2005 was, as usual, a busy year.  Some of the events that occurred were beneficial, and we should keep many of the changes that our nation and the world have experienced.  However, we should dismiss some of the supposed lessons with the old year.  America’s judges and politicians have embarrassed our nation this year, and we need to ensure that it does not happen again.  The view of America as the incompetent nation wanting to retreat is embarrassing.  More importantly, it is flat-out wrong, and we need to right ourselves in the eyes of the world and, in some cases, the eyes of the people of this nation.  Just keep this in mind when thinking about the new year: we must learn from the mistakes of the past, or we are doomed to repeat them.  Take the good things from 2005 and apply them happily, but also take the bad things and make use of their lessons.

The Federal Judiciary: The federal judiciary, and the federal government at large, further expanded their power in an unconstitutional manner this past year.  The judiciary made the most substantial and egregious errors in infringing on everyone’s rights (Congress, the states, localities, our personal rights), while Congress’s stupidity was slightly less widespread and certainly less to the detriment of our nation.

Most importantly, the Supreme Court has taken away one of the most basic rights granted us by God and by the Constitution.  The fifth amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America tells us that citizens shall not “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”  And yet the Supreme Court earlier this year decided that local government can deprive us of all property rights without due process of law.  If a majority of the members in your town council decides that a strip mall on your property would raise more taxes, they can simply evict you.  Just like that.  There will be no questions.  They will simply take your land.  Sure, you can appeal, but precedent has been set and will not be changed for decades to come.  This shameful decision acts as a telling-off to the Founders.  The Supreme Court no longer cares for their opinions.  The Constitution is now a blank page ready for only five lawyers to develop.  Its original words mean nothing anymore.  We must stop this affront to our founding document before we become no better than the changing whims of five men and women with lifetime appointments and agendas to drive.

Terri Schiavo: Of all the stories this year, that of Terri Schaiavo was the most heart-rending.  A Florida woman lived with the assistance of a feeding tube.  Her husband, who has a common-law wife and two children from that union, wanted to remove her feeding tube.  After going years without saying anything, he suddenly began to claim that Terri had said she did not want to live like that.  He was never able to produce any documents proving his point.  Terri’s parents desperately wanted to take custody of her.  They were willing to pay the bills.  They were willing to simply let Michael Schaivo walk away from his commitments—no questions asked, no complaints made.  The state courts, however, ignored the pleas of her parents and ordered the murder Terri Schiavo.

This abuse of power and ignorance of common sense removed Terri’s right to life, which the Constitution guaranteed her.  She had never said that she wished to avoid the use of a feeding tube.  Going simply on the word of a man with goals that were, at best, dubious, the courts ordered Terri’s caregivers to kill her.  This decision resulted in the death of one person.  Unless we stop governmental abuse of power, the decision could kill more innocent people.  The government no longer simply disregards our property.  It also sees our lives as irrelevant.

Hurricanes: These huge natural disasters forever changed the face of our nation this year.  Hurricane Katrina decimated the Gulf Coast and virtually destroyed the city of New Orleans.  Everyone now rebuilds, but lessons to learn remain.  First, the obvious question.  Whose idea was it to build a city in a depression with a lake on one side and a huge river on the other?  We really need to have a discussion with the French.  Their city-building techniques are, or at least were, clearly far from perfect.  But in all seriousness, New Orleans has a chance to clean up—literally and figuratively.  They will rebuild the city.  No one doubts that.  However, they will also rebuild their social scene.  Congress narrowly avoided granting federal tax money (read: your money) to casinos and various types of adult businesses.  Nothing good will come of this disaster if the citizens of New Orleans do not insist on an improved morality in the city.  Without social improvement the city will simply return to debauchery.  The idiocy of Mayor Ray Nagin and Governor Kathleen Blanco will then be reinforced and rewarded.  The mistakes of these officials were unacceptable and resulted in dozens of deaths.  Yet the focus has turned to preparing the city for Mardi Gras 2006 instead of learning and applying the obvious and vitally important lessons.

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