Program Information

Committing the armed forces to potential injury and to killing others as well is the most critical decision a president or a country can ever make.

The United States Constitution has been the foundation for the United States government and its citizens for over two hundred years. Many people believe it is the “gold standard” for fledgling democracies all over the world. It calls for the citizens to be active and for government to be accountable to those they govern. Many historians believe the Constitution has made our nation as successful and as powerful as it is; however, many of our citizens have not read or do not understand the Constitution and the foundation of our government. “Questioning the Constitution” looks at the development of the constitution, how it has been interpreted and questions whether the constitution should be reformed. This one-hour documentary was produced by WCVE PBS in partnership with the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Transcript

LANE: The President of the United States believes that he had the power to go into the war with Iraq on the basis of being the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Now, anybody that studied American History and American Constitutional history knows that’s a ridiculous claim. But does the public? So when Congress doesn’t push back and say “No, you don’t. You just can’t commit troops to this,” is anybody telling the Congress, “Push back”? This is a decision about war. Maybe we should go to war, maybe that’s OK. But we should have a debate. This is the most critical decision a president or a country can ever make. Committing our young people to potential injury and to killing others as well, you’d have to have a declaration of war.

WARNER: The last declaration of war was World War II. And our troops have been engaged many times, depending on the intensity of the conflict. And the Congress has never seen fit to declare war since. Why is a question I can’t answer.

I remember Ronald Regan was telling me one time, uh, there’s that phone by your bed and it rings at 4 o’clock in the morning. And the voice in a very calm way is in the command center of the Department of Defense, or the White House or the various areas, and saying “Now, Mr. President, this is the situation. There’s so many Americans about to be taken hostage, our military is poised to take actions to do the rescue, but I must tell you, Mr. President, to do this rescue will have to involve violation of the sovereign rights of nations, overflight, or whatever the case may be. What’s the decision, Mr. President?” He’s gotta make that decision. There’s no time for the President to sit down and assemble a whole group of people.

BOND: It’s pretty clear to me that the two terms of George Bush have been an assault on the Constitution. We see it in the treatment of prisoners, we see it in the rules about wiretapping, we see it in a just narrowing of the freedoms we all enjoy. And unless we correct these, or beat them back, uh, we’re going to live in a different America than we thought we were living in. And it’s surprising to me how few people are alarmed about this, because I don’t care if you’re a Republican or Democratic, a conservative, a liberal or don’t care at all about these things, this affects you. And you need to be on the alert about it, and you need to say stop. I want a Constitution that speaks to everybody. I want a Constitution that protects freedom for everybody. I want a Constitution that protects my right to ask questions.

I think people aren’t alarmed for a variety of reasons. First, the specter of terrorism is terrified many of us. I mean the 9/11 was such a devastating blow to not only our persons but to our psyche, that we could be attacked in this way. And it made some of us say, “Well, I’ll do anything to make sure something like that never happens again. And if allowing the government to listen in on my telephone calls is a way to stop that from happening, then that’s OK.” But that’s not OK. I don’t want the government listening in on my telephone calls unless they have some probable cause to do so. Unless I’m about to commit some crime and they know about it. No, don’t listen to my telephone calls. These are my telephone calls. These are my words I speak. And you have no right to limit any of that. Ever.

STEELE: Mr. President, you’re either right or you’re wrong. Where’s the problem here? I don’t get it, where’s the problem? All these people are so upset about his interpretation, then sue him. Then say, you know what, it’s a cause of action that says you’re wrong. And I have standing because I’m a U.S. citizen and run it through the process. You don’t get to skip over the Supreme Court and make an independent assessment of the President’s judgment and interpretation of the Constitution, legally. You can do it vocally, you can protest it, you can do all of that, because the Constitution lets you do that. But, to change the process, to change the interpretation, you’ve got to bring that cause before the court. And the court will weigh it against the Constitution, and will either side with you or against you. Or just kick it back and say you don’t have standing in the first place.

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