Tyranny

View of Lake Michigan from Mackinac Island

Two nights ago, I was listening to National Public Radio (NPR) as I was driving home from an art opening. The program on air was a debate from Intelligence Squared about whether or not The President Has Usurped the Constitutional Power of Congress. 

While I was listening I could feel myself becoming defensive. The proposition side said that yes, President Obama had usurped the constitutional power of Congress when he made concessions (granting extensions, among other things) to the Affordable Health Care Act in order to make it more palatable to Republican members of Congress. The opposition side disagreed and said that, President Obama had not usurped the constitutional power of Congress. The opposition side made little headway against the proposition side and in the end, the audience agreed that President Obama had usurped the constitutional power of Congress.

I had to think about why I felt defensive. It wasn’t that I think that President Obama has never over-stepped his authority. It’s just that I disagreed with the examples that the proposition used. If I were one of the debaters I would have said that President Obama over-stepped his bounds with his use of drones. I am much more concerned when a president over-steps his authority in order to kill people than I am when a president tries everything possible to bring health care to Americans. The reality is that presidents have been over-stepping their authority in order to kill people for a very long time. It isn’t just President Obama.  

The proposition side said that the liberal left (my words) were hypocrites on this issue (again, my wording). They said that everyone would be very upset with a President Trump who over-stepped his authority.

I would argue that if President Trump were going to do everything possible to bring health care to people then I would applaud Trump. The proposition debaters were missing this key point when they harped on the insurance issue. If Trump over-steps his authority to try everything he can to bring human rights to people I will applaud him. But if Trump over-steps his authority to kill people—or to deport people—or to whip his followers into a violent frenzy then I will be very upset. But none of this made any difference to the proposition side debaters. They said that President Obama was guilty of tyranny.

The use of the word TYRANNY was especially troublesome for me. When I was listening to the radio program I realized that Republicans use this word all of the time and Democrats almost never use the word. Moreover, Republicans have a very good idea what they mean when they say TYRANNY and I believe that many Democrats have never really thought about the word very much.

So what is TYRANNY?

Merriam-Webster has several definitions of tyranny. Some of the definitions are aimed at a singular person—a tyrant.

“A government in which power is vested in a singular ruler.”

“The office, authority, and administration of a tyrant.”

“A government in which all power belongs to one person: the rule or authority of a tyrant.”

When a Republican uses the word TYRANNY, it would seem that they are always referring to the president of the United States (as long as he is not a Republican.)

However, Merriam-Webster has several more definitions of tyranny. These definitions do not refer to an individual. Rather, these other definitions refer to an abuse of power.

“Cruel and unfair treatment by people with power over others.”

“Oppressive power… especially oppressive power exerted by government <the tyranny of a police state>”

“A rigorous condition imposed by some outside agency or force…”

These last three definitions of tyranny give a somewhat different view of what tyranny could be. While it is true that the president could act as a tyrant, it seems equally true that the other branches of government could also exert tyrannical power. Thus, the Congress or the Senate or even the Supreme Court should be seen as having the ability to function in a tyrannical manner.

This then, is why I believe the Republicans talk so much about tyranny. By constantly referring only to the tyranny of the president they are hoping that no one will realize that other branches of government could do the same thing. Even state governments could operate in a tyrannical fashion. This leaves them free to do as they wish.

And this is what I believe is happening in our government today. All of our branches of government have been guilty of using tyranny in one form or another. 

The genius of the United States government is that no one branch is EVER tyrannical ALL of the time—that is unless we consider how our government has treated African Americans and Native Americans. Those two groups have been on the receiving end of tyrannical power since Europeans first came to this continent.

In general, however, federal and state governments have historically practiced situational tyranny and that is what I want to write about today.

When has the House of Congress acted tyrannically?
Congress has obstructed nearly every single thing President Obama has tried to do in the past 7 years. Bills have been blocked, proposals have been voted down, nominations for judges have been blocked and the government has been shut down. Other presidents have been on the receiving end of the Legislative Branch's tyranny; but no one to the extent that President Obama has.

When has the Senate acted tyrannically?

Hundreds of filibusters have brought the government to a standstill. Bills have been blocked, proposals have been voted down and nominations for judges have been blocked. The government has been shut down and the Senate fought to take down the debt ceiling. All of this, just during the time that President Obama has been in office.

When has the Supreme Court acted tyrannically?

àWhen the court decided in 2000 that the Florida recount was                          unconstitutional, making George W. Bush president.

àIn 2013, the Supreme Court invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights         Act. This meant that states can change their voter registration rules without obtaining Federal approval first.

When have states acted tyrannically?

àWhen they try to cut away at abortion rights.

àWhen they invalidated gay/lesbian civil unions and marriages.

àWhen they cut away at voter registration access.

Tyranny has brought our government to its knees. We must get rid of tyranny—by voting those who use it out of office. During President Obama's time in office it has been members of Congress, Senators and sometimes the Supreme Court who have been most guilty of using tyranny. 

This doesn't mean that we shouldn't be vigilant against presidential tyranny. It just means that because someone yells “Tyranny” doesn’t mean that it is so.