Rule of Law

I can't say why, but I'm feeling nostalgic tonight for the Republicans and their devotion to the Rule of Law during the Clinton impeachment. The impeachment itself was an ill-advised exercise in hubris that ultimately failed, but you’ve got to admit, the rhetoric could be lofty. Let’s take a look at Henry Hyde’s opening statement to the House of Representatives as it considered the articles of impeachment:

Now the rule of law is one of the great achievements of our civilization, for the alternative is the rule of raw power. We here today are the heirs of 3,000 years of history in which humanity slowly, painfully, at great cost evolved a form of politics in which law, not brute force, is the arbiter of our public destinies.

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The phrase "rule of law" is no pious aspiration from a civics textbook. The rule of law is what stands between all of us and the arbitrary exercise of power by the state. The rule of law is the safeguard of our liberties. The rule of law is what allows us to live our freedom in ways that honor the freedom of others, while strengthening the common good.

Remember when Republicans used to claim to believe that?