Power Play

Who's in charge here?

   In 1789, America's founders wrote a Constitution forming a government with a balance of powers designed to guarantee liberty and justice for all.
   Now the nation is engaged in what some call a constitutional crisis, testing whether this nation, or any nation, conceived and dedicated to the proposition that all three branches of its government are equal and independent, can long endure.
   This war of uncivil words will determine how the nation moves to the future, and whether the separate, equal and independent judicial branch of the American government faces up to the challenges of an autocratic president and rules against him.
   A second battle looms in Congress, where laws are written and funds are authorized to help carry them out. The issue in this branch of government is whether its members submit to the demands of the chief executive or asserts its independence and equality, returning a balance to the nation's capital.
   Finally, citizens will raise their voices and votes, either to affirm the attitudes and actions of the current president, thus enabling him to keep Congress under his thumb, or to change the political makeup of the legislative branch and bring peace and progress to the nation.
   Meanwhile, federal judges in the judicial branch, who are appointed for life, come to the forefront as guardians of a responsible and democratic social system, charged with the duty to oversee and maintain the balance of power envisioned by those who wrote the U.S. Constitution.