America - who would be King?
But...it is, isn't it?
I mean you can say 'the president' but we all know who's being referred to.
No, I'm referring to the United States Founding Fathers' basic tenet of democracy - The Law is King.
And I'm asking how can that be so when the law is made by men ...
I feel like I'm being led into a dark room here...
Well, 'The Law' may be made by men but it isn't created by one man, it's agreed upon by many people, and it can't act arbitrarily as a lone human can, and it is also being continually tested against precedent, and sharpened by ongoing legal challenge.
Kings are absolute. If the law is king then by definition that too is absolute, which means it cannot be made subject to man.
I've just vanquished the American Constitution .. do I get lollies for that?
I'm working on the 2nd Amendement, the gun one, pushing for a change that has the guy who wants to buy a gun put a six-shot revolver with one bullet in the chamber to his head and pull the trigger five times. If he makes it, he's good to go.
Try to keep it subtle, VJ, don't want to scare off the big thinkers ..
OK PeterB - I'm a fan of Terry Crews in this extreme.
FWIW Paine was in a situation where they faced a tyranny (the King) in much the same way as the ancient Romans overthrew tyrant Kings to establish the Republic. People bearing arms becoming 'Minutemen' in a voluntary fashion was distinctly different from a standing army being imposed upon the people - and also different from today's gun culture in the US. Remember the quip attributed to Admiral Yamamoto, too :)
Also, the US was never begun as a democracy, they went to lengths to point out they were a Constitutional Republic.
Charles Blow writes for the NYT and in today's online issue he asks : " Who will we (America) let be king in this country, the president or the law?"
He's talking about Trump.
Blow quotes Thomas Paine, 1776 : "In America the law is king .. For as in absolute Governments the king is law, so in free (democratic) countries the law ought to be king; and there ought be no other."
I thought that sounded ok to begin with .. who can argue against Tom Paine? He was an English-born American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, revolutionary and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
If Tom was still around I'd ask him 'If the law is king, what does that make the law-makers?'
But he's not, so I thought I'd throw it at you blokes ....