It's 'We the People,' not 'Me the President'

By Jim Killebrew

[November 22, 2013]  A friend sent me an email with an attachment of a truck with a license plate that said: "It's We the People," not "Me the President." I have no idea who put that phrase together, but in thinking about it, I wondered how a person would behave in such an awesome office.

It is really strange to think that we have come such a long way in our country that we even have to remind ourselves that it is "We the People" and not "Me the President." The evolution of the presidency is amazing to say the least. To think that one man out of millions of citizens could wield so great a power as to make decisions alone that change the lives of so many; to independently decide a course of action that sends tens of thousands of fellow citizens to their death; to establish a policy that puts tens of millions of citizens in debt for scores of years is a transformation a person of lesser character could not sustain.

The ascendancy of that office, or institution, to such great heights as to exist like a monarch, be protected like a king, obeyed like a general and revered like a seer, and have all of it translated into the single, focused power of one person, is almost like constituency creating a god. It leaves little wonder when that "god" ascends to that office and enters into that sanctuary of the White House; it ceases to be "We the People," but "Me the President."

Come to think of it though, perhaps that was in the minds of those men who established our constitutional form of government, knowing what happens when an institution grows beyond its boundaries. The person who ascends to that power can easily become corrupted and think more highly of him/herself and forget about those to whom those positions are responsible. Perhaps that is why the great experiment of democracy in the United States began with "We the People" and not "Me the President."

[By JIM KILLEBREW]