Infamy on March 23

Infamy on March 23  | read this item

The Day That Liberty Was Lost

March 23 is a day that will continue to live on in our tortured memories of a distant freedom once tasted and lost for generations.

It began as a populist call for change.  The siren song was one that appealed to those who were without, those who had suffered loss, and those who felt underprivileged.  He swept into office promising to fundamentally change the direction of the nation and this was offered with the implied hope that it would benefit everyone.  Not being ones to allow any crisis to go to waste, they polarized the nation by using current circumstances to label their enemies and blaming them for nation’s problems.

After gaining a strategic advantage in the legislature, they leveraged their new found power by forcefully passing legislation that granted increased power for four years to the government in order to relieve the suffering of the people.  These new powers were outside the limits of the constitution, but it was explained that the benefits were too great to worry about that legislative obstacle.  The laws had essentially come to only apply to the citizens and not the government.  Rule by law had deteriorated into rule by man.

By compromising with a few key groups, including the religious ones, using superficial promises the administration was able to gather the necessary majority to pass their key legislation.  Debate was furious up until the final vote on March 23.  The final few swing voters were swayed by the promise of a written order from the Executive branch that would come after the bill’s passage and would fulfill the administration’s side of the political compromise.   Some legislators attempted to derail the process to prevent a vote on the bill, but through a last minute rules change by the majority party, the threat was eliminated, clearing the way for a full vote.

On the day of the vote, surrounded by the clamor and tension of political intrigue and manipulation, using heavy-handed arguments from morality and religious faith, the administration argued emotionally for the passage of the bill.  The promised compromise was still not delivered, and the compromisers were told it would come soon, but after the vote.  There were those who stood up for the constitution, the law and tradition, but they were in the minority and were shouted down.  The vote, at last, was counted and those in favor of the new government powers had won.  Almost immediately following the vote, the bill was signed into law by the administration; no time was lost.

This was the story of the passage of The Law to Remedy the Distress of the People and the Nation.  It was passed on March 23, 1933 and is known to history as The Enabling Act and it was how the Nazi party legally, but against the will of the people, turned a democracy into a dictatorship.  Just because it can be done, does not mean it should be done.  Legality does not determine virtue, rather, it often hides vice.

This law granted new powers to the government that deviated from the Constitution and consolidated political power significantly.  Despite the fact that the new law technically gave power to the government as a whole, it was effectively wielded by the Executive.  The legislature, along with the prized concessions it received to pass the bill became unnecessary and irrelevant having voluntarily given up all of their power.  The entire time of its existence, the process was viewed as having been accomplished legally.  So much so that this law was renewed two more times before the end of World War II.

Topics: Freedom, liberty, tyranny