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The US Constitution, the Star Spangled Banner and Old Glory
by Vijaya Chandrasoma
Both the Constitution of the United States and the National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner, were adopted during the “halcyon days” of slavery. Old Glory, the original flag of the United States, was saved from the Confederate Army during the Civil War and its modern version has been proudly flying in the name of the United States throughout the world. Even on the Moon!
The Constitution of the United States in operation since 1789, is the longest surviving written charter of government. The original document, however, bears no relation to the Constitution as it is today, changed beyond recognition by a series of Amendments.
The use of the words “We The People” in its famous preamble did not mean that the Constitution was framed to protect the rights of all people, as it does today. The words really meant “We The White Men”, as the rights of all women or African American slaves were excluded. The brilliant minds of the framers took for granted that white men were the only human beings, people, whose rights were worthy of protection.
Black men were valued at three-fifths of a white man, and Black men and women lived under Jim Crow laws of apartheid, harsher than the South African model, until The Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Would you blame an African American for refusing to celebrate the Fourth of July, America’s Birthday, when that day signified America’s independence from the British, but the African American remained in chains, denied of independence, as the chattel of the white man.
As the great Frederick Douglass said “This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn”.
The Star Spangled Banner, adopted in 1814 as the National Anthem of the United States, is rendered today only with the lyrics of the first stanza of the composition of Francis Scott Key. The third stanza, however, represents more accurately the contempt of white America first against the slave, then against the black man who lived under the Jim Crow Laws of apartheid, and today, against the black man just for being black, in spite of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These unsung lyrics are:
“No refuge could save the hireling and the slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”.
Would you blame an African American for refusing to respect a National Anthem, which, even in an unsung verse, warned his grandfather that only the “gloom of the grave” awaits him if he sought refuge in the “terror of flight” for freedom?
Would you so blame a Native American “when the banner in triumph doth wave o’er the land of the free and home of the brave”. The land and the home that was stolen from the brave, the common term used for a Native American warrior. No longer his home, no longer his land, and whoever remains after the genocide of his race today despised and controlled by the invader.
The rights of white women and all African Americans have evolved through Amendments and legislation. The 19th Amendment of 1919 guaranteed women’s suffrage, but in practice, the rights of women of color were excluded, as they also lived under the discriminatory laws of apartheid.
Blacks may be legally deemed equal today, but they are practically subject to racial discrimination in all levels of society.
The original archaic and racist reason for the Electoral College to be the final arbiter of the presidential election was to ensure that a president will always be elected from one of the slave states of the Confederacy. These Southern states today remain the bastions of the Republican Party, and the Electoral College still favors them in the election for the presidency. The Electoral College, established by Article II Section 1 of the Constitution, is the only law used to confirm the results of the presidential election. All other elections, from dog-catcher to Senator, are decided by the popular vote.
If American presidential elections had been decided on the conventional popular vote, no Republican would have been elected to that high office since 1992. Imagine where the country would be today without the catastrophic 12 years’ administrations of the sheer stupidity of George W. Bush and the criminally incompetent Trump. Admittedly, George W. Bush won a second term in 2004 by a popular vote over John Kerry. But had he not been gifted the presidency in 2000 by his brother Jeb, the governor of Florida, backed by a compliant Supreme Court, he would have retired to trimming shrubs at Crawford, Texas, a job to which he has proved to be admirably suited. And Al Gore, who won the popular vote in 2000, would have certainly won a second term in 2004.
Another amendment immediately necessary to maintain the integrity of the presidential election is to remove, or at least minimize, the Lame Duck period of 11 weeks after the defeat of a president. The loser in November enjoys all the fearsome powers of the presidency for nearly three months, however comprehensively the electorate had rejected him.
Trump has given us foreknowledge of the havoc which could be wrought during the 11 weeks of a Lame Duck presidency by a criminal president desperate to hold on to power. He has used this time to give classified information to our adversaries, to obstruct a peaceful transfer of power, he has attempted to subvert the Department of Justice and election officials of the swing states to call the fairest election in the history of the US as fraudulent; and finally, to plan and incite a violent insurrection to overturn a legal election. A violent coup that was within an inch of success which would have assured the destruction of American democracy.
The congressional investigation is just learning just how close Trump came to carrying out a successful coup in overturning the will of the voter. It was only the integrity of a few people in the Department of Justice and Law Enforcement that thwarted his treasonous intent to remain in power.
A week after the insurrection, the attempted coup, Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell accused Donald Trump of “inciting the January 6 attack on the Capitol”. Kevin McCarthy, Republican House minority leader, echoed McConnell’s accusations on the House floor, “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was enfolding”.
Then something happened. McConnell and McCarthy, who enjoy, via Trump, the complete sheep-like loyalty of all but a few of the Republican members of Congress, met the treasonous former president. The ring was kissed. New lies, contradicting previous statements about the insurrection were shamelessly invented.
A complete volte face emerged. They swore their allegiance to Trump, and attempted to whitewash the insurrection as no big deal, “a peaceful protest, a tourist visit to the Capitol, there was love in the air”. Love which has killed eight people, injured hundreds and caused millions of dollars of damage to the seat of America’s democracy. In full view of the world.
When Speaker Pelosi proposed to convene a bipartisan congressional commission into the insurrection, both McConnell and McCarthy objected, on the grounds that the Justice Department was already conducting an investigation. Speaker Pelosi decided on conducting a congressional commission over these objections.
There are two Republicans who have not fallen in line with the McCarthy’s congressional flock of sheep. They are Congresswoman from Wyoming, Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and Congressman Adam Kinzinger from Illinois, a vocal critic of Trump even before he lost the election. Both are strong anti-Trump conservatives. They are the only two Republicans in the bipartisan commission.
The hearings of the special commission started Tuesday, with evidence from four members of the Capitol Police, who gave emotional evidence of their harrowing battles for their lives, in the protection of the Capitol and the lives of the Representatives and Senators within.
On Wednesday, Republicans were questioned about the previous day’s tear-jerking testimony about the life and death struggle of these officers on January 6. They tried to whitewash the violence, ridiculously describing it as a peaceful protest, a tourist visit. They whimpered that their words had been taken out of context. These blindly treasonous Republican morons do not seem to realize, or simply don’t care, that their criminal actions and lies are on record.
Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Congressman Mo Brooks and Donnie (Trump) Jr. made fiery speeches to incite the assembled mob to breach the Capitol and stop the formal counting of the Electoral College, constitutionally declaring Biden as the President of the United States of America.
These speeches are on video. Trump used the word “Fight, fight like hell” 14 times during his speech, Rudy Giuliani called for “Trial by Combat”, Mo Brooks told MAGA white supremacists to “take down names and kick ass”, and Donnie Jr. said “You can be a hero, or you can be a zero. The whole world is watching, folks, choose wisely”. The evidence of their treason is there.
But, even though Speaker Pelosi will subpoena these traitors, the subpoenas will be contested in the courts and the procedure delayed for years. They will never have to tell the truth under oath.
The congressional investigation is learning just how close Trump came to carrying out a successful coup in overturning the will of the voter. The January 6 insurrection was long planned by Trump and his QAnon and white supremacist cult, and it was only the integrity of a few people in the Department of Justice and Law Enforcement that thwarted his treasonous intent to remain in power.
After the investigations of this congressional commission are concluded, a voluminous report will be submitted to the public proving that Trump and his cronies actively organized the January 6 insurrection. Nothing of note will ensue. No one will be punished. Leaving Trump free to attempt more violent coups in the 2022 midterms and the 2024 presidential elections.
Despicably, Republican governors like DeSantis of Florida and Abbot of Texas are exhorting citizens in their states not to exercise basic precautions against the pandemic like wearing masks and getting vaccinated, which are freely available to everyone in the nation. In the name of Freedom. They are prepared to risk the lives of Americans to ensure that Biden fails in his presidency, while proposing voter suppression laws with an eye to winning majorities in the House and the Senate in the midterms of 2022, which will pave the way to winning the trifecta of the Presidency, the Senate and the House in 2024.
America’s democracy and its system of governance continues to be under serious threat by an insane wannabe tyrant backed by an armed mob of white supremacists. Shades of George III, the mad king of England, who lost America. As Trump will lose the America we knew and admired until 2016, given four more years of his criminal lunacy.
The next armed coup could well be successful. With Trump and the lily-white Republicans at the helm, we could end up adhering to the original Constitution of the United States, when only the rights of the white people were protected. The Star Spangled Banner will be proudly sung with the third stanza. Old Glory, the original Stars and Stripes will be replaced by the Flag of the Confederacy and the MAGA cap at the Smithsonian.