from National Review, George Will on the inauguration, A Most Dreadful Inaugural Address

Looking out toward where the fields of the republic roll on, Trump, a Gatsby for our time, said: “What truly matters is not which party controls our government but whether our government is controlled by the people.” Well.

“A dependence on the people,” James Madison wrote, “is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.” He meant the checks and balances of our constitutional architecture. They are necessary because, as Madison anticipated and as the nation was reminded on Friday, “Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.”

HKO

What matters is that we retain constitutional liberalism and liberty.  Popular majoritarian democracy is only a means, not an end. The distinction is the difference between liberty and tyranny.

print