One of the pleasures of having a cabin in the Shenandoah Valley is its proximity to Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home. In an effort to escape the political turmoil of last week I decided to pay a visit—on the 4th of July.
Monticello on the 4th –almost always one of the hottest days of the year—plays host not only to a ceremony to celebrate our country’s birth, but also to the swearing in of new citizens. This year 74 newly minted Americans from 36 countries and six continents took the oath. Buses carried participants up the famous mountain; guests were given blue and white paper fans to stave off the heat. I visited the renovated slave quarters and Sally Hemings exhibit, which was open to the public. Then, seeking shade, I sat on the side lawn with the Boy Scouts; sweating behind me was the fife and drum corps dressed in their red revolutionary war uniforms. All was well-organized and impressive. For the first time in decades the event was sold out –a good sign, I thought.
In a world turned upside down, the Supreme Court two days earlier had overturned Jefferson’s hope of a nation in which no person was above the law. The country now has a President immune from prosecution for non-defined “core Constitutional powers.” The decision ignored the lower courts, and undermined belief in the judiciary’s ability to prosecute citizens (of which the president is one) fairly. This made me think of Albert Diaz, the Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (and the son of immigrants) who officiated and spoke during the swearing in ceremony. What must he be feeling? The Supreme Court had diminished its own institution, and undermined Diaz’s power and legitimacy, along with that of other judges. Judges who, by the way, are forced to comply with strict ethical standards.
The Court also played havoc with the founding Constitutional principle of equal but separate powers of government, in which each branch acts as a check upon the other. “When a President exercises such authority [under “core Constitutional powers”],“ wrote Justice Roberts, “Congress cannot act on, and courts cannot examine, the President’s actions.” Checks upon the office of the Presidency by the other branches—all gone. James Madison and George Washington would be turning over in their graves.
Yet I took to heart the many families with young children waving flags in the audience, of men in their flag-patterned ties and red suspenders citing the pledge of allegiance, of each new citizen having the right to stand up and speak to the crowd, of the playing of a rousing “Fanfare for the Common Man” at the ceremony’s end. And finally the gaggle of young girls who shared the bus ride back to the parking lot with me. With no air conditioning, they were uncomfortable, hungry and fidgety, their long hair streaked with sweat and their faces red with the heat. But they fought over who should take home the one small American flag amongst them, as well as stickers that claimed they had attended the ceremony. Their mothers had made them come, and they had also arranged for the fireworks that would be held that night on their neighborhood block.
Elections come and go, even one as determinative as the next one. But the Court’s decision stays with us. In the end, I thought, those young girls and their mothers may be the ones who save democracy after all.
Thank you, Mary. Very moving and thoughtful and hopeful!