The Founders Are Still Warning Us, 250 Years Later

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, we will hear tributes to the Founders and see politicians wrap themselves in the “Spirit of 1776.”

My new Hartford Courant opinion piece argues that we should stop treating the Founders as patriotic decoration and take their warnings about executive overreach, congressional weakness, and the use of public office for personal gain seriously.

American exceptionalism is best understood as a commitment to the restraint of power. That commitment is being tested.

Many who most loudly invoke the Founders are not preserving our inheritance. They are squandering it.

Brown Opened Doors, and Today’s Court Is Closing Them

On this day in 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously decided Brown v. Board of Education, declaring racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. It remains one of the Court’s most consequential decisions — not because it ended racism, inequality, or resistance to integration, but because it affirmed a principle the country had too often denied: separate is not equal.

The ruling was important enough to inspire a song. “Black and White,” written in 1954 by David I. Arkin and Earl Robinson, later became a major hit for Three Dog Night in 1972. But the group’s version omitted lyrics that directly celebrated the Court’s role:

“Their robes were black, their heads were white,

The schoolhouse doors were closed so tight,

Nine judges all set down their names,

To end the years and years of shame.”

Those lines captured a moment when the Supreme Court exercised its authority to expand freedom and strengthen the promise of equal citizenship. The Court did not solve America’s deepest problems. It did not end segregation on its own. Indeed, the backlash to Brown was fierce, sustained, and often successful. But the decision gave constitutional force to the idea that public institutions could not lawfully degrade children on account of race.

That is what makes today’s contrast so painful.

Instead of building on that legacy, the current Supreme Court’s conservative majority has too often moved in the opposite direction. In Shelby County v. Holder, the Court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, opening the door to new voting restrictions in several states. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal constitutional right to abortion and leaving access subject to state law. Citizens United v. FEC helped unleash more outside money into American politics. Taken together, these decisions reflect not only legal reasoning but also a broader retreat from the spirit of inclusion and equality that Brown embodied.

The Court has also made it harder to challenge partisan gerrymandering in federal court, limited LGBTQ protections in public accommodations, made it harder to defend gun-safety laws, constrained environmental regulation, and expanded presidential immunity, all of which threaten basic democratic accountability. For example, after Shelby County, Texas and other states quickly implemented strict voter ID laws and reduced polling places, these measures disproportionately affected communities of color.

These are not isolated decisions. Proponents argue that the Court is restoring constitutional limits, protecting individual liberties, and correcting earlier judicial overreach. Critics see something very different: a broader legal and political project that shifts power away from voters, workers, consumers, people seeking health care, marginalized communities, and regulatory agencies — and toward corporations, wealthy interests, religious-liberty claimants, gun-rights advocates, and executive authority.

Reasonable people can disagree about constitutional interpretation. But we should not pretend the Court is merely calling balls and strikes. The judiciary is shaping the nation’s future as surely as Congress and the president. When the Court narrows voting rights, democracy suffers. When regulatory power weakens, public health and the environment suffer. When it removes protections people have relied on for generations, trust in the law suffers.

Brown reminds us that courts can open doors, but it also reminds us that progress is not inevitable. It must be demanded, defended, and renewed.

The lesson of Brown is not nostalgia. It is a responsibility. I still remember learning about Brown in school not as a dusty legal milestone but as proof that American institutions, however flawed, could be pushed toward justice. Progress happens when people organize, vote, litigate, teach, write, march, and refuse to accept injustice as settled law.

Seventy-two years ago, nine justices helped open the schoolhouse doors. Today, democracy requires us to keep them open — not through nostalgia, but through vigilance, voting, and organizing, and by refusing to treat the erosion of rights as normal. The promise of Brown endures only if we defend it together.

Big Ideas versus Incremental Steps is a False Choice

A key takeaway message being reported from yesterday’s Democratic Town Hall in Iowa is the divide between big ideas and incremental steps. In general, I don’t like mutual exclusivity. (I’ve addressed this before in my book, Camelot, Inc.) Of course we need big ideas and bold moves. But small things can be out-of-the-box and innovative, too. The answer is we need both vision and execution, the large goals and the little objectives, and the short-range and the long-term views.

I know it’s hard for politicians to get elected on a platform of incremental steps. We’re conditioned to expect the big idea, to go big or go home, or to swing for a homerun. But it’s certainly not going to happen with our largest and most complex problems.

This applies beyond our politics and social ills. In the world of medicine, for example, Cy Stein, M.D., Ph.D. and Chair of Medical Oncology at City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center said, "One advance leads to another. Although the advance might be incremental, it's a step beyond." And, "If we are only interested in revolutionary therapies, patients will miss out on the improvements in care that smaller advances offer.”

As we approach another Federal election, it’s worthwhile remembering that our Founding Fathers were believers in the proverb “The perfect is the enemy of the good.” Our country is nothing but a timeline of incremental advances. Many in the Continental Congress wanted to abolish slavery, while others insisted it remain.There would be no United States of America unless they could agree. So, the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Constitution in 1787 were compromises. They were steps. We had to wait nearly a hundred years for the Emancipation Proclamation and then another hundred for the Civil Rights Act.

Small strides can sometimes add up to a completed marathon. We should embrace and celebrate the completion of each step along the way.

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Homework for America

Read First, Debate Healthcare Reform Second
Healthcare reform has been discussed since Teddy Roosevelt’s time. We’ve made improvements throughout the years, of course. But they’ve always come with a struggle. The issues and arguments we hear today – excessive cost, loss of choice, the proper role of government – are not new. So, should the Democrats be surprised that some angry people are showing up at their Town Hall meetings?

Probably not. The trend had already been set. Unfortunately, though, we’ve seen an escalation in anger and a decrease in civility at public events over the years. What promised to be a vigorous negotiation over the latest round of healthcare reform proposals has turned into some ugly confrontations. True, America is all about standing up for ones beliefs and having the freedom to do so in public. What we have seen, however, is not a respectful give and take. There’s not nearly enough discourse and debate, and there’s entirely too much ranting and raving. The bottom line is that there’s precious little communicating going on.

Indeed, debate is about putting forth a proposition and allowing a rebuttal. Instead, healthcare reform is being hijacked by a loud minority of citizens who have no actual interest in participating in a productive conversation. For them, it’s not a question of finding a solution, thrashing out a compromise on problematic provisions, or discussing to what extent the government should play a role. It’s about no government. Rather than becoming a rallying point for a common good, healthcare reform has become yet another “wedge issue” like abortion, school prayer or creationism. It’s another example of the polarization of America , the land of the disappearing middle ground, where threats and intimidation can displace rational thought. Agreeing to disagree is becoming less of an option.

When challenged, when asked to stop the heckling, the healthcare reform protesters exclaim “This is America. It’s my Constitutional right!” And, they’re right… to a point. It’s not alright to inhibit the speech of others. We should want debate. We should want to exchange views. We should want the facts. We should want to communicate.

Invoking the Constitution is interesting, though. I’m wondering just how many Americans have actually read it. The protesters should remember that some of its first words are to “form a more perfect union” and to “promote the general welfare.”

So here’s the homework assignment America: read the Constitution. Know what you’re talking about when you use it to defend your rights. And, while you’re at it, read a few good biographies of the “founding fathers.” See for yourselves what their intentions were in creating our United States.

A special homework assignment is given to all of the politicians and political pundits out there. Read the healthcare reform proposals for yourselves before you talk about the potential pluses and minuses. This is for the public good as well as your own (unless you want to be embarrassed by a poor grasp of the facts). For example, over the past few weeks there have been repeated warnings about government “death panels” that will decide who lives and who dies. On former Senator Fred Thompson’s radio show, former New York Lieutenant Governor Elizabeth McCaughey said, “Congress would make it mandatory – absolutely require – that every five years, people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner, how to decline nutrition, how to decline being hydrated, how to go into hospice care.” Politifact.com awarded her its “pants on fire” rating for its complete lack of truth. And former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was corrected twice by “This Week” host George Stephanopoulis this past Sunday. Mr. Gingrich waved him off and implied that something along those lines were buried somewhere in the 1000+ page proposal. (Again, it’s not.)

I’m hopeful the situation will improve. I saw a good sign at the President’s Town Hall in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The huge crowd was well behaved. Views were expressed, questions were asked and responses were returned. Why the difference? Perhaps people were more deferential toward the President than they were toward members of Congress. Perhaps it was the heavy presence of Secret Service agents. Or, perhaps it was because the attendees were a true cross section of America. Unlike the Town Hall meetings held by members of Congress, people were admitted to the Presidential Town Hall by a lottery – they were randomly selected. Thus, it was impossible to stack the deck with partisans and troublemakers. Whatever the reason(s), let’s continue to communicate knowledgeably, passionately and respectfully.

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