THE GREAT EXPERIMENT
We've said very little about the namesake of our blog, and hopefully this will be the first of many posts discussing the most important document ever written, the second-greatest work of the mind of man(kind), the governing document of our great nation.
Jonah Goldberg has a little to say on it today, but it's meaty despite its brevity.
Now, I really don't care about "conservative reformations" or even the revitalization of the Republican Party for that matter. What I do care about is respect for the written word of the Constitution and respect for the intentions of its promulgators.
The Constitution, like Ben Franklin famously said of revolutions, is half-compromised and half-improvised. And because of it, it comprises the single most elegant and effective system of bulwarks against tyranny ever -- and I do mean ever -- devised.
The basis of the system is fairly simple, though -- it divides governmental power wherever and however it can. The traditional functions of government are split over three branches. Different types of laws have to originate in specific ways. The Federal government has only specific powers delegated to it; the rest are reserved to either the State governments or to the people at large. Military power, even, is divided between the government and the citizenry.
Divided government is much, much more difficult to usurp, and also much more difficult to paralyze. Of late we've heard of "nightmare scenarios" where, say, a terrorists manages to detonate Washington, DC while Congress is in session, the Supreme Court is holding court, and the President is meeting with his Cabinet, effectively wiping out the civilian Federal government. What then? We'll be leaderless!
Well, no. There are fifty state governments which would survive intact; every square inch of US territory would still be under civil authority.
But because there are so many governments, so many branches, each intended to deal with a different facet of governing, if one is corrupted or infiltrated, the others will keep it in check and root it out.
And that's only a few things among many which demonstrate the genius of the Constitution; there's so much at so many levels that it's far too complex to go into fully in anything like a blog post.
Suffice it to say, it's in all of our best interests to FOLLOW the system prescribed by the Founders.
Goldberg, while I like his perspective and his historical savvy, still seems to be treating the idea as either academic or something only achievable in small doses. He seems to be of the camp which thinks we might be able to do some good, maybe achieve some modest return to Constitutional principles, but doesn't have much energy behind it. I get the impression he sees it as trying to reclaim 50 miles of beach from the ocean using only a pail and shovel.
Well, as "realistic" as that may seem, it strikes me as similar to those who thought Soviet supremacy was inevitable.
To me, it's far too important an issue to treat as academic or pie-in-the-sky. Our very freedom is very much at stake, and punting isn't an appropriate response. I have no doubt in my mind that hard, tough work can restore the government to what the Founders intended. I have no illusions that it's not a mammoth, monumental task against long, long odds.
But it doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted.
Jonah Goldberg has a little to say on it today, but it's meaty despite its brevity.
Now, I really don't care about "conservative reformations" or even the revitalization of the Republican Party for that matter. What I do care about is respect for the written word of the Constitution and respect for the intentions of its promulgators.
The Constitution, like Ben Franklin famously said of revolutions, is half-compromised and half-improvised. And because of it, it comprises the single most elegant and effective system of bulwarks against tyranny ever -- and I do mean ever -- devised.
The basis of the system is fairly simple, though -- it divides governmental power wherever and however it can. The traditional functions of government are split over three branches. Different types of laws have to originate in specific ways. The Federal government has only specific powers delegated to it; the rest are reserved to either the State governments or to the people at large. Military power, even, is divided between the government and the citizenry.
Divided government is much, much more difficult to usurp, and also much more difficult to paralyze. Of late we've heard of "nightmare scenarios" where, say, a terrorists manages to detonate Washington, DC while Congress is in session, the Supreme Court is holding court, and the President is meeting with his Cabinet, effectively wiping out the civilian Federal government. What then? We'll be leaderless!
Well, no. There are fifty state governments which would survive intact; every square inch of US territory would still be under civil authority.
But because there are so many governments, so many branches, each intended to deal with a different facet of governing, if one is corrupted or infiltrated, the others will keep it in check and root it out.
And that's only a few things among many which demonstrate the genius of the Constitution; there's so much at so many levels that it's far too complex to go into fully in anything like a blog post.
Suffice it to say, it's in all of our best interests to FOLLOW the system prescribed by the Founders.
Goldberg, while I like his perspective and his historical savvy, still seems to be treating the idea as either academic or something only achievable in small doses. He seems to be of the camp which thinks we might be able to do some good, maybe achieve some modest return to Constitutional principles, but doesn't have much energy behind it. I get the impression he sees it as trying to reclaim 50 miles of beach from the ocean using only a pail and shovel.
Well, as "realistic" as that may seem, it strikes me as similar to those who thought Soviet supremacy was inevitable.
To me, it's far too important an issue to treat as academic or pie-in-the-sky. Our very freedom is very much at stake, and punting isn't an appropriate response. I have no doubt in my mind that hard, tough work can restore the government to what the Founders intended. I have no illusions that it's not a mammoth, monumental task against long, long odds.
But it doesn't mean it shouldn't be attempted.
posted by GumSlinger at 10:05 AM
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