The Sound of Silence

Most of us who are over the age of 60 (and some under) well-remember the old Paul Simon song, The Sound of Silence, which rang through a generation of young activists in the mid 1960’s. The lyrics are not too profound—it didn’t take too profound a message to stir that antidisestablishmentarian generation of young people—myself not included--but the title was and is still provocative to me.

 

Also apparently provocative to a generation of activist judges that followed might be imputed the last stanza of the song:

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence

I say this because our silences can indeed be a significant act of communication, but not as an automatic invitation for those who cannot stand the sound of silence or who use graffiti to fill. 

 

Our federal government, especially an activist judiciary who act like they would really like to be the legislature—the lawmakers—of our society need to get the message. Sometimes a little more silence from them would be welcome.  Activist judges—or a President -- who refuse to accept the inactivity of the legislature or the silence of the framers of the Constitution or a moral majority (as contrasted to a ginned-up activist minority) as evidence that the ignored issues should not be addressed or were purposely not covered by the Constitution or the law need to be reined in if our Republic, as a nation of laws, is to survive.  For silence may well represent the will of the people.  A ‘regulation’ or supposition of ‘probable intent of the legislature’ does not justify stepping over the bounds of silence or authority of the law.  Insistence by the wrong people on creating laws or ‘constitutional rights’ when there are none is not ‘right.’

Former U.S. Senator and Attorney General John Ashcroft has written, “Silence is not a vacuum that activist judges need to fill; it’s a public consensus that the courts should accept.  When the laws and the Constitution are silent, it could well be that the people are saying, ‘We do not want government involved here.’”

With the recent death and departure of Justice Antonin Scalia from the highest court and an activist president who wants to nail down his liberal legacy, the practice of the judicial and executive branches of not respecting a legitimate silence in matters not in their purview will surely erode liberty even further.