A thousand Sullas
By Jeff Kouba
What would happen if someone in a position of authority blatantly defied the law? Would a piece of paper immediately appear and envelop them in parchment shackles?
Sulla is remembered as the first Roman dictator to take power by force. He first displayed his military prowess while serving under Marius, and a sharp rivalry developed between the two. The Senate was becoming wary of Marius’ own ambitions and when war broke out against King Mithridates, Sulla was given command of the army sent to deal with him.
In Rome, Marius maneuvered to have command given back to him, but Sulla had the messengers sent to give him the news killed and Sulla marched back to Rome. Sulla was the first to take an army past Rome’s sacred pomerium and enter the city. Sulla regained his power, Marius fled to Africa, and Sulla marched east again.
Allies of Marius (who died in 86 BC) continued to work against Sulla, and Sulla once again marched on Rome, this time decisively defeating his opponents at the Battle of the Colline Gate in 82 BC. The Senate appointed Sulla to the office of dictator, the first in 120 years, but this time with no expiration date. Sulla began a purge of people opposed to him and his friends, and Sulla used his dictatorial powers to undertake many unilateral reforms.
Our own constitution is a marvel of checks and balances designed to keep power from concentrating in a few hands. Power is pushed down towards the people and not the other way around. And yet, it is just a piece of paper. It has no inherent power. It is only our own will to abide by constitutional law and our will to enforce it against those who won’t that give the US Constitution Power.
Berg’s Seventh Law is absolute, and the Left routinely clutches its pearls and sees Republican Sullas on every street corner. Be you Trump or Dubya, you’re a dictator.
Let’s not rehash Obama’s unconstitutional use of the IRS against its political enemies, or its unconstitutional DACA, or Biden’s unconstitutional extension of the eviction moratorium.
My point in all this is a US President as dictator is not the only fear, and indeed is not necessary to erode the protections we enjoy under the US Constitution.
What if instead of one Sulla at the top, there are a thousand Sullas across the land? On school boards, in state assemblies, in bureaucracies, in entertainment executive offices, in corporate board rooms, in banks. What if people with power to affect how we live just decide “I’m going to do what I want. I’m going to take what I want. I dare you to do something about it.”
Vigilance cannot sleep. Wherever a Sulla is found, they must be met with force. I don’t mean physical force. I mean determined political resistance. If Sulla is on the school board, then we are there making ourselves heard. If Sulla is in the Speaker’s chair of a state House, then we fill the seats in front of them with our candidates.
The pieces of paper we hold dear may inspire us, and even empower us, but the foundations of freedom must rest on something stronger than paper. I don’t fear those who would do what they want whether legal or not, I fear those would let them.
April 4th, 2022 at 11:11 am
“I mean determined political resistance.”
Exactly right. I for one, intend to vote Even Harder this time. Because that will show them.
April 4th, 2022 at 11:56 am
All recently selected supremes have disdain for, usurp and routinely ignore the constitution. KBJ is but a shining example of a constituion-hating reprobate immoral degenerate being considered to the highest court, to defend and apply the constitutional law nonetheless! As I said in an earlier thread, I fully expect Jughead to stack the court before he runs out of pudding and no matter who is in charge in the WH, the combined power of progressives, Soros and MSM will throw its weight behind the Supremes as the Ruler of these the Miserable States. The WH and Congress will be castrated and will become inconsequential. Co-equal branches? Surely you jest! Your harder vote will hardly matter.
April 4th, 2022 at 1:43 pm
I don’t fear those who would do what they want whether legal or not, I fear those would let them.
Why not fear both?
I’d also mention that the barrier to using force to accomplish its ends has been broken by the left in numerous ways over just the last two years. The right is eventually going to have to get over their reticence to use force when they can or will. The targets are varied and many, if not most, could be attacked by purely legal means (police, prosecution, unemployment).
April 4th, 2022 at 2:44 pm
We are at the point now where, if the necessary 2/3 of the states called for a constitutional convention, the feds would prevent it from happening. If congress added a new amendment that the left did not like, they would likewise prevent its adoption.
Which makes you wonder what kind of government we have. Certainly not a republic.
April 4th, 2022 at 2:58 pm
Certainly not a republic.
And certainly not a democracy.
April 5th, 2022 at 10:40 am
You’re not very close to understanding the subject. Start with the Eastman memos.
“Trump lawyer’s memo on six-step plan for Pence to overturn the election”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/21/politics/read-eastman-memo/index.html
April 5th, 2022 at 5:42 pm
The interesting question here is when Sulla and his minions control every lever of power, how do you defeat him? Or, conversely, when instead of being able to lay a few cities waste, can lay the whole planet waste with nukes?
I think the Ukrainians are showing us one path forward with the reality that wars are ultimately won by “boots on the ground”, and it’s not terribly fun to be the sole owner of a moonscape that spreads nuclear contamination with the prevailing winds, but there are any number of other obvious conclusions that the Dear Leader in Russia ought to have made as well. Praying and holding my breath.
April 6th, 2022 at 12:43 am
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April 6th, 2022 at 9:18 am
^ The most important lesson from this conflict is the fact that free men and women’s preparedness to fight and die for the right to live in freedom and to chart their own future has not disappeared despite Putin trolls and cynics aplenty. We had almost forgotten.