Gingrich and Lincoln vs. Hope and Change

Newt Gingrich is being criticized, i.e. people are talking about him, for suggesting that the President of the United States can disagree with a federal judge’s interpretation of the Constitution.  He mentions Abraham Lincoln as a previous holder of that office who had the same view, particularly in reference to the Dred Scott decision.  Is mentioning Lincoln just Mr. Gingrich being arrogant again, or is there some merit to the reference?  I wanted to know, so I did a little research.

First, Mr. Gingrich DID NOT, as has been reported, suggest that he desired to have a veto over judges with whom he might have a minor difference of opinion.  He, as serious man, said that there are times when, if the judiciary’s decisions are so seriously and completely antithetical to American jurisprudence, then the people’s representatives have a sworn duty to assert their authority to prevent the judiciary from declaring a monopoly over the determination of what the meaning of the word “is” is; the determination of what is the meaning of “American jurisprudence.”  But, we’ll come back to Mr. Gingrich anon; let’s visit 1857.

In this speech, (Link Here) President Lincoln (a) explains that every public official “swears that he will support [the Constitution] as he understands it, and not as it is understood by others” (emphasis mine) (b) discusses at length the concept of precedent as a factor in determining the validity, force and justice of court decisions, and (c) lays out his considered view that the Court had erred in the Dred Scott decision.  It is an important speech to read while considering Mr. Gingrich’s recent dust-up over judges.  This paragraph jumped off the page because of its nuanced analysis of the phrase “all men are created equal.”

“The assertion that ‘all men are created equal’ was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain; and it was placed in the Declaration, not for that, but for future use. Its authors meant it to be, thank God, it is now proving itself, a stumbling block to those who in after times might seek to turn a free people back into the hateful paths of despotism. They knew the proneness of prosperity to breed tyrants, and they meant when such should re-appear in this fair land and commence their vocation they should find left for them at least one hard nut to crack.“

I think the nut is cracking!  Maybe Mr. Gingrich is seeing that too.  Maybe he knows it’s time to recall some first principles rather than taking a poll or convening a task force of entrenched powers to determine what solutions might address our nation’s ills.  Maybe he realizes that freedom is at stake and that letting government “fix” the problem with court orders, over-reaching legislation and other versions of reducing freedoms will destroy what’s left of the Founder’s ideas about how a nation is constituted and administered.

More to the point, a little further on, Mr Lincoln says:

Now let us hear Judge Douglas’ view of the same subject, as I find it in the printed report of his late speech. Here it is

‘No man can vindicate the character, motives and conduct of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, except upon the hypothesis that they referred to the white race alone, and not to the African, when they declared all men to have been created equal — that they were speaking of British subjects on this continent being equal to British subjects born and residing in Great Britain — that they were entitled to the same inalienable rights, and among them were enumerated life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration was adopted for the purpose of justifying the colonists in the eyes of the civilized world in withdrawing their allegiance from the British crown, and dissolving their connection with the mother country.‘

My good friend, read that carefully over some leisure hour, and ponder well upon it — see what a mere wreck — mangled ruin — it makes of our once glorious Declaration.

Douglas again: ‘They were speaking of British subjects on this continent being equal to British subjects born and residing in Great Britain!’

Why according to this, not only negroes but white people outside of Great Britain and America are not spoken of in that instrument. The English, Irish and Scotch, along with white Americans, were included to be sure, but the French, Germans and other white people of the world are all gone to pot along with the Judge’s inferior races.

I had thought the Declaration promised something better than the condition of British subjects; but no, it only meant that we should be equal to them in their own oppressed and unequal condition. According to that, it gave no promise that having kicked off the King and Lords of Great Britain, we should not at once be saddled with a King and lords of our own.

The point for us to take from this 160-year old speech?  Mr. Gingrich may not be perfect; you may think he’s may be wrong most of the time.  But, he is serious.  While it is impossible to address adequately the relationship between the judiciary and the executive in a 30-second sound bite, I nonetheless respect and praise Mr. Gingrich for trying to get through the noise and make a serious point.  He seems to be doing that often these days and I grow angrier by the day at his opponent’s (particularly the GOP) constant habit of misconstruing and misrepresenting his positions, ergo this 1000+ word post (sorry).

Mr. Lincoln was attempting to save the Union.  Mr. Gingrich and more than a few of the people who are not part of the ruling class believe we face a similarly serious point in our history.  If we won’t let Newt Gingrich be serious about the state of our nation today, if we think this year’s version of “Hope and Change” (I have in mind Mr. Romney’s “Let America be America Again”) is enough, then let’s let Mr. Gingrich exit stage right, and let’s go about preparing our bunker for the next revolutionary war, because absent the kind of re-thinking that Mr. Gingrich has in mind, that is the only solution that remains if we are to escape the bonds of the ruling class that has mutinied the ship of state and is sinking it in the open sea.

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