Commander-in-Chief

Pat Lang is a prick and he doesn't like me. But he does have some good observations at his Sic Semper Tyrannis 2008 blog. Like in his post of 09/04/08, Tom Brokaw and the emperor:

Tom Brokaw made a reference on MSNBC today to the "commander in chief of the United States."

NO!

The president is commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States, not of the country. We have no emperor. To think of the president of the United States as commander in chief of the country is to make this person the sovereign and we his subjects.

Tom Brokaw has made himself press agent for the veterans of World War Two. Did they struggle for this, Tom, to be "subjects?"

It's a real sign of the militarization of our culture and politics that the President is so routinely referred to as "the Commander-in-Chief". Lang has it exactly right. If you're not on active duty in the armed services, he's not your Commander-in-Chief under the Consitution.

Tags: pat lang, unilateral executive, unitary executive, us constitution