What has so far appeared to be a problem may turn out to be
a blessing in disguise. It is said that America 's children are not given
enough civic education, and that they grow up deficient in these areas.
If, in this case, deficient means less harmful than
confused, then America's parents should be thankful that their children are not
told about the “foreign emoluments clause” that so concerned the framers of the
Constitution. For, to be told about such concern, would most certainly confuse
an American child who is taught in the same breath that it is okay for a Mitt
Romney to go to a foreign country, while running for president, and take a quid
pro quo bribe on foreign soil in return for adopting a specific stance on a
specific issue ... but it is not okay for the Clintons to accept a general sort
of gift from a foreign government that asks for nothing in return.
In this regard, it is instructive to read the Adam J. White
article which came under the title: “Beware of Russians Bearing Gifts” and the
subtitle: “and presidential candidates who would accept them,” published on May
1, 2015 in the Weekly Standard. It is about Hillary Clinton who may or may not
have received gifts that could or could not influence her decisions should she
get elected President of the United
States . But there is not a word in the
article about Mitt Romney having fulfilled the condition of denigrating a race
of people before receiving a million dollar bribe for being such a public lout
on foreign soil.
Try now to imagine an American pre-teen or a teenager
raising their hand to ask the teacher what could be the difference between the
two cases. Imagine the other children getting interested in the conversation
and asking if it is okay to have a so-called “Sheldon Primary” at which time
the Republican hopefuls go genuflect before the same gambling mogul who dragged
Romney into his act of infamy, and whose publicly stated interest is to look
after the interests of a foreign country called Israel.
This is the same Sheldon Adelson who vowed to allocate any
amount in payment for the conscience and honor of any and every American
politician who would prostitute the self, and promise to promote the glory of
Israel by mobilizing and delivering the resources of America, no matter how
much it will cost the people of that country in terms of morality, ethics,
financial commitment and ultimately the military involvements that will
continue to cost American lives … those that will be lost to the grave and those
to endless physical pain and mental anguish.
Imagine American pupils in a classroom being told something
like what comes in the Adam White article: “Two centuries [after the
Constitution] the American public remains rightly wary of the dangers of foreign
influence in domestic governance and politics, even when the emoluments
clause's specific prohibition has not been violated.” Now imagine a child
asking what kind of harm would be inflicted on America as a result of a Saudi
Arabian gift where the rights of women are suppressed. Imagine another child
asking if this would be worse than American lives being lost to the grave or to
endless physical pain and mental anguish.
Go further and imagine the content of another passage in the
Adam White article being repeated to the kids: “It is that U.S. officials
must not put themselves in such compromised positions to begin with, regardless
of whether they succeed in resisting the temptations to which they have exposed
themselves.” Imagine a kid asking if a check that comes quietly from Morocco to
a Clinton foundation is more compromising than Republican hopefuls doing a mea
culpa on their knees before a gambling mogul for having said the wrong thing
about Israel in the past – while that mogul is treating them like hungry dogs
here to beg him for a bone, and treating America like the garbage dump of his
backyard where even a dog would not go sniffing.
Now imagine another child asking if the “appearance of
corruption” is more pronounced when someone accepts a campaign contribution
from say, the housing industry that builds houses in America than from the
gambling mogul who builds houses in the occupied Palestinian territories – an
act that America and the world view as illegal; one that may even amount to a
war crime.
Now think of yourself as a civics teacher standing in an
American classroom and facing kids who are struggling to understand why there
is a deafening uproar about one situation, and a deafening silence about
another situation that is worse in both appearance and substance.