The alarm of tyranny tolls
About the Bill of Attainder, a type of which just passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority today, one of the Constitution’s authors, Alexander Hamilton said this:
The creation of crimes after the commission of the fact, or, in other words, the subjecting of men to punishment for things which, when they were done, were breaches of no law, and the practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny. The observations of the judicious Blackstone,1 in reference to the latter, are well worthy of recital: “To bereave a man of life, Usays he,e or by violence to confiscate his estate, without accusation or trial, would be so gross and notorious an act of despotism, as must at once convey the alarm of tyranny throughout the whole nation . . .
I have no love for neither AIG nor its officers. Were it up to me they would have received not one dollar from the American taxpayer. That, however, was not the opinion of wiser men (so called) than me. In an effort to right the earlier law’s wrong, or more accurately, in a thinly veiled attempt to provide political cover to those who gave no thought to the law they earlier passed, the House of Representatives has taken from AIG’s officers 90% of that which it expressly permitted under the previous law and in accordance with the terms of their lawful contracts.
Among the most important of reasons for which we have a Constitution is to protect the unpopular from the torrent of popular opinion. It, after all, is the heinous derelict who is most in need of a fair trial to protect him from the posse, or the unpopular opinion that most requires the freedom of speech.
If this dubious writ stands then so too will stand the horrific precedent that the unpopular may have summarily stripped from them whatever the majority deems, and that it may be done so without benefit of trial, witness, counsel, cross-examination, or due process. It is nothing less than the usurpation of the awesome punitive reach of complete judicial power by a mob unconstrained by any rule except that which it writes for itself.
This bill is what tyranny looks like. It is time to convey the alarm.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Beautiful post. Poetic and well reasoned. Thank you for taking the time to write such thoughtful words.
March 19th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
[…] the AIG lynch-mob legislation, blogger Bob Krumm has an outstanding must read post. Please read the entire piece, but here’s a portion: Among the most important of reasons for which we have a Constitution is to protect the unpopular […]
March 19th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
[…] YET AGAIN: Krumm reminds us why we had a Constitution to begin with. I emphasize the “had” since our “leaders” have apparently never read it, […]
March 19th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
[…] a much better post on this Constitutional violation, has been written by Bob Krumm. If this dubious writ stands then so too will stand the horrific precedent that the unpopular may […]
March 19th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
It’s funny how Rep. Bart Gordon calls himself a “blue dog” but is basically walking in lock-step with the expansion of government while also wasting taxpayer money on trips to Europe for him and his wife.
http://tinyurl.com/cwe5wb
mB
March 20th, 2009 at 6:33 am
We live in the USSA. AIG is the beginning. When will you be the target?
This is more than just tyranny. Isn’t it fascism? Or is it classism?
How long before Obama tells us we have a “living Constitution”?
March 20th, 2009 at 8:23 am
How long before Obama tells us we have a “living Constitution”?
Umm, probably about 20 years ago.
March 20th, 2009 at 9:41 am
[…] BobKrumm.com » The alarm of tyranny tolls. Among the most important of reasons for which we have a Constitution is to protect the unpopular from the torrent of popular opinion. It, after all, is the heinous derelict who is most in need of a fair trial to protect him from the posse, or the unpopular opinion that most requires the freedom of speech. […]
March 20th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
growing up in east germany you have no idea how terrifyingly familiar this all sounds
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:47 am
[…] However, it’s a little disappointing to see Wamp and Duncan would both vote in favor of seemingly unconstitutional taxing of the AIG […]
March 25th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Speaking of Barack Obama: LONG LIVE PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!
Obama is a racial-minority individual and does not like racism:
I know it may be hard to believe.
However, it is absolutely true that Ronald Wilson Reagan committed horrible, racist, hate crimes during his presidency.
A lot of people know about Reagan’s infamy.
And a lot of people will know about Reagan’s infamy–even until the end of human existence: they’ll find out.
Numbers 32:23: “Be sure your sins will find you out.”
Respectfully Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang, J.D. Candidate
B.S., With the Highest Level of Academic Honors at Graduation, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
(I can type 90 words per minute, and there are thousands of copies on the Internet indicating the content of this post. And there are at least hundreds of copies in very many countries around the world.)
_________________
‘If only it were possible to BAN invention that bottled up memories so they never faded and never got stale’ (an analogy: like scent is held in or restrained or inhibited or suppressed or ‘bottled up’). Off the top of my head—it came from my Lower Merion High School yearbook.
Ed: Dude, you’ve got some serious issues.