Every office and department has its despotism, founded upon custom and usage. Every place has its Bastille, and every Bastille its despot.
- Thomas Paine
This is a quote from the book The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine. He is talking of the French Revolution and how King Louis XVI was described as a mild and lawful monarch. He states how the revolution was aimed not at the King but against the despotic principles of the government itself. We no longer face a tyranny of kings but a tyranny of constitutional interpretation. I am apprehensive to make use of words such as despotism and tyranny, but this is what we are up against. Five individuals effectively removed the term 'for public use" from the fifth amendment with the Kelo vs. New London Decision. Now every city council in the country needs to only find the most superficial excuse to meet the standard of public use. The bottom line is that if the constitution can mean anything than it means nothing.
- Thomas Paine
This is a quote from the book The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine. He is talking of the French Revolution and how King Louis XVI was described as a mild and lawful monarch. He states how the revolution was aimed not at the King but against the despotic principles of the government itself. We no longer face a tyranny of kings but a tyranny of constitutional interpretation. I am apprehensive to make use of words such as despotism and tyranny, but this is what we are up against. Five individuals effectively removed the term 'for public use" from the fifth amendment with the Kelo vs. New London Decision. Now every city council in the country needs to only find the most superficial excuse to meet the standard of public use. The bottom line is that if the constitution can mean anything than it means nothing.
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