Barrack Obama's International Relationship Priorities

Sources close to the incoming president Barrack Obama have disclosed that he intends to play down Britain's importance. Some have said that Barrack considers the UK as just 'one of the crowd' of countries with which America has a special relationship.

The tight political, military and economic links, formed between Britain and America under George W.Bush, are set to be weakened as Obama strives to establish and develop closer relations with a wider range of countries. Britain needs to be prepared for change as the new president establishes relations with world leaders previously ignored by president bush.

It is anticipated that president Obama's first overseas visit is likely to be to a Muslim country as he embarks upon bridge-building with countries in Asia and the Middle east. In Europe he is expected to focus upon building stronger ties with France and Germany.

The UK prime minister, Gordon Brown, has said that the Barrack Obama presidency is expected to further strengthen the special relationship that has been built between the UK and the US. He has said the Obama "shares the values of liberty, democracy and fairness" and that "the special relationship will be one so strong, no power on earth can ever drive us apart."

Although a visit from the new president would be keenly received it is looking unlikely that Obama will make it to the UK before the April G20 economic summit. It is expected that his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, will visit the UK before that time when she embarks on an international tour intended to re-build relationships with nations previously cut off by the Bush administration.

One particularly significant issue continues to be the widely criticised Guantanamo Bay detention camp. It is anticipated that Obama will respond to criticism and close this facility soon after taking office.

While there is some pessimism regarding the future of the special relationship between the UK and the US many are optimistic. President Obama is known to be far more open to hearing conflicting views than George W.Bush ever was and many people are optimistic that this will set the stage for open and frank discussion and debate.

For parking at London City Airport it is recommended that you compare airport parking charges and book online with Gosimply.com.

A Better U.S. Constitution?

If you've read it, you may have noticed that the U.S. Constitution, in designating how representatives were to be apportioned by population, excluded "untaxed" Indians, and counted each black slave as three fifths of a person. That's in the first couple paragraphs, by the way. Fortunately it was changed when the 14th amendment was ratified.

Obviously the writers had the prejudices of the times they lived in. The lesson here is that we cannot create a perfect constitution that will stand the test of time. To think so is to think we have nothing to learn. Any document that is so important will need to be changed as we learn more and progress in our political and moral ideas.

Of course it could be dangerous to create an entirely new constitution, given the politics that would go into writing and ratifying it. Still, if we were to do so, what should it include? I can think of many changes that I would like to see, including an electoral process that is less based on geography and more on citizens political beliefs. In such a system, representatives would be elected not by districts but by voters across the country who share common political causes or goals.

But apart from the specific provisions throughout a new constitution, there is one important change that I would like to see right up front: A declaration of purpose and intent. The current document governing the United States is vague enough that there are many "gray" areas. The result is laws that may or may not be unconstitutional, based on differing interpretations. Differing interpretations are inevitable to some extent, but a clearer statement of purpose would resolve much of the confusion. An example follows.

A New Constitution - Preamble

"The government of the United States has only the powers specified in this constitution, and may not do anything which is not explicitly authorized by this document. The intent of this document is to protect the rights of individuals within the country, both citizens and all others, and that is the only valid purpose of government. When the United States government acts outside its borders, it must still act in accordance with this constitution, and refrain from violating the rights of individuals. This is in recognition that rights are not a gift of government, or an earned privilege, but are inherent in every human being."

The idea here is to state plainly what the intent of the constitution is and what the proper purpose of the government is. This makes it much easier to determine when a law is allowable or unconstitutional. Combined with the clear enumeration of powers laid out in the rest of the document, there would be much less room for mis-interpretation than there currently is.

It also makes it clear that rights are not a matter of citizenship. Any and all who are within the jurisdiction of the government are to have their rights respected and protected. Also, the government cannot violate an individual's rights just because that person is not within the borders of the country.

Finally, this preamble states that government power is limited. The current United States Constitution is supposed to do this as well, but is vague in many ways. A new constitution should state plainly what the government is allowed to do, and should require that all new laws specify the constitutional clause that authorizes them. This will prevent much of our useless legislation, and help prevent an abuse of power on the part of the government.