George Will Confirms That Rule Of Law Is Dead

In a column for the mainstream rag Newsweek, George Will belittles presidential contender (and last remaining man of principle on Capitol Hill) Ron Paul, congressman from Texas. Ron Paul's failing is that he actually believes the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and that the federal government must obey it. The poor rube, he doesn’t understand that the Constitution is just what they teach schoolchildren. Mature adults who aspire to greatness cannot allow their idealism to be thwarted by petty constraints such as law.

To “prove” this argument, Will trots out the tired example of the Louisiana Purchase, which President Jefferson himself conceded was of dubious constitutionality because it lacked congressional approval. But there’s the rub: it was admittedly an illegal act, and one that Jefferson even proposed to remedy with a constitutional amendment. The logical conclusion flowing from this is not George Will’s, but Ron Paul’s and my own, namely that we are now beset by legions of illegal acts on a daily basis. Rather than learn this lesson and risk undermining his status as the ruling class’s bootlicker, Will pontificates that a multiplicity of such infractions makes them, in effect, legal! And although Will ritualistically condemns the Constitution as outmoded, he doesn’t bother to address the fact that the amendment process – not unabashed lawlessness – is the proper method for updating it.

This latest missive from an imperial eunuch, though maddening, confirms again that that the federal government has thrown the script out the window and is making up the rules as it goes along. As I said in my book, the powers that be do not dispute that the Constitution is dead – they merely refuse to mourn its death. My own criticism of Ron Paul is that he should not waste his energy by sitting in Congress or by seeking to fill the equally degraded office of the modern Presidency. All the same, I hope he can continue to provoke mealy-mouthed apologetics for the intolerable status quo.

Weakening The Federal Government By Empowering The States

A recent New York Times op/ed makes a keen observation that echoes my book’s own diagnosis: given that the federal government is a bloated, Byzantine joke that will collapse under its own weight, the several States can and should take charge of their own destinies. The op/ed explores this theme by discussing the recent dynamism of California governor Schwarzenegger, who (out of possible resignation to the fact that he is ineligible to serve as President) has grabbed the bull by the horns and re-cast his State as a sovereign entity with its own unique interests. While this dynamism has manifested itself in crunchy claptrap such as a global-warming treaty with the UK, what matters is that Schwarzenegger has begun exercising powers jealously guarded by the imperium. We can only hope that more governors follow Schwarzenegger’s lead and respond directly to their constituents’ desires, whether those desires concern foreign affairs, immigration policy, the "drug war," or otherwise. This might be wishful thinking because the tendrils of federal money, influence, and corruption run wide and deep, but at least we can say that Schwarzenegger is setting an excellent example for others to follow.

It is paramount to remember that these efforts at decentralization do not necessarily fall into a particular ideological mold. Some efforts, such as California’s, will take on a leftist hue. Others, such as the Ten Commandments controversy in Alabama from 2003, will take on a rightist hue. These ideological details are incidental to the ultimate objective – abolishing unlawful, centralized control. Although people often tag me as a libertarian, I have no trouble saying that between a world of multiple dictatorial governments and a world of a single libertarian government, I would gladly choose the former every day of the week (and twice on Sunday). Nothing gold can stay, and when that unitary libertarian government inevitably yields to vulgar populism, we will find ourselves in a far worse condition than otherwise. This is why I don’t care a whit about who wins control of the Presidency or the Congress, since whoever it might be will wield far more power than any human should.