Trying Our Patience

A few years back, I distinctly remember that someone put George Washington "on trial" for treason. (He was, of course, patently guilty as charged) Similarly, Lincoln might have been "tried" for "war crimes" for the excesses of Federal soldiers, for the conditions in many northern POW camps, or for clearly usurping the rights of people chucked into jail for opposing the war or supporting secession. And Roosevelt, too, might have been tried for the gross negligence which led up to Pearl Harbor, for the conduct of botched operations, like Tarawa, of for gross violations of neutrality, such as lend lease and the extension of naval protection for convoys.

IF, of course, that is, a President of the United States were EVER subject to a trial outside of the confines of the United States Senate.

Which brings us to the subject of the "mock trial" of President Bush undertaken by a class in Parsippany. Said class purports to be an AP class in government. One of the students observed that the teacher’s political bent "is well known", but everyone involved refused comment respecting same. No points for guessing whether he supports the war effort.

Now, the first thing a competent teacher in an AP government class would do, faced with such a question, is to instruct his charges that, outside of impeachment, the President is simply not subject to "trial" anywhere for actions taken during his tenure in office. Given that truth, what lesson, precisely, are the students in the AP government class allegedly learning by engaging in such a farce?

Obviously, not one even remotely related to American government.

The comments made by folks at the Freeholder meeting demonstrate clearly that a remedial course in government – or, at the very least, in constitutional law – might make a great deal of sense. The Record reports that some people criticized the Freeholders for an action which would "chill free speech".

People, even teachers and students, certainly possess a constitutional right to make asses of themselves. But they possess no corresponding right to be free of perfectly justifiable criticism.

If our friendly teacher wishes stimulating topics to challenge the minds of his students, might I humbly suggest the following:

Mock impeachment against any judge who imposes gay marriage on an unwilling populace;
Mock courtroom challenge against regulations such as the Highlands Law, for taking property without just compensation;
If one wishes to discuss international law, how about a mock trial of Saddam Hussein, in which events from Abu Ghraib BEFORE the Americans took over might be discussed (an exercise which has the virtue of being actually related to reality);
A mock trial, applying British libel and slander law to anyone who contends that "Bush lied";
A mock trial of The New York Times for publishing details about the "secret" domestic spying program (or a a mock suit for damages by the next terrorist victims when it becomes apparent that such publication enabled the perps to evade discovery);

In each case, the subject would relate to REAL issues relating to American government or international law, not the fevered fantasies of the Angry Left. And, in each case, there are legitimate questions and the possibility of legitimate debate on both sides. The exercise chosen bears precisely no relationship to reality; it represents nothing more than irresponsible political grandstanding

Perhaps the students – they’re in an AP class, after all – will learn, from all this, that in a free society, you make an idiot of yourself at your own peril. Engaging in inflammatory, obnoxious exercises – let alone on the taxpayers’ dime – produces predictable reactions from people suffering from a terminal case of common sense.

A class on government – it seems to this observer, with a casual interest in government – ought to be actually related to government. Any international entity which purports to exercise the right to "try" an American President had better be prepared for a visit from the United States Marines. Students in a course on American government should spend their time discussing the real world, not engaging in the paranoid delusions of the Moveon crowd.