Abraham Lincoln warned that mob law begets mob law. Jarrett Stepman writes:
Many have condemned the intrusion and vandalizing of the Capitol Building, as they should, but we should also not forget the fact that mob rule and lawlessness have destroyed the lives of countless Americans over the past year and has eroded our country’s attachment to the rule of law.
This should have always been unacceptable.
Lincoln’s warning in 1838 was ignored, and a generation of Americans paid a terrible price in blood for it. Let us learn from the past instead of tearing it down.
Regardless of the corruption of our institutions, the better path forward is to support the rule of law, reform old institutions or build new ones, and plan for the long term of sustaining this federal republic that we would surely like to keep.
[Jarrett Stepman, "We Must Heed Lincoln’s Warning About Mob Rule,” The Daily Signal, January 6]
