Today, May 1st, is observed around the world in a number of ways. It is observed as Labor Day or International Workers Day in much of the world, National Chocolate Parfait Day by those who love chocolate, and School Principals' Day by educators. But more important at the moment is that today is observed in the United States as Law Day.
The idea for Law Day was introduced by The American Bar Association in 1957, and in 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaimed Law Day to be observed each year on May 1. Congress made Law Day official when it passed Joint Resolution 87-20 on April 7, 1961. Law Day encourages all Americans to reflect the role of law in the foundation of the country and the importance it has on our society, and to reflect on the personal rights and liberties we enjoy and exercise every day.
One of the major reasons for the success of the United States as a nation in its first 249 years has been its reliance on the Rule of Law - a set of enforceable, reliable rules of government and civic behavior that gave certainty to national civic life. Those rules allowed businesses to plan for the long term and citizens to know that they were free to live their lives without arbitrary and capricious interference from a king who could decide on the fly what the law said and how it was enforced.
That was then. This is now.
Today, the Rule of Law is endangered as an autocratic president employs an expansive view of his power to define and wield (or to ignore) the law in his quest to reshape the government and the economy as he wishes. Individuals (including American citizens) are rounded up and summarily deported, often to prisons in foreign countries, without the due process the law requires. A well-functioning, if not perfect, economy has been wrecked by the wholesale implementation of the same economic policies that had already wrecked it once before. The Department of Justice has been turned into the weapon that conservatives always whined about, now targeted at those who oppose the administration's policies. Congress has abdicated its Constitutional responsibility to make the laws, allowing a wannabe tyrant to rule by royal decree executive order. Laws intended to protect minorities and right historical wrongs are nullified as "woke" or "DEI" (meaning, unfavorable to white men).
If you haven't read Der Furor's royal decree executive order of April 28, 2025, titled "Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens," take a moment now to do it. Read it a second time if you're not terrified of its implications.
On this Law Day, it's worthwhile to reflect on the American promise of "equal justice under law," and whether those noble words engraved on the Supreme Court building have any meaning when a president not only refuses to acknowledge them, but actually ignores them.
On this Law Day, we must acknowledge the staggering level of corruption in Der Furor's administration, and ask ourselves why we - through our elected representatives - let it happen.
On this Law Day, we must ask ourselves why Congress is missing in action in the face of incipient tyranny.
On this Law Day, we must ask ourselves why we have ignored the same abuses of power that we once staged a revolution over.
On this Law Day, we must stop asking whether or not we're in a constitutional crisis and admit that we're smack dab in the middle of one, and ask whether or not we're willing to face it.
Legal commentator Joyce Vance has noted that each president issues an official proclamation on Law Day, and that Der Furor's proclamation last year began with these words: “On Law Day, we renew our commitment to the rule of law and our Constitution. The rule of law requires that no one be above the obligations of the law or beneath its protections, and it stands as a bulwark against the arbitrary use of government power.”
The level of hypocrisy of this administration is unbelievable, and on Law Day, we must not let it go unremarked. We must stand up to our national ideals, defend the Rule of Law, and insist that Congress and the Courts do their job to protect the rights that set us apart from many other countries.
As Joyce Vance reminds us, "Until [Der Furor's] administration is over, it has to be Law Day every day.
Have a good day. Defend the Rule of Law that defends you against tyranny.
More thoughts coming.
Bilbo
1 comment:
I still have a hard time absorbing just how bad things have gotten, and how fast it's happening. It's shocking and sad and frightening. I live on the other side of the border, but have no illusions about how bad this could get for Canada as well - if not from Trump, then from the Conservative party that wants to do something similar here. I get angry at people here who say "it's just Trump" or "it's not that bad". If you're not worried, you're not really understanding.
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