North Star Writers Group

Last week, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi visited Syria. That sentence seems innocuous enough by itself, until you realize that Syria is an enemy of the United States and Pelosi has no earthly business going anywhere pretending to represent an administration of which she is most definitely not a part.

The only thing more pathetic than seeing her blatantly overstep the constitutional limits of her office so as to openly kiss the butts of those who oppose us (and her, though she's apparently either too naive and stupid to see it or consumed by partisan hatred to care) is the non-reaction of the Bush administration. I thought they knew a little something about what advertising weakness invites an adversary to do. (Certainly Pelosi understands this, which is precisely why she went in the first place, as does Syria, which is why they received her.)

The Founding Fathers gave no foreign policy role or power whatsoever to the Speaker or anyone else in the legislative branch. Representing America and her interests abroad is entirely the responsibility of the executive branch, meaning the president or whomever else he may select to act as his proxy. Anyone else trying to muscle in on that turf is committing a crime against our founding document, and in the case of an elected official who has previously sworn an oath to uphold it, an impeachable offense. Now factor in that this grandstanding is during a time of war, and the recipient of this illegitimate emissary is a regime doing its best to undermine that effort. By all rights, the proper constitutional response would be to meet Pelosi at Reagan National Airport with handcuffs at the ready.

But obviously, no one is prepared to do such a thing. If anything, the Bush administration's response was so weak and timid that they'd have been better off simply ignoring San Fran Nan's trip altogether. (If it gets any more impotent, they'll start getting mistaken for the U.N.) President Bush has also sworn an oath to "preserve, protect and defend" the Constitution, which means more than just following it himself.

It also means holding to account those who would break it. In this case, that means publicly calling Pelosi's jaunt what it is and pressuring the House to remove her from office for it. (Any congressman or senator can be expelled by a two-thirds vote of that chamber, but the president cannot force or initiate that action.) If a partisan Democratic House refuses to do so – as would clearly be the case here – then by fulfilling his oath he at least will expose just how treasonous they really are. And for those who think that such an act would be too much of an "in your face" move, please tell me just what part of Pelosi's trip wasn't intended in the same fashion? In some respects, it's about time for her to take a little bit of what she's been dishing out.

It really all boils down to a simple question: Does the Constitution mean anything or doesn't it? And if it doesn't anymore, to where even a Speaker of the House is free to ignore it as she sees fit with no consequences at all, especially from the president and House whose affirmative duty is to apply them, then do we really still have a constitutional republic?

Or are we a just an oligarchy in disguise, rapidly on the way to tyranny? Unfortunately, the answer must be and is the latter. Perhaps, if nothing else, we should just do away with oaths of office and all the pomp-and-circumstance that comes with them. If no one who takes them really means them, then at least this approach will re-introduce some long-lost honesty. And the rest of us can then be sure to know a scoundrel when we see her.

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