I had the unusual experience of being able to attend a conservative political rally, called "Take America Back", on the Fourth of July. It was estimated that about 1,100 individuals came to the rally. It was rife with comical episodes, as would be expected at a rally promoting any sort of political views. The best of these episodes were the recurring Thoreau-esque Biblical parodies, including my favorite, "As for me and my house, we will fight for Liberty". The organizers of the event intended the event as a call for a return to Constitutionally limited government.
This event got me to thinking about the Constitution and the astounding ability of the American government to ignore it. This is not a new phenomenon. Almost as soon as the Constitution was ratified, the Federal Government passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which gave the Federalists sweeping power to censor political protests. This seems decidedly opposed to the First Amendment to the Constitution. And now our elected officials run amok, doing whatever they feel is best, with no regard for the enumerated powers of Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution.
The big problem with Constitutions is that they can not enforce themselves. They must be enforced by elected representatives, who have very little incentive to limit their own power. Anyone who has observed children knows that limits without enforcement are no limits at all. Only presidential veto and judicial review (despite the latter's questionable Constitutionality) serve to enforce Constitutional limits on the Legislature. These, it can safely be said, are rarely used for this purpose.
Therefore, Constitutionally limited government appears to be in a bad state. There exists no reason to abide by it (other than principle) and no punishment for ignoring it. It is, however, incredibly important. The rally, despite its flaws and comical moments, was heartening because it showed that some people still care about their liberty and are willing to fight for it. The people themselves can be a check on the powers of government, by being willing to punish legislators who fail to follow their oath to defend the Constitution by voting them out of office. As Samuel Adams once said, "It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." Hopefully "Take America Back" set some brushfires of freedom.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You make some good points. The government is way too big and has way too much power - it needs to stop. We need to get back to principles in the Constitution, not this so-called "living" Constitution.
ReplyDeleteI found it very reassuring to read that article because it tells me that atleast one of my friends isnt willfully ignorant to whats going on (and has been going on for the past 50 years). I have a lot of extra time at work, so I have been doing a lot of research, and the things I've been finding out are quite disturbing, although not surprising when you start to realize how controlled the American population has been by the mainstream media for so long. I agree wholeheartedly with you that the government is continually sidestepping, interpreting, or disregarding the Constitution and is creating bills and laws and attempting to pass ammendments that completely go against what the nation was founded on, and what the Bill of Rights and the Constitution itself state. The biggest example of this is the Patriot Act, which translates in lamens terms to unwarranted spying on the American people (all in the name of "fighting terrorism"). This is just one of the many things the Bush administration put in place to start this country on a quick path towards a high-tech military state, and Obama is rapidly continuing this. In his first 100 days of office, he did a complete 180 and did the exact opposite of all of his campaign promises. However, here is where I disagree with you; its not the Republicans, or the Democrats that are the problem or the solution...both parties are equally flawed because there is not truly a bi-partisan government in this country; both parties are essentially puppets to the elitist bankers (Rockefeller, Rothchild, etc.), and whoever is elected into office is done so because they are chosen by the people behind the scenes, not because the American people vote for them. Think about it; Obama won by a LANDSLIDE, becoming the first black president in history...this would never have happened if he didn't preach 'change', and if he wasn't such an amazingly articulate public speaker. Obama offered to the American people everything that they wanted to hear, a "way out" of the Bush debocle, and America (including me) fell flat on their face for this guy. Unfortunately, most people have the attitude that "you're just into conspiracy theories", or even worse they have the attitude of "I don't want to know", so in essence millions of Americans are willingly giving away their freedoms without a second look just because the government and the media are telling them its "what needs to be done". I will leave this huge rant with a link to a video of a lady committing exactly what I'm talking about; its sad, but comical at the same time, because what she says is a complete oxymoron: www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nb-HIHyMkk
ReplyDeleteHi, Jon. I'm going to link my blog to yours.
ReplyDeleteMine is a fairly quiet little blog but it might bring in a few readers.
A very thoughtful post.