“He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.&#822

Brian Zick

Charlie Savage for the Boston Globe reports that "President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution." -- The Declaration of Independence states that "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States." The very first item on the list of injuries and usurpations enumerated by the Declaration is this: "He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." The Declaration further observes: "A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

The text is from the poem “QUADRENNIAL” by Golden, reprinted with permission. It was first published in the Poetry Project. Inside front cover photo by Golden.
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