Eagle Eye dwells on chlling ideas...

I just watched the movie Eagle Eye. Besides being well made and full of white knuckle action, the movie revolves around several Constitutional issues. Whoa! Very egg-headed for Hollywood! The spooky master computer concludes that the US govt. has become tyrancial and is operating contrary to the common good and in violation of Constitutional principles. Therefore, the computer decides the govt. must be overthrown and replaced with one that will. Spooky and very Civil War-like eh?

But I gotta tell you, the concept for this movie (not the super computer of course) comes right out of the preamble of the Declaration of Independence. As I teach my elementary students about the constitution and early American history, I am often struck by just how far off center our nation and govt. has become from what the framers and "fathers" envisioned. I don't think any of them save maybe Marshal (1st Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) would feel like our country has stayed true to the principles laid down in the Declaration and Constitution. Let's review them:

1. Popular Sovereignty. Govt. existed for the people - to be their servant. It was to be made up by citizens who were there for the good of their fellow citizens. Govt. was to serve the people not the other way around. You hear this talk in politics today but it seems to be merely window dressing. Most civil servants seem to be there for the purposes of lining their own pockets as much as possible. That's why corruption is so prevalent. We need to take this more seriously than we currently do.

2.Limited Government. The framers DESPERATELY wanted to avoid political tyranny like that they had just fought free of. Therefore, they deliberatly crafted a central govt. that was limited to doing ONLY what was assigned to them in the Constitution. They understood the dangers of power and how it corrupts the well meaning. A limited central government was the only way to help avoid this as much as possible. Now, can anyone really say we still operate with the concept of limited govt.? Our govt. is SO bloated and invasive I think EVERY early American would be horrified and turn over in his or her grave. We trade our civil liberties for what we are told is greater security and greater ease of life. But if you really examine those issues in the long term, you find we get neither. A great man once said, "those who trade liberty for security end up with neither." We NEED to be prickly when the govt. invades our privacy and our individual rights and freedoms. The less govt. dictates our choices and lifestyle the better. Govt. is a terrible parent/moral authority. Outlawing everything govt. decides is bad for us smacks more of Demolition Man than sound constitutional law.

3. Federalism. NO state expected to shed their sovereignty by ratifying the Constitution. Sure they knew they would have to give up absolute autonomy to be part of a union. But they expected to retain a significant amount of autonomy and power over the lives of their citizens. But activist courts and presidents have all but erased this. States have no real autonomy anymore. They are more like administrative units than governing authorities. The mighty federal govt. gets whatever it wants. State govts. are powerless to resist. The last group of states to try to do so were attacked by the federal govt. and the Civil War began. I think the same thing would happen today - don't you? Eagle Eye does it right though when it has a super computer do the rebelling - because none of our pampered, neutered state governments would EVER have the stones to tell the federal govt. "No" and make it stick.

4. Separation of Powers. This refers to the power of the federal govt. being split into 3 branches so that no one branch or no one person could become a tyrant. This is largely gone now thanks to the Imperial Presidency and the arrogance of the Supreme Courts. Presidents essentially make laws by making presidential declarations and acts that have the force of law. And the Supreme Court constantly makes laws by force of its rulings. Yet, this is the clear responsibility of the Legistlative branch. The executive and judicial branches are not supposed to make laws. Yet they essentially do and have been getting away with it for a hundred years or better.

5. Checks and Balances. Related to the Separation of Powers, this is the idea that one branch can prevent the other from becoming a tyrant and ignoring the Constititution. But special interest money and rank cowardice has prevented this from seriously working for a long time now.

Pretty heady stuff from a Hollywood movie, eh?