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As we prepare to elect our next constitutional dictator

By Jack M. Balkin

Whatever one thinks of the egregious George W. Bush, the powers of the President are not going to diminish in the next administration. None of the candidates, including my personal favorite Barack Obama, has given a serious speech suggesting that the President must recognize a far greater role for Congress in making fundamental decisions of war and peace.

In any event, one should take special note of Hillary Clinton's remarkable statement to ABC News, "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran. In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them." This is the statement of someone running for constitutional dictatorship, not for a "republican form of government" presidency who might have said, for example, "as President, I will certainly urge the Congress to declare war on Iran should Iran attack Israel"--though one might wonder exactly why, since the brutal truth is that an attack on Israel, however egregious, would not constitute a serious security threat to the United States (which is why Israel very wisely has constructed its own nuclear deterrent instead of relying on the US and the vagaries of American domestic politics)--"though I recognize that that decision is ultimately for Congress to make."

Unfortunately, Obama, for reasons of domestic politics, cannot offer any criticism of this extraordinary truculent threat, lest he be viewed as soft on Iran or insufficiently supportive of Israel. And McCain, of course, has also exhibited a certain "irrational exuberance" with regard to the prospect of attacking Iran. So I guess it's just the case that in electing our next president/commander-in-chief/constitutional dictator, we are doing exactly what Congress did when passing the egregious "authorization" giving George W. Bush a blank check to go to war in Iraq. I certainly hope that our next p/c-i-c/c-d has the requisite judgment for that exalted office.

Full post as published by Balkinization on April 24, 2008 (boomark / email).