Who Enforces The Constitution?

A Constitution is a document that lays the foundation upon which a representative republic is built. It exists in free nations as a point of appeal in order to keep tyrants at bay, as a guide for those who write laws and as a protector of the minority.  (It protects the minority by not allowing a majority, the wolves, to vote on having the sheep, the minority, for lunch.) It assumes a lust in the heart of Man for power and therefore separates that power into three branches.

So what happens when the inevitable attempt is made to test the constitution with a power grab? The two remaining branches are sworn to uphold the constitution by stopping it, by force if necessary.

Current events in Honduras have given us a wonderful lesson in civics as of late. It seems the President of Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, didn't like the constitution's term limits. So he was in the process of changing the constitution so that he could remain in office. This called into action the other two branches of government to stop it, which they did, by force.

As a side note of historical significance is the media's categorizing of this action as a coup. Given, there was an attempted coup by Zelaya, but this is not how it is being reported. Instead, it is the thwarting of the coup that is being reported as such. There are also references to the "interim" government. This is also misleading because the government is functioning as it was designed. An interim president hardly qualifies as an interim government.

For most Americans, I'm convinced that this is seen as just another little irrelevant third world country going through one of its usual, and seemingly incessant, convulsions. But while few are watching I believe the Southwestern Hemisphere is quietly becoming a nightmare. Also, given the sorry state of reverence enjoyed by our own constitution, the time is sure to come when its challenge is going to arrive with a despot wanna-be with his (or her) own angry mobs in tow.

My hat is off to all you Hondurans who understand and are defending freedom.