Senior Seminar, Part 1 of 12

Introduction

            This is the unedited paper I wrote for my senior seminar back in 2007.  I am posting it as a sort of trip down memory lane during our current apocalypse.

            I have become a better writer since creating this.

            I have become much better informed since writing this.

            I am a very different person than when I wrote this.

Full Introduction Here

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The Theory

The last instance of the United States being in a constitutionally defined war came to a close in the forties at the end of World War II, since that time numerous armed conflicts throughout Asia have called on the United States to serve in a military capacity.  At no point was War actually declared with Viet Nam, Korea, Iraq, or anywhere else in the latter half of the 21^st century.  Since no war was declared, there were no treatise signed or in anyway approved by the United States Congress.  Aside from the American people’s participation as soldiers they had very little impact as far as democratic participation.  The primary decision maker in all of the conflicts of the latter part of the 20^th century was the President of the United States.

The growing number of potent assumed powers by the office of the President, the incredible nimbleness of the President’s political strength, and fewer and fewer effective checks on the power of the office has taken on the appearance of reality.  The United States no longer declares war; the United States no longer signs peace treaties; and the United States Congress has consistently failed to find a politically viable way of placing checks on the White House.  This is a Constitutional catastrophe, and needs to be reevaluated to find an effective way for the system to maintain its speed and effectiveness, while at the same time not degrading democratically.  The United States needs to start declaring war again.

The Problem and Some History

In place of wars police actions and operations have become the vocabulary for furthering the international politic of the United States.  All of that power now flows to and from one person within the United States government, the office of the President.

Article 2, Section 2 of the United States Constitution begins with: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States.[1]  To be the Commander and Chief of the United States is the first duty of the President, that much is undeniable, but if the United States government is to have effective checks upon all aspects of it, leaving enough military power to destroy all of humanity at the discretion of one man does not seem conducive to that end.

Part 2

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[1] Constitution of the United States