The United States Constitution endows Congress -- not the executive branch -- with overriding responsibility for both foreign and domestic policy. But Congress has unilaterally surrendered its constitutional primacy to the President on an installment plan for more than a century. Without constitutional amendments, the President is currently de facto crowned with virtually limitless power eclipsing the authorities of British King George III which provoked the American Revolution. This counterrevolution against the Constitution was born in pursuit of an American empire (initially begun under the banner of “Manifest Destiny”) in lieu of the American Republic ordained by the Constitution’s makers. The glory of the Republic is liberty -- the opportunity to march to your own drummer. The glory of empire is the armored knight and raw power for the sake of power racing abroad in search of monsters to destroy. An empire requires a Caesar characterized by secrecy, energy, unity of command, a “decider” in the words of President George W. Bush. The deliberative processes, transparency and compromises of Congress have no role.
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