We interrupt this special 1788 edition of “Saturday Morning Football” for an important political message from our 527 committee, Tories for Truth.
Politician George Washington is running for president on the claim that he led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolution. But did you know he personally ordered the execution of two soldiers after a so-called “mutiny” by the New Jersey Brigade? Do you want a president who directly caused the death of more of our soldiers than King George did?
George Washington is also reportedly responsible for chopping down a cherry tree. So much for the environment under his administration!
Finally, did you know that politician Washington once threw a dollar across the Delaware River?
Shooting our soldiers. Killing our trees. And literally throwing money at a problem that may not even exist.
That’s George Washington’s record. Do you really want him to be the father of our country?
I’m Benedict Arnold and I approved this message.
Fortunately for all of us, the modern attack ad didn’t exist in the 18th century. Alas, it is all pervasive in today’s Colorado. The manure flooding our airwaves has inspired thousands of us, myself included, to cast absentee ballots or vote early. At least now, I’m free to turn off the television, pull out Page Smith’s magnificent history of the American Revolution, “A New Age Now Begins,” and ignore the political cacophony until it’s time to count the election returns.
An election year is a good time to study the birth of our nation. There is much we can learn from that nobler era that applies to our present problems. Above all, we should remember the words of Ben Franklin after anxious citizens gathered outside Independence Hall in 1787 to learn what the Constitutional Convention had wrought in its secret proceedings. As Franklin left the hall, a Mrs. Powell of Philadelphia asked him, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
“A republic, Madam,” Franklin answered her. “If you can keep it.”
There is a reason Franklin called the government born in Philadelphia a republic, not a democracy. As U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, wrote: “The term republic had a significant meaning for [Franklin] and all early Americans. It meant a lot more than just representative government and was a form of government in stark contrast to pure democracy where the majority dictated laws and rights.”
There are two initiatives on this year’s ballot that, if passed, would seriously erode that republican form of government in Colorado in favor of the pure democracy so distrusted by the founders. The Douglas Bruce-inspired Amendment 38 would ease procedures for initiatives and open the way for direct democracy to supplant representative government in more than 2,000 counties, school districts and special districts in Colorado.
I had to wade through 16 ballot issues, including two from Denver, on my ballot this year. If # 38 passes, we can expect an exponential growth in ballot issues written and funded by special interests at all levels of government. With luck, Colorado voters will defeat this proposal for the third time. Voters crushed Bruce’s original 1994 “Petition Rights Amendment” by a 78 percent to 22 percent margin. They defeated a 1996 reprise by the current Amendment 38 sponsors, Bruce allies Doug Campbell and Dennis Polhill, 69 to 31 percent.
Amendment 40, John Andrews’ brazen attempt to purge the Colorado judiciary, is an even more direct assault on the republican form of government in Colorado. The separation of powers into independent executive, legislative and judicial branches was the greatest gift the Founding Fathers gave to the infant republic. Andrews’ purge would be a giant step toward making the courts bow to the dictates of the politicians.
Andrews claims he is only trying to extend “term limits” to the appellate courts. But if that were really the case, he would have followed the practice in the existing state term-limit law, which applied only to the terms of politicians elected after it passed. Instead, Andrews made his proposal retroactive so it would immediately oust all five Democrats on the high court – while leaving both of the Republican judges in place.
As the Church Lady would say, “Well, isn’t that special?”
Andrews’ purge attempt is reminiscent of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1935 plan to pack the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite FDR’s popularity, voters rose up against this blasphemy on our republican form of government and Congress defeated it. Let us hope modern Colorado voters show equal wisdom in defeating Andrews’ attempt to force the courts to put politics above the law.
Bob Ewegen (bewegen@denverpost.com) is deputy editorial page editor of The Denver Post. He has written on state and local government since 1963.
