‘I Was in the First Wave.’
March 1, 2010 | Filed Under Barack Obama, Constitution, Founders, Freedom, Government, Corruption, History, John Armor | Comments Off
-By John Armor
I was at breakfast on Sunday morning at the Sheraton National, in Arlington, Virginia. I was attending a conference elsewhere, but could only find space in Virginia. Also at my hotel were the members of the Iwo Jima Association.
That Association was for survivors of that battle, and for the families of those who did not survive. At the table next to me were two, older gentleman. The younger man was in his 60′s. He mentioned at one point where his father was buried at Arlington Cemetery, just a few blocks away. Then the older man, somewhere in his 90′s said a simple statement that will follow me to the end of my days.
“I was in the first wave,” he said in a soft voice with little hint of any emotion. As he continued, he described how they were taking fire from enemy who were hidden in holes at all points of the compass.
I have seen many war movies. The first one to come to grips with the reality — which I got from books, and from talking to people who were there — was “Saving Private Ryan.” That movie showed what this elderly man, sitting a few feet away, experienced, 65 years ago this month.
And I sat back and began to think. Has there ever been a time in my life, any time for any reason, that I have been in the first wave? Is there anything I value in my life enough to put my life on the line for its (or their) preservation?
I’ve never fought in a war. I have deliberately risked my life just once, in a tragi-comic dust-em-up with the local Mafia in Baltimore. But on the other hand, there is one subject, one goal, that has occupied the center of my life since I was teenager. It is the Constitution of the United States.
After 45 years of working with that document I am now certain that the essence of the Constitution is under attack. It is being attacked by people who are ignorant (mostly) or malicious (some) and if they have their way the Constitution will die in our generation.
The actual document will survive, to be sure, in its argon-filled cases at National Archives. But the political, legal and economic results of the document will be lost. It will become only an interesting talisman to be referred to, like the carved heads on the Easter Islands.
Wars fought with ideas have no clear beginning, no clear end. There are major battles in which the ground shifts. Though the nature and the outcomes of those battles may not be known until generations later. Most of the participants may be dead and gone before the results are known.
So be it.
I have fought long and hard in state and federal courts, up to the US Supreme Court. I’ve written, I’ve taught, I’ve spent hours, weeks and months talking with cirizens, candidates, and strangers on buses, about the danger to the Constitution.
It has cost me a huge about of money, since constitutional lawyers do not get paid at anything approaching the pay scales of lawyers who specialize in the legal problems of the well-to-do. It has cost me much of my personal time, since fighting for the Constitution does not end at the close of business, nor does it take time off for weekends and federal holidays.
The said thing is that the worst of the enemies are those who ought to know better. Judges, especially federal judges, most particularly Justices of the Supreme Court, are grossly incompetent if they do not understand that the Constitution is a multifacited limitation on the powers of the federal government. Judges who do not understand that are unfit to put on a robe and step onto a bench at any level.
The other category of the enemies who ought to know better, are elected offic-holders. Everyone in public office takes an oath (or makes an afformation) to respect and protect the Constitution of the United States. Anyone who hasn’t read it, or acts like he hasn’t read it, does not belong in any public office at any level.
I hope live long enough to see this war won. But if I don’t, I hope someone can justly say of me on the occasion of my Irish wake, that “I was in the first wave for the Constitution.”
And in time, I hope they begin again teaching in civics class, this statement by Thomas Jefferson, “Put not your faith in man, but bind him down with the chains of the Constitution.” And mind you, that does not mean that the Constitution never changes. It changes through the Amendment Article, which George Washington called “the authentic act of the whole people.” A majority of the House and Senate, a majority of the Supreme Court, plus the President, do not amount to “the authentic act of the whole people.”
I do not compare what I have done to the sacrifices of that man, and his companion’s father, 65 years ago. I do say that it is healthy for all of us to have causes larger and outside of ourselves. And if we are fortunate, we may be found in the forefront of those worthwhile intellectual and moral battles.
____________
John Armor is a graduate of Yale, and Maryland Law School, and has 33 years practice at law in the US Supreme Court. Mr. Armor has authored seven books and over 750 articles. Armor happily lives on a mountaintop in the Blue Ridge. He can be reached at: John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
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