Founding Principles
How Tyranny Parades as Law
“Law is often but the tyrant’s will and always so when it violates the rights of an individual.” Thomas Jefferson warned us. The biggest crimes against liberty do not happen in the shadows. They happen right in front of us. Paraded as law, justice, and the...
Precedent: Letting Yesterday’s Crimes Justify Tomorrow’s Tyranny
“One of the vilest systems that can be set up.” That’s how Thomas Paine described government by precedent – when government uses power not because it’s authorized, but because someone else got away with it first. No constitution. No...
Arbitrary Power: The Definition of Tyranny
“The curse and scandal of human nature.” That’s how James Otis, Jr. described arbitrary power. It wasn’t just a sign of tyranny, or a step toward it. It was the very definition of tyranny. It is power without right. And that principle pervades the Declaration of...
Nondelegation: The Constitutional Principle Almost Everyone Ignores
“The very definition of tyranny.” That’s how James Madison described the consolidation of legislative, executive, and judicial power in the same hands. This wasn’t just a warning. It’s one of the core principles underlying the Constitution:...