Hunger Games, Marbury vs. Madison and the Power of Words

I read The Hunger Games last week.  The books are well written, but I could not accept the major premise.  I could not envision a society—even a future one—so corrupt and totalitarian that it would entertain the masses by pitting its children in televised combats to the death.  How could the people allow such a regime to maintain power?  But the notion kept rolling around in the back of my head, and I started to connect some very uncomfortable dots.  There is the voyeuristic Survivor.  There is a society that continuously shortens, negates and cheapens its children’s childhood.  And then, in the book, there is the insistent message on the part of the government’s mouthpieces that unthinkable behavior is normal, right and, in fact, righteous!  The violent deaths of and by these children are made to sound so very mainstream! 

Words have power.  

            Then, being a political animal, I started listening with new ears to President Obama’s latest pronouncements vis a vis the Supreme Court deliberations over the Democrats’ health care proposal.   The first thing I heard was him castigating Republicans over their opposition to this piece of legislation.  He told his audience that if the Republicans had their way, “…you would be on your own.”  The implication here is that being, “on your own” is a dangerous and undesirable thing.  You don’t want to be on your own!  That would mean that you would have to take responsibility for your mistakes.  You would have no one to blame for your bad judgment.  What is worse than not being accountable for your mistakes is the fact that you don’t get to take credit for your successes!  Nothing belongs to you.  You are not an independent agent.  You are a vassal in the vast serfdom of the lord of the manner.   You owe both your safety and your success to that disembodied mother—big government.  

Words have tremendous power. 

            Yesterday, President Obama said something that made my Constitutional blood run cold.  He said that the Supreme Court should not consider over-turning a law passed by a majority of, “democratically elected leaders.”  Others have pointed out several errors he made in his characterization of the weight of this vote, but what scared me was his manipulation of common thought by his choice of words.  He either deliberately or inadvertently promoted serious errors in how we think about this Republic.  Either President Obama has totally forgotten about the landmark case, Marbury vs. Madison or he is trying to trick the average American into thinking this case never existed.  There are a handful of court cases that every American should recognize immediately—and would if history was actually taught anymore.  I learned about it in my first political history class in 1965.  This case was the first time that a court invalidated a law by declaring it unconstitutional.  It affirmed the strength and genius of the United States Constitution.  It cemented the symbiotic bond between the three separate but equal branches of our government.  Our Supreme Court checks the power of the executive and balances the power of the legislature.  It is our governmental conscience. 

            The Supreme Court will not determine whether or not the current health care law is right or good.  It will determine whether or not it is constitutional.  This is not a political or legislative question, it is a judicial one.  For the President to try to frame this decision as anything else means he is trying to marginalize the Supreme Court.  His words have power, insidious power.  They are the first step down a very slippery slope. 

            Study the words, and keep the faith.