"Liberty cannot depend on…good intentions"

"Our system of government is built on the premise that our liberty cannot depend on the good intentions of those in power; it depends on the law to constrain those in power."

[Barack Obama, 44th President of these United States, January 17, 2014,
Remarks by the President on Review of Signals Intelligence]

Official Senate portrait of Senator John Edwards,
via Wikimedia

Important point that way too many people--especially Americans--forget. Take for example the guy--supposedly a top lawyer, no less--who told us he supported the Patriot Act because:

"The attorney general told us that he would not abuse his discretion."

[First posted on Facebook.]