September 20

"The right thing to do never requires any subterfuge, it is always simple and direct."

Calvin Coolidge, 30th President, 1923-1929- "Fifteen times he was nominated for public office and never failed of election. After he retired from the Presidency, he wrote of his career: "There is only one form of political strategy in which I have any confidence, and that is to try to do the right thing." from "On This Day" Calvin Coolidge obituary January 6, 1933, http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/bday/0704.html One of the themes in his administration, and his life for that matter, is that, with freedom, responsibility and honesty are required of those in government and by the people as well. In an address on Decoration Day,(now called Memorial Day), May 30, 1928, he states, "...While the people of the United States as a whole are peaceful and law-abiding to a remarkable degree, it can not be denied that we have had sporadic outbreaks of crime, especially those of violence, which are exceedingly disturbing. It is very easy to cast the blame upon the...authorities. But if a criminal condition continues to prevail, the blame goes beyond these officials...If the people themselves show that they are determined to have crime stamped out, there will be no lack of vigilance on the part of the police, no lack of energetic action on the part of prosecuting attorneys, and no lack of adequate penalty on the part of the courts. If the people are careless and indifferent, if they look with complacency on crime and assume a sentimental attitude toward criminals, little reform can be hoped for. (http://www.calvin-coolidge.org/address-at-gettysburg-battle-field.html#sthash.LLGDmcCd.dpuf) The United States was in the midst of Prohibition in 1928. Perhaps Coolidge indirectly refers to the lack of general popularity and weak enforcement of the law which gave rise to bootleggers and organized crime. In the same address, he speaks of the legislature; "... For the purpose of promoting a reign of law in the world there is a special obligation resting upon all public officials. In our own country, and in most others, the government is one of limited powers. The purpose, as has been so well expressed, is to provide a government of law and not of men...(Those in office) derive their authority directly from constitutional sources. None of these are all-powerful, but are held within strict limits...The chief temptations to go beyond the bounds which the people have set arise in legislatures. In their desire to take some action which they conceive to be in the public interest, they oftentimes manifest a disposition to exceed their constitutional authority. Such action is a larceny of power. Responsibility for it can not be evaded by the weak plea to let the law be passed and the courts can decide its constitutionality. Legislators are required to qualify upon their solemn oath. That oath is not that they will leave the Courts to defend and support the Constitution, but that they themselves will defend and support it...(they) should not attempt to evade it or strain it by subterfuge and misconception." We see similar situations in this decade as the public opinion seemingly grows in favor of the legalization of marijuana. Also congress has passed laws regarding NSA surveillance and Public health care and the legality of those laws has been challenged and brought to the Supreme Court to interpret.