How Do You Feel About This?
23 Sep 2005
What is the pulse of American jurisprudence? Is it not the belief that ours is a government of laws, not of men? In other words, no man is above the law. The law is the supreme arbiter of what is legal and illegal in these United States.
If one disagrees with the law of the land his only recourse is the legislative branch of our government, which is responsible for making, changing, and rescinding laws. If one feels that the law of the land is not being enforced his only recourse is the executive branch of our government, which is responsible for executing the law. And if one believes that the law of the land is being misinterpreted his only recourse is the judicial branch of our government, which is responsible for interpreting the law.
Like Lord Acton, our Founding Fathers believed that “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Therefore, our Founding Fathers designed three coequal branches of government so that absolute power could never reside in any one of them. Furthermore, they created additional checks and balances by dividing and diffusing governmental power between federal, state, and local governments. In the end, our Founding Fathers hoped that they had eliminated the possibility of any man ever usurping the place of the rule of law in our land.
Our Founding Fathers must have turned over in their graves after yesterday’s Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote on Judge John Roberts’ nomination to serve as the 17th Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Although the committee voted to recommend Judge Roberts to the full Senate by a 13-to-5 majority, the five Democrats who voted against Roberts indicated that their opposition had more to do with questions about Roberts’ heart than with questions about his commitment to the rule of law. As Illinois Senator Richard Durbin explained, he was forced to vote “no” on Roberts’ nomination because of his inability to discern whether or not Roberts had “an understanding heart.”
Apparently, Democrats, like Senator Durbin, want a man leading the judicial branch of our government who will be ruled by his feelings rather than by the rule of law. This is predicated of course by whether or not the nominee for Chief Justice feels the same way about things as the Democrats do. If not, he is fair game and in danger of being mercilessly “Borked.” This explains Judge Roberts’ refusal to answer the touchy-feely questions of Democrats during his confirmation hearings. If he had dared to do so, the least little hint on his part of a lack of empathy with liberal sympathies would have brought out the Democrats’ claws and fangs.
The thought of a Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court ruling by what he feels rather than by what the law says is scary. What is even scarier, however, is a Chief Justice who rules by his feelings and feels the same way Democrats do about abortion, same-sex marriage, the Ten Commandments, etc. Contrary to the thinking and wishes of many Democrats, judges, just like the rest of us, are bound by the rule of law. If we don’t soon wakeup to this fact, our government will cease to be a government of laws and become a government of men; that is, it will become an oligarchy of judges who ruthlessly rule according to the way they feel things ought to be.
Don Walton
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