Baetjer to Frist to Baetjer to Frist
Mar. 19th, 2003 03:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arisbeTwo 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.
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.
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Re: hubris, service, and secession...
Date: 2003-03-19 03:39 pm (UTC)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.....