The Truth Will Set You Free

The current situation in Iran reminds me of how the truth can be feared. Dictators and tyrants crave legitimacy and usually have the power to silence those who contradict the 'official truth'. One of the principles upon which our country was founded is that truth is to be valued even when it is uncomfortable. The 1st amendment can be taken to say that a just government should have no fear of the truth and so has to meet an extremely high standard to be allowed to squelch speech. This leads directly to whether citizens should expect to trust what their government says. A government that lies to it's citizens has ceased to be, in the words of Lincoln, "government of the people, by the people, for the people" and should not be trusted. If the trust of it's people is of so little value, the question becomes what is of value to such a beast; the answer quickly and easily is revealed to be power. This is the same power a monarch wields over his subjects; agree to give me absolute power and I promise to protect you. If I fail to protect you, you either won't know because I got away with it and just lie about it or you end up dead and the point is moot; regardless you have no recourse since you've ceded absolute power in the first place.

Iran has many laws which restrict the rights of women, supposedly to protect them, so the hypocrisy is revealed when the authorities take to beating women who are trying to help those in need.

The voters want to know that their vote was heard even if their candidate lost. How the truth can be the enemy of some is covered in a previous article.

Minimalism in the current Supreme Court

This is an excellent analysis on the role a judicial doctrine of minimalism can play in decisions of the Roberts' Court. This is a viable, constitutional alternative to strict-constructionism without going to the constitutionally-suspect extremes of judicial activism.