by
M. Richard Maxson
The governmental structures in America are set forth in the
Constitution. The Constitution was written -- largely by James Madison
-- to define and to limit the federal government, and it was quickly
amended by adding the Bill of Rights so as to be sure that natural
rights would be respected by the government. The Constitution provides
for protection against the tyranny of the majority.
The separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches of government is at the heart of the Constitution of the United States -- and the Constitution is at the heart of freedom for Americans. No President of the United States is authorized to repeal parts of legislation passed by Congress. He may veto the whole legislation, but then Congress can override his veto if they have enough votes. Nevertheless, every President takes an oath to faithfully execute the laws that have been passed and sustained -- not just the ones he happens to agree with.
The greatest distinguishing factor between countries in which there is
some freedom and those where authoritarian governments manage personal
behavior is the Rule of Law. The idea that the very laws that the
government is charged with enforcing could restrain the government itself
is uniquely Western and was accepted with near unanimity at the time of
the creation of the American Republic. Without that concept underlying
the exercise of governmental power, there is little hope for freedom.
If laws passed by the elected representatives of the people can be simply over-ruled unilaterally by whoever is in the White House, then we are no longer a free people, choosing what laws we want to live under.
When a President can ignore the plain language of duly passed laws, and substitute his own executive orders, then we no longer have "a government of laws, and not of men" but a President ruling by decree, like the dictator in some banana republic.
When we confine our debates to the merits or demerits of particular executive orders, we are tacitly accepting arbitrary rule. The Constitution of the United States cannot protect us unless we protect the Constitution. But, if we allow ourselves to get bogged down in the details of particular policies imposed by executive orders, and vote solely on that basis, then we have failed to protect the Constitution -- and ourselves.
We live in perilous times. The president acts above the Rule of Law and
fights his own wars. Congress acts below the Rule of Law by letting the
president do whatever he can get away with. And this summer, the Supreme
Court rewrote the Rule of Law.
There have been many wise warnings that freedom is seldom lost all at once. It is usually eroded away, bit by bit, until it is all gone. You may not notice a gradual erosion while it is going on, but you may eventually be shocked to discover one day that it is all gone, that we have been reduced from citizens to subjects, and the Constitution has become just a meaningless bunch of paper.
