Winners Make the Rules-Electoral Tyranny in Virginia
“Tyranny
naturally arises out of democracy” Plato
The conflict in Virginia is a clash of
these two views of government. On one side is the governor and
majority democrats who are passing restrictions on gun ownership.
They believe in the winner take all democratic view of government.
They won, and they will happily point to polls that show the majority
of Virginians support their efforts. On the other side are those who
believe they have a natural and constitutional right to own firearms
for their own defense. They will point out that the constitution is
the supreme law of the land and any law that contradicts it is
illegitimate. The constitution clearly says “the right of the
people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” The
Virginia constitution contains the same provision. The oath of
office taken by the the members of Virginia's government also
contains the phrase “I do solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution
of the United States and the constitution of the commonwealth of
Virginia.”
Why do our leaders pledge fidelity to
the constitution? The fundamental idea of a republic is that the law
determines the obligations and activities of government, not the whim
of man or majority consensus. In the United States the supreme law
of the land is the constitution which is supposed to place limits on
what other laws elected representatives can pass. The Bill of Rights
in the Constitution is so crucial because it enshrined natural rights
into the legal fabric of the nation. The ideals around which the
revolutionary generation rallied and expressed so eloquently in the
Declaration of Independence provided the ideological framework for
the constitution but the ideals of liberty alone cannot bind the
vices and ambitions of men, particularly in succeeding generations.
Therefore, in their wisdom, they preserved those ideals in a legal
document, elevated that document to the supreme law of the land and
required those who became part of the government to swear fidelity to
it.
“It is, indeed, of little
consequence who governs us, if they sincerely and zealously cherish
the principles of union and republicanism.” Thomas Jefferson
If the ambitions of men or women to
rule led them to violate the natural rights of the citizens, those
citizens had legal recourse to correct the error and would not have
to immediately resort to the exercise of their natural right of
revolution, to throw off an oppressive government. In fact, one of
the earliest decisions of the Supreme Court, Marbury v. Madison, the
court said that “All laws repugnant to the constitution are null
and void.” This ideal no longer exists and hasn't for a long time.
The government has given itself sovereign immunity so the citizens
can no longer hold it accountable through the legal process. There
is no meaningful avenue for redress of grievances. Without such
constraints, those in government feel free to ignore the law and
their oath and we come to where we are today, suffering under the
rule of men, subject to the tyranny of the majority or a politically
correct minority. The acquisition of power at the top and the
corresponding reduction of personal liberty is the result of our
leaders' willful betrayal of their oaths and our lack of courage to
hold them accountable.
“If ever a time should come, when
vain and aspiring men shall posses the highest seats in Government,
our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent
its ruin.” Samuel Adams
In Virginia, this is starting to
change. No one has the moral legitimacy to take away your natural
rights. The United States constitution declares that the government
does not have the legal ability to take away your natural rights.
Any law that does so is invalid and illegitimate, an abomination and
betrayal of the ideals of this nation. The citizens of Virginia
have announced their refusal to comply and to their credit, many
counties and cities are refusing to enforce such laws. I can only
hope that the courage of these Virginians, like those of the
revolutionary generation, will inspire many others to assert their
moral and legal rights against a tyrannical government.
Comments