With Liberty and
Justice for All
by Marty Jezer
July 7, 2002
It
was a Republican appellate judge, Alfred T. Goodwin, appointed to a federal
judgeship by that flaming civil libertarian Richard Nixon, who declared the
“Pledge of Allegiance” unconstitutional. The insertion of the phrase “under
God,” two of three judges on the federal ninth circuit court said, violated the
first amendment right to freedom of religion, a freedom that, if it is to have
meaning, must include an individual’s freedom to have no religion.
Though I’m
always wary of supporting decisions made by Nixon appointees, I think Judge
Goodwin’s decision was on the mark, constitutionally-speaking. Politically,
it’s a disaster, tantamount to throwing a hanging curve to bat-wielding
jingoistic, demagogic politicians whose great glee in life is battering free-thinking
Americans. Monotheistic theocrats can rest easy, however. The Supreme Court
majority, which recently ruled that taxpayer money can be used to finance
private religious schools, will likely overturn the circuit court’s decision.
For most of my
life I’ve been hearing right-wingers bemoan that our country has gone to the
dogs because we took God out of the public schools. But the phrase “under God”
is a relatively recent addition to the Pledge of Allegiance. It was inserted in
1954 as part of the McCarthyite assault on political freedom. Previously, for
the 266 years that constituted the “good old days,” our country survived
without school children having to allude to the deity in their morning pledge.
Whether or not God is mentioned in the Pledge of Allegiance has nothing to do
with the state of our nation, or the quality of our lives. Religion should be
an act of personal faith; it’s of no business of the government except to
provide believers and non-believers equal protection. Politicians should be
judged by their deeds, not by their public display of pious affectation. The
violence of history, including recent and on-going events in Ireland, the
Balkans, and the Middle East, should be a sufficient warning of the explosive
dangers when political and religious agendas are encouraged to mix.
Myself, I
never paid heed to the words “under God” in pledging my allegiance. In a
culture in which God is always described as taking right-wing positions (when
He - or perhaps She -- is not otherwise occupied blessing athletes and athletic
teams), I could not help but be cynical. But as I came to political maturity, I
began to pay attention to another phrase in the morning pledge. “With liberty
and justice for all” seemed applicable to the world around me. Growing up in
the 1950s, I couldn’t help but notice the hollowness of those words. In an era
of racial apartheid and ideological conformity, there was no justice and very
little liberty.
“With liberty
and justice for all:” those noble ideals embody the challenge of our civic life
and the standard on which our country should be measured. And as we celebrate
the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I worry that we are
failing.
Take liberty.
An American citizen named Jose Padilla (who now calls himself Abdullah
al-Muhajir) has been held in military prison for the past couple of months
without charges, without an arraignment, without a trial, and without access to
his lawyer, all of which violate Article 1, Section 9 of the United States
Constitution, the right of habeas corpus. This basic right goes back to 1215
and the signing of the Magna Carta by King John of England. Our own King John -
Attorney-General Ashcroft of Missouri - apparently isn’t impressed by legal
precedent.
Padilla, a
former gang member with a long criminal record, was at first described as
trying to assemble a dirty nuclear device that could destroy cities. Pretty
scary but, as it turned out, not what Mr. Padilla was up to. All he knew about
bombs was what he downloaded from the internet. Perhaps he tried to con Osama
bin Laden in buying the public information, but we’ll never know because the
government won’t present its evidence. Padilla is a former gang member with a
long criminal record. He may indeed deserve to be imprisoned without bail or
otherwise incarcerated. But he also deserves a lawyer, a hearing and a trial,
just like any other American.
As for
justice, not since the Gilded Age of the late 19th century has there been such
a disparity in economic assets, writes Kevin Phillips, a Nixon advisor who in
recent years has developed a populist conscience. We are becoming two nations,
Phillips charges, a very small and privileged economic elite that has
translated its wealth into political power, and everyone else. In 1999, the
richest families in America (the multi-billionaires) had up to a million times
more wealth (as measured by financial assets) than the median U.S. family
household. Since then, the stock market has tanked so their individual worth
has probably dropped a couple of million in pocket money. But the rest of us
have seen our retirement funds shrivel, our nest-eggs disappear.
We now know
that corporate chicanery has been involved. CEO’s, who sit on each other’s
board of directors, reward themselves with multi-million dollar incomes even
when their companies fail. They also cook their books to bloat the value of
their stock options. Not all CEOs are criminals of course, and honest
businesses are victimized by crooked executives just like everyone else. But
where is the justice, the justice for all? When a kid gets caught for
committing a theft, justice is swift and often harsh. Our prisons are filled
with petty criminals whose total boodle probably doesn’t exceed the typical
CEO’s one-months pay.
Criminal CEO’s and their crooked lawyers and accountants
have cost Americans their jobs and their incomes. Yet, where are the
indictments? Where is the call for re-regulation and economic reform? Those who
insist on a mandated Pledge may get something that they do not want: Kids
reciting “with liberty and justice for all” and coming to the realization that
in these quintessential ideals, handed-down from our founding fathers,
contemporary America is falling very short.
Marty
Jezer's books include Abbie Hoffman: American Rebel
and The Dark Ages: Life in the U.S. 1945-1960. He writes from
Brattleboro, Vermont and welcomes comments at mjez@sover.net
.