Yes, there are checks on presidential power

With all due respect to Mr. Holland's opinion in his letter from Arlington Heights …

Congress IS a complete check on the president. That's how our Founding Fathers established the government. All of the incidents Mr. Holland lists - from Truman to Bush - required Congressional support and approval. Because those presidents were allowed to do what they decided means one of two things - either a majority of Congress supported the president's decision or they didn't have enough votes to stop his decision.

As for Lincoln, he filled his Cabinet with friends and "frenemies" from either party to better manage both sides of the aisle in Congress. If Mr. Holland ever decided to visit the Lincoln museum beneath Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C., and read much of what's on display, he'll likely learn that Lincoln spent much of his term fighting his own Cabinet, as well as battling Congress, over questionable decisions and judgment lapses.

Arguably, Lincoln was a great president, but he realistically does not live up to the myth built around him. No one does. That's OK.

Still, our system of government works. President Obama was able to issue a seemingly endless stream of executive orders that largely went unchecked by Congress by their choice.

Bottom line: If you don't like what's happening in Washington, then make sure you vote your conscience.

Technically, the U.S. isn't a democracy, but a democratic republic or a representative democracy, but the axiom still resonates.

By the way, in honor of this year's presidential election, I decided to read Sinclair Lewis' 1935 novel, "It Can't Happen Here." I find it fascinating and uncannily observant - even 81 years later. Perhaps prescient is a better description.

R. Dana Barlow

Schaumburg