Our Precious and Fragile Rule of Law: Cherish It. Protect It.

“He who has the most zeal and ability to promote public felicity, let him be the servant of the public.”

Longtime American Spectator contributor Neal B. Freeman was honored by the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday for “advancing American values.” In accepting the award at the annual dinner in Nassau County, Florida, Freeman made these remarks.
I am delighted to be here tonight to join the previous winners of this award – among them, Sen. Aaron Bean, Judge Robert Foster, Sheriff Bill Leeper, and Tax Collector John Drew.
For the conspiratorially minded among you, I would note that Bean writes the law, Foster interprets it, Leeper enforces it, and Drew makes you pay for it. Your role, if any clarification be required, is to abide by it.
We delegate extraordinary powers to these men. The judge tells us what’s right and what’s wrong. In other cultures, at other times, that role was reserved for God. The sheriff tells us what’s proper behavior and what’s improper behavior. And for the latter, we give him a gun, and the authority to use it.
And the tax collector. Let’s talk about him for a moment.
Every American knows in his bones that the power to tax is the power to punish. Even the power to destroy.
That’s why tax collectors get bad press. I think it started with the Bible. But it certainly started before our own beloved country was born. You will remember that night, almost 250 years ago, when American boys rowed out to the cargo ships resting at anchor in Boston harbor. They climbed aboard, pried open the containers, and dumped overboard boatloads of fine West Indian tea? Why? Why did those boys commit that historic act of vandalism? Because British tax agents had imposed a tax on tea — without first consulting those who would be obliged to pay it.
I encountered the name of our own tax man, John Drew, in the same way you did. I was driving across north Florida, west to east, and I saw his office sign. I couldn’t help but notice that it was bigger than Chick-Fil-A. Bigger than Ron Anderson Chevrolet. About the same size as the Walmart Supercenter.
A few months later, I had...