The “Ship Of State” Is Off-Course
By William Bailey (07/08/03)
Ask any mariner or aviator what happens when their compass or other navigational aids go out . . . ask any traveler what happens when they are in unfamiliar territory and they fail to pay attention to the roadmaps. In any of these cases, the result is the same . . . you’re in big trouble !
It seems that our “Ship of State” has lost its compass . . . or perhaps the compass is still there and available, but those in charge of the vessel prefer to ignore it.
The “Ship of State” to which I refer is the Federal government . . . and the compass is the Constitution of the United States.
The Founders of this nation gave us compass, navigational aids, roadmaps and all else we need to have, enjoy, preserve and protect the liberties of a free people. It started with the Declaration of Independence and was reinforced by the Constitution.
This particular approach to this experiment in freedom had never been attempted in the history of mankind. It was to be the shining example to all who sought freedom and liberty. The Constitution, very carefully, defined the way the Founders envisioned what had to happen in order to establish and maintain the republic they sought to create. The destination was clear . . . the course well marked.
In creating the Republic, the Constitution established three branches of government . . . Executive, Legislative and Judicial. It, clearly, delineated the powers of each branch. It put in place a system of “checks and balances” so that none of the three could or would usurp the power(s) of any of the other branches.
And, those who serve in each of the three branches forswear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution . . . “ thereby indicating their acknowledgement and acceptance of this principle.
Over time, sometimes quietly . . . sometimes blatantly, but as surely as “day follows night”, one branch has ventured into the defined and assigned powers of one (or both) of the other two.
The role, power(s) and authority of the Legislative branch are clearly defined in Article I, Section 8, Clauses 1-18. Likewise, the role, power(s) and authority of the President (the Executive branch) are enumerated in Article II. Article III sets up the authorities and responsibilities of the Judicial branch.
In their efforts to further define the role and function of the Federal government, the Founders submitted (and the states ratified) the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution. The language is short and succinct . . . “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people”.
In his “Farewell Address” (1796), the “Father of our Country” and the first President George Washington spoke of his concerns on this subject when he said, “It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.”
It matters not whether liberal or conservative . . . Republican, Democrat or third party . . . we should be of one accord in putting the “Ship of State” back on course . . . in returning to both our mission and our destiny. To do that, we must return to those principles so clearly “spelled out” in the Constitution of the United States of America.
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