Congresswoman Barbara Jordan Statue, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Topics: Civics, Civil Rights, Civilization, Democracy, Democratic Republic, Existentialism
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Chairman, I join my colleague Mr. Rangel in thanking you for giving the junior members of this committee the glorious opportunity of sharing the pain of this inquiry. Mr. Chairman, you are a strong man, and it has not been easy but we have tried as best we can to give you as much assistance as possible.
Earlier today, we heard the beginning of the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We, the people." It's a very eloquent beginning. But when that document was completed on the seventeenth of September in 1787, I was not included in that "We, the people." I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in "We, the people."
Today I am an inquisitor. A hyperbole would not be fictional and would not overstate the solemnness that I feel right now. My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total. And I am not going to sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction, of the Constitution.
"Who can so properly be the inquisitors for the nation as the representatives of the nation themselves?" "The subjects of its jurisdiction are those offenses which proceed from the misconduct of public men." And that's what we're talking about. In other words, [the jurisdiction comes] from the abuse or violation of some public trust.
My faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total, Barbara Jordan remarks on impeachment during Watergate, Miller Center, University of Virginia
If you fly into Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, as I often do, you will first be greeted by the artwork of Brian Joseph, a friend who on the off-sale of a portrait in his City of Austin Office, he started a new career as an internationally known commercial artist of characters he calls "BYDEE" bringing you delightful and entertaining experiences.
Walking from your gate to baggage claim, as you exit the escalator, you cannot miss the towering statue of the eloquent congresswoman who said that her "faith in the Constitution is whole; it is complete; it is total." The words were the opening salvo of holding the powerful accountable, of being a nation of "laws and not of men" that James Madison envisioned. It held the misconduct of public men to account and reaffirmed that we do not have a king, and the president is accountable to the people s/he serves.
Absolute immunity reestablishes absolute monarchy. it makes us a nation of one man, and not of laws, therefore, we are subject to the whims and delusions of such a man not as citizens, but as serfs. Reestablishing a "mad King George" monarchy has hindered our progress: the Civil Rights, Women's Rights, and LGBT Rights eras' continued advances are in jeopardy. It hurtles all not originally included in "We The People" back into involuntary servitude, docile kowtowing, and invisibility. Such a bizarre Camelot can only be maintained by systematic, pathological violence.
The misconduct of men is driven by weakness. Nixon ordered the break-in to the DNC Headquarters, Watergate Building because he colluded with the Vietnam government to extend the war, hurting his then-Democratic opponent, Lyndon Baines Johnson, and in doing so, violated the Logan Act.
The former president had good cause to prevaricate. Nixon’s actions to sabotage the peace talks were, “highly inappropriate, if true” as Kissinger later put it, and in seeming violation of the law that prohibits private citizens from trying to “defeat the measures of the United States” or otherwise meddle in its diplomacy. As the U.S. code reads:
Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.
Though rarely employed over the years, the Logan Act was enacted by the founders to address just such a situation. It is named for George Logan, who conducted private negotiations with the French government during the administration of President John Adams. Logan, a member of the political opposition, used their notoriety to win election to the U.S. Senate.
By the time Election Day had come and gone, far too many interests were aware of Chennault’s actions—the White House, the FBI, the South Vietnamese, the Nixon and Humphrey campaigns—to keep a lid on the scandal.
When a Candidate Conspired With a Foreign Power to Win An Election, John A. Farrell, August 6, 2017, Politico
A citizen conducting private negotiations with a foreign power is a violation of the Logan Act. You or I could go to jail for several years trying to negotiate anything without being connected to a government agency tasked with such powers, e.g., the Secretary of State.
Unless an activist Supreme Court reaches beyond the Magna Carte, and anoints a king.
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