Over the last few weeks, we have seen several incidents that continue to feed the national discussion on law, order, freedoms, and government overreach.
My position is—and has been—that the Left (not “Liberals,” as they’re often mistakenly called) wants to destroy America and life as we know it through violence, chaos, and ultimately the imposition of a tyrannical hold on Americans’ constitutional rights.
Increasingly and unfortunately, these tendencies are now showing up on the Right as well, particularly in times of uncertainty and disorder. On the Left, we see overt hostility toward the nation’s foundations. On the Right, we are increasingly asked to accept government overreach as a necessary or even virtuous tool for achieving safety and order.
Only about five years ago, this discussion was taking place during the “scamdemic,” when, under the guise of “public health,” the government forced the closure of private businesses and churches, pushed Americans out of their jobs, and destroyed personal finances and livelihoods. The government decided which large businesses would remain open and played a significant role in censoring media outlets, groups, and individuals who expressed non-approved commentary on the issues of the day.
Emergency orders were enacted that granted authority and justification for government expansion into nearly every part of life under the banner of “public health.” If we’re honest, most Americans—across the political spectrum—went along with these mandates simply because the government said so, or because “we have to follow the law.” Those of us who did not simply “obey the law” were labeled rebels, radicals, or disorderly. Some were even characterized as “violent” or “deadly” for exercising our rights to protest, assemble (publicly or privately), and petition the government for redress of grievances. I’ll add this clearly: we were not advocating violence in any form.
As recently as the last two weeks, when Americans were killed during ICE operations, we are again seeing a similar debate—law and order versus constitutional freedoms—as it relates to protesters, agitators, and immigration enforcement under the current Trump administration.
Let’s agree on this point: violent protesters or agitators who harm, injure, or interfere with a lawful operation are wrong and should be prosecuted under existing laws—full stop.
But that does not mean that simply because an operation is legal, every American must or should go along with it without expressing discontent over what they view as government overreach, excessive force, or potential violations of constitutional or civil rights by ICE, DHS, CBP, or other agencies. Just because something is legal does not mean the government is never wrong in its implementation or methods. At the very least, it should be possible—and right—to call out one wrong without excusing another due to political or party allegiance.
The Right—conservatives and Republicans—often reflexively frame law and order as mutually exclusive from constitutional freedoms when these situations arise. This is my side; I generally vote right of center. However, I am not willing to cede constitutional freedoms under the goo-goo-eyed belief that if an operation is supported by the Right, then government is always right, always measured, always self-limiting, and never deserving of scrutiny.
History has shown us a few things.
The bigger the government, the smaller the citizen (Dennis Prager).
Governments can and will use nearly any opportunity to increase their power and expand their scope—whether through the Patriot Act or COVID-19–era policies.
Governments rarely relinquish accumulated power willingly or quickly, nor do they reliably honor time-limited provisions imposed during emergencies.
When the government and its representatives demonize lawful citizens for exercising constitutional rights—even rights protected under state law—the message being sent is not one of law and order, but of dismantling the Constitution for the long-term goal of expanding government power while diminishing constitutional and civil rights.
Law and order do not—and should not—negate Americans’ God-given rights and hard-won freedoms. This is a false dichotomy. When the government so casually suggests that Americans exercising those freedoms are the problem, why should we expect it to uphold the Constitution when that document restrains its own power?
Americans too easily and too quickly forget that our Constitution, prima facie, exists to restrain and limit government authority over citizens—most explicitly through the Bill of Rights. I repeat: violence, willful injury, and harm are wrong, illegal, and should be prosecuted. These acts create disorder, chaos, and moral despair. But the solution is not to suspend the rights of Americans simply because we agree with one policy or party at a given moment. Remember: your party will not always be in charge, and power once granted often endures across administrations and decades.
The solution is to prosecute those who commit violence—and to use our voices and our rights to call out anyone who, willfully or by fiat, disregards the Constitution and disenfranchises Americans of their freedoms, regardless of the “R” or “D” behind their name.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights… That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
— Declaration of Independence, Paragraph 2
IMN2BHO.
