An unseen cancer on the body politic

By Walter Williams

The social chaos seen in other countries such as sabotage, guerilla
bands and political assassinations has yet to emerge in our country.
Because of that, we Americans have little appreciation and even
indifference to the attack on the laws, customs and institutions that
create the fabric for a free society.

The Clinton/Gore administration has ratcheted up to an unprecedented
level the attack on the rule of law and constitutional government;
what’s worse is that we have applauded and supported the attack. Let’s
look at the last eight years and ask ourselves if this is the America we
want to bequeath to our children and grandchildren.

For centuries, common law has held that criminals were responsible
for their crimes, not those who manufactured the implement criminals
used in the crime. Nowadays, that’s not the view of local government
officials who’ve brought suit against gun manufacturers; neither is it
the view of the Clinton/Gore administration. The logical extension to
suing gun manufacturers for murder and mayhem is to sue match
manufactures for arson, kitchen utensil manufacturers for stabbings,
chemical manufacturers for poisonings.

The list of whom-to-sue-for-what is limited only by one’s
imagination. Attorneys and city officials involved in the attack on gun
manufacturers know the common law. They are simply engaged in extortion
as a means to fatten city budgets.

Another Clinton/Gore administration attack on the rule of law that
received wide American support was its offensive against the tobacco
industry. For decades, there have been suits against tobacco
manufacturers by smokers who became ill from smoking. The suits were
routinely dismissed. Judges and juries ruled that smokers themselves are
responsible for their sickness. They reached their decision using the
centuries old common-law doctrine known as assumption-of-risk. For at
least four decades, smokers were warned by government and medical
authorities of risks associated with cigarette smoking. Should we now
sue confectioners for obesity, skateboard manufacturers for broken bones
and weathermen for erroneous predictions?

Another legacy of the Clinton/Gore administration sanctioned by most
Americans is the idea that it’s OK for a person to commit and suborn
perjury, obstruct justice, and tamper with witnesses if it’s “just about
sex.” In defending Clinton, members of the White House staff, some of
them lawyers, attacked and demeaned a duly appointed officer of the
court — Kenneth Starr. So here’s my question to you: If some future
president is summoned to court, is it OK for him to commit perjury,
suborn perjury and obstruct justice? As surely as night follows day, a
future president will employ Clinton’s strategy if he gets in trouble.

Through the use of executive orders and regulatory agencies, the
Clinton/Gore administration has made a mockery of separation of powers.
The administration has summarily bypassed congressional legislative
authority in important areas such as environmental, labor and
civil-rights law, not to mention waging war in several countries.

While the Clinton/Gore administration has led the attack on rule of
law and constitutional limits, it has had willing supporters on both
sides of the aisle in Congress. Those not backing the Clinton/Gore
agenda, for the most part, have been too cowardly to raise their voices
in objection.

Then there’s our Supreme Court, which Alexander Hamilton called “the
least dangerous” branch of government. Justices are fully aware of the
ongoing assault on the fabric of our society, yet they sit in silence
while the White House and Congress put nail after nail in our
Constitution’s coffin. Often they pick up the “hammer” to lend a helping
hand.

I ask you: Is this the American trend that you want for your children
and grandchildren, one where there’s rule by men, not rule of law?

Walter Williams

Walter E. Williams, Ph.D., is the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of Economics at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. He holds a Doctor of Humane Letters from Virginia Union University and Grove City College, Doctor of Laws from Washington and Jefferson College and Doctor Honoris Causa en Ciencias Sociales from Universidad Francisco Marroquin, in Guatemala, where he is also Professor Honorario. Read more of Walter Williams's articles here.