Conversion on the Road from Philadelphia

Something has gone dreadfully wrong on the road from Philadelphia, September 17, 1787.

When Benjamin Franklin stepped out of the Constitutional Convention at the end of that fateful day following its acceptance, the story is that a lady, Mrs. Powel asked him what the drafters had given us, “Well Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”  He purportedly replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Nearly 225 years later what is the verdict, have we kept it?  In fact, do most Americans even know what a republic is?  Do they know that the real power is vested in the States, not the federal government?  Do most in government even know this?

There is a general undertone of uneasiness in the body politic, a sense of foreboding.

The powers of the federal government are actually quite few and limited, by design.  Most of our Founders and Drafters were quite leery of a strong, centralized government.  And rightfully so. 

Those powers are to defend our borders and defend our interests at home and abroad, coin the money and deliver the mail.  And that’s about it.

The federal government is not constitutionally tasked to manage the nation’s agriculture or education or energy or health care or retirement or certainly the nation’s businesses.  Nor is it very effective or efficient when it tries to do all of this.

These things under our Constitution are, and rightfully should be relegated to the States and entities within the States.  Taking care of the individual needs of people is not found in the Constitution and is not a legitimate function of the federal government.  Quite frankly, it’s not very good at it.  When it comes to helping people, those closest to the person and the situation are best suited to help those in need.  Our history is one of family helping family, friends and neighbors helping friends and neighbors, churches and benevolent foundations helping those in their congregations and communities, and local villages and cities helping those in their midst.  As a last resort one might look to the State.  The least favorable prospect would be to look to some faceless bureaucrat in a cold, gray building far off in Washington, D.C. for help.   

Unfortunately, over the decades the federal government, like a growing leviathan has been sucking up all of the oxygen and national resources leaving precious little in local communities and charitable coffers for benevolent works.  It has illegally usurped the responsibilities of State and local governments amassing enormous power in Washington while chipping away our personal freedoms, liberties and private property rights. 

The best thing that the federal government could do is to give the people their money and freedoms back and then, well, quite frankly get the hell out of the way!

Two Roads Diverged...

Several weeks ago Walter Williams remarked while guest-hosting Rush’s show that perhaps it is time to admit that this nation will no longer continue the charade of abiding by the Constitution and simply proclaim that it is null and void. After all, the federal government by its very actions declares that fact every day. Williams pointed out that much, if not most of what the federal government does and spends has no legal basis in any clause of the Constitution. And while the Supreme Court has given the feds the appearance of legal cover on many occasions, no action of the Court has the authority to amend the original text. In short, many of the Courts rulings are simply wrong, either by intention or accident. After all, members of the court are just people, subject to the same personal and political vagaries as the most partisan politician.

What is the Constitution after all? Well, only the document written by the founding states which created the federal government to serve their few collective needs and defined the powers and limits within which it must operate. The states ceded power and authority in those few areas, but retained the final oversight, which is amendment. Power flows from the states to the feds on the states’ terms, not vice versa. That which the states give the states can take back. The drafters never imagined that the federal government would dictate terms to the states and to the people. But just in case they included the 10th Amendment. You know, the one the feds pretend does not exist while it actually does, all the while finding new rights and powers which don’t actually exist but the feds pretend they do via the ‘doctrine’ of penumbras and emanations. A living, evolving document if you will. Poppycock!

Federal officers and officials and judges love to cherry pick the Constitution, abiding by those parts that they like (such as extracting taxes and spending money), while conveniently ignoring the more troublesome parts, like the whole religious freedom thing or the part about the people bearing arms. The trouble with this approach is that the Constitution is like pregnancy. Well, not exactly like it but in one important aspect it is, i.e. a woman can’t be a little bit pregnant. Either she is or she isn’t. Similarly (stay with me), the Constitution is an all or none proposition. It must either be accepted and followed in toto or not at all. To accept anything less is lawlessness which leads to anarchy. In another way it is like the relationship between the Holy Bible, Christianity and Christians. The Bible is God’s written covenant between Himself and His people. For a Christian to ignore or disobey some parts while accepting and following others begs the question of whether that individual is truly a Christian. Can you truly be a Christian if you reject part of God’s Word? Likewise, can this nation truly call itself a lawful constitutional republic if it rejects parts of its foundational law? ‘No’ anyone?
If the nation collectively disagrees with a portion of the Constitution or if times have changed to the point of requiring modification, that is available through amendment. But only through amendment. Unilateral decisions by presidents or Congresses or Supreme Courts cannot and must not be permitted to change the fabric of the document. That is nothing more than rule by fiat, by decree, by the whims of men. And that is disaster. The beauty of our Constitution is its protection of the rights of the minority from the whims of the majority. The ruling majority cannot simply ride roughshod over the lives of those not in power. They cannot trample the God-given birthright of those they disagree with. But, if they are permitted to freely trample the Constitution at will then there is no hedge of protection otherwise available to those standing in their path of destruction. At that point we cease being the United States of (or in, as they used to say) America and have become a Unified State of America, where all power is vested in one federal government which alone dictates the scope of its power and authority. The rights of the citizens are not recognized as deriving from their God, but rather from their government. And what the government gives it can take back. The states have no power, if they even exist in more than name only. The people have no recourse, no ability to petition the government with their grievances for a just redress. Eventually anarchy and tyranny will rule the day. We will have sunk to the basest expression of human depravity. Perhaps, just maybe the drafters knew this about human nature and set about to write a document which took that into account. The document works as long as we all agree to abide by the complete, unaltered manuscript. We must also understand and teach our children that what the Constitution provides for is not pure, unfettered democracy which sounds good to the untrained ear but always leads to tyranny of the majority over the minority; but rather a republic, with democratically elected representatives, and with a Supreme Law that protects the God-given rights of the smallest minority among us. We must elect and appoint and hire people to all levels of government that have a strong sense of morality and ethics and the rule of law, who will respect every dotted-i and crossed-t of the Constitution if there is any hope for the survival of our republic. George Washington understood this when he said that “Religion and morality are the essential pillars of civil society.”

So how about it, is it time to throw in the towel and relegate the Constitution to a resting place in the National Archives? Is it too late to be saved? Can we find enough like-minded people to pool our resources and martial our strengths for one last great hurrah?! Time will tell, in very short order.

How about it Mr. Franklin, have we kept the Republic you gave us? Furthermore, can we keep it?

I pray to God that we can and will.

King For A Day, Year, Term, Life?

The liberal progressives love to talk about the Constitution being a 'living,

breathing' document. How is that possible when they have deliberately

killed it? It's dead as a doornail as my mother would say. Proof of that is

that the current federal government does anything and spends anything it

darn well pleases and any of us that raise constitutional objections to their

behavior are laughed out of Washington. A city named for the man who

had the most reverent respect for the Constitution. We used to talk about

being a nation of laws, not men. History clearly shows that when the whim

of men rule without legal restraint, tyranny and horror follow. The same

holds true for a pure democracy. Simple, unfettered majority rule is merely

anarchy by another name. Actually its worse, its oppression and abuse of

the minority by majority mob rule. That's why our Constitution did not

establish a simple democracy with majority rule. We are a constitutional

representative republic with democratically elected public servants. The

majority is constrained by the mutually agreed to provisions and restrictions

of the Constitution. Furthermore, changing any tenet of the Constitution

is a laborious and time-consuming task, requiring far more than a simple

majority vote. As it should.

So today, with our Constitution essentially relegated to tawdry Saturday

Night Live skits for laughs, we are no longer a national of laws. We are

a nation ruled by the whim of the man-of-the-moment. Right now that

man is Barack Hussein Obama. Whatever he says goes, whatever he

wants he gets. Rule by executive order and regulatory fiat, not by

constitutional principles or even legitimate legislation. Take over private

businesses and industry at the drop of a hat. This is fascist tyranny.

Tomorrow the man (or woman) of the moment might be Mitt Romney

or Sarah Palin or Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden. I don't care who it is,

I don't like it. I don't want to be ruled (vs. governed) by anyone under

such tyrannical circumstances, whether right or left, Republican or

Democrat, conservative or liberal, libertarian or progressive. The rule

of any man, if unfettered will lead to disaster; no matter how seemingly

benevolent or altruistic the original intentions.

In my estimation, the survival of our nation rests upon our ability to

restore the Constitution and the rule of law to its rightful preeminence

in a very short period of time. Failing this, I fear all is lost.

What We Must Do

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Colorado Springs, Colorado

I believe that the Congress and Obama Administration have profoundly underestimated the groundswell of grassroots opposition to this illegal, unconstitutional monstrosity called a federal health care reform bill. If this bill passes, it may become the proverbial line in the sand, the final straw that breaks the camel’s back, the crossing of the Rubicon, the burning of the ships and bridges, the shot heard round the world. This could be an 1860 moment in history. We are fast approaching a critical mass of opposition to the slide away from our constitutional moorings that began under Woodrow Wilson and accelerated under Franklin Roosevelt. The disrespect and utter contempt that our current ‘public servants’ display for the Constitution, the rule of law and the people who still adhere to the Constitution’s tenets is unparalleled. In my lifetime I have never seen such condescending, flippant attitudes toward our heritage and the body politic. It chills me to the bone.

In short, the Constitution simply does not allow this bill and at least 57% of the American people say they don’t want it. Do our ‘leaders’ give credence to either, much less both realities? No, they spit upon the Constitution and in the eyes of the people they serve, who put them where they are and pay their salaries. Hell must have a special place reserved for such as these. They are not fit to ‘serve.’ They should be removed from office immediately, if not imprisoned for violation of the Supreme Law of the Land. Mark my words, with God as my witness a day of reckoning is coming. A sleeping giant is awakening. We have endured the intentional erosion of our God-given freedoms and liberties by our federal government longer than any people should have to and remain obedient. Our very Declaration of Independence proclaimed that mankind is more inclined to suffer abuses as long as they are sufferable rather than take drastic action to right them and perhaps alter or throw off an abusive government and form a new one. But, it warns that when such abuses become so egregious and long-standing then people have not only a right but a duty to take such action as is necessary to alter or abolish the offending government and institute such changes or new form of government as is necessary to redress the injustices. The patience of the American people is growing strained and thin.

Many pundits tell us that we should direct our remedial anger to the ballot box; throw the bad seed out and replace them with better politicians. Sadly, we have been trying this for over 200 years and the situation only grows more dire with each passing election. The federal behemoth has taken on a life all its own, consuming well-meaning politicians and amassing more power unchecked and unhindered by the tinkering of elected officials who quickly come and go. It overruns checks and balances, ignores constitutional restraints and intimidates the states into submission while it sucks out their very sustenance; bringing everyone and everything under its control. There is hardly any nook or cranny of existence that the federal government does regulate, control or tax. This was explicitly not the intent of the framers. The federal government was to have a few specific enumerated powers necessary for the good of all the people and states, but very limited and constrained by Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution. The states, on the other hand were to be the laboratories of democracy. They wrote the Constitution that created the federal government for their benefit and to serve their purposes, not vice versa. They are not mere political subdivisions of the federal government. They are the sovereign governing bodies with the most power; being closer to the people they serve. It is ludicrous for the federal government to dare think that it can order them around, trample their authority and direct them to raise taxes and spend money against their will. But that is exactly what has happened. With the clarity of the 10^th Amendment I cannot for the life of me understand why the states have cowered so before the federal altar. No doubt it is due in large part to the boatloads of money (that ironically comes out of the pockets of taxpayers in the several states) that the federal government dangles in front of the states, asking only in return their complicity and acquiescence to unlimited federal power. It is time for the states to reassert their supremacy and return the federal government to its appropriate constitutional role. We must remind those in Washington that they serve by the consent of the governed, not in spite of them. The federal government must once again have a healthy fear of the states and the people it serves instead of the people fearing the federal government. A letter from a citizen to an elected servant should strike infinitely more fear in their hearts than a letter to a citizen from the Internal Revenue Service.

If ballots are ineffective in bringing about the needed change, what other means do we have at our disposal? First of all, surely not bullets as was the case in 1860. Then how about defunding the government? Well, the people lost the power to defund the government by withholding our ‘voluntary’ income tax payments when, during World War II a temporary, emergency process was instituted requiring employers to withhold and send in tax payments automatically on behalf of their employees to insure a continuing stream of money into federal coffers to fund the war effort. Apparently, word of the end of the war in 1945 has not yet reached Washington, as this ‘temporary, emergency’ measure is still in force. Word to the wise, a federal program once begun never ends. The next closest thing to immortality after personal salvation is a federal program. Additionally, I seriously doubt that enough companies would band together and withhold the payments to make any sort of dent in the revenue or statement to the elected officials. And don’t look to the federal courts for any help. In my opinion federal judges, including Supreme Court justices are merely political appointees with personal agendas ensconced for life and accountable to no one. Then what about civil disobedience? Would enough doctors refuse to participate in this health reform fiasco to make a difference? Would enough people or companies or states refuse to participate to make a statement? Would enough companies refuse to participate in Cap &Trade to make it null and void? How would such movements be organized and implemented? What would be the federal government’s response? No one really knows. It would seem that given the history of our separation from England, the writing of the Constitution and the formation of the federal government, we should direct our hope to the states. After all, the 10^th Amendment clearly gives all powers not specifically allocated to the federal government to the states. If the framers had intended for the Constitution to be a blank check of power to the federal government (Article 1, Section 8 notwithstanding), then why a 10^th Amendment? The answer, of course is that they never intended for the federal government to amass such power and control over the day-to-day lives, fortunes and businesses of the American people. They would never have dreamed that the reach of this central government they had created would become so all encompassing. To safeguard any such eventuality they spelled out the specific powers it was to possess in the body of the Constitution and then added an additional safeguard in the 10^th Amendment, ensuring that the states would have the final say in the unlikely event the federal government were to attempt to overstep its bounds. The ultimate expression of state power is the constitutional amendment, the only legitimate path to altering the express or implied meaning of the Constitution. I believe that the framers thought that the federal government would have such respect for the supremacy and almost sanctity of the Constitution and fear of the people that it would never dream of grossly overstepping its authority. This belief was based upon the idea that a representative democracy such as this could only function successfully if the population was informed, engaged and moral. Sadly the liberal control of education over the last 50-60 years has resulted in a pathetic misunderstanding of our nation’s history, heritage, economic and political structure within a large segment of our population. One only has to look at the behavior of our politicians over the last decades to realize that any moral foundation has been utterly lost. In addition, the blurring of lines between political parties and the feeling of a single person’s helplessness in the face of a gigantic federal juggernaut has instilled a pervasive apathy (until very recently) across the electorate.

Is sufficient time left for the people to organize and seize the reins of their state governments so as to reassert their rightful power over the runaway federal government under the aegis of the 10^th Amendment? Or have we already passed the point of no return down the slippery slope to socialism, decay and demise? Only the passage of the next few years will tell. There are signs that people are beginning to awaken to the reality of what is happening. History tells us only about 2% of the American colonists actively supported the Revolution. That would be about 6 million people today, fewer by far than listen to Rush Limbaugh alone in a week. The hope for the survival of the Republic and a future for our children and grandchildren hang on these. We must encourage them to educate and enlist others in this fight. We must peacefully resist the illegal encroachments of the federal government when and where possible. We must organize and move to nudge or take control of state governments to reassert their constitutional power and authority. This is a fight we cannot and must not lose, for as John Adam’s character in “1776” ponders;

“Is anybody there?

Does anybody care?

Does anybody see what I see?”

May God save and bless the Constitution and Republic of the United States of America.

Obituary or Birth Certificate?

R.I.P. United States of America
1776-2009

Our 220 year experiment in constitutional republicanism is now drawing to a close. We face a ‘fundamental transformation’ into some vague poorly defined brave new world. After 40 years of pathetic public education and welfare payments we will now reap the results of government of the uninformed, by the uninformed and for the uninformed. The ‘something-for-nothing’ crowd has succeeded in selecting the most liberal, radical, socialist and inexperienced president in American history. The prospects for the safety and well-being of the ‘New America’ are chilling. Rather than uniting the country this election has the potential to be drastically polarizing, further accentuating the divide between producers and takers, haves and have-nots and, yes black and white. The Obama team constantly raised the race issue, while all the time claiming it was McCain. I do not believe that this issue is now settled, but rather heightened. I lost count of how many times I heard the chant, “He’s black, it’s our turn, we don’t care (or probably even know) what he stands for.” Unity my…as…k me later.

Please know that I have no intention of playing the dutiful role of ‘loyal opposition.’ The only thing that I am loyal to is Truth. I do however absolutely oppose the new administration. I firmly believe that Barack Hussein Obama is evil and evil must be vigorously opposed at every juncture. His personal belief about abortion and babies born alive after failed abortions is sufficient for me to clearly brand him as evil. No other issue is needed. And no other belief mitigates or negates that position. As such I must fight to utterly and completely politically destroy him and his policies as fast as I can. There is no virtue in dancing with the devil. While I pray for his and his family’s safety and that he would have a genuine transforming encounter with Christ, beyond that I must pray that his administration succeeds no more than the builders of Babel. The damage which could be done in the next few short years could take decades to undo, if at all. The legacy which he could leave in the federal judiciary will last for generations.

So who now protects and defends the Constitution?

Here is what we face:

-Further abridgement of the First Amendment: The ‘Fairness Doctrine’
-Further abridgement of the Second Amendment: Confiscatory taxes and registration requirements on the purchase and ownership of guns and ammunition with the intent of ultimately disarming the citizenry
-Abridgement of the Fourth Amendment: Unreasonable search and seizure and not being secure in our homes as witness the unprecedented assault on ‘Joe the Plumber’ and various media figures and outlets that dared to speak against the O
-No guarantee of life for unborn children and even children born alive after failed abortions
-Further Abridgement of the Fifth Amendment: The Kelo decision revisited?
-Further ignoring the Ninth and Tenth Amendments
-Open borders and unfettered illegal immigration leading to an invasion and assault upon our sovereignty and treasury of unparalleled proportions
-Gutting our national defense making us more vulnerable in a dangerous world
-Negotiating with and appeasing terrorists
-Socialist economic policies which will destroy the engine that pulls the train of prosperity
-An acceleration of the blatantly unconstitutional policies of the federal government including socialized healthcare, Medicare, Social In-security, a federal minimum wage and most federal programs and spending
-A federal judiciary filled with judges who legislate from the bench and shred the Constitution with no check or balance by the Congress and President

I hereby withdraw any allegiance, respect, loyalty and recognition for the new Obama administration, Congress and the federal judiciary. I consider myself a citizen of the ‘Old America’ living in exile within the borders of my sovereign state. Barack Hussein Obama is NOT MY President; he is the President of the thugs and hoodlums who elected him. I know; I stood on a major street corner last night waving McCain signs while carloads of young thugs and hoodlums drove by flipping us off and shouting obscenities about John McCain. These are the people you can thank for putting B.O. in the White House. Just another reason to raise the voting age to 25, and maybe require property ownership to vote, as well as not allowing people to vote who don’t pay taxes or receive welfare. Well, just a fleeting thought.

So, as our freedoms and liberties dissolve, wealth, business and jobs flee offshore, our enemies circle the wagons, the takers fleece the producers and the feds nationalize and bail out everything in sight; I urge the true American patriot remnant in exile to keep their collective powder dry. We once fought a war to overthrow tyranny and retain the right to do so again if, God forbid that is ever necessary. Short of that we must do everything within our power to retain and regain our Constitutional guarantees. And may God have mercy upon us all. God Bless you and God Bless America. God save the republic!

“Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God”
--Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

S.O.S. from the U.S. Constitution!

First the feds wanted to nationalize health care, now the banks. My tax dollars are being used to bail out lenders and borrowers who made bad decisions and entered into private contracts without consulting me first. I am beginning to feel like I have been transported back to 1930's Germany during Hitler's rise to power. I don't know my country any more. Personal liberties and States' Rights are laughed at by those in power. The rest of the great unwashed masses don't even know what you're talking about if you bring them up. Glazed over deer-in-the-headlights stares. The idea of a Constitutional Republic is poo-pooed as so old school. The federal government can give us anything that we want, or rather what that they want to give us. Can we possibly save ourselves from ourselves? The Constitution, the document that gave this country life was supposed to keep the federal government in check. But now it seems more like check-mate. Unfortunately, we're just the pawns. I keep screaming, how do we mere pawns enforce our Constitution upon an unwilling federal government??? It seems that the only thing left to do is to roll the darn thing up and use it to shoot darts at the politicians. S.O.S. !!!!