By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… I have been concerned recently with various government agencies ignoring the laws of the land and in essence, declaring themselves above the law. This includes agencies on the federal, state, and local level.
In the last 16 years Presidents, both Republican and Democrat, have signed executive orders overriding the law of the land. This resulted from Congress giving the President war powers after 9/11 without declaring war, that in itself a violation of the Constitution.
We saw this blatant disregard for the law when the BLM violated the Constitutional rights of free speech, assembly, and the press on the signature of a middle level bureaucrat.
We saw it when a Mayor told police to stand down as rioters burned and looted her city under the flag of racial injustice.
We see it when a school district ignores state laws to which they do not wish to adhere.
When our elected officials and government employees pick and choose which laws they will ignore and which they will enforce, you no longer have a Constitutional Republic based on written law; you have a monarchy that enforces only those laws they find appealing to them.
Here is an interesting question for which I have no answer: Since the possession and smoking of marijuana is now legal in the State of Nevada and illegal in the United States, what happens when the Nevada citizen with one ounce of pot is found on the 85% of the state that is federal land?
The United States of America is not a democracy; it never has been a democracy. The government of the United States is and always has been a Constitutional Republic. We have a Constitution that divides the power base in America between three branches of government: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Each branch has its role spelled out in the Constitution. Congress makes law, the President is to enforce the law, and the Judicial is to interpret the law. We elect Congressman and Senators to make laws. We elect a President to enforce those laws. We as American citizens have an obligation to our fellow citizens to obey those laws.
Are some laws stupid, some laws inconvenient, and some downright obnoxious? Of course, they are! Are we obliged to abide by those? Of course, we are! We are also morally obligated to work on getting those laws changed through legal channels.
Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders stated if we had the proper laws, we would cut carbon emission by 32% and 3,600 premature deaths could be prevented each year. However, I would point out to Mr. Sanders that, if we had the proper law, cutting abortions in America by 32% could prevent 296,358 premature deaths. But we don’t have those laws and we must abide by the ones we have. Presently genocide is legal in the United States. But burning down clinics and killing doctors is not the answer. The answer is to find a legal means to change the law.
The following is from a February 2015 speech Congressman Trey Gowdy of South Carolina delivered on the floor of Congress. Congressman Gowdy explains the importance of enforcing the law much better than I can.
The thread that holds the tapestry of our country together is respect for and adherence to the rule of law,” he said. “The law is the greatest unifying and greatest equalizing force that we have in our culture. The law is what makes the richest person drive the precise same speed limit as the poorest person. The law is what makes the richest person in this country pay his or her taxes on precisely the same day as the poorest person in this country. The law, Mr. Chairman, is symbolized by a blindfolded woman holding a set of scales and a sword. The law is both a shield and a sword, and it is the foundation upon which this republic stands.
We think so highly of the law, … that in the oath of citizenship administered to those who pledge allegiance to this country, to their new country, it makes six different references to the law. So attempts to undermine the law via executive fiat, regardless of motivation, are detrimental to the foundation of a democracy. …
If you enjoy a single person making law, you should investigate living in another country, because our framers did not give us, nor have generations of our fellow citizens fought and served and sacrificed for a single person to make law in a unilateral way. …
…the constitution …is clear and it is time tested and it is true and it says the congress passes laws and it is the responsibility of the chief executive to take care that those laws are faithfully enforced.
His position (the presidency) may have changed. But the constitution has not. Prosecutorial discretion is real and actually valid, …but it is not a synonym for anarchy. …The constitution gives the president a lot of power…. He’s the commander in chief, he nominates Supreme Court Justices, he can veto legislation for any reason, or no reason… He has the power of pardon. He has a lot of power…. But what he cannot do is make law by himself. That is the responsibility of the congress.
…we live in a country where process matters. The end does not justify the means. No matter how good the intentions.
When a police officer fails to check the right box on an application for a search warrant, the fruits of that search warrant are suppressed. When a police officer, even though he has the right suspect for the right crime, but he just fails to include one small part of those prophylactic Miranda warnings, what happens? The statement is suppressed. Even though you have the right person. Even though you have the right crime. Because we view process over the end.
…You may benefit from the president’s failure to enforce the law today, but I’ll make you this promise. There will come a day where you will cry out for the enforcement of the law. There will come a day where you long for the law to be the foundation of this republic. So you be careful what you do with the law today because if you weaken it today, you weaken it forever.
Thought of the week…It doesn’t take courage to follow a law you like…what takes courage…what makes us different is we follow laws even that we don’t like! And then we strive to change them – legally.
– Trey Gowdy
