Mr. Hannan makes a good point in his WSJ article on the Magna Carta of 1215:
"The bishops and barons who had brought King John to the negotiating table understood that rights required an enforcement mechanism. The potency of a charter is not in its parchment but in the authority of its interpretation. The constitution of the U.S.S.R., to pluck an example more or less at random, promised all sorts of entitlements: free speech, free worship, free association. But as Soviet citizens learned, paper rights are worthless in the absence of mechanisms to hold rulers to account."
We just passed the 71st anniversary of D-Day (June 6, 1944), when the Allies led by an American invaded France to drive back the Nazis. If we had lost World War II, would liberty have been the result? The Magna Carta tradition of limiting the king would have been buried under Hitler, who believed in ultimate power - for himself.
As you've doubtless heard, freedom isn't free. Somebody who believes in it must defend it. In 1957, a memorial was erected where Magna Carta was signed, by people who believed in it - by the American Bar Association.
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