Via Robert John I learned that anyone can order up to three printed copies of the Grundgesetz (German Basic Law) from the Bundestag Web site. The German taxpayers even pay for the postage – pretty impressive, I’ve requested a few for shipment to the US. Blogger Sven Scholz urges us to order printed copies, since the Grundgesetz in its current form may soon become a relic (Grundgesetz bestellen solange es noch gilt). He urges that copies be sent to Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, "since evidently he doesn’t have any copies lying around."
While the "War on Terror" is being used in Germany to dismantle the Grundgesetz, the situation in the US with respect to the Constitution is dire. The Bush administration has eliminated Habeus corpus , conducted warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, and engaged in torture, which is forbidden under the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. The current nominee for the nation’s highest law office has stated that there could be circumstances where the president does not need to obey US law. Confirming this nominee would be tantamount to passing a new Ermächtigungsgesetz ("Enabling Act"). There was a telling moment in the recent debate of the Republican candidates for president when all of the leading candidates boasted of how they would eagerly undertake a military strike against Iran without asking Congress for authority to do so. The libertarian Ron Paul suggested: "Why don’t we just open up the Constitution and read it?" The fact that the leading Republican candidate is Rudy Giuliani shows that there are millions of Americans who are ignorant = if not contemptuous – of the US Constitution (Giuliani is the only politician in US history who wanted to try to stay in office beyond his term, not because of any election dispute but simply because he was indispensable.)
Author Naomi Wolf on the Firedoglake blog has endorsed the civil action proposed by Sit Down for the Consitution:
"We will urge people of all walks of life to participate in mass-action Constitution Days. What will we do — in our millions, hopefully, we will Sit Down for the Constitution in the most public space in our communities. The seated mass citizen action is more effective now than a march; less cause for confrontation, more family-friendly, you can gather more people for a longer time and it can be more of a community affirmation of American values and the Rule of Law."
Nice thought, but I’m not holding my breath that many Americans would participate in a mass action on behalf of their Constitution. But I would be more than satisfied if more than a few would bother to actually read it from time to time.
