The integrity of our government, our Republic, fundamentally relies on the principle that no person, not even the president or the nation's chief law enforcement officer, is above our laws.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The president, it seems to me, stands out as the one person in our system who is in a unique position where the checks on any lack of integrity there are more important than for anyone else in the system of government.
We are a nation of laws with respect and recognition of the rule of law. We are not an imperialist government with a monarch abiding by the rule of one man.
We have no more fundamental obligation in government than to ensure the safety of our citizens.
We must have systems of checks and balances to make sure that those people who are making critical decisions for our country are held accountable, and nowhere is that more important than in the area of national security.
Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.
The allegiance of the citizen, in the only sense in which the word can be tolerated in a republic, is due to the law. What idea other men may have of a law higher than the supreme law, I know not. Like the notion of the Stoics concerning Fate, it is perfectly incomprehensible.
It is the government's fundamental duty to ensure the security of every individual citizen.
Let me be clear - no one is above the law. Not a politician, not a priest, not a criminal, not a police officer. We are all accountable for our actions.
There is a higher law than the law of government. That's the law of conscience.
It was not the president's responsibility to run a law enforcement operation. It was ours.