Judge Greer: Harbinger of America's Future
By Christopher Adamo (03/31/05)
When Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore refused a federal court order to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments from that state’s Supreme Court building, he became the central figure in a firestorm of criticism from the left. But his liberal critics weren’t alone. Conservatives also chided Moore, contending that his defiance of the order undermined the “rule of law” in America.
Throughout history, the law has served several functions. In a free and morally upright society, it provides a framework within which the people can safely live their lives and pursue their dreams. In a dictatorship however, it devolves into a weapon by which the strong control the weak.
The incredible events in Florida during this past week prove that the law has ceased to serve its original purpose. As it mutates into a tool of those in authority, concepts such as “corruption” and “abuse of power” lose their meaning and fade into irrelevancy. Eventually, the only purpose served by such terms is, like the rest of the law, to be selectively invoked as a means of bludgeoning those who refuse to comply with the new order.
Unfortunately, while warning of dire impending consequences if individuals like Moore aren’t made to immediately comply, conservatives are reluctant to recognize or admit that lawlessness is indeed already rampant in government. The actions of George Greer, a mere Florida State Circuit Court Judge who openly defied the United States Congress and threatened the use of force against the Governor of that state, cannot honestly be construed in any other way.
No good thing can come from the standard conservative reaction to this eroding concept of “justice” in the United States, whereby those on the left do as they please, regularly flouting any edict that runs contrary to the pursuit of their agenda. Yet they immediately cite “the rule of law,” in order to restrain those on the right from taking appropriate responsive action.
In the face of outlandish actions, conservatives are time and again stunned into stupefied acquiescence, attempting to lawfully deal with each ensuing situation. But if liberals are allowed to make up rules as they go, and regularly alter them to fit their agenda, and if the only reaction from conservatives is to continually try to play by those ever-changing rules, the left will ultimately prevail.
Judge Greer embodies this lawless condition into which American “justice” has degenerated in recent years. The specifics of the Terri Schiavo case notwithstanding, consider how Greer’s actions indicate an out-of-control and unaccountable wielding of power.
Immediately prior to the removal of Terri’s feeding tube, Senator Mike Enzi (R.-WY) subpoenaed her to appear before Congress, thus triggering a federal statute protecting her as a congressional witness. Greer simply chose to defy the law and proceed with Schiavo’s starvation. To date, no action is even being contemplated in retribution for his blatant contempt of Congress.
It has since been learned that, during the week after her food and water were withheld, Governor Bush had intended to send state authorities to remove her from the hospice where she was being held, in order to see that she received proper care and nourishment. In response, Greer issued an order mobilizing “each and every singular sheriff of the state of Florida” to prevent her removal.
Reasonable citizens may wonder just where a state circuit court judge ever acquired the power to conscript a standing army of this alarming nature. Such actions are more in keeping with the behavior of Somali warlords.
Yet Greer not only made such an assertion, he caused the governor of Florida to back down in the face of it. What eventual anarchy could arise from other circuit judges who are apparently likewise able to assemble their own armies to impose their wishes?
Sadly, the “tiptoeing” responses of conservatives in Florida highlight another purpose for “the law.” Perverse as it may be, it nonetheless provides a “skirt” behind which the faint-hearted can hide, in order to validate their presumed helplessness.
It would be a stretch, even for the ACLU, to claim that Moore’s act of defiance physically harmed anyone. In horrific contrast, an innocent life is presently being brutally and arbitrarily snuffed out as a result of Judge Greer’s contemptible actions.
This country’s judiciary is out of control. Thus, America’s future holds only two possibilities. It will either determine to resolutely confront and control the courts, or it will be ever more subjugated by them.
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