Confucius, Humpty Dumpty, And Impeachment
By CHRISTOPHER MANION “In rebuilding a society in disarray, the first priority is to restore the proper meaning of words” — Confucius, Analects. “ ‘When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’ “ ‘The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’ “ ‘The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all’” — Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking Glass. + + + The constitutional process of impeachment has roots in centuries of jurisprudence. The authoritative Black’s Law Dictionary recounts at length the term’s provenance, including frequent mention of the Common…Continue Reading