Furthermore, the Declaration of Independence says "...that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. However, if you think about it, if one did try to "overthrow" the government, government would most likely jail/sentence the people with treason. So, who has the ultimate power? and to what extent are our freedoms as the American people restricted?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Hypocrisy in Government?
After reading and watching the documentary on the Nixon Administration, my reaction was "WOW, government is corrupted!" Nixon and his administration passed many boundaries to prevent the publication of the "Pentagon Papers" in the New York Times. Similarly, police forces arrested about 7,000 people during the May 8 Protests. These actions got me wondering about our freedoms documented in the first amendment.How much freedom to the people actually have in terms of freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of assembly?
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I definitely see how this could be a problem. Ultimately, we have to have faith in checks and balances. If the Executive tries to overpower either the people or the other branches, then the President can be put on trial as we saw in class today. Personally, I feel like the Legislative has the potential to be extremely dangerous, perhaps even more than the executive. Who actually knows the entire content of all the bills passed? There are far too many intricacies that the public is only vaguely aware of, while the President stands more prominently in the spotlight.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alessandra, that we ultimately have to trust the checks and balances in our government. I think after the Nixon administration, the checks and balances are more strictly enforced in a sense. Also, since the public is more aware of the situation - if the president runs an entire bureaucracy by replacing cabinet members and white house officials with "his people," they will be on the watch and see if the president performs any illegal actions.
ReplyDeleteThe freedom of American people are very limited in my opinion. Government officials and authorities have the most power, and can do almost anything they please, such as arresting 7,000 protesters. I do not think the government should have the power to arrest protesters if the protest is not violent...this is taking away our first amendment rights.