The Constitution is politics. The rest is administration, showmanship, and the division of the spoils. What has happened to our Constitution under Bush is a national, indeed, a world historical tragedy. Our Founding Fathers are being displaced by a German jurist, Carl Schmitt, who rose to influence between the first and second world wars. That the Supreme court (voting 5/4) has pushed back a little is good, but the forces of fascism are strong and they are bi-partisan. Fascism can be defined as rule by one who is above the law, through a ceremonial constitution, responsive to corporate interests, demonizing enemies, and ruling by fear, propaganda, surveillance, and secret force. Has Obama spoken out against this? Hillary?
Fascist rule takes place in a state of exception. The Constitution is "switched on and off," after an event like the Reichstag fire, or 9/11, to protect it. For more, on the State of Exception, the way our Constitution is being played using (what was clearly in Germany) fascist legal theory go here, via. That McCain favors Schmitt's real politik is unconscionable. Our great country is founded upon ideals memorialized in our Constitution. To switch that off in response to a building blowing up is personal cowardice or political opportunism.
As times get tougher, how sad it would be if those who have the most work through a strong man to shift more and more of the pain and blame to those who have least. The real terror in America is the terror felt by our leaders when they contemplate the American people rising up against them to take our country back, and to restore the Constitution that has served us so well. May protest be peaceful, however violent is the oppression, the extra-legal ferocity of the plunderer, in the state of exception. The mass corporate media can hold it together awhile longer, but when the food shortages and gas lines kick in, Americans will be looking for someone to blame. I would suggest we start by restoring the rule of law. With the Constitution toggled to the off position, our leaders would be usupers.
Excuse, me, I hear bootsteps in the hall.