“Separation of powers” was important to our nation’s founders. By dividing power between three branches – Congress, the President, and the Courts – they hoped to prevent one branch, or one party, from ever dominating. Yet today, Democrats seem to ignore “separation of powers,” driving America toward tyranny.
Look closely, and you will see that the Founding Fathers were intensely concerned about concentrated power, in one branch or party. They feared it. They hated power concentration and factions, believing both enabled tyranny.
One route to tyranny, what modernists might call totalitarian rule, was letting one branch or party dominate. The Founders knew about tyranny, and capricious kings.
Looking ahead, they strived to limit and balance federal and state powers. They divided power between states and the federal government with the 10th Amendment, which respected states’ and individual rights.
They then divided, limited, and balanced federal powers, so no one branch could overtake, dictate, or emasculate the powers of another. That was the aim.
Wrote James Madison, in the Federalist Papers: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands…may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” They sought to avoid that, at all costs.
Yet here we are. We have a Democrat-controlled US Senate, dozens of members freely trading stocks on insider information, excusing themselves from liability, and now trying to dictate “ethics” to the US Supreme Court.
Contrary to the Constitution and Marbury v. Madison in 1803, allowing the Supreme Court to “say what the law is,” Senate Democrats want control.
Specifically, Senate Democrats angle to take away the Supreme Court’s power of self-rule, governance over internal matters by a co-equal branch, just as the Senate sets its own rules.
Why? They have a political agenda. Bluntly, it trashes the Constitution, disrespects history, and separation of powers to gain the upper hand, and dominate the High Court.
They want to attack conservative justices, put them in a legal straitjacket, and then – as Biden’s Justice Department has done to opponents – prosecute and replace them.
The agenda is so transparent and unconstitutional that it boggles the mind, an audacious way to ditch limits, and gain control. If law and history are not to their liking, they just ignore them.
In other ways, modern Democrat leaders, including the President and Attorney General, knowingly demean separation of powers, undermining principles.
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with Dobbs, returning abortion to states, finding no right written in the Constitution, Democrats pushed violence.
Then-Speaker Pelosi told pro-abortion groups to “vent their anger,” Democrat Majority Leader Schumer threatened conservative justices, told them they “will pay,” and the Attorney General did not enforce laws protecting justices at their homes, one justice nearly assassinated. They all were, we know now, in fear.
This is not respect for the rule of law, separation of powers, text, or intent of the Constitution. It is an invitation to lawlessness, the opposite of respect.
When the Supreme Court said the president cannot dismiss half a trillion dollars in student loan debt without Congress, he ignored them and signed an order anyway.
This kind of thing gets catchy. When the Supreme Court ruled that the 2nd Amendment matters, citizens have a “right to keep and bear arms,” state-level Democrats, for example in New Mexico and Maryland, decided to ignore the law.
While the New Mexico Governor tried to block the right, Maryland limited it into non-existence, conditioning it on Democrat approvals, training, and licenses.
When the 5th Circuit US Court of Appeals last month declared the Maryland law unconstitutional by Supreme Court precedent, Maryland Democrats with White House approval ignored their decision, and kept unlawful limits on gun ownership.
Where does this stop? How can a Democrat-controlled Senate and White House just ignore laws of the land, not enforce many that require enforcing – like protecting Supreme Court justices and gun ownership – while capriciously misusing others to prosecute political opponents?
How can they pretend laws tied to classified information, First and Fourth Amendment rights in speech, home and papers, apply one way not the other?
Acts tolerated for Democrats are criminalized for Republicans. How can that be right? How can it be right to twist public testimony, falsely describe it to punish an opponent’s supporters, omitting what exculpates them, and hiding it? Right?
Examples keep coming. False statements are tolerated, laws twisted to criminalize parents for protecting children against Marxism, cultural perversion, endangerment of girls in bathrooms, loss of their privacy, and end of Title 9. These parents are called terrorists, investigated, and harassed. That task force, by the way, still exists!
Our Constitution is about limits – on government. It aims to stop the government from oppressing people, taking individual rights, or one branch or party dominating.
Bottom line: There is a terrible rumble in the rails. Can you hear it? It is growing. That rumble is the sound of power being concentrated by one party, disrespect for founding principles, throwing away limits, the Constitution, and the “separation of powers.”
If this sounds like lofty legal stuff, pie in the sky, too much to worry about, watch out. Madison wrote: “Philosophy is just common sense in big words,’ and “There are more instances of abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.”
Sometimes, you have to see what is happening, understand it, and then stand up for fair, impartial, and constitutional application of law. This is one of those times.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC.
While we continue to do the right things any patriotic citizen should do, and have small victories along the way, we are fighting a spiritual battle that can only be won by God. This spiritual war began in the garden of Eden and satan continues his war on God’s creation. The good news is that Jesus Christ has already won the victory for us, by His death on the cross and His resurrection 3 days later. Those who choose to follow Satan will perish, while those who love Christ and have Him as their savior will be saved and spend eternity with God.
If any of this is a bit obscure, I’d suggest taking the free courses from Hillsdale College on the Constitution and the founding Fathers of the US. They understood the compromised status of human minds and wills and introduced separation of powers as a check against the worst excesses. However, the Republic is threatened more today than previously by those who want a “democracy” (mob rule) which Plato correctly saw as the way to tyranny. The delegation of congressional authority to gov’t agencies is just one way in which this is happening.
This article clearly depicts what we are actually living today. Thank you, Mr. Charles, for not only the clarity of your thought, but also for putting these thought in clear speech for all to read and respond to.
This article is of great importance – for all right thinking people who value and respect truth. Very good that you gave examples of what the Founders thought about this issue Robert, – the separation of powers needs to be respected. It should always be kept in mind that respect is reciprocal – as much is shown by one individual ,or group , as was shown to them by another individual or group. When it involves government being disrespectful that tends to make for a much thicker soup for sure. To intentionally be disrespectful as part of policy – that is not something to be tolerated by people who take Liberty seriously. So, this writing provides the spirit for getting things right . The history involved in connection with the separation of powers indicates the importance of this issue. The commandment ” Thou shall not bear false witness ” is something that needs to be respected by government – as you stated in the paragraph that starts with the sentence “Acts tolerated for Democrats are criminalized for Republicans .” There is something that needs to be fixed. The matter of being able to exculpate ,to remove the blame from a false accusation – that is vital to civilized society. There is absolutely no justification for the matter of using false accusations in the political realm. Civilization is based on intelligent and respectful discussion of differences. Truth is the foundation to be respected ,to be defended for a society that values all of the other qualities of good character. With respect. Courage , Hope Reverence . Honor. Standards for the United States of America .In the spirit of God bless America, land of the free and home of the brave.
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Everything Democrats cry about “what Trump will do” they have and are doing right now.
As a LEGAL migrant to the United States I have observed that many native borne Americans take far too much for granted and are abysmally ignorant regarding politics and the Contitution.I would remind them that Thomas Jefforson said “The tree of liberty needs refreshing from time to time with the blood of patriots and tytants.” If they don’t pull their heads out of their rear ends that may come to pass.
Excellent article telling the TRUTH.
If ever there was a time for a wholesale change in government, it is now. I believe (and fervently hope) the 2024 election will be a turning point. The government has been limiting our powers instead of the opposite.
ft wurthabout, everthing in the article is right. You need to start listening to the truth. Also, if you don’t like this country, tell me; what country would you rather be in?
On target with the points made on checks & balances. I would even take it a step further. Today, not only do we have 3 branches of government, but really 4. Call it the deep state, 4th branch or the swamp… but there is a huge Federal bureaucracy composed of 100s of agencies, millions of federal employees, controlling trillions of dollars and headed up by unelected career officials. It exists because Congress ahs created it and in-turn delegate many of their duties to these agencies by proxy. Much of this extends far beyond what has been defined within the Constitution, but create many of the laws and regulations that control our lives. Nobody has control over this anymore.
This 4th branch and power grabs by the other 3 branches have subsequently taken away much of the authorities, monies and powers from the states where they were intended to reside.
Washington DC is broke.
Options are running out… take time to look at Convention of States Action that is a grassroots movement working hard to return control back to the states and the people.
– Impose fiscal restraints on the federal government
– Limit the terms of office for its officials and for members of Congress
– Limit the power and jurisdiction of the federal government
Congress will never fix these issues. Sign the petition and volunteer.
conventionofstates.com/?ref=53458
US citizens ought to have learned about the separation of powers in grade school. They did back in the day, my day. Now we have college professors who “don’t get it!”
Tread lightly while disparaging the enemy. 18USC 2383-2386 makes most everyone “here” criminals… Just wondering how this isn’t repugnant to the Constitution…
Meanwhile, Democrat Senator Cardin and his aide film having annal sex in the Hart Senate Building in the Conference Room.
Where’s the outrage and why isn’t FAKE news (cnn) covering it? They can’t claim they are victims while filming a disgusting and indecent act and posting their porn.
Just shows that democrats are disgusting and have no respect for the United States of America.
Is any of this a new surprise? On “Day One” of the disaster that has become the Biden administration, Congress – led by fowl feces Dimocrats who cheered it – let that tired old man who thinks that he’s king, sign “Executive Order” after “Executive Order” – in effect making laws that, if they were important, should have been made in Congress. Instead they watched with approbation as Bribem did their job for them, allowing them to vacillate between doing nothing and insider trading. Now even with a Republican majority in the House, the Dims have managed to keep the Repubs fighting among themselves so that nothing is getting done except the Dims are being amused.