As right-wing politicians and pundits call us stooges for Osama bin Laden, Tony Judt charges, in a widely discussed and heatedly debated essay in the London Review of Books, that American liberals — without distinction — have “acquiesced in President Bush’s catastrophic foreign policy.” Both claims are nonsense on stilts. Clearly this is a moment […]
Bruce Ackerman
Bruce Ackerman is Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale, and the author, most recently, of Revolutionary Constitutions: Charismatic Leadership and the Rule of Law (Harvard University Press, 2019).
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We Answer to the Name of Liberals
As right-wing politicians and pundits call us stooges for Osama bin Laden, Tony Judt charges, in a widely discussed and heatedly debated essay in the London Review of Books, that American liberals — without distinction — have “acquiesced in President Bush’s catastrophic foreign policy.” Both claims are nonsense on stilts. Clearly this is a moment […]
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In Case of Emergency
What happens to our freedoms when the next terrorist strike succeeds? They may be swept away by a presidential declaration of martial law. For the first time in our history, the Pentagon has devised war plans for responding to terrorist attacks in the United States. According to The Washington Post: [T]he dispatch of […]
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If Washington Blows Up
November 2009: After a hard-fought victory the year before, the new Democratic administration has come out of the starting gates in good shape. With the airwaves full of brave talk of new initiatives, there is real hope of a new beginning. Then the unthinkable happens. A small nuclear device rips the heart out of Pennsylvania […]
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The Constitutional Moment That Wasn’t
Turn back the clock to election day and consider where the president wanted to be by now. By this point, he was expecting to sign a bill transforming Social Security into the keystone of an “ownership society.” He would be awaiting the triumphant election returns approving an Iraqi constitution, confirming the legitimacy of his break […]
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High Court, High Stakes
As we go to press, we don’t know the name of President Bush’s Supreme Court nominee or nominees. But it is clear that he will eventually get two, and maybe more — enough to lead a radical transformation of constitutional law. The challenge is to keep this point at the center of the debate and […]
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Cheney’s Betrayal
As the Senate filibuster debate reaches its climax, it will become increasingly clear that the central player is neither Senator Bill Frist nor Senator Harry Reid but, rather, Vice President Dick Cheney. As president of the U.S. Senate, he is the guardian of its rules. Yet only if he betrays his trust to the Senate […]
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Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: This letter is in response to two articles [September 29, & October 6, 2004] that Bruce Ackerman published on The American Prospect Online. He argued that the oath given to the judges who will handle the appeals, if any, from the war-crimes tribunals [the military calls them “military commissions”] is illegal because […]
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Oath of Offense
Last week, I remarked on the special oath sworn by the civilians selected by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to review the extraordinary military tribunals he has convened at Guantanamo Bay. The remarkable thing about it was that members of this board failed to swear fealty to the Constitution. I urged the secretary to correct this […]
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The Rumsfeld Oath
A remarkable ceremony took place at the Pentagon last week. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld swore in the civilians who will be reviewing the judgments reached by military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Here is their oath of office: “Does each one of you swear that you will faithfully and impartially perform according to your conscience […]
