Even Andrew Jackson who, when given a Supreme Court decision he did not like, must be turning over in his grave. .Now told that the Federal Courts have no power to impede a president from doing what he wants, that the checks and balances built into the Constitution do not matter. we are not sleepwalking into autocracy. It is already here.
And members of Congress, while admitting that much of what is happening is not “strictly constitutional, no one should bellyache about that.” So what should we bellyache about? Courts, throughout our history, have been the last resort of justice, and now we are told they don’t matter? Congress and we should all know better.
Our Constitution has three branches of government, and set the courts up as a check against the abuse of power. With Congress capitulating to every outrage, from the attempted dismantling of science to the elimination of anything that is not on the radical right’s agenda, the courts are the last bulwark against autocracy.
Prayer for the Day
God of Justice, we are troubled by what we see around us,
And we sometimes wonder if you hear our prayers.
We are anxious and at times fearful of the world around us
For events impinge on our hearts and minds.
Help us to understand that in spite of all, you are here
To give us hope and strength in a time of despair.
In the name of the One who embodies hope,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
If a judge tried to tell a general how to conduct a military operation, that would be illegal. If a judge tried to command the attorney general in how to use her discretion as a prosecutor, that’s also illegal. Judges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power.
J.D. Vance, in an interview
So the concern I’m raising today isn’t some academic exercise or manifestation of political jealousy or abstract institutional loyalty. It is the guts of the system designed to protect us from the inevitable — and I mean inevitable — abuse of an authoritarian state.
Angus King, U.S. Senator (I-Me)
See how they say to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come!”
But I have run away from being a shepherd in your service,
Nor have I desired the fatal day.
Jeremiah 17: 15-16