A Country Of Laws, Not Kings

One of the great gifts of travel is perspective. I’ve stood in countries where the rule of law is a facade, where power rests not in constitutions but in the whims of powerful men. In those places, loyalty to a leader often replaces loyalty to principle. The result is almost always the same: corruption, fear, stagnation, and the suffering of the vulnerable.

That is not the path the United States was founded to follow.

We rejected monarchy not just for its form, but for what it represented—unchecked authority, inherited power, and arbitrary rule. Instead, we established a system built on law, where no one is above accountability, not even the highest officeholder. The presidency was never meant to be a throne. The Constitution was written to ensure that ambition would be restrained by obligation and that power would be held in trust, not claimed as a divine right.

When a leader is asked whether they are bound by the Constitution, there is only one answer: yes. Anything less should unsettle every American, regardless of party or belief. It is deeply troubling when someone in high office shrugs when asked whether they are obligated to uphold the Constitution. “I don’t know,” is not a casual reply. It is a red flag. It is a warning (of course, there were always warning signs present…). We do not elect rulers to sit above the law. We elect public servants who swear an oath to preserve, protect, and defend it. We reject Machiavellian consequentialism.

But our duty does not end with defending institutions. A nation of laws must also be a nation of conscience. Legal systems, at their best, are meant to maintain order and protect liberty, but also reflect our moral responsibility to one another. That includes how we treat those with the least power.

Across cultures and faiths, there is a shared ethic: to care for the stranger, to feed the hungry, to act justly. The Hebrew scriptures teach that the foreigner among us is to be treated as one of our own (Leviticus 19:33-34). Jesus echoed this ethic when He said, “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (Matthew 25:35). But this is not just religious language. It is a human obligation.

In my travels, I have seen what happens when laws are bent to serve the strong and silence the weak. I have seen nations turn inward, exalting a single leader while turning their backs on the vulnerable. It never ends well.

It is not enough to have laws. We must remember why they exist: to protect, not to dominate. To serve, not to exploit. When power becomes an end in itself, we lose more than elections. We lose the soul of our nation.

Let us not be seduced by the allure of kings. We chose something better. Let’s remember why.