Opinion polls show that our estimation of our national government is rock bottom. This is a government that we pay for and depend on. It is a government that often favors some while disadvantaging others. It is a government that sometimes ignores the U.S. Constitution and laws and thrives on secrecy. It is a government that represents or misrepresents us in foreign lands. It is a government that is often under the influence of for-profit corporations. But it is also a government that has an incredibly long list of responsibilities and functions and does many things very well. As long as we can elect public servants of our choice and replace them at a subsequent election if their performance is unsatisfactory, we can make our government work for us.
The design of our government inhibits tyranny. It was designed by founders who were familiar with history, especially the history of Europe and its religious wars and heredity monarchies. The separation of powers among the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of our government is designed to prevent the concentration of unwarranted power in one person or group of people. If one branch fails to exercise its authority, the need to address issues will shift to another branch of government thus concentrating power where it should not be. When the Congress fails to write law, the executive branch or the Supreme Court steps up to the plate. The executive branch issues executive orders that are subject to being changed by a subsequent president thus sowing confusion.
The U.S. Congress, consisting of two branches and 535 seats, often finds it difficult to write effective laws pertaining to controversial issues. Sometimes it abdicates its authority. It has essentially relinquished its authority to declare war and prevent unwise military engagement by refusing funding. That happened in 1950 when the U.S. President sent troops to Korea. Congress buckled. Korea is still divided, and North Korea has nuclear weapons. The U.S. President sent troop units to Vietnam in 1965 justifying the move based on a false report of an attack on a U.S. naval vessel. Congress went along. The price paid was high on both sides. The U.S. President launched an attack on Iraq knowing that Iraq had no role in Osama bin Laden’s attack on the United States. The Congress went along. That engagement has spread to several countries and is now in its 16th year. It is time for the United States Congress to resume its authority and, if the members don’t, it is time for voters to change the line-up.
We sometimes say that history repeats itself. It does not. We probably hold the impression that history repeats because our human nature hasn’t changed since earliest recorded history. We still have the same emotions: greed and generosity; fear and courage; love and hate; empathy and indifference. Consequently, we humans keep doing similar things. A glance at many other countries reminds us how fortunate we are to have a government with defined and assigned powers distributed among three branches. China, where power is centralized, is severely suppressing its Uighur minority and trying to extinguish their religion. Egypt routinely imprisons anyone who expresses thoughts that differ from the military dictatorship. There are approximately 50 countries that suppress political expression. Our system of government is a heritage that we would be wise to preserve.