Leonard letter: State of our country

I wish Charles Krauthammer were right that America’s democratic institutions are not moribund, but tragically almost all the examples he lists prove just the opposite. The courts, the Congress, and most glaringly the media serve not as checks and balances but as a one-way ratchet. They are supine and acquiescent when a president acts outside the law in violation of the Constitution in the direction of statist totalitarianism. Only when a president tries to reassert the fundamental principles upon which the republic was founded do they dig in their heels and oppose him.

Compounding the tragedy is that whereas Democrats gleefully bring a machine gun and a flamethrower to a knife fight, Republicans bring only the Marquess of Queensbury rules and the Boy Scout Oath.

The 10th Amendment retains a bare flicker of viability, and if enough states oppose Leviathan strenuously enough they may slow a click or two of the ratchet, but the courts generally render them impotent.

The defeat of both Hillary Clinton and the Republican establishment provided a moment of hope that we might restore our beloved country. The past 10 weeks suggest that the rot is too deep, and our Constitutional republic will not survive.

This story was originally published April 7, 2017 at 4:47 PM with the headline "Leonard letter: State of our country."