All of us have heard such phrases as the above, as well as ‘rule of law.’ The concept dates back to ancient Rome. I have no clue what it means. It is especially quoted by those people who (surprise surprise) have control over the writing of the law, enforcement of the law, or interpretation of the law.
I investigated and found that the concept is good. It requires, however, that all laws be enforced and that no one, even those in power, is outside of the law and therefore forgiven any trespass. Such does not exist in our country. So, instead of the government of law that John Adams envisioned, we are a nation more like that described in a quote attributed to rocker Frank Zappa: ‘The U.S. is a nation of laws; badly written and randomly enforced.’
The national legislature routinely exempts itself from legislation passed for the peasantry. If not feasible to do so, they instead grant themselves an extenuation, such as being rushed through security checkpoints at airports, while we, the great unwashed, wait. They have also fooled us into thinking that the two party system in the USA is democrats versus republicans. Democrats accept lies from liberal politicians and they have the Republicans to insult. Republicans have the converse. The government of Orwell’s 1984 has been realized.
In truth, both sides of the aisle consist of self-seeking con-men (con-people) who represent themselves and the special interest groups who sustain them. They publish an agenda and make speeches to pacify their respective lunatic fringe, knowing that the agenda will never be radically changed if it hurts the politicians.
The real two party system in the USA is Citizens versus Government. The government is not a friend of the citizen, certainly not for the majority. Because the Federalist Papers (as well as Thomas Jefferson) make clear that the purpose of allowing the citizens to arm themselves is to prevent dictatorial government, the government is trying to disarm the citizens, removing this last speed bump on the road to total control. They have recruited the usual useful idiot citizens to their cause, a benighted altruism.
The purpose of government has become that of expanding and protecting its bureaucracy. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, our government ensures that ‘government of the bureaucracy, by the bureaucracy, and for the bureaucracy shall not perish from the earth.’
Witness any attempt to curb or control the bureaucrats and see how it always fails. The post office for instance: when hit with a demand to reduce its budget, does the post office fire midlevel administrators or cut down on wasteful seminars and plane trips? No, it immediately withdraws customer service agents from the windows so that the consumer will scream at his representative, who will collaborate with his fellow politicians to reverse the budget cut. The threat vanishes and the bloat is protected.
Law enforcement: In a court case, Warren v. the District of Columbia, 1981, the court clearly states that nothing is owed to victims of criminal acts and it is not the job of the police or the overseeing government to protect the citizens, unless there is already a special relationship. What does ‘special’ mean? If the citizen is already in custody for some reason, a federal witness, or in a special category, there is a special relationship. This means that an ambassador from a country that sponsors terrorism will receive more protection than the average US citizen.
Sadly, even in law enforcement, the bureaucracy protects itself. A man gets a minor jail term for rape. Upon release, the father of the rape victim gives the rapist a well-deserved beating. The court will give that father a longer jail term than it did the rapist, and the rapist will successfully sue in civil court. Why? Divested of legal jargon, the government is more concerned with acts against its authority than it is with rape. The term ‘taking the law into your own hands’ is supposed to reflect a citizen’s error. In truth, today it is the action of a wronged individual in the midst of a judicial vacuum.
At the rate at which laws are being enacted, it won’t be much longer before they will make every act or thought illegal and then merely enforce those laws that are convenient for the moment. Do you think I am being fatuous? How many bureaucrats continue to serve despite having demonstrably cheated on their taxes? You try it and see what happens.
You are citizens of a free country, right? Wrong. Let’s look: you can be observed visually with satellites, drones, and security cameras, followed by GPS on your phone; located and tracked on the cybergrid by your bank account and credit card. At any given time, 24 hours a day, you may be observed and called in for interrogation by local police, state police, IRS, Homeland Security, DEA, Child Protective services, US customs, FDA, FBI, EPA and Transportation Safety (TSA).
That is a short list. Still feeling free? Benjamin Franklin said ‘He who would surrender liberty for safety deserves neither.’ Congratulations fellow citizens, we have made the big time: Franklin, a giant amongst statesmen, looked into the future and saw our generation, our present reality. We began as a nation of citizens, morphed into a nation of law; and are now a nation of bureaucracy.
This is both good news and bad news: the good news is that you don’t need to do anything about it. The bad news is that nothing can be done.
– Dennis Garvin
