Although it sounds strange, it is not the responsibility of our military, our politicians, our law enforcement agencies, or our judges to support and defend the will of the people. It is their responsibility to support and defend the Constitution. What is the difference?

Our Constitution limits not only the power of government institutions, but also the power of the people themselves. The government cannot violate the Constitution, and must take an oath to that effect. A simple majority of the people may not alter the Constitution. Indeed, that requires a substantial majority. Legislatures in three-fourths of the state must vote to ratify a proposed Constitutional amendment. Either a two-thirds vote in both chambers of Congress, or a request from the legislatures in two-thirds of the states is needed to make the proposal.

Politicians (elected or appointed at any level of government), judges, military personnel, or law enforcement officers lie or misconstrue if they claim to  have an electoral mandate to violate a provision of the Constitution. Supreme Court justices who alter their interpretation of the Constitution in response to popular sentiment besmirch their high offices and violate the very Constitution it is their duty to protect.

Tyranny does not always impose itself from above. Sometimes it slithers up from the grassroots. Our forebears believed that certain rights are due to each person over whom our government has authority. A tyranny of the majority that denies those rights is no less oppressive than a tyrannical despot who denies them.

We are a constitutional, representative democracy (republic). And for good reasons.

Ken Hines is a current board member and former Chair of the Limestone County Democrats, a board member for Global Ties Alabama (a U.S. Department of State partner program assisting with foreign visitors and the relocation of legal refugees), and a co-founder of Indivisible Athens Alabama.