GOP Debates on Bill of Rights Day: December 15, 2015

If you listened to the GOP debates tonight there were many rational things they said that almost anyone could agree with regarding the threats we face.  Unfortunately, they consistently missed the one key element that is needed to keep American’s safe and secure, and vital to our own Bill of Rights.

They unanimously believed our nation’s security depends on controlling our borders and increased military spending.  But, our military is already larger than the next seven largest militaries in the world combined…and 5 of those nations are our allies.  And, no wall or abundance of military spending can protect us against a bioterrorist or cyber-attack, or a natural pandemic, any of which could kill more Americans than a nuclear detonation.

Some believe that declaring war and waging a massive campaign against ISIS will make us more secure.  It would likely rid us of ISIS but it won’t rid us of those who hate us because the collateral damage such a war would cause.  And those people know where we live.  Some even live among us and are not afraid to continue the fight.  And others still have plenty of ungoverned spaces in the world to gather and plan their next mass murder of Americans.

Some GOP leaders are comfortable sacrificing some of our Constitutional freedoms to protect American lives, declaring that protecting American lives will be their highest priority upon entering office.   Are they unaware of the oath they must swear to upon entering that powerful office?   That their highest priority as President is to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States” and not American lives.  Their pledge to declare war would be another violation of that oath.  Declaring war is a function of Congress, not the Presidency.   

Two candidates said the most important element of security is leadership.  But many leaders have taken bold actions they believed were essential to our national security -- only laying the foundation for more insecurity.

Not a single candidate mentioned the conclusion of a prestigious report released this summer by the Commission on Global Security, Justice and Governance.  Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright and former UN Under-Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari Co-chaired the Commission’s report titled “Confronting the Crisis on Global Governance”. 

http://www.globalsecurityjusticegovernance.org/

This detailed report clearly documents the one element essential to achieving security on every level (personal, national or global).  It is the need for justice.   Perhaps the candidates have never seen the words Inscribed above the entrance to the US Dept. of Justice in Washington DC. 

Justice is the great interest of man on earth.

Wherever her temple stands, there is a foundation for social security, general happiness and the improvement and progress of our race.

Or heard the words of former Republican President Richard Nixon.  “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.   And moderation in the defense of justice is no virtue.”

Donald Trump has certainly cornered the market on both un-American and unconstitutional proposals.  It was just hard to believe that not a single GOP candidate even mention the word justice.