Editor, Times-Union: Here we are in 2015, when elected government officials are ignoring the law and common sense. Our president refuses to carry out the law dealing with the deportation of illegal aliens. Certain states, such as California, are offering driver’s licenses to illegal aliens, exacerbating the problem by lending legitimacy to illegal entry into our sovereign nation. Can you imagine travelling to Mexico, Britain or France and demanding a domestic driver’s license? Law enforcement officials are having a tough time dealing with illegal aliens that commit crimes repeatedly, due to the fact that their presence here illegally does not count against them and deportation laws are not carried out. If our laws are not carried out by the executive branch of government, it would seem the duty of Congress which has the power of the purse, to hinder or prevent the unconstitutional behavior of our president. The duty of the Supreme Court of the United States is to declare presidential actions and arbitrary, bureaucratic rules unconstitutional if they are outside =duly enacted congressional laws. Barring such action, America may live under a dictatorship, because our laws are disregarded. We need a return to the past, where right was right and wrong was wrong, with no apologies given to the wrongdoer. In reading the book “Mandate for Change” by Dwight D. Eisenhower, I came across the prayer he offered at the beginning of his inaugural address in January 1952, for his first term of office as president of the United States: “Almighty God, as we stand here at this moment my future associates in the executive branch of government join me in beseeching that Thou will make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people in this throng, and their fellow citizens everywhere. “Give us, we pray, the power to discern clearly right from wrong, and allow all our words and actions to be governed thereby, and by the laws of this land. Especially we pray that our concern shall be for all the people regardless of station, race or calling. May cooperation be permitted and be the mutual aim of those who, under the concepts of our Constitution, hold to differing political faiths; so that all may work for the good of our beloved country and Thy glory. Amen.” The tone and tenor of Eisenhower’s prayer points to his background. He was the commanding general of Allied nation’s fighting forces in Europe in World War II. Eisenhower knew from his lengthy military service how to lead a large team of experts to victory against fascism while striving to minimize the loss of men’s lives in war. He knew what the loss of a child meant to a family, as his own firstborn son died in childhood many years earlier and was a great grief to him. We need experienced public servants in our government today like Dwight Eisenhower, who will honor our laws and protect our nation. Rick Wagner Pierceton
