Posted on 08/20/2024 7:09:33 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
The "rule of law" sits high on the altar of American culture as a core national value. Law in America is as pure as law can be—impartial, precise, and therefore unquestioned, like the 10 Commandments. The mandarins of law debate fine points such as judicial deference but almost never ask doctors, teachers, employers, or civic leaders whether law supports or hinders them.
But Americans in their everyday activities see a different reality. Law is so dense that it is unknowable, and so complex that even large companies with huge legal staffs can't comply—more like the 10 Million Commandments. Instead of protecting against abuse, law has become tangles of tripwires that are gamed for selfish purposes. Instead of enhancing freedom, law causes Americans to be fearful and defensive.
The stark discrepancy between legal orthodoxy and legal dysfunction is why the new book by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze is so important. In Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law, Gorsuch and Nitze make a long-overdue announcement—The legal emperor has no clothes.
Starting in the 1960s, the rule of law was transformed into an instruction manual. Instead of defining an open field of freedom, law replaced freedom. A small-town magician giving magic shows for children in local libraries with a pet bunny must now comply with the same rules as a circus, including getting a federal license, informing the agency in advance if the bunny travels, and developing a 28-page "disaster relief plan." The magician got off easy compared to the family orchard in upstate New York, which keeps 13 clipboards to keep track of some 5,000 regulations. Too much law, as Gorsuch and Nitze described, has a similar effect as...
(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...
Perhaps they should impose a 2-year lifetime on every existing and future law on the books. Congress could occupy its time deciding which laws to renew, which to simplify, and which to abandon. That should keep them busy.
It’s like communism in that you can’t vote your way out of it.
The law making body of the US Congress is composed of lawyers at a very high percentage rate. Why Americans elect lawyers to represent them is beyond me. After all, the only thing they do is create job security (more laws) for lawyers.
Stay locked and loaded my friend.
Fer instance.
Here I sit at my office. Across the street from a High School. I have my pistol on my hip. I’m a felon just sitting here. The 2nd amendment has no teeth. AFAIK, just driving down the road in front, or behind, or beside, within 1,000 feet of a school is a felony.
Oh, BTW.
I carry a “truck gun” at all times. At this time an AR-15 behind the seat, in a soft case. 20 round mag, chamber unloaded. Sometimes a bolt gun, sometimes a .22 semiauto. Always....
Felon...
Or a post office.
Spot on analysis, and succinct.
Spot on analysis, and succinct.
A part time Congress is all we need. They get paid the big bucks as Representatives, so they have to justify it all. Cut the laws, cut their benefits, cut their ability to raise money. ONLY money from their district is allowed. Only money from registered voters in those districts. Senators, only from the State and again Registered voters. President? Only American citizens who are registered to vote can donate. Unlimited donations, completely open and accessible to voters.
Let us find out who is buying the offices of our servants. On that note, why do they need offices? How about work spaces for all, and dorms to sleep in. Only Presidents need a permanent domicile.
Another change of opinion, Senators appointed by their State representatives, like the better old days?
Agreed. Politics should NEVER become a “career” for anyone. Congress should be composed of self-sustaining businessmen who donate a couple of months of their lives to public service, and then back to business.
That would certainly cure us of the idiots we now have in government.
The biggest issue next to non-term limited congress people is non-term limited DC bureaucrats and the bloated federal workforce who are dangerously liberal and carry on long after various senators or congressman are voted out of office. The Legislature has been captured by and are dependent on them. Many videos are out showing DC workers talking about how they work to delay processes and work to sabotage the orders and mandates of the presidents and the congress that they disagree with. The current DC Bureaucracy...including the various intelligence agencies have become the biggest existential threat to the nation.
By and large the value set of the DC entrenched bureaucracy do not match the values and morality of most Americans outside of the 495 beltway. They will destroy our nation and our traditions is they are not brought to heel!
Aides in nursing homes focus on paperwork instead of what elderly residents need.
Saw this two days ago at the nursing home I'm living at. Mentally deteriorated man across the hall choked on a chunk of bread. Four or five staffers ended up in his room in a quandry of inaction while he turned blue. "Call 9-1-1!" "Don't touch him!" "Is there a doctor on call?"
Pissed off, I went in ready to Heimlich the guy when he popped the chunk out on his own - but not before some of staff screamed at me to leave.
Obviously these "medical personnel" are far more concerned with covering their asses than risk some lawsuit that may arise from life-saving procedure...so they were willing to let the guy die. I guess signing that 'resuscitate or not' form was irrelevant no matter which choice I made.
Their fear of legal retribution for doing their duty almost cost a man his life. How many lives have been lost this way without concerned citizens like myself interjecting?
No, almost none are ever retired or just thrown away. Instead we just collect them, like junk in the barn or the attic.
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