Stiff Right Jab: Obsta Principiis
Steve Farrell
April 29, 2002
As of the writing of this column, President Bush and the Republican Party were still working feverishly to pressure the American Senate to “hurry up!” and pass H.R. 3005, Fast Track Authority for the President, also known as Trade Promotion Authority.
What´s the hurry? H.R. 3005 transfers constitutionally mandated powers of Congress to the President – and the President wants those powers now, not tomorrow, to all the more easily do the following:
If it sounds scary, don´t be alarmed. Congress was smart enough to distrust a Democratic President with such power – fast track failed under Clinton – but a Republican is now in power, and we can trust Republicans – so relax.
Or should we?
There is a saying in Latin: Obsta Principiis. It means, resist the first encroachments. An American farmer would render it thus: “Nip it in the bud.” But whether spoken by a highfalutin Harvardite, or by a simple land-loving American, the saying is about common sense. It suggests that when certain sacred moral or constitutional principles are violated, it matters little how gross the deviation, only that once a breach in the dike has occurred, we had better fix it and fix it right, lest what is now a drip, is later a flood, and what now preserves life, later brings death.
This is wisdom. Our Founder´s Constitution was based on much wisdom, especially regarding the nature of men and power. Men aren´t angels, they understood. Give them an inch, and they´ll take a mile.
In 1766, Jonathan Mayhew, pastor of Boston´s West Church, and one of the most celebrated men associated with early American opposition to British tyranny, observed:
“Power is of a grasping, encroaching nature, in all beings, except in him, to whom it emphatically ‘belongeth´; and who is the only King that, in a religious or moral sense, ‘can do no wrong. Power aims at extending itself, and operating according to mere will, wherever it meets with no balance, check, control or opposition of any kind. For which reason it will always be necessary . . . for those who would preserve and perpetuate their liberties, to guard them with a wakeful attention; and in . . . just and prudent ways, to oppose the first encroachments on them. ‘Obsta Principiis.´ After a while it will be too late.”
In short: Only God, not man, can be trusted with power. Thus: All political power ought to be balanced, checked, controlled, and vigilantly guarded. Every encroachment ought to be opposed, lest supposed molehills, become formidable mountains.
So what´s wrong with that?
H.R. 3005/new world order proponents think it passé. They contend times have changed. We are more interdependent – they say – more sophisticated – more technologically advanced – more networked to each other – more in need of instant solutions, instant bailouts, instant police actions, and instant accommodations and changes to the law – and so more in need of streamlining the decision making process, more in need of limiting, perhaps outlawing gridlock.
Some things change. Admit it. But wait a minute. Some things never change. Man has yet to become God. You and I know this. In fact, it could be persuasively argued, that since 1766 man´s collective moral behavior has degenerated, not improved. And as such, he is less to be trusted with power, not more.
But let´s extend the argument further – conceding the point that man has leaped ahead technologically, and is in fact, more interconnected and thus more accessible – therefore, one must also concede that one man or group of men in power can do far more damage, far more quickly, far more pervasively, far more effectively than ever before.
So what does this all mean? It means that now is not the time to relax. Now is the time to resist. Now is the time to be vigilant. Now is the time to vigorously retain and restore the inspired, forward-thinking checks and balances our forefathers put in the Constitution. Yes, now is the time for Obsta Principiis – for after a while, it may be too late.
Contact Steve at cyours76@yahoo.com
Action Corner
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