In 1787 a group of delegates met in Philadelphia to create a new government, one based on limiting principles, individualism, and the concept that as freemen our rights are natural rights given to us by Nature's God. Government, the founders determined, is necessary, but is also always prone to becoming tyrannical. The way to best guard against the rise of tyranny is to divide power at all opportunity, and to create checks and balances to ensure the powerful do not collude with other parts of government, or that a minority of ruling elitists somehow gain control of the system and use it to force their will upon the people.
Immediately, after the writing of the United States Constitution, the forces of statism launched attacks against freedom, and against the principles within the document. Through the unconstitutional Sedition Act of 1798, John Adams and the statists of the Federalist Party silenced their opposition. Then, after losing the Congress and White House in the Election of 1800, the statists stacked the courts with their allies, creating new positions in the federal courts, and appointing a myriad of "Midnight Judges." Among the new breed of justices in the system was John Marshall. He became the Chief Justice of the United States, and for 36 years in the position, he shredded the Constitution, and put into motion the tools today's politicians are using to turn our nation into a police state.
With his published opinions regarding judicial review, federal supremacy, and his attacks against State Sovereignty and individuality, John Marshal established a system of case law that has allowed the courts over the last two hundred years to interpret the Constitution to mean what they want it to mean, and to manipulate the system so that the original intent of the United States Constitution has been lost. Joined by progressives in the political circus, and later by statists flooding academia, the media, and the entertainment industry, today's generation has been conditioned to be good little soldiers, to defend government tyranny and monitor and turn in those that dare to voice their dissent. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are products of the statist's ongoing campaign, combined with a Marxist upbringing, and a hatred for the original principles established during the founding of this nation. In recent speeches both the President, and the First Lady, have instructed the younger generation to monitor and confront those, including their parents, that dare to voice dissent. The Left has gone beyond merely disagreeing with the American System, and the United States Constitution. Their agenda has become one of "search and destroy" - seeking out anyone and anything that defends Americanism, and destroying them with propaganda, political correctness, an ever-changing cultural climate guided by progressive teachings, and the courts.
Today's leftism is also the product of human nature.
The principles embedded in the United States Constitution are based on the belief by the founders that mankind is flawed. We are slaves to our human nature, and our human nature is sinful at best. Left to our own devices, we are willing to descend into moral depravity, and become slaves to tyranny orchestrated by those that hunger for power and wealth. Tyranny is the norm in history, and liberty is the exception. Liberty takes work. Freedom requires individuals to rise up and disallow tyranny. The Constitution is only ink and paper if we fail to defend it.
The delegates of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and the delegates that enabled the writing of the Declaration of Independence, were problem solvers, and they expected us to be the same. They took action to ensure their liberty, and ours. But the dynamics of the American System have been perverted, and we have been trained to accept it as the way it is, shut up, and go about our business. If we need anything, we have been convinced, government will supply it.
Freedom is not something that comes around often. Freedom is a rare jewel that must be coveted, protected, preserved, and promoted. But to ensure freedom, the government must be limited. Nobody is above the law, including kings, legislators, presidents, and judges. We are freemen, seeking to reserve our rights, our freedoms, and our ability to be a consenting voice in the machinations of government.
The disease is statism, and our complacency has allowed the madness to get this far.
Limited Government is the essence of liberty. Local issues are supposed to be taken care of by local communities and individuals, not the central government in Washington. The statists believe otherwise. They believe it is their responsibility to micromanage your lives. They use permits, and government programs, and mandates, and fines to force us to act within the parameters of their will. Why do we have to ask government permission to do anything? We don't need them to run our lives, and we don't need them to make our decisions for us. If we allow them to do these things, the essence of liberty will be deceased.
There are steps that exist in the rise of a revolution. In the American Colonies, it began with meetings, and letters to Britain appealing to the government as Englishmen, and Freemen. Then the frustrations of the colonists erupted into protests, small demonstrations at first, but eventually ones that reached the ears of all of the colonists. Then the militia began to form, to protect the colonists from armed confrontations, such as the Boston Massacre on Baker Street. Then the British came for the guns and ammunition of the colonists, and that was the final straw. The colonists knew that an important tool of tyrannies to control the populace is to take away their ability to defend themselves. Without firearms in the hands of the Americans, forcing them into compliance through force would be much easier. However, the colonists refused to give in so easily, standing their ground at Lexington Green, where the first shots of the American Revolution were fired. And then the colonists chased the British Redcoats all the way back to Boston Town. But even then, it was not yet about independence. The fight was simply an appeal by the colonists to be treated as freemen, to be treated as those that have liberty, and God-given Rights. Independence arose the following year when the cries of the colonists continued to fall upon the deaf ears of the statists across the Atlantic Ocean.
The founders, in their wisdom, through documents and correspondence, gave us five tools to turn this all around.
First, we may launch a peaceful revolution, as we have. We meet in meeting halls, pubs, churches, Tea Party Meetings, Constitution Association Meetings, and other group meetings across the country. We discuss our disgust with what is going on, how the government is intruding upon our rights as Americans, and we have appealed to Washington as freemen. Protests, peaceful yet effective, have emerged around the country, the one in Murrieta over Illegal Immigration capturing national attention. . . and support.
Second, we must remember that we, through our States, are the final arbiters of the United States Constitution. We do not have to accept unlawful dictates from Washington, if those laws or actions are not authorized by the Constitution. Our States, in response to those unlawful actions by the federal government, may "nullify" them, refusing to implement unconstitutional federal laws or actions, and refuse to work with unconstitutional executive departments. Nullification was described as a very valuable tool by Thomas Jefferson in the Kentucky Resolutions.
Third, we need to realize that the union of States is one that is voluntary. If the States were forced to be a part of the union, that would make the union a tyranny. As voluntary members of the contract known as the United States Constitution, if ever the federal government should breach that contract, as they are now repeatedly, the States have the right to secede. The threat of secession if a very valuable tool, and one the federal government would take notice of.
Fourth, we have the right to convene a convention to audit the federal government. There are three kinds of convention. The first is a Con-Con, Constitutional Convention. There has been only one of those conventions in our history, in 1787, and it should remain that way. A con-con in today's political climate would be a very dangerous undertaking because the government may hijack the proceedings, or use it to eliminate the Constitution altogether. The second is an Article V. Convention, which I believe would be very valuable, but we may not be ready for such a thing. In an Article V. Convention, the States would propose amendments, and then the ratification process of 3/4 approval would still need to take place as it does when Congress proposes amendments. Federalist 85 defends the Article V. Convention, and considers the ratification process the fail-safe against a runaway convention. However, who will be the characters to conduct such a convention, and can they be trusted? The final convention is called by most to be a Convention of States. My friend G.R. Mobley has coined the term Republic Review for this kind of convention. The Constitution Association is an active force behind trying to bring about a Republican Review. This kind of convention would be populated by trusted members of our communities, coming together as delegates, to audit the federal government. Remember, we are the final arbiters of the Constitution, and if it takes 3/4 of the States to ratify an amendment, which is required to change the Constitution and grant to the federal government new authorities, then it would take only a quarter of the States, plus one, to deem an action, department, or law by the federal government unconstitutional. Then, banding together through convention, and a combined nullification effort, the States can confront the federal government and demand that the unconstitutional action, department, or law cease to be. Convention enables us to use strength in numbers, and a Republic Review is a way we can reach those numbers, come to agreement as States, and then properly use other tools, like nullification, Article V. Convention, or the threat of secession effectively.
Fifth, and a last resort, is the bloody revolution. The Americans of the late 1700s resorted to this tool only after exhausting all other possibilities, and it was the British that fired the first shot. Thomas Jefferson so distrusted central government that he suspected we may have a bloody revolution every twenty years. Upcoming film "Gray State" shows us what the conditions may need to be like in order for that to transpire. How far into tyranny must we be forced before we are willing to act against the tyrants?
Defeating statism, and confronting a tyrannical federal government is not just something we ought to do, but it is our right. In the Declaration of Independence it says, "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
Finally, I must ask, "Are we willing to be the problem solvers the Founding Fathers expected us to be?"
Remember, only 3% of the colonists actually fought the Revolutionary War, and only a dozen protesters began what became a national story in Murrieta when citizens decided to stand against the federal government and turn around the buses at a Border Patrol Station.
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
No comments:
Post a Comment