Editor, Gazette-Journal: Nearly 250 years ago, Virginians Patrick Henry and James Madison debated how best to protect individual liberty from the abuse of power. Their arguments remain urgently relevant today. Patrick Henry feared a strong central government in the hands of a despot. He warned that unchecked power would inevitably trample the rights of the people and therefore demanded a Bill of Rights—clear, written guarantees of our God-given liberties that no ruler could lawfully violate. James Madison shared Henry’s concern but doubted that words alone could restrain a corrupt executive. He warned that a Bill of Rights could become nothing more than “parchment” unless backed by a constitutional structure of checks and balances. His solution was three separate and independent branches of government—Executive, Legislative and Judicial—each designed to restrain the others. In the end, the nation adopted both visions. The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were meant to work together ...