LETTER TO THE EDITOR: The people check the president

OPINION:

I often agree whole-heartedly with Deborah Simmons’ pieces in The Washington Times, but I offer a correction to her Nov. 17 piece, “Back to American Civics 101” (Web). In her effort to educate, she writes that “the president governs, Congress checks the president and the U.S. Supreme Court checks both.” I would argue that Congress (the legislative branch) makes the laws in accordance with the Constitution and the will of “we the people” (most often with the agreement of the president, but sometimes over a presidential veto) and the president (the executive branch) then is charged with executing those laws. The problem in our recent past has been that the president has ignored the will of the people, believing that he operates in some other political structure where he alone governed. The current ’imperial presidency’ has been rejected soundly by Americans.

THOMAS E. STICKFORD

Burke, Va.