Posted on 11/28/2016 2:07:16 AM PST by Jacquerie
Publius Huldah. Alexander Hamilton wrote, “The people are the natural guardians of the Constitution.” Hamilton expected us, the people, to differentiate between lawful exercise and illegal usurpation of power. If the power is on ‘the list,’ (Article I § 8) congress may do it, otherwise, congress may not.
She hammers Scotus for corrupting the commerce, general welfare, and necessary and proper clauses, . . . but the nation doesn’t need an Article V convention. “Just look it up in the federalist papers for original intent,” she says.
Rodney Dodsworth Response. Ms. Huldah is well-educated, which leaves me at a loss to explain her dismissal of the lessons of history, unless it is to shore up her COS conspiracy theory. She ignores what our Framers absorbed from such men as Niccolo Machiavelli’s study of the Roman Republic (Discourses on Livy), as well as The Enlightenment polemicist Algernon Sidney (Discourses Concerning Government), and the philosopher John Locke (Two Treatises of Government). These men and others warned of the natural corruption of republican governments by officeholders.
Civil society, through its Constitution, must adapt and adjust to deal with usurpations when high criminals turn institutions designed for free government into instruments of oppression. To freeze a governing form while those in government corrupt it is to invite civil war.
As Ms. Huldah describes, our executive and judicial branches usurp the legislative power, and they increasingly exercise powers not found anywhere in the Constitution at all, which is the definition of tyranny.
(Excerpt) Read more at articlevblog.com ...
It is more obvious everyday that art V is the required course.
… [T]he framers were not visionaries. They knew that rules of government, however brilliantly calculated to cope with the imperfect nature of man, however carefully designed to avoid the pitfalls of power, would be no match for men who were determined to disregard them. In the last analysis, their system of government would prosper only if the governed were sufficiently determined that it should.That was published 56 years ago. Those who wish to preserve the Leviathan are enemies of the Republic.
“What have you given us?” a woman asked Ben Franklin toward the close of the Constitutional Convention. “A Republic,” he said, “if you can keep it!”
We have not kept it. The [Dean] Achesons and [Arthur] Larsons have had their way. The system of restraints has fallen into disrepair. The federal government has moved into every field in which it believes its services are needed. The state governments are either excluded from their rightful functions by federal preemption, or they are allowed to act at the sufferance of the federal government. Inside the federal government, both the executive and judicial branches have roamed far outside their constitutional boundary lines. And all of these things have come to pass without regard to the amendment procedures prescribed by Article V.
The result is a Leviathan, a vast national authority out of touch with the people, and out of their control. This monolith of power is bounded only by the will of those who sit in high places. …
— The Conscience of a Conservative (1960), ch. 2, pp. 19-20
The result is a Leviathan, a vast national authority out of touch with the people, and out of their control. This monolith of power is bounded only by the will of those who sit in high places. …
...and so we unitedly reach the decision that the only solution is to open the Constitution to the monolith of power already in place, the home of usurpation, the US Congress who will make the Call and set rules regarding delegates. Brilliant solution. A simple change to the Constitution will bring Constitutional Government back from where it disappeared. Somehow I am not energized to such simplicity.
A great pull quote. Thanks for posting.
In Part III, I’ll show how Article V serves to prevent the constitutional convention that Publius Huldah fears.
Bkmk
Ask how did we get here.... These and others point to the issues or structural problems...that Leviathan on breathes due to the 17th amendment and its growth is due to the 16th amendment
The Republic ended the day the 17th Amendment was passed.
What we are finding is that no structure of governance can completely compensate for a general lack of virtue among the people and their leaders.
This is an important point. Political theorists are always looking for a structure that does not require virtue, and this is as much true on the right as the left. It doesn’t exist.
If people are generally honest and virtuous - not everyone, but a fair portion of them - almost any system of government can work. And if they are not, nothing will work. The problems go deeper than politics, and have to be solved at that level.
Agree. Overnight, the Framers’ careful, federal structure was destroyed. We’ve been a democratic republic since 1913, and I cringe when folks refer to a ‘federal government’ that doesn’t exist.
I addressed your point in today’s post.
That is a really good post from 56 yrs ago. I was only 2 and during my life this thing has become more nightmarish monster. I am going to be borrowing your quote in some future correspondence. Thank you for it.
The words of that book need to be more visible. Really is sad that it reads exactly like today, and is a lot more relevant.
Unless I missed some things in earlier articles (I read them all but very fast and on my phone) I appreciated this article getting more into the mechanics of an Article V convention. I did follow the link you provided to Indiana’s rules for their delegates and alternates. Does each state write their own rules? I believe that must be correct in the spirit of the Article V Convention. How are we assured that the uniparty doesn’t get their fingers in some state’s delegations? And how is it decided on a national level when and where a convention would take place? I’m looking ahead in faith here, understanding that we don’t have it all set yet. But, I’m curious about that part of the process.
The relationship between states and their delegates is that of client to an attorney. The attorney is lawfully bound to obey his client, and put the client’s interests ahead of his own.
While I’ve lost the link, I know that my state of FL has a statute similar to Indiana. States will not send schlubs off the street to serve as their agents.
Anyone who trusts their presidential electors every four years should have the same level of trust in their delegates to a state convention.
Well, I’m jumping in on Tuesday. Texas Convention of States is having a day at the state Capitol on Tuesday to meet, greet and lobby our Senators and Representatives. I am happy to report that my senator is one of the co-authors of a CoS bill in the Texas Senate. I’ve got a list of talking points from my area coordinator to help me stay on target and I am going to print out a great comment from Hostage on one of these CoS threads to study and take with me.
Wish me luck, intelligence, confidence and success. If any other Texas Freepers are going I’d appreciate a Freepmail.
WOW! Congrats and best success! Go get ‘em!
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