LORD ROOT-OF-THE-MATTER OFFERS PERSPECTIVE

By Edwin Cooney

During World War II, Winston Churchill dubbed FDR's roving ambassador Harry Hopkins "Lord Root-of-the-Matter.” Is that you, I asked?

"I'm not the ghost of Mr. Hopkins if that's what you want to know, but Harry possessed a tremendously high capacity to get to the heart of any problem under discussion or even negotiation, thus deserving of Mr. Churchill's admiration and confidence. However, who Harry was is irrelevant today. I'm an entity or a tool designed to strip away superficial factors when someone is seeking the unvarnished truth."

Okay, My Lord, what's at the root of America's dilemma over the effects of the Coronavirus?

“The one word answer to your inquiry is “fear,” the father of all anger, but the components or the antecedents of fear are varied and interrelated. So, to keep it simple, reconsider FDR's famous quote which is germane to both the Great Depression and this latest pandemic, and comprehend the power of his observation beyond the immediate quote itself: ‘...the only thing we have to fear is...fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.’  Of course, in this instance the fear isn't nameless, but fear stultifies our capacity to reason and thus paralyzes our effort to convert our tendency to run away rather than welcoming our capacity to meet the challenge of the current crises.”

Lord Root-of-the-Matter, what are our current national crises?

"Our national crises constitute our inability to see and acknowledge the legitimacy of one another's individual agendas! The common factor in all of our individual agendas is the fear factor. Some people fear the loss of the benefits of employment. Others fear the loss of money. Still others fear the effect that the disease will have on their parents, grandparents and, even worse, their children. Then there are those who fear the challenges of safely accommodating one another in the workplace, at the beach, at the ballpark, and even around the dinner table. To still others, these fears are secondary to the fact that their earning power is diminishing.”

How, My Lord, do you respond to signs you see around the country by those anxious to reopen  society and go back to work? Signs which read “my freedom doesn’t end where your fear begins.”

"It's very simple. Those who choose to be more cautious have no monopoly on fear. After all, those who insist on going back to work hold numerous fears. Since they work for compensation, the loss of that compensation is something they fear greatly! Were they volunteers, they would have a better case for their “bravery," but that assertion is merely reflective of their own set of fears." 

Fair enough, Your Highness, but is this crisis primarily individual or is it societal?

"It's both," said Lord Root-of-the-Matter, tucking his royal robes around his shoulders and moving to the edge of his lordly throne. "Since society is made up of almost numberless individuals, society is invariably collective and is thus infected by all of our germs and viruses or purified by our collective energy and wisdom."

How, I next inquired, can we conquer this pandemic and get back to normal or at least get back to a level of social, economic, inter-relational functionality?

"That depends not only on what we might do, but on what we've got to stop doing,” said Lord Root-of-the-Matter. “In the first place, we ought to stop this business of patting ourselves on the back, believing that we possess the sole answer to the crisis and that everyone else is purely political. Second, we won't become really comfortable until we really and truly understand that COVID-19 is the "new normal" around which we're going to have to function until we find a cure. COVID-19 is the new Depression, the new Cold War, the new 9/11, the new “terror," and we have to live around it until it is conquered. It will take awhile to adjust to that reality!”

How, if at all, is this crisis related to national politics?

“Since the discovery of penicillin, we've become increasingly cocky when it comes to fighting disease and it is disease that is at the heart of this crisis. When your leadership makes fighting disease its top priority rather than fighting humanity, it is possible that there will be changes for the better beyond your capacity to imagine!” said His Wisdom.

But what about President Trump? I cried. Does it all depend on whether or not we re-elect him?

"If COVID-19 was about social economics, it might be essential that he be re-elected, but “the root of the matter” is beyond politics. It's about mastering our fears or perhaps even more to the point, acknowledging rather than beating one another up over our socially conflicting fears. Our tools to that end are social science and medical science, along with our personal determination to adjust to a fact of nature over which we temporarily have little control."

My final question is about you, Sir! As Lord Root-of-the-Matter, do you possess the answers to all matters of importance?

"Certainly not! My job is merely to strip away the chaff so those much smarter than I can work out the solutions to problems!" 

Suddenly, Lord Root-of-the-Matter was gone and, just for an instant, I thought I was alone. Then there was the rustle of skirts and there stood Mother Nature looking powerful and a bit forbidding with her hands on her hips and a rather smug smile on her not unpleasant face. What could I do except meekly smile back at her? After all, even I know better than to angrily surrender to the challenges of Mother Nature! 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY  

HEY, CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'RE A SOLDIER

By Edwin Cooney 

We may not realize it yet, but you and I are about to be called “soldiers.” That is, soldiers in the greatest war in all of American history. Our Commander-in-Chief, President Donald John Trump, will both command and guide you and me through this pandemic with determination, creative genius, vision and, above all, patriotism.

As of Monday, May 11th, 2020, there were a total of 1,347,936 cases of COVID-19 in the United States thus victimizing 0.4 per cent of the population. The death toll from this disease as of the same date was 80,684 or 0.02 percent of the population. With practically every state taking steps to reopen part of their economic and social structure, the debate between cautious and daring citizens grows more bitter and intense practically every day.

Last year, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of D-Day when, under Commander-in-Chief Franklin Delano Roosevelt, we invaded "fortress Europe” which was under the domination of Adolf Hitler. FDR led this "crusade" with the support of men named George Marshall, Dwight Eisenhower, George Patten and others who consulted and commanded us to victory.   

Today's enemy, the Coronavirus, is unlike a human opponent. As Columnist Tom Friedman put it in The New York Times, a disease, unlike a human, cannot be shamed, weakened by a strategically divided attack, or declared defeated by an angry, disgusted, worn-out society demanding normality.  

Meanwhile, the argument goes on. One writer to the Times insists that a less than cautious opening of the economy would be like taking your car to a dealer to have your braking system fixed only to be told that they have never seen a problem like yours and lack the parts to repair your brakes. They also tell you that they haven't even taken your car for a test drive. So, when they return the keys, you must decide: should I load the family into the car and drive it full speed down the hill or should I do something perhaps more costly or long term to ensure my family’s safety?

Another argument insists that you have no right to endanger the economy by your withdrawal from participating in it, either as a producer or a customer.

Still another argument says that while you have the right to work, you don't have the right as a worker to mingle amongst others, catch the disease, and pass it on to even more people. 

Meanwhile, at National Headquarters (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue), COVID-19 or Coronavirus (take your pick) is on the attack against the President's staff. Additionally, holes are rapidly appearing in the President's social and political defense barrier.

Back in early April, on several occasions, President Trump stated that he was about to make the most important decision of his political career. At first, he asserted that everyone ought to be packed into churches on Easter Sunday (April 12th). Then, the President was compelled to back off. Now, a month later, he's actively pressing most states to open up and take on the economic and medical fight against the disease. Hence, for better or worse, here's what I'm guessing will happen.

On Saturday, June 6th, 2020, the 76th anniversary of our invasion of Europe,  Commander-In-Chief Trump may well ask you and me to be soldiers much as our fathers and grandfathers were when they dared to invade Europe. President Trump may insist (as President Eisenhower did in his first Inaugural address) that "we must dare all for our country!" The D-Day invasion, which was a specific military operation, lasted from June to August of 1944 and cost us around 226,000 soldiers. That was about 0.1738 percent of our then population of about 130 million people. If we were to sacrifice only one percent of our 330,000,000 present-day population, would that be a justifiable number of people to sufficiently immunize America before we return to work? (One percent of 330,000,000 people is 3,300,000.)

The trouble with numbers and  percentages is that they totally lack essential depth to adequately put into perspective the severity of this disease. Unfortunately, too many people dismiss the gravity of COVID-19 by insisting that "it's just the flu!” Since they've never experienced the Coronavirus, they can't sufficiently grasp the sense of gasping, struggling strangulation, and constant pain of this disease. They can therefore easily suggest that since only 0.02  percent of the people have been fatally stricken, if they would simply open everything up, we would all soon be protected through national “herd immunity!”  

It's my guess that thinking like this will give President Trump the impetus to emphasize his legal status and cultural position as Commander-In-Chief of a people at war. Of course, real armies have yet to ever be victorious over a disease.  However, modern Americans have often been rather erroneously aroused by calls to war by the leadership of both political parties. Johnson asked for a war on poverty, Nixon asked for a war on crime, Ford asked for a war against inflation, and both President and Mrs. Reagan declared war on drugs. All of the above are manmade entities. Disease, on the other hand, is a child of nature and nature has always been, to this very day, immune to military hardware.

As misleading as such a call would be, I'm convinced that many Americans may be sufficiently flattered by our Commander-In-Chief's call to be an American soldier against this “Chinese-made” pandemic! President Trump might well reason that since Americans in 1944 dared to take an even higher risk, shouldn't we be at least half as dedicated to making America safe and “great again” for everyone's economic and patriotic fulfillment?

A call to war is, traditionally, a president’s call for support. For the period of time between now and the presidential election (which is just five months and fifteen days away), such a call might do nicely for Commander-in-Chief Trump.

Let's all hope I'm wrong about such an appeal, because I don't think America can safely afford my being right in this instance!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY

OUTLINE OF THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION, PART II

By Edwin Cooney

Amendment XIII simply and directly ended all involuntary slavery or servitude except for those under conviction and punishment for crime in the United States of America as well as in territories subject to its jurisdiction. The amendment added a section empowering Congress' right to enforce this directive by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XIV was ratified on Wednesday, July 9th, 1868. All persons born or naturalized in the United States or in the territories subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States as well as in the states in which they reside. No state may pass or enforce a law abridging the privileges or immunities of citizens. No person, without due process of law, may be deprived of life, liberty or property.

Section two of Amendment XIV in slightly complicated language certifies the right of males (twenty-one years and older) to vote in federal or state elections and that these rights can't be either abridged or denied except for crimes or participation in rebellion. Section 3 of the14th Amendment denies the right of any military, judiciary, legislative member or executive who participated in the recent rebellion to hold public office. However, it authorized Congress with a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to remove "this disability."

Section four of the 14th Amendment invalidated any debts of the former confederacy. Finally, section five authorized the congress's right to enforce that amendment by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XV "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color or by previous condition of servitude.” Congress also empowered itself to enforce via legislation this amendment as it had both amendments thirteen and fourteen.

Amendment XVI was ratified on Monday, February 3rd, 1913. "The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without any regard to any census or enumeration. (Note: you can decide if it is significant that Congress did not insist on empowering its right to enforce this amendment by appropriate legislation.)

Amendment XVII was ratified on Sunday, April 8th, 1913. It provided that members of the United States Senate be elected by the citizens of each state. In the event of vacancies it left it up to state legislatures whether or not to allow their governors to fill such vacancies throughout the time remaining in the individual vacancies.

Amendment XVIII was ratified on Thursday, January 16th, 1919 and would be repealed 14 years later by the 21st Amendment. Section one states: "One year after the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” (Note: Of course Congress had to and did empower itself to enforce this amendment through the Volstead Act! Interestingly, President Woodrow Wilson, no friend or imbiber of intoxicating liquor, vetoed the Volstead Act, but Congress promptly overrode Wilson's veto.)

Amendment XIX declares that "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” This amendment was ratified by the Tennessee legislature (thus becoming the 34th state to ratify) on Wednesday, August 18th, 1920 - just in time for that Fall's election of the handsome Warren Harding to the presidency.

Amendment XX, which was passed on Monday, January 23rd, 1933, rather reflects the turmoil of the time. This was the time during which President Elect Franklin Roosevelt was ineligible to take office until March 4th despite the ever growing emergency of the national depression. This amendment adjusted the terms of office of the President and Congress. From here on Congress's term would begin on the 3rd of January every two years and the presidential term of office would move from March 4th to January 20th every four years. The amendment goes on to state what the House can do in the event of the death or qualification disability of the president-elect and what the Senate can do if the office of vice-president elect is vacant due to death or qualification disability. (Note: It doesn't identify what a non-qualification disability may be. It merely states the manner in which such a vacancy may be remedied.) Finally, the amendment states that sections one and two will take effect on the October 15th following the ratification of this article.

Amendment XXI ratified on Tuesday, December 5th, 1933 repealed the eighteenth “article of amendment" prohibiting the manufacture, sale, transport, import and export of intoxicating liquors. Section two, however, prohibits the manufacture sale, transportation, or exportation of intoxicating liquors within any state that prohibits their use.

Amendment XXII passed by Congress on Tuesday, February 27th, 1951 limits the term of a president to two full terms. (Note: for many Americans this was an anti-Franklin D. Roosevelt amendment, although the incumbent, President Harry S. Truman, was exempted from its limits. The article would become inoperative if it was not passed within seven years of its submission to the states.)

Amendment XXIII, ratified on Wednesday, March 29th, 1961, allows citizens of the District of Columbia to appoint presidential and vice-presidential electors to the Electoral College as though it were a state, but not more than the least populous state. (Note: The District of Columbia still has no voting members in either the House or the Senate.)

Amendment XXIV was ratified on Thursday, January 23rd, 1964 freeing all citizens from poll and other taxes which had been preventing them from voting for federal offices in some states.

Amendment XXV was ratified on Friday, February 10th, 1967. "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death, or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.” Until then, it was unclear whether the Vice President became the President or merely the Acting President.

Section two says “Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.” Until the adoption of this amendment, there was no provision for filling the office of Vice President when it became vacant.

Section three. “Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.”

Section four states the procedures to be followed when there is a conflict between the President and Vice President regarding the continuing disability or subsequent ability of the President to once again assume the powers and duties of his office.

Amendment XXVI ratified on Thursday, July 1st, 1971 gives all citizens of age eighteen and older the right to vote and gives Congress the power to enforce by appropriate legislation this amendment. Prior to the adoption of this amendment, it was disputed whether Congress or only the states could set the voting age and if Congress, whether it could set the voting age only for federal elections or for all elections.

Amendment XXVII was ratified on Thursday, May 7th 1992. This very amendment was originally offered as part of the Bill of Rights, but was turned down. It's a very straight forward amendment. There's only the amendment itself, no sections: "No law, varying the compensation for services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.”

Thus ends your sub numbers course outlining the Constitution of the United States. One of my favorite readers rather derisively wanted to know what I hoped to accomplish by offering these two essays. My only substantial response is that no one can really begin to appreciate anything, no matter what it may be, until he or she has some idea of its form and of its purpose. There are a lot of items in there that probably ought not to be there, such as the Electoral College, and there are other items that ought to be in there that have been both accidentally and purposely left out!

Some interpreters of the Constitution are "Strict Constructionists." They may be regarded as fundamentalists or as evangelistic types. I believe the Constitution is a living framework of government that both reflects and implies changing conditions and circumstances. The Constitution may be seen as the framework of American law and a child of the intellect with all of the intellect’s assets and liabilities.

As I see it, only the spirit outranks the majesty of the law because the law depends on the spirits of each of us to insure steady and continuous equitable justice.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY

AN OUTLINE OF THE U.S. CONSTITUTION

By Edwin Cooney

As stated in the Preamble, our founders established the Constitution for the following purposes: to form a more perfect union; to establish justice; to insure domestic tranquility; to provide for the common defense; to promote the general welfare and to secure the blessings of liberty to themselves and to their posterity.

There are seven original Articles to the Constitution. Article I creates the Congress of the United States to be the Legislative branch of the government, dividing it into a House of Representatives and a Senate. It sets forth qualifications for Congress’s election and allows both Houses to set its own rules. Among other things, Congress is also empowered to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay debts and to provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States. Congress may borrow money, regulate commerce with foreign nations, and establish a uniform rule of naturalization and bankruptcies throughout the states. Congress may coin money and regulate the value thereof, punish counterfeiters, and establish post offices and post roads. Congress shall also have the power to declare war.    

Article II establishes the Executive branch headed by the President as Chief Administrative Officer of the government as well as Commander-in-Chief of the military, who is elected by the states through an electoral college. With the advice and consent of the Senate, the president, among other things, may appoint members of the cabinet, judges of the supreme and inferior courts, appoint heads of departments and commissions, and propose and veto legislation.

Article III creates the judiciary branch of the government consisting of a Supreme Court and allows Congress to create a system of inferior federal courts. It grants lifetime tenure to members of the federal judiciary during good behavior. However, they are subject to impeachment if charged with high crimes or misdemeanors as are all federal officers. (Note: The Constitution does not grant the Supreme Court the power to declare laws unconstitutional. That would occur later by law! Additionally, Article III does not establish a specific number of justices to serve on the court. That number changes from time to time.)

Article IV,  the full faith and credit article, validates the laws, records and judiciary proceedings of each state in relation to the other states. It also establishes domestic sovereignty of each state within the Union and denies the right of any state to subdivide into additional states.

Article V establishes the two major ways that the original Constitution may be amended. It also provides the method to be used in order to convene a future Constitutional Convention.

Article VI could be called the “all debts, contracts and engagements” article. It neither calls for a balanced budget, nor allows for deficit spending or a "line item veto."

Article VII describes  the ratification process of the Constitution by the states as signed in Convention on Monday, September 17th, 1787. 

Next come the first ten amendments otherwise known as the Bill of Rights.

Amendment I states that Congress shall pass no law establishing, prohibiting, or abridging the exercise of religion. It may not abridge the freedom of speech, of the press, or the right of the people to "peaceably assemble to petition the government for the redress of grievances.”

Amendment II:  A well regulated Militia is essential for the security of a free state. Congress shall ensure the right of the people to "keep and bear arms" for the purpose of participating in such militias.

Amendment III. Without the consent of the owner, no soldier, during a time of peace, may be quartered in any home. During a time of war, a soldier can be quartered in a private home, but only in a manner prescribed by law.

Amendment IV guarantees the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Warrants must be supported by probable cause.

Amendment V is mainly about the indictment and trial of any citizen under the due process of law. No citizen may be a witness against himself in court. Except in the military, any defendant has a right to indictment by a grand jury. 

Amendment VI: All criminal prosecutions must provide a defendant with the following: a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted by the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process of witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel in his defense.

Amendment VII sets forth the proceedings under common, as opposed to criminal, law. Lawsuits must have a value greater than $20 and the right of trial by jury must be preserved. The facts in the preceding may not be examined or ruled upon by any other court in the United States.

Amendment VIII. Neither excessive bail, fines, nor cruel and unusual punishments shall be inflicted against criminal defendants.

Amendment IX: Enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.

Amendment  X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.

Amendment XI asserts that the judiciary power of the United States does not extend to the citizens of one State in suit against another State, nor may a foreign entity bring suit against any State.

Amendment XII, passed in 1804, separates the election of the President and the Vice-President in the electoral college. Additionally, it governs voting procedures for President in the House and for Vice President in the Senate.

Since I've likely exhausted your memory and your patience, I'll present the remaining 15 Amendments in part two of this presentation.

Feel free to stay tuned or take a holiday next week!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY