Imperial Presidency

I would like to take the opportunity to mention an apparently little known, if not forgotten piece of Constitutional trivia: the presidential oath of office. The oath is a brief one. In it, the President declares that he will will do his best to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States". The oath states nothing about ending injustice and poverty, managing the economy, providing health care, or any one of the numerous missions and tasks presidents have taken upon themselves over the last century. It is my belief that President Bush should have been impeached. So far from defending the Constitution was the Bush administration, it actively worked to undermine it.

Granted, the presidency has evolved. It has also mutated to become the center of U.S. government. Many of the Founders were wary of the presidency becoming "monarchical" and went to considerable lengths to limit its powers and duties. The presidency poses the single greatest threat to liberty of any of the three branches of government. It is the one branch that does not require consensus to act but responds to the will of one man. To increase the power of the presidency is to increase the power of the man who occupies that office. History has shown that to increase the power in the hands of one man is a dangerous venture for any republic.

I suppose we should be grateful that the Constitution lasted as long as it has. Perhaps many of us will not live long enough to see it gutted entirely. I hope I am one.