Gary Stein The Sun-Sentinel

March 2, 2011

Gary Stein
The Sun-Sentinel
200 E. Las Olas Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

RE: “Fairness, equality” – The never ending mantra of modern American Liberalism as proclaimed by you in today’s Sun-Sentinel.

Mr. Stein,

A case could be made that “fairness” and its constant companion “equality” are like the horizon. The horizon is out there but, try as you will, it will never quite be reached. But that’s a different discussion.

Your celebration of President Obama’s decision to ignore the oath of office that he took when he was inaugurated forces me to go back to Ulysses S. Grant. From there it is a short hop to Saint Thomas More.

The oath that he took is short and straight forward.

“I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute
the office of President of the United States, and will
to the best of my ability preserve, protect and defend the
Constitution of the United States.”

Shall we stipulate to the following?

#1 – The Defense of Marriage Act [DOMA] was passed by Congress.
#2 – It was signed into law by President Clinton.
#3 – That makes it the law of the land.

We can? Good.

“I am unable to lay my finger upon the part of Constitution” that gives the President of the United States the power to pick and choose which laws he will uphold or, worse, which laws he will not uphold.

I am glad that you are encouraged by “a sign that even the more extreme elements in our society are finally starting to accept what many of us have accepted”. That the great unwashed among us, those Apeneck Sweeney-like zombies, those “bitter clingers”, are coming around to the Stein view of the inevitable political perfectibility of man may not be a reason for even a minor Te Deum.

The President of the United States will not enforce a valid law of the United States.

The Attorney General of the United States will not uphold a valid law of the United States because he says, “It demeans my people”.

Justice may be blind but that has not affected her sense of smell.

The power to pick and choose which law to obey and which law not to obey raises a stench in the nostrils of honest men. That leads us to Ulysses S. Grant.

We should be grateful for him giving his friend Sherman carte blanche in December, 1864 to march east from Atlanta and “make’em howls”. By so doing he shortened the war by 18 months, freed the slaves that much quicker, and saved thousands of lives. One of the inconvenient facts of History is that scarcely 2 months before he started out the New York Times and the Democratic Party wanted to “settle” with the South. Such a settlement would have allowed slavery to continue. And, in a bow to civility, they referred to Lincoln as a “baboon”. It is always good to point that out.

As a bonus, Sherman’s “surge” served as a precedent for future American military leaders. Pershing did it in 1918. Patton did it in 1944. Petraeus did it 2007.

The other thing Grant did was to establish the best way to treat an unpopular or unfair law. He said the quickest way to repeal it was to enforce it.

It might be mixing the sacred and the profane but it’s a short jump from Grant to Saint Thomas More.

“And when you cut down every law in England to get at
the Devil and he turned on you where would you hide,
the laws all being flat?”

What happens if a real honest to goodness, fire breathing, gun toting, snake handling Tea Party lad or lass becomes President? We know that all things are possible in American politics.

Who could have imagined on March 2, 2007 that Senator Barack Obama would become President? It is a bit late to point out but he never did anything, ever. He never had what could be called a real job. He never tried any cases that didn’t involve a landlord/tenant dispute. He never negotiated a settlement between 2 or 3 adversarial parties. If his choice to eclectically enforce what used to be known as the Law of the Land makes him a constitutional scholar then I am the designated base stealer for the Marlins. Between innings I will serenade the 17 people in attendance by playing Bach on my cello cum boombass. When the season is over I will return to my life’s love, the thing I am really good at: Community Organizer.

What happens if the Peoples’ Choice in 2013 decides that the polar bears are on their own because he thinks the Clean Air law is not worth enforcing?

What happens if he thinks certain parts of the Constitution are too restrictive or not restrictive enough?

What happens if thinks the Courts or Congress are impediments to what he thinks are “fairness and equality”?

Thomas More said “this country is planted thick with laws from coast to coast”.

How many issues are more critical than the Rule of Law?

Absent it and we may as well be in Libya.







Kevin Smith