The American Republic has arisen to become possibly the greatest nation in history in many basic ways. This has not happened without mistakes and tragedies that we must also acknowledge. We still have many flaws. Even so, we have been the dominant economic and military force in the world for over half a century and have rarely used it to dominate others. I say “rarely” because there have been times and places when we have used it to force our will on others. However, there has never been a nation that rebuilds its enemies after defeating them in war as has the U.S. As one leader of a developing nation said, “The quickest way for a nation to prosper is to go to war with the United States, surrender quickly, and then watch the aid pour in.”
The American Republic may have been the most generous nation in history. We are known for being the quickest and most generous to respond to a natural disaster anywhere in the world. Though we have had many inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the way we allowed slavery, treated the American Indians, and then continued to oppress minorities, we have confronted much of this evil and continue to make progress. There is much in our history that is honorable, and we would be unjust not to “give honor to whom honor is due.”
With all of the good that has been done, and the mistakes we have started to learn from, there are now two crises in America that will destroy our Republic if not addressed quickly. The Founders warned about both of these threats, saying that if either got a grip on the country then the Republic would be doomed. They now have more than a grip—they have a stranglehold on us.
The first and most serious of these threats was what Thomas Jefferson called “judicial tyranny.” Even in the first years of the new nation, he saw a creeping tendency for the judicial branch to usurp the authority of the other two branches, as well as that of the states and the people. The judicial did this in clear violation of the Constitution. In regard to this judicial tyranny, we have now surpassed what the Founders feared could happen—in some ways it has surpassed judicial tyranny to become judicial anarchy. The Constitution is now hanging by a thread.
A shocking example of this judicial tyranny was the way federal judges recently blocked Executive Orders by the President. This is about as clear a violation of the “separation of powers” in the Constitution as we could have. The Executive Orders nullified by these judges were within the authority given to the President by both the Constitution and the Congress through legislation. These judges made a direct assault on the authority of both the President and the Congress. The judges blocking these Executive Orders did not cite any violation of the Constitution or any laws for their actions—they just disagreed with the President’s policy.
There are hundreds of federal judges. What if they all started blocking any law or policy they disagreed with? Because the Judicial branch has become so politicized, if conservative judges began to block any law or Executive Order they did not agree with, and every liberal judge started doing the same, no law could be passed or enforced, and no executive actions could be taken. If they have the power to block any law of Congress or Executive Order by the President, they have basically nullified the authority of both the other branches of government and made themselves the supreme law of the land in place of the Constitution.
It is a fallacy that the Constitution established three co-equal branches of government. The Constitution mandates three branches that were intended to have checks and balances on each other, but they were never intended to be co-equal. The Constitution gave the Legislative branch the most authority because it was expected to be the most responsive to the states and the people. This is why it is the only branch given the authority to impeach and to control government spending.
The second most powerful branch of government was the Executive branch, which was given the authority over national defense and foreign policy. Obviously, not all three branches of government could have their own foreign policy, but this is what the judicial sought to assume by attacking President Trump’s immigration orders as immigration was placed under foreign policy. Single federal judges, who were not elected but rather appointed, assumed authority over the President and the Congress with their actions.
Whether we agree with President Trump’s policies or not, the federal judges that put stays on his Executive Orders should have been immediately impeached for such a blatant violation of the Constitution and separation of powers. This did not happen because of inept leadership in Congress, which alone has the power to impeach.
Without question there must be a strong and independent judiciary for there to be justice in the land, but the judicial has now gotten so far out of its lane—usurping the authority of the other two branches of the federal government as well as the authority that was to remain with the states and the people—that it is now the biggest threat to the Republic, just as the Founders predicted.
So what can we do? We will take this up next week.
