Does the voice of the people still matter?
When does the voice of the people no longer matter? Is it when the voice of the governed is silenced? At what point does the political machine shut down the voice of the people for whom it seeks to move? At what stage does the federal government squelch the voice of the people turning them into pawns to be played in a powerful political chess game? What powers remain for a State to govern themselves?
The term States Rights may be traced back to 1839. Our forefathers sought to be governed by the people and for the people among whom they lived, sweated, loved and died.
Abraham Lincoln said it masterfully in the Gettysburg Address when he said, “It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion–that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain–that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom–and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Our state spoke in 1997 with a law that banned same-sex marriage in an effort of protecting the family defining marriage as an honorable institution. In 2004 our state spoke again in a voter-approved constitutional amendment that defines marriage as being between a man and a woman. Our Republican Gov. Phil Bryant and our Democratic Attorney General Jim Hood filed written arguments asking Reeves to uphold Mississippi’s marriage rules.
The state has spoken. The people have spoken. Now, may I ask again? “When does the voice of the people no longer matter?”
Robert Gillis
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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