Washington Knows Best

The health policy atrocity that Washington Democrats are now finalizing represents an ugly new turn in American politics. From almost the founding of the Republic, we have seen demagogues seek to sway public opinion in their favor with crass arguments appealing to base motives in the electorate, from racism to class warfare to xenophobia. But that is NOT what we are seeing in Washington today, on issues from health care to "global warming" to federal deficits, spending, taxes, welfare, energy, and beyond.

What we are seeing in Washington today is much worse. What this mob currently in power is telling us on health care, and the rest of the issues, is that they know what is best, and they are not the slightest bit interested in what the people think. If any of us disagree, that is because we are ignorant yahoos, malevolent Nazis, or crazy teabaggers, and our "elected representatives" have not hesitated to respond by calling American citizens precisely such names when they have exhibited the temerity to dissent. This is not a perversion of democracy. This is a complete abdication of democracy, or rule by the people, displaced by a new elitism, or rule by elites, which is a form of undemocratic authoritarianism.

We can't use phrases like "health care debate" to discuss what has happened, because there has not been any such debate. Ditto that for global warming policy, where the EPA, following the lead of President Obama, insists on plowing ahead regardless of what the public thinks, or what any dissenting scientific authorities have to say. Debate requires a willingness to listen to what others have to say, and to respond with rational arguments.

The Heathcare bill is NOT FOR THEM.

Further proof?

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
George Santayana

"That is because from the halls of power in Washington, to the corridors of media in New York City, the New Left from the 1960s has suddenly seized power in America. Its troops are behaving exactly like the New Left campus leftists who have shouted down and shut out dissenting views for decades. The result now is a fundamental crisis of democracy in America. If our system that previously produced the greatest, freest, most prosperous country in the world is to survive, patriots across America, from every village and farm, every town and county precinct, every neighborhood, barrio, and ghetto, every profession, every church, every discipline, will have to rally to save it. Putting America back on track to freedom and prosperity, and the restoration of the American Dream, will require fundamental reforms of our system of government, to put the people back in charge, ensure power to the people, and never allow the threat of such an effective anti-democratic coup d'état ever to arise again."

Ferrarra's assessment, as underlined above, is excellent--except for one detail.

As Benjamin responded upon exiting Constitution Hall, the Framers of our "system of government" left us, "A Republic, if you can keep it."

Although others of his day, including John Quincy Adams, referred to it as a "democratic Republic," none ever called it a "democracy," as to form. As a matter of fact, the Founders explained in their writings how they rejected a purely democratic form of government, in favor of self-government by "the People" themselves, through free and frequent elections of representatives who would be accountable to them.

The Founders' written Constitution, structuring "self-government" for a free people, set up a representative form of government for a reason. According to Jefferson, it was intended to "lace them up straitly within the enumerated powers. . . ," or to "bind them down by the chains of the Constitution."

What we need today is a revival of the Founders' ideas of liberty. We do not need, as Ferrarro puts it, "fundamental reform of our system of government." We need a rediscovery of the ideas underlying our form of government and a return by "We, the People" to demanding that the people we elect to positions of power in Washington are limited by the "enumerated powers" and the "chains of the Constitution."

The constitutional mechanisms are in place, left there by the Framers, but "We, the People's" ignorance of its provisions, and failure to hold our representatives accountable is the problem which needs attention. For instance, no Constitutional amendment by the method prescribed in Article V of the Constitution has been enacted to expand the taxing and spending powers under the so-called "General Welfare" Clause. If the people today understood what the founding generations understood, they would rise up and bring their representatives home, replacing them with individuals who would adhere to the Constitution's strict limits on power.

What we need is not a reform of our "system of government," as Ferrarra states, but a revolutionary revival of the ideas of liberty already incorporated into our documents of freedom--the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

The American Spectator and other so-called "conservative" web sites could spark the minds and hearts of citizens by educating them in those ideas. See

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.