The Constitution’s voice

`GOD SAVE the Constitution," said Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. The 86-year-old Democrat, who has served in Congress for more than 50 years, sees President Bush fighting two dangerous wars: one on terrorism and one on the United States Constitution.

Byrd says that Bush is ruthlessly grabbing more power for the executive branch and draining Congress of its constitutional strength. Congress has acquiesced, he says, surrendering its authority by failing to be a vigilant check on presidential power, failing to challenge popular presidents, and failing to put civic duty ahead of party loyalty.

Byrd and his new book, "Losing America: Confronting a Reckless and Arrogant Presidency," might be dismissed as the outburst of an angry Democrat burning with presidential campaign fever -- except for the facts.

Since Sept. 11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has won troubling new powers such as an ability to detain suspects without charging them. The claim is that this will increase safety. The likely outcome is an abuse of rights with little new security.

Early last month Byrd scolded the Senate for wasting time debating class-action lawsuit reform and the proposed marriage amendment. He called on his colleagues and the president to focus on more funding for federal air marshals, for safer public transportation, and for inspecting more of the cargo containers that pass through United States ports.

"Our founding fathers struggled to escape the heavy yoke of one King George. We must not submit to the dictates of another," Byrd said, comparing Bush to the monarch the American Revolution was fought against.

But in defending the Constitution, it is more useful to recall Bush's American namesake, George Washington. As David Hackett Fischer notes in his book "Washington's Crossing," The general of the Continental Army knew that he was fighting two wars: a military battle and a battle of ideals. He had to sell liberty to Americans and the world. When his troops captured Hessian soldiers fighting for the British, he said they should be treated, as Fischer puts it, "with the same rights of humanity for which Americans were striving."

In a message to Congress in 1794, Washington called the Constitution a "depository of American happiness." In a 1788 letter he praised the division of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, saying this government could not degenerate into a monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy, or other "oppressive form; so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people."

The Constitution makes great demands. It requires high standards and arduous debates. But history and the Senate's avid historian show that meeting its demands is the best course, even in difficult times.