Changing the Rules

It is axiomatic that when the Left cannot win by the rules, it finds a way to
change the rules. That is evident by the wide range of changes to election
laws made during the 2020 Presidential election cycle. But, while producing
more Democratic victories, those changes have destroyed voter confidence
in our electoral system.

A recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll
found only 22% of Republicans have high confidence that votes in the
upcoming Presidential election will be counted accurately. Just prior to the
2022 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania – a seat which determined
control of the upper chamber – a poll by the Lincoln Institute of Public
Opinion Research found an astounding 75% of business owners/CEOs
were very or somewhat concerned that the election would be fair and
accurate.

The Supreme Court of the United States, remade with the appointment of
three Trump Administration justices, has for the most part abandoned the
judicial activism of the past in favor of doing what the court is supposed to
do: interpret and apply the Constitution to the cases brought before it.

In its recently concluded session the high court struck down “affirmative
action,” which discriminated based on race; upheld the free speech rights
of a web designer who objected to being forced to create sites which
violated her personal beliefs, and in a rare unanimous ruling it upheld the
religious rights of a former postal worker who was forced out of his job for
refusing to work on Sundays.

It should be noted the court also issued rulings relative to congressional
redistricting and the power of state courts in the redistricting process which
negatively impacted Republican efforts in those areas. In each case, the
court majority based its ruling on constitutional principles.

As a result, the Left unleashed a torrent of attacks on the Supreme Court
and renewed calls for expanding the number of justices thus enabling

President Joe Biden to pack the bench. With Republicans in control of the
U.S. House of Representatives such calls are unlikely to result in an actual
change, but once again when the Left doesn’t get what it wants the go-to
tactic is to change the rules.

In the wake of those recent decisions a post appeared in my Facebook
feed. The individual making the post decried the Supreme Court’s rulings
and plaintively asked “why are we letting a dusty old document written by a
bunch of old white men preventing us from getting things done?”

This thought process presages the Left’s deployment of its ultimate rule
changing gambit: destroy the primacy of the U.S. Constitution. Keeping in
mind the goal of the Left is to fundamentally transform the United States
into a big government socialist nation it was only a matter of time before the
Constitution – the goal of which was/is to limit government and protect
individual rights – would come under assault.

Setting aside the fact most of the Founding Fathers were not “old white
men,” but rather youthful individuals in their 20s and early 30s, this animus
toward the Constitution is proof positive that the brilliant document which
underpins our entire system of government is working as intended.

The Constitutional Convention was convened because the Articles of
Confederation – the first attempt at binding together the 13 independent
colonies – lacked both the structure and power to constitute an effective
federal government. A great debate ensued as to how as one United States
could go about “getting things done” while at the same time preventing the
creation of an all-powerful government the likes of which the colonies had
just escaped.

Seeking to “form a more perfect union” the Constitution was submitted to
the 13 now former colonies for ratification. That only happened when the
document was strengthened with the addition of the first ten amendments
known as the Bill of Rights. Those are the rights the Supreme Court is
tasked with protecting – and the rights that prevent the Left from imposing
socialism on the nation.

It is that document that prevents the Left from taking away our right to keep
and bear arms. It is that document that allows a postal worker to be off
work for Sunday worship. It is that document that protects a web designer
from producing a product with which she disagrees. It is that document that
protects prospective students from being rejected by universities based on
racial quotas.

Supreme Court Justices, as does the president and every member of
congress take an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the constitution of
the United States.” It is not a “dusty old document,” rather, it is the enduring
guardian of our rights and freedom. Fortunately, we have a Supreme Court
which is doing just that.

(Lowman S. Henry is Chairman & CEO of the Lincoln Institute and host of
the weekly Lincoln Radio Journal and American Radio Journal. His e-mail
address is [email protected])

Permission to reprint is granted provided author and affiliation are cited.