| Back to Index |
When we consider the best things our nation has produced in times of crisis, our flag does not impress us as one of them. If we want a worthy rallying point for civic unity and pride, let us take up our Constitution. Let us bring down the flags in favor of that document which, we may say without hyperbole, inspired the world. Let us post our Constitution on every door and window, and may our children read it in school. Perhaps then we will not so quickly forget that only Congress has the right to declare war, and that Congress—in whatever panic may seize it—cannot cede that right to the Executive Branch. Perhaps then our nation will move closer to the ideals set forth in its constitution and founding documents. Perhaps then we will begin to become a nation where “all” really does mean all; a nation where the life of one Afghani or other foreign citizen will be valued as much as that of a U.S. national; a nation, finally, where the idea or practice of maintaining some as “more equal” than others will be thoroughly denounced as a vicious and hypocritical contradiction in thought, and as an unbearable affront to the heart.