When does the rule of law apply?

To us Chairman Mao was God. He controlled everything we read, everything we heard, and everything we learned in school. We believed everything he said. Naturally, we knew only good things about Chairman Mao and the Cultural Revolution. Anything bad had to be the fault of others. Mao was blameless. [page 265]
It was only after Mao's death in 1976 that people woke up. We finally learned that the whole Cultural Revolution had been part of a power struggle at the highest levels of the [Communist] Party.
Our leader had taken advantage of our trust and loyalty to manipulate the whole country.
This is the most frightening lesson of the Cultural Revolution: Without a sound legal system, a small group or even a single person can take control of an entire country. This is as true now as it was then. [page 266]

Red Scarf Girl: a memoir of the Cultural Revolution
by Ji Li Jiang (1997)


A new Rasmussen poll of Massachusetts finds that the state's voters agree with Sen. Ted Kennedy that the governor should be able to make an appointment to a vacant Senate seat . . . The truly interesting part here is that Massachusetts law used to provide for gubernatorial appointment, and then an election at the next regular Congressional cycle, until 2004. The law was changed when John Kerry was the Democratic nominee for President, while Republican Mitt Romney was governor . . . Democrats widely favor the change to the law, and Republicans oppose it.
Poll: Massachusetts Voters Agree With Changing Law On Senate Vacancies
by Eric Kleefeld (August 21, 2009)


One of the defining problems of the third world is unsettled succession procedures for politicians. In Honduras we have a flap over the latest politician who decides he is going to change the constitution so that he can serve forever. In Argentina, if Juan Peron was not available, Eva would do nicely. All of these shenanigans, designed to preserve the appearance of democracy while absconding with the substance of the rule of law, have been one reason the term “Banana Republic” is one of derision . . . Do laws apply in Massachusetts? We know what the Massachusetts Supreme Court thinks of laws on the books but is the entire state willing to change its succession laws for the second time in less than five years at the behest of one party and one family? If so, is Massachusetts anything more than a Kennedy Republic; retaining the form, but having jettisoned the substance of the rule of law? Are there any rules that apply to Kennedys and Democrats at all? The Bay State now gets to decide.

Do the Laws of Massachusetts Apply to Kennedys and Dems?
by John Vecchione (August 21st, 2009)