Boy Oh Boy, Maureen Dowd rebuttal

To the Editor:

It’s now official, Ms Dowd has spoken. All the protests against the policies of President Obama and the Democrats is racism. I reject this categorically.

I’ll admit there is an element that is racist. In the crowd on the Mall September 12, 2009 you could pretty much count them. They were carrying “The Flag of the Army of Northern Virginia”, a.k.a. the “Confederate” flag, which, by the way, it wasn’t. It is an over generalization to say they are all racist but for the argument let’s assume they are. I’m sure as a percentage of all flags carried that day it was a very small minority.

There is very legitimate political position in this country that is antithetical to the policy positions of this administration. Why would you not expect it to rise up when this country lurches to left in such a dramatic way? These protests are supported by Republicans, Libertarians, independents and perhaps a few Democrats.

But the problem is larger than policy differences. It more about process. An article by William Schambra in the September issue of National Affairs, “Obama and the Policy Approach”, http://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/obama-and-the-policy-approach illustrates the problem. This article reveals the core problem that brought 10’s of thousands to the Mall.

“Progressive reformers throughout the 20th century came to denigrate the wisdom and relevance of the American Constitution, which frustrated centralization and coordination by dispersing governing power across the states and over the branches of government. Once thought essential to American freedom, these institutions now came to be seen as impediments to coherent national governance.”

The problem is not racism. The problem is political hi-jacking of the Constitution. Ok, if you want to “fundamentally transform the country”, do it legally, by amendment to the constitution.