Sometimes, we have to retrain the way we think. I hear a lot of people say that our government isn’t what it’s “supposed to be.” That is based upon the fact that we have been taught many misconceptions about how government works over the years. For example, the idea that we have three equal branches of government is false. The branches have never been and never were intended to be equal. I know that’s a confusing statement to hear, but I can show you evidence of its truth.
Article One of the Constitution gives the Legislative branch the only authority to make laws and control the national purse. The Executive branch can veto, but the Legislative branch can override the veto. Article Two gives the Executive branch the power to enforce the laws as long as Congress will fund that enforcement. Article Three gives the Judiciary branch the power of opinion but lacks the power of enforcement outside of the Executive branch, and that is only as long as the Legislative branch is agreeable, and funds that enforcement.
One of many examples in history of this being true is the account of the Trail of Tears. President Andrew Jackson planned to force march the Cherokee Indians from North Carolina to Oklahoma. However, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, wrote the majority opinion stating that this was unconstitutional. Jackson’s thought was along the lines of, “The Supreme Court has made their opinion; now let them enforce it.” So, Jackson proceeded with his forced march of the Indians along the Trail of Tears anyway. The Judiciary branch simply could not enforce their ruling.
What “should be” and what “is” are often misaligned. So, the real point is that if what you see happening with our government pokes holes in your knowledge and beliefs, then you have to rethink what you thought you knew. In other words, the reality we are seeing makes what we thought we knew untrue, and we need to re-educate ourselves to know how our government works.
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