After reading recent comments in the Ogle County Life I wondered if, in general, we are weak on civics and maybe weak on composition skills as well.

The author of the Love for America article stated he didn’t like politicians and the Supreme Court ignoring our Constitution and walking all over it as if they own it, yet gave no examples. Do people actually accept this type of presentation as sufficient to persuade?

The media presents the current administration in a bad light by sensational headlines. The weakness of our civics knowledge needs to be strengthened so that the headlines can be read and reason applied, not swallowed whole with no flavor.

The “walking all over it” comment may stem from the Trump firings of agency employees. One was Special Counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger. Another was the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo and Board Member Gwynne Wilcox. A current case is Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. These cases stem from our Article I Congress creating departments and delegating them to the Article II Executive authority. Congress called them independent agencies. That is the problem.

Article II Section I - The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. One person. A President. The President then delegates his executive authority to whom he chooses. There is no independent agency clause or article in our Constitution. Congress can create an agency, if authorized under its Article I Section 8 enumerated powers, and can delegate its authority to the Article II Executive, but Congress cannot make them independent. That is what the chief executive is doing, exercising Constitutional authority to choose and remove who he, the executive, delegates that authority to. The president challenged Congressional overreach.

When the fired party sues in a district court, many judges issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the executive. On appeal these TROs have been overturned due to failures of the inferior court judges to apply the law properly. That is not walking over the Constitution, it is exercising the proper use. Only the current President runs the executive branch.

Perhaps the “walking all over it” are the court cases where states sue the executive for exercising militia authority. States have no standing in this argument. When a state joined the republic, it recognized the superiority of the Constitution. Per Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 and 16, Congress has the power to call up the militia and delegate its authority to the Article II President under several statutes. Calling forth the militia is not reviewable by the courts because it has no authority in the matter. Article I Congress and the Art II President are the political branches of government and make policy decisions. They are subject only to the will of the people. Congress can amend this power, but not the courts. Article III Judicial is not political and serves for terms of good behavior. When the court interjects itself in these militia (National Guard) cases it usurps authority never granted and that judge becomes the un-appealable tyrant subject to no authority.

The Article II President clarifying the abused policy of anchor babies by proper application of the intent of Amendment 14 is not “walking all over it” either. Children born in the United States of foreign nationals are citizens of their parents’ country, not ours. This will be clarified in January by the Supreme Court. Sound reasoning, logic and good understanding of history will prevail.

For the first time in a long while there is an Article II President exercising executive authority like it should be, placing America and citizens first, above other countries and the reckless invasion of sovereignty taking place. Congress alone, not sanctuary states, has authority on how to deal with immigration. The illegal border crashing is not immigration, it is migration.

With a proper understanding of civics and government, good reason and judgement would side with the current Article II President. If his policy is bad, vote him out. If the law is bad, tell Congress to change it. So far, the president is headed for more success causing one attorney to state, “Trump is 25-0 at the Supreme Court and headed to 30”. We are getting a real lesson on government right before our eyes.

- John Dickson, Oregon