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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled, “A free negro of the African race,
whose ancestors were brought to this country
and sold as slaves, is not a
"citizen" within the meaning of the
Constitution of the United
States.” That was it for Dred Scott.
He stayed a slave. The legislatures made some states and
territories "free" of slavery. But, judges ruled that some persons,
based on race, are denied citizenship and
individual rights.
One
hundred and forty-eight years later, a Pinellas County Florida
judge “ordered and adjudged that the
Guardian, Michael Schiavo, shall cause the
removal of the nutrition and hydration tube
from the Ward, Theresa Marie Schiavo.” That was it for Terry
Schiavo. Terry starved to death.
The
Florida
and U.S. Constitutions enumerate the God-given
right to life for individual citizens. In both
cases judges ruled that some persons,
based on disability, are denied due process and, moreover, the
fundamental right of life.
Chief
Justice Taney was wrong. The judges were wrong again when they
made segregation the law of the land (Plessy
vs. Ferguson), authorized the president to
send Americans of Japanese ethnicity to
concentration camps (Korematsu), banned the
Bible from public schools (Murray), invented
the right of privacy for abortions (Roe v
Wade), and extended the right of privacy to
honor sodomy (Lawrence).
Now, Judge Greer is wrong.
There is no right of privacy for an
adulterous husband to have the court kill his
helpless wife on hearsay evidence.
Euthanasia
is for the state legislatures to decide. Likewise,
homosexual marriage is a
legislative issue. Or should be. But, as every circuit judge in
Florida,
and likely everywhere else, has the
uncontested power of Caesar, the judiciary
will jam the outcomes down the throats of The
People. Judges
aren’t demi-gods. They only have the power they seize.
Judges are lawyers in costumes, and they are
as political as the grubbiest alderman. Like every profession – medical
doctors and military officers – they’re
just men. All men blunder, sin and are corrupted
by power. Doctors and soldiers bury their
mistakes. Judges rule.
The
Roman
Republic
ended when Roman
law was contested by men who
said, “The law is what I say it is”. Civil wars begat dictators, more civil
wars and dictators until the civilization was
a shell to be broken by invading barbarians. American Civilization is at her
Rubicon.
Now,
the Republican Party can be either the party of
Lincolnian principle or the Whiggish beggars
of power. This election season, Republicans in
Virginia
make the same choices in contested primaries.
The
race between Kilgore and Kaine seems more
about political posturing for advantage than
principle. I know Kaine is a
liberal, so his
choices, more often than not, won’t be mine. I
support Jerry Kilgore.
Kilgore
wants to finish "no car tax." The car tax hit Virginians for owning
an expensive piece of personal property-- not in relation to any principle like road
use, cost of highway police--and gave the
money to localities to spend as they wish. Having the state take that money from
general revenue (mostly Virginians’ personal
income tax) and moving it to the localities
means three things.
The localities got every penny they
would have gotten before.
Virginians get a tax cut which is good
for the economy and more jobs and more tax
revenue. There
is less money for the state to spend. Good.
Neither
Kilgore nor Kaine want to roll back
the sales tax,
a regressive
tax that punishes the
poor. But
both candidates offer property tax relief,
which serves the more affluent.
If the localities are raising taxes
outrageously, who is more responsive to the
people than local officials, even in
million-person Fairfax?
Why can’t local citizens handle
property tax problems at the polls?
This
posturing makes Virginia’s
race seem smaller to me than stopping judicial
tyranny.
The
Constitutional issues--not the
heartbreaking personal pain--about Terry
Schiavo are like
Clinton’s
impeachment. The poll numbers are the same.
The nation is deeply divided because
the differences proceed from the same original
split over weltanschauung (world view),
first principles, understandings of basic
ideas in the Declaration of Independence, the
Constitution and of American history.
Judicial
tyranny, which now includes judicial murder,
can be stopped peacefully by courageous men
and women. The few Jacksonian Democrats remaining
will help. Only a third of the Americans wanted
independence in 1776. A third of
America
is ready to end judicial tyranny in 2005.
We, The People, will prevail.
--
April 11, 2005
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