Several groups of people often complain that the Constitutional requirement that a person be born a naturalized citizen of the United States is anachronistic and unnecessary. As a result, these groups advocate an Amendment to the Constitution lifting that requirement.
I tend to agree, but I'm also in favor of more requirements for the Office of the President. A lot more, in fact.
No, I'm not convoluted enough to think it'll ever happen, but here's what I'd like to see in a Presidential Qualification Amendment.
1) Lift the naturalized citizen requirement. However, add the requirements that a candidate must (at the time of their inauguration) be a US citizen for no less than 35 consecutive years, and cannot have held a foreign citizenship in the last 21 years.
2) A candidate must have a minimum of 3 years military service (active duty).
3) A candidate must have been in public office at the State or Federal level for a minimum of 4 years.
4) This one's a kicker: a candidate must have earned a PhD (preferably from a public university).
Yeah, these are a bit extreme, but why not? Since they already have to be 35 years old, they have plenty of time to obtain all of those prerequisites. Indeed, the youngest President-elect to date was JFK at 43-years old (Teddy was younger when he took over, but he wasn't elected until he was older).
Since the President holds the position of Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces, the military requirement seems natural. Also, since most Presidents historically have met the public office criteria (with the notable exceptions of Washington, Taylor, Grant, Arthur, and Eisenhower - all generals in the Army), that also seems natural.
Sure, the PhD is admittedly a stretch, but wouldn't you want a President who is clearly highly educated?
Also, get rid of term limits. There are natural term limits to the Presidency; it's called an election every four years. If the man (or woman) is doing a good enough job that enough Americans approve and want that person to stay in office forever, then why not?
Getting rid of term limits would also allow former Presidents to serve as VPs, cabinet members, and other positions in the line-of-succession for the Presidency. I admit this would be a rarity (John Q. Adams is the only President I can think of who even bothered with public office after his term as President), but why eliminate the possibility? After all, these people are supposed to be our "best and brightest" (save the jokes, please).
Again, I hold no illusions that this would ever happen, but it would be nice, no?
Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Constitution. Show all posts
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
Where is My America?
America is my home. And I love this place. Sure, there are hiccups in its growth; there always have been and there always will be. That will never change. But the America I see on television and read about in magazines and newspapers is not "my" America. "My" America doesn't seem to exist at the moment, and I'm wondering like Hell just where the fuck it went.
America is an agnostic country. It was set up that way by our Founding Fathers who, though largely Christian, knew that a nation's survival in the future would rely on its ability to be open to all beliefs and philosophies. Don't believe me? Read the Constitution. Find me a reference to the Christian God. And while you're doing so, don't forget to read the passage that states "... no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." It's in Article VI in case you don't know.
You see, our Founding Fathers didn't want us fighting over religious viewpoints. Why bother, after all? People will believe what they're going to believe. Jefferson and Adams knew there would be enough fighting over pure politics, why bring religion into the mix?
But that America doesn't exist.
Where is my America that banded together for almost 5 years in order to rid the world of the oppressive and dehumanizing regimes of the Germans and the Japanese? Of course there were dissenting opinions, but we were almost completely unified in that cause. Why? Because it was right.
Where is my America that watched in awe as the space race took to the stars? Sure, there were people too poor to follow it on television. Sure, there were people too uneducated to really know what it was all about. But find me someone who was alive back then who didn't at least know it was happening... or who wasn't proud about it. Were were practically unified in that cause. Why? Because we were the greatest nation on Earth and we could do it.
Where is that America? Where is the America who bonded together to support a single cause so clearly right that, regardless of political, social, and religious differences, we had no choice but to support it? Where is the America who bonded together to cheer on human achievement so clearly great that, regardless of background, we couldn't help but realize we were chasing greatness?
Are you gone, America? Are you so distraught at all of the new artificial divisions created by associations, groups, unions, and societies that the next great movement will go unnoticed? Are your people so selfish that individual has moved above country on the ladder of importance? Have you lost the ability to handle your so-called melting pot?
Where are you?
I think you're still there, somewhere. Of course you're there. You're just waiting for the religious, cultural, and social in-fighting to stop long enough to show your true colors again.
You're not worried about the political fight. America was founded on political fighting. The aforementioned Jefferson and Adams disagreed on everything political, yet lived and died the best of friends. I only hope you didn't die with them.
And I know you didn't. Your eagle still flies; it's just looking for a safe place to land. But it won't find it until there's another cause, another chase, that will unify your people long enough to remind them that America is great only because its people can be great.
Too bad they're too busy fighting each other to notice your wings are getting tired.
America is an agnostic country. It was set up that way by our Founding Fathers who, though largely Christian, knew that a nation's survival in the future would rely on its ability to be open to all beliefs and philosophies. Don't believe me? Read the Constitution. Find me a reference to the Christian God. And while you're doing so, don't forget to read the passage that states "... no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." It's in Article VI in case you don't know.
You see, our Founding Fathers didn't want us fighting over religious viewpoints. Why bother, after all? People will believe what they're going to believe. Jefferson and Adams knew there would be enough fighting over pure politics, why bring religion into the mix?
But that America doesn't exist.
Where is my America that banded together for almost 5 years in order to rid the world of the oppressive and dehumanizing regimes of the Germans and the Japanese? Of course there were dissenting opinions, but we were almost completely unified in that cause. Why? Because it was right.
Where is my America that watched in awe as the space race took to the stars? Sure, there were people too poor to follow it on television. Sure, there were people too uneducated to really know what it was all about. But find me someone who was alive back then who didn't at least know it was happening... or who wasn't proud about it. Were were practically unified in that cause. Why? Because we were the greatest nation on Earth and we could do it.
Where is that America? Where is the America who bonded together to support a single cause so clearly right that, regardless of political, social, and religious differences, we had no choice but to support it? Where is the America who bonded together to cheer on human achievement so clearly great that, regardless of background, we couldn't help but realize we were chasing greatness?
Are you gone, America? Are you so distraught at all of the new artificial divisions created by associations, groups, unions, and societies that the next great movement will go unnoticed? Are your people so selfish that individual has moved above country on the ladder of importance? Have you lost the ability to handle your so-called melting pot?
Where are you?
I think you're still there, somewhere. Of course you're there. You're just waiting for the religious, cultural, and social in-fighting to stop long enough to show your true colors again.
You're not worried about the political fight. America was founded on political fighting. The aforementioned Jefferson and Adams disagreed on everything political, yet lived and died the best of friends. I only hope you didn't die with them.
And I know you didn't. Your eagle still flies; it's just looking for a safe place to land. But it won't find it until there's another cause, another chase, that will unify your people long enough to remind them that America is great only because its people can be great.
Too bad they're too busy fighting each other to notice your wings are getting tired.
Saturday, June 3, 2006
F*** the Troops; F*** Your Petition
Recently there was a petition circulating around MySpace (specifically the military-related members of MySpace) to remove a MySpace group called "Fuck the Troops." This petition went round and round (I, myself, received it multiple times) and eventually succeeded. A group search for "Fuck the Troops" now results in finding nothing except other groups dedicated to removing "Fuck the Troops."
Many of the virtual signers of the petition were military, military spouses, or others with direct connection to the military or with what they refer as an "innate sense of Patriotism." Well, I've got news for you. None of you 1st Amendment-limiting assholes who signed that petition are Patriots. In fact, you're the exact opposite.
Before you get wired up, let me explain...
First of all, the group "Fuck the Troops" was NOT about slandering troops or otherwise giving those who serve this country a bad name. Had any of you bothered to peruse their group page, you would've found several disclaimers (and everyone knows that I love using those myself) stating that they support the troops. The phrase "Fuck the Troops" merely reflected what the proprietors of the group felt that this current administration was doing to our men and women in uniform. In other words, the group would have more accurately been monikered, "Fuck George Bush" (which is, in and of itself, an equally ignorant statement).
Instead, however, we get a group of people who were simply told that a group called "Fuck the Troops" existed, and they overreacted badly. So badly, they didn't even bother to research their "enemy."
Disclaimer: Now, despite what I just wrote, I'm not really saying that everyone who signed it is an idiot... I have plenty of friends who've signed it, but they did so out of reaction. In an occupation where a quick reaction can save one's life, they probably just signed it and moved on.
But you know what? That's not even the point. The point is that everyone who wears a uniform does so to protect the Constitutional rights of Americans. Constitutional rights... of which the first amended right is Freedom of Speech and Expression. The idiots who created "Fuck the Troops" (don't get me wrong, the name pissed me off, as well) absolutely, without doubt, had EVERY RIGHT to create their group. Those of us that wear or wore the uniform should know this. We may not like it, but that's what we're here for... to protect the right to dissent or to complain. Policy is not ours to decide, but to uphold.
In the end, what was done to "Fuck the Troops" was a disservice to the Constitution and a disservice to the military. You may not agree with my train of thought, but the fundamental logic remains. A small piece of our Freedom of Speech was destroyed. Way to go. Some have obviously forgotten what you're supposed to be defending.
The First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Many of the virtual signers of the petition were military, military spouses, or others with direct connection to the military or with what they refer as an "innate sense of Patriotism." Well, I've got news for you. None of you 1st Amendment-limiting assholes who signed that petition are Patriots. In fact, you're the exact opposite.
Before you get wired up, let me explain...
First of all, the group "Fuck the Troops" was NOT about slandering troops or otherwise giving those who serve this country a bad name. Had any of you bothered to peruse their group page, you would've found several disclaimers (and everyone knows that I love using those myself) stating that they support the troops. The phrase "Fuck the Troops" merely reflected what the proprietors of the group felt that this current administration was doing to our men and women in uniform. In other words, the group would have more accurately been monikered, "Fuck George Bush" (which is, in and of itself, an equally ignorant statement).
Instead, however, we get a group of people who were simply told that a group called "Fuck the Troops" existed, and they overreacted badly. So badly, they didn't even bother to research their "enemy."
Disclaimer: Now, despite what I just wrote, I'm not really saying that everyone who signed it is an idiot... I have plenty of friends who've signed it, but they did so out of reaction. In an occupation where a quick reaction can save one's life, they probably just signed it and moved on.
But you know what? That's not even the point. The point is that everyone who wears a uniform does so to protect the Constitutional rights of Americans. Constitutional rights... of which the first amended right is Freedom of Speech and Expression. The idiots who created "Fuck the Troops" (don't get me wrong, the name pissed me off, as well) absolutely, without doubt, had EVERY RIGHT to create their group. Those of us that wear or wore the uniform should know this. We may not like it, but that's what we're here for... to protect the right to dissent or to complain. Policy is not ours to decide, but to uphold.
In the end, what was done to "Fuck the Troops" was a disservice to the Constitution and a disservice to the military. You may not agree with my train of thought, but the fundamental logic remains. A small piece of our Freedom of Speech was destroyed. Way to go. Some have obviously forgotten what you're supposed to be defending.
The First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
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