Under some circumstances, the rule of law must yield to the need for energy.
So writes Professor Harvey Mansfield in the Wall Street Journal.
The Case for the Strong Executive
Mansfield's op-ed column is nothing less than a rationale for American fascism, headed by a tyrant president who can apply "energy" to solve the problems facing the nation while ignoring the law as he chooses. The sophistry Professor Mansfield uses to justify tyranny is to transform the US Constitution into a silly-putty-like document that can be pulled and stretched to accommodate any degree of imbalance between the executive branch and the two other branches of government. This is a profoundly dangerous theory. It is time to rightly call the undermining of the rule of law in America in favor of a tyrannical President what it is: treason.
The Constitution is not a self-nullifying document. When advocates of unchecked Presidential power seek to ground that power in the Constitution, they are arguing an absurdity. The Constitution has no provision for abolishing the rule of law in the United States when terrorists destroy a few buildings in New York. The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States. Here are some reminders:
Presidential oath of office
I, name, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Army Officer Appointment Acceptance and Oath of Office
I (insert name), having been appointed a (insert rank) in the U.S. Army under the conditions indicated in this document, do accept such appointment and do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter, so help me God.
There are many similar oaths sworn by US government office holders. These oaths do not put loyalty to a tyrant above the constitution. These oaths do not put the concept of the "energetic" executive above the governing law of America.
To betray the Constitution is treason. Pundits, professors, and politicians who declare that a "strong executive," effectively a tyrant, can justifiably ignore the laws of America, are advocating treason, and they should be publicly challenged on that basis. The time is long past for progressives to suffer quietly the pernicious encroachment of those who would empower an American Caesar. The "Constitutional" sophistries of professors like Yoo and Mansfield have sanctioned murder, torture, and wars of aggression. How much further down this path would they have us go? Those who would "interpret" the Constitution by nullifying the rule of law in favor of an energetic dictator are traitors to America.