G. Edward Griffin - The Fearful Master - PDF Archive

Still at it in 1963, Senator Fulbright stated:
Government by the people is possible but highly improbable. . . . The
case of Governments by elites is irrefutable insofar as it rests on the
need for expert and specialized knowledge. 14
Since the Ten Commandments also date back to an agrarian society, and since they were
established not 200 but 3000 years ago, it would be interesting to have the senator's
views on the extent to which we must "break out of the intellectual confines" of these
"cherished and traditional beliefs to meet the requirements of the twentieth century." But
Fulbright did not give us the benefit of his wisdom on this subject, nor did he say just when
this nation under God became dependent upon its leading politicians for moral guidance,
or when it was transformed from a government of the people to a government of the elite.
It was the year 1920 that marked the beginning of a long chain of events leading up to this
present repudiation of our traditional American concept of limited government. It was in
that year that the Supreme Court (in Missouri v. Holland) reversed its previous position
and declared that a federal law, which was otherwise unconstitutional, must be considered
valid if it is in accordance with a treaty. In one fell swoop, nine men completely
undermined our Bill of Rights and all other constitutional safeguards that had been so
painstakingly erected by our Founding Fathers. While many years were to pass before the
full impact of this sweeping decision was to be felt in our everyday lives, still, the brakes
had been released, and the massive machinery of totalitarianism began to inch forward.
By 1942 it had gained considerable momentum. So much so, in fact, that the concept of
supremacy was extended to include not only treaties which must be ratified by two thirds
of the Senate, but also executive orders, personal agreements and international compacts
entered into by the President which do not have to be ratified nor even seen by the Senate
or anybody else! In U.S. v. Pink, the Supreme Court ruled: "A treaty is the 'law of the land.'
. . . Such international compacts and agreements as the Litvinov assignment have similar
dignity. . . . State law must yield when it is inconsistent with, or impairs the policy or
provisions of a treaty, or of an international compact or agreement." 15
What this means is that America has now reached the point where it is legally possible for
the President to issue orders to enforce some agreement which he himself has made with
another government or with the United Nations, and these orders are absolute and final
with no recourse to constitutional safeguards.
Recent presidents have not yet dared to exercise more than a small fraction of that power,
knowing that, legal or not, they would have trouble enforcing such edicts. Nevertheless,
the lever of raw dictatorship is fully operable any time the Chief Executive wishes to throw
it.
President Truman tugged at it gently when he committed us to war in Korea. Remember
when only Congress could declare war and send American boys to battle? Truman simply
changed the name from "war" to "police action" and issued a decree. He was acting on the
authority placed in him, not by the United States Government, but by the United Nations
Charter. 16
He pushed at the lever again when he decided to seize some steel mills with uniformed
soldiers. How many Americans stopped to wonder where the President got the power to