Ratchet Effect
By Mary Theroux • Thursday March 18, 2010 9:41 PM PDT • 9 Comments
FIRST Truman went to war against Korea without Congress,
and I didn’t speak up because the communists had to be stopped.
THEN Clinton passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996,
and I didn’t speak up because innocent people don’t need habeas corpus.
THEN Bush passed the USA PATRIOT Act,
and I didn’t speak up because terrorists don’t deserve trials.
THEN Obama ridiculed the Supreme Court,
and I didn’t speak up because I don’t like corporations.
THEN Obama classified the Constitution as messy rules standing in the way of important ends,
and by that time no one could remember what a root principle is.
With apologies to Pastor Niemöller
Tags: American History, Civil Liberties, Constitution, Liberty, Morality, Natural Law, Presidential Power, Utilitarianism, War 
“THEN Obama ridiculed the Supreme Court,
and I didn’t speak up because I don’t like corporations.”
Really? The president is not allowed to criticize a court decision?
“THEN Obama classified the Constitution as messy rules standing in the way of important ends, and by that time no one could remember what a root principle is.”
No, he did not. Don’t make things up. It then makes it harder if you ever had an actual objection to make.
Matt S | Mar 19, 2010 | Reply
Very well done. And very depressing, unfortunately.
Art Carden | Mar 19, 2010 | Reply
I remember what a root principle is, Mary. It’s the moral belief or commitment you throw overboard when material opportunism or political expediency beckons. I am told that such a principle once went to Washington, D.C., to present a grievance to Congress, but unfortunately the poor thing was run over and killed while attempting to cross K Street.
Robert Higgs | Mar 19, 2010 | Reply
Perfect! We have a scanned image of a postcard from the Holocaust Museum with the Pastor Niemöller poem on it: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3620543&id=152239673940
We are standing up and speaking up. Join us.
Advocates for Liberty | Mar 19, 2010 | Reply
Animal Farm!
OC Floyd | Mar 20, 2010 | Reply
Matt,
If Obama does attempt to appoint Cass Sunstein to the Supreme Court—as has been discussed at the White House—I am certain you will understand the implication of the next-to-last stanza. If the decision referred to involves upholding economic freedom—which I cannot assert, since I am not certain to which decision the poem refers—perhaps we should already understand her meaning.
If Obama did not explicitly call the Constitution a set of “messy rules,” he certainly appears to view it in that manner, all things considered. He is continuing the practice of rendition, even threatening to halt intelligence collaboration with the the UK if they do not cease demanding that he discontinue it; he is continuing—even accelerating—an illegal war, i.e., a war never declared by Congress; he has supported—this time by means of the presidential signature—another extension of the Patriot Act; and he enforces without so much as a whimper a number of other unconstitutional laws (including at least two blatantly unconstitutional amendments).
In sum, a few years hence, your criticism may begin to sound like nit-picking, if it doesn’t already.
Carl Garrett
Carl Garrett | Mar 20, 2010 | Reply
Matt, while I am sure that for the want of space Mary did not intend to imply that previous presidents hadn’t implied or outright said that the Constitution is just a “G.. D..ned Piece of Paper” (http://www.comlinks.com/polintel/pi051214.htm)
One only needs to wake up every morning to find at least a dozen examples of Obama violating the Constitution, and thus his oath of office to defend it.
The health care bill alone violates the Constitution in many, many ways. In my copy of the Constitution, the President does not have the power to force unfunded mandates upon the states. In my copy he does not have the authority to aid business by forcing his countrymen to purchase products that they may not want or need. The list goes on MUCH longer than I have space here, but you get the point. BTW, “my copy” is the one that was signed by the founding fathers, not the copy that is being taught in government schools today.
joe4liberty | Mar 23, 2010 | Reply