Leaks in the Constitution

I'm watching an argument in a forum where I participate, and I'm generally staying out of it this time. The argument has to do with how we should treat "enemy combatants," also known as either POW's or accused criminals. And that's the problem. Which are they?

They aren't POW's, because they don't belong to an official army of an official nation state. So they don't come under the Geneva Convention.

But they aren't US citizens, so do they get a right to a criminal trial here? Or do they come under the laws of the nation they're citizens of, and thus get shipped there for trials?

It's a mess. But it's not a new mess. It's the result of decades of flex-think.

Back when we were at war with north Viet Nam, we weren't actually at war with them. Technically, it was a "police action." It was technically legal to shoot at the Viet Cong because we were there at the invitation of a legitimate government (South Viet Nam) which was resisting being taken down by their enemies. We never declared war against North Viet Nam, because that would have been inconvenient for our Congress, among other reasons. I felt at the time that we had no business sending in an army, firing weapons, killing people and breaking things, if we hadn't declared a war, but nobody listened to me or the other few thousand people who opposed this police action. I guess we had done the same thing in Korea, so there was already precedent, but the problem still remained: it wasn't a Constitutional action. And it was flex-think: it's a war but it's not really a war.

So here we are in Iraq. Once again, we're fighting a war that isn't really a war because it was never declared. But there's a difference this time. We were not invited by a legitimate government that needed defending. We invaded Iraq, sent in armies and bombs, deposed the existing government, and all without being attacked by them first, and without being invited by its government. The fact that Saddam Hussein was a sorry, merciless bastard is irrelevant to this point. If you're going to invade a country without an invitation, you have to declare a war. Don't you? But by then we were used to, and accepted, the policy of having a war (wink, wink) without ever declaring it.

And now we have our dilemma. Are our enemies soldiers and entitled to the protections of the Geneva Convention? Or are they criminals? But if they're criminals, are they subject to our laws, since they aren't even in the USA when they shoot at us? What is their status? Do they get trials by our laws if we're shooting at them for violating our laws?

It's a mess.

For decades, we've been flex-thinking the Constitution, passing election laws that clearly violate the First Amendment, passing ballot access laws that clearly violate every principle of free elections, and passing hundreds of laws that violate the 9th and 10th amendments (by stretching the commerce clause beyond anything in its original intent). It's so well-established that when Ron Paul suggested obeying the Constitution, the most common criticism directed at him was that he had "crazy ideas." Yes, folks, the Constitution is now a "crazy idea."

The Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights, is intended more than anything else to keep government within some boundaries. And like a dammed river, every time we punch a hole in the dam, the entire dam is further compromised. If we can't freely criticize our elected leaders, they can get by with more mischief. If they can jail us with a simple accusation, they can stop us from criticizing them. If they can confiscate our property for criticizing them without a permit (think FEC)... if they can rig the elections so that only the two parties can get on the ballot... if they can read our email and listen to our phone conversations because we "might" have terrorist connections... you get the picture. Each new hole in the dam makes it harder to repair the dam before it breaks altogether.

For the love of God, for the love of country...

...stop voting for these two corrupt parties before it's too late.

It may already be.