Wednesday, December 31, 2008

COMMENTARY: Constitutional curiosity (washingtontimes.com)

By Bruce Fein, Tuesday, December 30, 2008

In the backwaters of the news like motor vehicle accidents, reports recently appeared that the United States and the Republic of Georgia are to sign a strategic partnership treaty next Sunday, much to the consternation of Russia.
President Bush will unilaterally obligate the United States. Neither the Senate (pursuant to its constitutional role in ratifying treaties) nor the House will have any say. While the reduction of the Senate and House to ciphers in national security matters through executive agreements flouts the Constitution, it has become as commonplace as the rising and setting of the sun. It is no longer news.
Alexander Hamilton, who advocated a muscular executive, voiced the unambiguous consensus among the Founding Fathers that an unchecked president in foreign affairs would be dangerous - even with George Washington at the helm.


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Bruce Fein is a constitutional lawyer with Bruce Fein & Associates Inc. and author of "Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle for our Constitution and Democracy."

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