Let freedom ring
In the wake of this nation’s annual celebration of independence, one ponders the meaning of freedom. We all want it, even demand it, from our leaders and institutions. We sigh over upheaval in other countries about suspect elections and military coups.
We tend to agree that the framers got it right when they designed a system that seems to thrive on gridlock. After eight years of government that impinged on individual rights in the name of national security, the country opted for change. At least we have the freedom to demand change even absent an effective way to achieve it.
Time isn’t always on the side of reform.
During the past week, Democrats cheered news of a court decision in Minnesota awarding the long-contested election of Democrat Al Franken to the U.S. Senate as providing a filibuster-proof majority. Never mind that two of the 60-member majority are seriously ill and may not show up to vote. Never mind that Democrats are a somewhat unwieldy coalition of liberals, moderates and conservatives whose support of the president’s policies is never a given. Party loyalty rarely trumps individual interests, or in other words, freedom.
Democrat Max Baucus chairs the senate committee that will shape national health care reform, among other policies. But his base includes Montana Republicans and Independents to whom freedom of individual choice is paramount. A state of few vehicle laws and loose enforcement has seen outspoken revulsion to the trial installation of surveillance cameras at dangerous intersections; a method of traffic control accepted in California along with “open container” restrictions and motorcycle helmet laws. A single DUI conviction can confine a California driver to a bicycle for a year. In Montana, alcohol-related incidents tend to be single-vehicle accidents. An impaired driver loses control and rolls his SUV into a river. No harm, no foul, even his friends might say.
So how do we account for the fact that Montana drivers are unfailingly courteous, as are the officers on patrol who sometimes have to pull over a speeder? Less stress, less traffic and fewer laws that impinge upon freedom, they say. If a helmet-less cyclist does himself in, oh well, it was his choice.
State legislators meet for about three months every other year. For most of that time, they seem divided along party lines, which ensures that few proposed laws will actually be enacted. California lawmakers spend their entire terms in Sacramento and, just in case they miss something, the electorate can pass ballot initiatives restricting the budget and practically anything else backed by an advocacy group (in the case of Prop. 8, an out-of-state based church). Of course, many of these initiatives are later ruled unconstitutional by the courts to the consternation of those in support and the relief of those in opposition.
The framers saw to it that individual freedoms would be protected from all three levels of government beginning with, Congress shall make no law . . ., then setting up a system with so many checks and balances to make sure it passed very few.
Most of the changes we sought last November have little chance of being written into law. Legislators will modify and liquefy (water down) the president’s proposals and mollify the vested interests that govern virtually all aspects of American life. The profit motive may prevail where efforts for the common good would be required to affect meaningful reform.
At least Americans have the right to speak out for or against government proposals. We can write to our representatives in Congress, to the editors of our remaining newspapers. We can assemble to discuss issues without fear of reprisal. If an election is disputed, the loser may protest the outcome, all the way to the Supreme Court. Most of us believe that despite opposition and monumental foot-dragging, justice will prevail most of the time.
So if the system seems to have too many roadblocks and detours built into it, too many ways for the status quo to prevail, well maybe that’s not all bad. We still have the right to speak out, to assemble, to write in support or opposition to government.
In those basic ways we keep our freedoms intact. We are free to demonstrate, to do things that might harm us, to make fools of ourselves, to champion some causes and oppose others. Our system may not be perfect but it supports us in our wisdom and our folly. What more can we ask?
Happy Birthday, America.