com]

Where in the Constitution is the U.S. government directed to liberate other peoples and found governments?

An excellent question, if sixty to ninety years late.

A hundred forty?

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

On a certain view of the War Between the States.

Re: A hundred forty?

[stonemirror.livejournal.com]

Good point.

Me, I think the West Coast should secede from the Union. You guys can figure things out for yerselves.

West Coast

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. Jersey City and everything from there on out.

hubris, service, and secession...

[kiaroskuro.livejournal.com]

It's reassuring to see professors debating with senators... there seems to be so much disconnect between academia and government, and frankly, it frustrates me greatly. Many people in government think that professors are too idealistic, and that their writings and theories will have little effect on the world... and many in academia feel that government-types won't listen to them. One thing that seems to be true, though, is that Princeton fosters a sense of service in many of its students. Whether that service be to local or federal government, not-for-profits or your community, many of my classmates from Princeton are working in civil service.

Personally, I agree with Professor Baetjer when he says that it is hubris to believe that we can change the entire Middle East for the better. In order for there to be true peace there, the peoples need to see their enemies as human and same, not other. Storming in to remove Saddam is unlikely to do this.

And the West Coast seceding... hmmm... california does have the 7th largest economy in the world, if you look at it as if it were its own country.... of course, i'm kidding about the seceding part. The rest of the US already looks at California (and Hawaii I might add) as a separate country... and at one time, it was (and hawaii too). Maybe I'm just homesick for San Francisco because living in the DC area is doing nothing for my nerves!

i'm not sure where i'm going with this.. i just felt i needed to respond a bit.

Re: hubris, service, and secession...

[arisbe.livejournal.com]

Ah, a Princeton alumna, a new thing in itself. Wasn't your President Witherspoon a signer of the Declaration of Independence?

Speaking of Academe and public life -- If you have seen the film Gettysburg, I will ask you to name the three future Presidents shown in it. That's right: Chamberlain of Bowdoin, Lee of Washington (now Washington and Lee) and Corbey of Notre Dame (the priest giving absolution to the Irish Brigade).

Even my own humble Earlham gave us Uncle Joe Cannon, for half a century Speaker of the House, and, a few years before me, both one of the founders of SDS, and the editor of the John Birch Society's magazine.

stonemirror reminds us of the American Imperialism of a century ago. I shall mention (in a talk I am giving tomorrow) the role of Professor William James in the Anti-Imperialist Movement of those days. Of course John Dewey was a very public philosopher, and Noam Chomsky is a fairly notorious one.

Re: hubris, service, and secession...

[kiaroskuro.livejournal.com]

Yes... I think Witherspoon did sign the Declaration of Independence... In fact, Princeton, NJ, was the first capital of the United States--specifically in Nassau Hall, of which Princeton students sing about every year at reunions.

I have seen Gettysburg--I saw the film and then the day afterwards went up there with a class... unfortunately it was so cold that I couldn't appreciate it as much as i would have liked... but there were no tourists, and we could see the view from Little Big Top perfectly...

I just got in a LJ conversation with someone about American imperialism in the 1800s. well, it was, admittedly a one-sided conversation, making it not a conversation at all, but merely a comment on my part! The person i responded to had said that it was America's duty to "liberate" those living under tyrannous leaders... And i said that we've been through this before--this "call from God" if you will, and they called it manifest destiny. It was our destiny to have the West be part of the United States, just as some say it is our "duty" to "liberate" Iraq. My ancestors in what used to be Mexico and is now California lost their Ranchos during that time... as one Mexican historian put it, "Manifest Destiny was a graceful way to justify something unjustifiable." It saddens me to think that our policy makers probably haven't even considered the similarities.....

[mattlazycat.livejournal.com]

Interesting reading. Thanks :)