Sounds Like A Tyrant To Me

Of course, I'm kidding. Well, more accurately, I was being sarcastic. You see, Lincoln remains one of my favorite Presidents. Here's a quote from him I had e-mailed to me by a contact with the Federalist Society.

"If the policy of the government upon vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, ... the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal."

-Abraham Lincoln (arguing for limiting the impact of the Dred Scott decision)

As we've discussed before, most recently here, it is the duty of all branches of government to uphold the Constitution. For that matter, it is the duty of each and every one of us citizens to do the same.

Book Review: The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution

I learned about this latest installment to the "PIG" series when I heard the author, Dr. Kevin Gutzman, on the Michael Medved show probably three months ago.

The book is very well done and quite accessible. I spent a lot more time with it than I might another book of similar length as I kept referencing the Constitution, the Federalist, and my Heritage Guide to the Constitution (not to mention a couple of biographies of You-Know-Who) whenever I'd read something that I wanted to confirm or verify.

There are more areas where I find agreement with Dr. Gutzman than disagreement; one inevitable and notable exception is the Lincoln legacy. It has been my understanding that while Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, it was in limited situations (namely to protect a supply line into D.C.) and was followed up shortly thereafter by Congressional endorsement. It was an appropriate time to do so (war and/or insurrection was present).

There's of course a larger question of legitimacy at stake here which might need some exploration. I acknowledge that the Union in the first place was a voluntary one and could be undone. The separation of political bonds such as this isn't an act to be taken lightly nor without a valid basis for making such a break; there wasn't a "long train of abuses and usurpations" compelling the insurrection.

Suppose the state of Illinois decided that given the budget crisis, citizens could buy a license for a cool $100,000 to enslave as many illegal aliens as one could. Or suppose that retirees in the state of Oregon have become too much of a drain on the rest of the state, such that the state decides that every person over the age of 60 is henceforth "D-N-R." In each case, the state is depriving a class of persons of one of their inalienable rights; and the deprivation of the right to life is an oppression no more serious than depriving someone of liberty or the fruits of their person. While the issue of jurisdiction appears clear (domestic matters not constitutionally appropriate at the federal level), the obligation of the general government is not.

Having addressed my one area of disagreement, I could spend days posting on the excellent points of this book. My hope is that Dr. Gutzman will instead humor me and the readers here with answers to some questions. I hope to be able to post more along these lines in the not-too-distant future.

In the meantime, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution remains an essential for everyone's library, so if you don't yet have it, run out and get it. Yes, I mean right now.

Timeless Quotation

I came across this, loved it, and decided to share:

"We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious Hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!

It behooves us then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins and pray for clemency and forgiveness."

This is a quote that I pulled from America's God and Country, by William J. Federer. I'm always surprised when I read a distant quote that echoes my feelings about the current state of things in this Republic. I'm also encouraged that while things may seem bleak at times, they have been worse, and we have always persevered. I'll continue it, rather than make you guess or leave you in suspense.

"Now, therefore, in compliance with the request and fully concurring in the view of the Senate, I do, by this my proclamation, designate and set apart Thursday, the 30th day of April, 1863, as a day of national humiliation, fasting and prayer."

Also under the category of the more things change, the more they stay the same: the Democrat Party is pulling for America's defeat, just like in Lincoln's day. What possesses a man to root against his own country?

A Moral Cause

I've been reading Richard Carwardine's Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power with great interest and enjoyment. First, the book is very readable and focuses on Lincoln's public life as an Illinois politician through his rise as a national figure and his ascension to the Presidency.

I would strongly recommend it for open-minded fans of American history (I say open minded for this reason: if you think Lincoln was a tyrant, or responsible for 600,000 deaths, or trampled on the Constitution, you're probably not in the right place to appreciate the work). It paints a very compelling portrait of a man who at once desires to avoid war and fighting, and yet takes the opportunity whenever he can to inspire people to recognize that "peculiar institution" as inconsistent with the intention of the founders (frequently quoting the Declaration) and also to recognize the decision before the citizenry: either a nation that progresses under the spirit of '76 or back-slides into tyranny.

The author provides an insight into the time, and the challenges facing the loose affiliation that would become the Republican party. It was a party that was created to accomplish minimally one end: arrest the spread of slavery into the Western territories. Most Republicans were content to let slavery run its course in slave-holding states (for they were convinced, as Lincoln himself said in his many speeches, that "right makes might," and that it was an institution that wasn't long for this world).

But here's the important point: this was a clearly defined moment in history, when a moral decision between Liberty and Tyranny had to be made, and the world is clearly better for our 16th President. There are moments like this throughout history, but they are only evident with the clarity of hindsight.

What will be our generation's defining moment of moral decision making? Will the threat of fascism once again awaken free people everywhere to stand united and fight against a back-sliding of civilization? More sinister an enemy is the atrophy of our collective morality and disregard for Christian virtue - manifested in a noticeably more dependent and less self-governing citizenry. These are the two enemies of Liberty as I see them in the summer of 2006, and although I fear that things will get worse before they get better, I pray I am wrong.

But if I am right, may the Author of Liberty help us and grant us the courage to dedicate ourselves to His work; bless us and protect us until we accomplish our purposes as He sees fit; and send us His Holy Spirit that we may communicate the danger and rally good people everywhere to the cause of righteousness and Freedom.