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David Paterson

David Paterson, the first black governor of New York state, was sworn in this morning and made a few interesting comments as he was being welcomed into office:

"This transition today is an historic message to the world: That we live by the same values that we profess, and we are a government of laws, not individuals."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't our government supposed to be "of the people, by the people, for the people"?

There's something wrong with the way Paterson said what he said...and I'm still not quite sure why he said it. I mean, I know he was trying to provide a contrast between the actions and words of Eliot Spitzer, and to communicate that no one is above the law...but he went too far.

On the one hand I see his call to a sort of community spirit idea. Which is fine.

On the other hand I see a tendency to spew rhetoric without actually thinking about its meaning. Any rational citizen would assert that government is not composed of laws. Laws do not enforce themselves. Laws do not answer the phone when you dial 9-1-1, or deliver the mail, or make arrests, or decide the outcome of a criminal trial. People do that.

There are plenty of laws out there that are very silly, but the fact that they're there doesn't mean that we have a government.

What do you guys think?

Comments

Eric said…
In his defense, I think he meant that this shows no one is above the law. The law applies to government officials just like it does to all of us.

However, I think you're onto something I would have missed. We think that if we just have the right set of laws our country (or state or city) will be better. We try to "fix" courts by making stricter laws (e.g. CA's three-strike law). In doing so we forget that laws cannot cover all situations and that we need good judges to properly apply the law.

We Christians also try to help God by sticking to strict moral laws. It sounds good and holy but usually turns out hypocritical and oppressive. Jesus brought righteousness apart from the law. Likewise our country was founded on the idea of protecting individual freedom and rights. Too much focus on laws wrecks such freedom.
March 18, 2008 at 8:25 AM
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