Ganders eventually catch on, you know

Published 9:51 pm Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Geese should be careful — because ganders eventually catch on. If that’s not an established nugget of political wisdom, it should be. The point is that when one group demands something in the name of “fairness,” other groups are likely to demand the same. What’s good for the goose, and all that.

We’re seeing it in Oklahoma, where a group of Satanists is now demanding equal access for its message at that state’s capitol.

“A New York-based Satanic group plans to submit designs this month for a monument it wants to erect on the grounds of the Oklahoma state capitol,” the Washington Post reports. “The move comes after the state’s Republican legislature authorized a privately funded Ten Commandments monument to be placed on capitol grounds last year, according to the Associated Press. A spokesman for the New York-based Satanic Temple credited Oklahoma Rep. Mike Ritze (R) — who championed and helped to fund the Commandments monument — for clearing the path for his organization.”

One spokesman for the New York group appreciates Ritze’s efforts.

“He’s helping a satanic agenda grow more than any of us possibly could,” Lucian Greaves said. “You don’t walk around and see too many satanic temples around, but when you open the door to public spaces for us, that’s when you’re going to see us.”

Not very likely — the group has no funds for such a project (a fundraising page showed $138 of a $20,000 goal raised as of Monday).

But it illustrates a principle that politicians would do well to remember.

Take the Democratic-controlled Senate, which just changed the filibuster rules for some judicial appointees. Although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had previously opposed any such changes (when he was in the minority), he pushed through the “nuclear option” in a party-line vote.

But Reid seems to forget that sooner or later, he will be in the minority again. His efforts to limit the ability of minorities to slow offensive legislation and appointees will come back to haunt him.

Similarly, the Obama administration has seized powers the Constitution reserves for Congress. From deciding unilaterally to stop enforcing some immigration laws to changing Affordable Care Act provisions, Obama has expanded the presidency to imperial levels.

As James Madison wrote, “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary, in the same hands … may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

But back to geese and ganders, it’s also the very definition of poor planning. That’s because power will inevitably change hands, and the Democrats who are in the majority now will inevitably object when Republicans do no more than keep the powers the Democrats consolidated.

Of course, the justification Reid, Obama and other Democrats use for claiming extra powers is that Congress is hopelessly gridlocked and divided.

But that won’t change when Congress and the White House change hands — because we remain divided as a nation. That division is why protecting the rights of the minority is so important.

What’s good for the gander might disturb the goose.

But who is really to blame?