Gore Vidal speaks out in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul City Pages.
City Pages: You wrote at the end of a 2002 essay that so-called inalienable rights, once alienated, are often lost forever. Can you describe what’s changed about America during the Bush years that represent permanent, or at least long-term, legacies that will survive Bush?
Vidal: Well, the Congress has ceded–which it cannot do–but it has ceded its power to declare war. That is written in the Constitution. It’s the most important thing in the Constitution, ultimately. And having ceded that to the Executive Branch, he can declare war whenever he finds terrorism. Now, terrorism is a wonderful invention because it doesn’t mean anything. It’s an abstract noun. You can’t have a war against an abstract noun; it’s like having a war against dandruff. It’s meaningless.
Vidal covers a wide variety of topics, from evil credit card companies to Clinton. A great read.
Yes, I know… I haven’t fleshed out the topic any further in my diary . However, it’s a teriffic interview and I hope it gets further attention.
You’ve made me curious what you think! I hope you’ll edit your diary and add more…. maybe even more quotes from Vidal (very handy for those of us who may not make it to the original site to read it all).
I haven’t read the entire article but it seems Congress has ceded TWO important Constitutional responsibilities.
One is the power to declare war.
The second, far more ominous to me, is their power to “To coin Money [and] regulate the Value thereof” Article 1, Section 8, Clause 5.
Congress neither coins money nor regulates the value thereof, except in an indirect way.
I wish someone would write a current follow-up to Eustace Mullins’ book. People need to be educated about this!
Pax