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!

Laying Down the Law

The Constitution is frequently referred to as the ‘Supreme Law of the Land.’ And no doubt, in the purely technical sense of the term it is indeed. But what is a law? It seems to me that a law compels, prohibits or directs the behavior of people to effect a specific outcome. Provided most people are disposed to obey laws, the law will have the desired result. For those people who are not inclined to obey laws the law has a second part—punishment for disobedience. This may be prison, fines or other retribution specified by the law and imposed by the courts. On the first part there can be no doubt that the Constitution is law. It establishes what the President, the Congress and the Federal Courts may and may not do. By virtue of the fact that the document actually creates these entities as well it certainly could be regarded as ‘Supreme.’ Unfortunately, on the second point the Constitution seems somewhat lacking in seeing to its own enforcement and proscribing punishment for failure to comply. Of course, there is the concept of ‘Checks and Balances’ between the three branches of government; however when all three branches are operating in collusion or complicity to violate the tenets of the Constitution, this concept of control becomes moot. Members can be impeached and removed from office for ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors.’ But again, this is a function of Congress and if Congress is part in parcel with the Constitutional deception this method of enforcement is also found lacking. Just look at how many times it has been used; very few. The ballot box has proved to be a very ineffective method of correcting specific breaches of Constitutional authority. Changes occur very slowly and incrementally as a result of elections and laws once passed or programs once established are rarely, if ever reversed or overturned. Clearly it seems to me that the Framers doubted that any public servant would dare to blatantly disobey the Constitution. They had just fought and won a bloody war to throw off the yoke of a tyrant and establish this new nation by virtue of writing and ratifying the Constitution. They could not foresee that anyone called to serve would have disdain and disregard for the almost sacred document. As a result they must not have presumed a need for strict enforcement and punishment language to be included. The stature of the document would enforce itself they may have believed. For some time, the next generation or two it probably did. Sadly, that is not the case today. I believe that if we are to return the Constitution to its rightful place as the ‘Supreme Law of the Land,’ that task falls upon the States, the original authors. State governments, perhaps acting through an Article V Constitutional Convention must assert their power over the rogue federal government and right the ship before it is hopelessly swamped. I don’t come to this assertion lightly or quickly for I know the inherit dangers of a Constitutional Convention. But I believe that our nation with the current administration has reached a pivotal crossroad necessitating this drastic course of action. The very Constitutional foundation of our Republic and the preservation of freedom and liberty for future generations are at stake. These are desperate and dangerous times and thus demands swift, bold and decisive action. Men of courage must come forth if we are to preserve the nation that we inherited and pass it on intact, strong and free to our children and their children. Time is short.