Saturday, July 5, 2014

Why What Obama is Doing is Bad, Bad, Bad

Progressives aren't pissed by what Obama is doing. That, itself, shows what is important to them as a group: Getting their programs in place no matter what the Constitution says and no matter what other citizens want and think.

But the damage being done to our Republic goes far beyond whether these "programs" are good or not. Programs, after all, can always be changed.  But destruction of the very foundation of our Republic-- its laws, its governing principles, its taking power from any one man or group of men and accepting as bedrock that it belongs to us all -- "We The People" -- cannot be so easily undone.

As James Madison wrote: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

What Madison is saying is this: If you, or any person or group, favors what Obama is doing just because you/they think "it's good," or because you/they love to be able to say "hurray for our side!" --  than you/they don't love our Republic. No, nor do you love democracy. What you do love is tyranny.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Courts, Gnats and Camels

Today the country is all astir with arguments about the Supreme Court's decision on the 'Hobby Lobby' case. And, of course, the sky is again falling.

When I look at this the problem that I see has little to do with contraception, or even, for that matter, with abortion. The real issue is that very phrase "the Court decided."

Why should they need to? Why should we want them to? 

At Mount Sinai the sons of Israel were given 10 commandments. Leviticus upped it to thousands. Rabbis later added what became the Talmud and Mishnah as people looked to them to rule on finer and finer points of law. Worship over time became the study and debate of their rulings.

Then came Jesus saying "You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" and went on to reduce the laws to two: Love God and your neighbor.

Then came the churchmen and it started all over again.

We have our Constitution. We have (or had) free will. Why debate what the robed ones say? I, for one, prefer discussing foundation principles, not their chosen gnats.

The more rules we make the more rules we'll need. And that'll leave us no closer to having a just, free, caring society. No, just a more litigious one with yet more gnats and more camels.

Gulp. Gulp.