Did you know? The Patriot Post is funded 100% by its readers. Help us stay front and center in the fight for Liberty and support the 2024 Year-End Campaign.

August 1, 2014

Democrats, the Constitution and the Rule of Law

Have we arrived at the point in our nation that a Democratic president and powerful members of his administration can act as lawlessly as they choose without any significant objection or protest from the Democratic Party, the liberal media and Democratic voters? Deny it as they might, liberals seem to have less fealty than conservatives to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law. Stop right there, you say. Democrats are no different from Republicans. Both parties are equally guilty.

Have we arrived at the point in our nation that a Democratic president and powerful members of his administration can act as lawlessly as they choose without any significant objection or protest from the Democratic Party, the liberal media and Democratic voters?

Deny it as they might, liberals seem to have less fealty than conservatives to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law.

Stop right there, you say. Democrats are no different from Republicans. Both parties are equally guilty.

Well, as much as it pleases some to invoke moral equivalency excuses when caught in wrongdoing, it simply isn’t true that Republicans and conservatives are anywhere close to being as culpable as Democrats and liberals in thwarting the Constitution and the rule of law to achieve their ends.

There is a simple reason for that: Liberals believe, as a matter of their ideology, that the ends justify the means. We see it in practice every day. Liberals routinely distort facts and manipulate language to achieve their ends. As part of that, they will say that Republicans are guilty of precisely what they are doing. Manufactured projection is one of their most effective tools.

I know, I know, many will say that as an ardent conservative, I have little credibility in making such charges. I am blinded by my partisanship.

I don’t deny my bias or my strong, mostly unwavering conservative ideology. Nor do I apologize for them. If I thought I were doing something wrong in being conservative, I would consider apologizing for it, but I don’t.

But let me ask you to consider this: As a conservative, I would oppose judicial activism (roughly defined as the courts rewriting or making laws rather than interpreting them) to achieve conservative political ends. I don’t know many liberals – other than perhaps law professor Jonathan Turley – who can make a similar statement.

It’s not a matter of my (and conservatives generally) being more moral than liberals. That’s not the point at all. The point is that we believe that preserving the integrity of the Constitution, as written and originally intended, is itself an essential end.

We cherish liberty, and we understand the inextricable relationship between preserving the integrity of the Constitution and preserving our liberties. Anytime our constitutional system is undermined through egregious executive, legislative or judicial overreaches, our liberty is diminished.

When President Obama continues to act outside the scope of his executive authority and against the express will of Congress, he is, in effect, disenfranchising the people and thereby diminishing our liberties. When the courts rewrite laws to achieve their ideological or political ends, they assault the prerogative of the legislative branch and thereby further disenfranchise the people and popular sovereignty.

As a strong believer in the Constitution, the rule of law, the separation of powers, the doctrine of federalism and other essential limitations on government, I abhor judicial activism, executive overreaches and congressional usurpations, even if these abuses might be in furtherance of my political or ideological preferences. For to me, there are few more important principles than preserving the Constitution and the rule of law.

So I can honestly say – and pass a polygraph saying it – that in addition to opposing conservative judicial activism, I would oppose a Republican president’s issuing executive orders to unilaterally change immigration laws that were duly passed by Congress, even in a way that would serve my policy preferences. I would vehemently oppose the Internal Revenue Service if, under a Republican administration, it targeted Democratic and liberal groups. I would be fit to be tied if the hard drives of a Republican-appointed IRS commissioner mysteriously disappeared, if she made outrageous statements against liberals in her emails or if she took the Fifth Amendment instead of answering simple questions about these scandals. I would be outraged if a Republican president granted arbitrary exemptions from a major law a Republican president and Congress had passed, as President Obama has done with Obamacare, if he did not have the authority under the law to grant those exemptions. I would not support a Republican president’s initiating a major military intervention in a foreign conflict without consulting, much less obtaining the approval of, Congress. I would never support a congressional law or administrative regulation violating freedom of expression for my political opponents. Or the right to bear arms. There are endless examples.

But can you liberals and Democrats make the same statements with respect to Democratic overreaches? Could the liberal media?

On a podcast on Ricochet, I was asked why I thought the liberal media never lift a finger of protest when Obama repeatedly engages in lawless behavior. My answer was that it’s not just that they agree with his substantive policy ends, which they do. It’s because, like most liberals, they don’t believe so strongly in our Constitution, as founded, or in preserving the liberty it guarantees – or they’re oblivious to the interdependence between the Constitution and rule of law on the one hand and our liberties on the other.

As a result of this pitiable situation, we have an entire political party and liberal media that grossly underappreciate our unique constitutional system of government and are so blinded by their ideological goals that they have no problem virtually conspiring with this lawless president in trampling our Constitution and the rule of law to serve his and their ends.

Think about it, my Democratic and liberal friends. Far more is at stake than some of you – especially those of you not in the political or major-media class – may realize.

COPYRIGHT 2014 CREATORS.COM

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.