America's Soft Tyranny is Hardening (Constitutional Republic Is Gone)

American Thinker ^ | Patricia McCarthy

[combat_boots]

We are assuming we live with normal rules of order. We don’t. And...the jihadis and 3rd world grunts coming here know how to use weapons and are used to violence.

We will have to fight THEM. By any means necessary.

[Article10]

Article V would be a Pandora’s box in this day and age...

To restore the Republic, threaten Article V, and demand repeal of the 17th and 16th Amendments.

The 17th Amendment allowed the Federal Gov to grow, concentrates power to the parties and a few offices...States are left completely out

The 16th Amendment fuels the growth

Article V would be disaster in my opinion if the two Amendments above could not be repealed,

[EBH]

I am reading a book, an old book about “Eichmann in Jerusalem, A Report on the Banality of Evil.”

The comparisons to America today as one reads through the chapters are frightening. The First Solution, The Second Solution, and of course The Final Solution. It is not so much the horrors that bother me, but the ...how of the Nazi regime...to change German reality for 80 million Germans. How they were able to turn off a person’s moral compass.

Changing the meaning of words(an amazing comparison to today’s progressive agenda), considering Pelosi’s “you have to vote on it to find out what’s in it”(an obstruction of our way of creating law), to what I consider the surrender of the USSC and the failure of Congress.

We note how out of touch Washington and the Belt-way are, but something much more sinister is happening inside those halls. There is a reason the progressives stick to their meme’s and anyone there long enough falls prey to the same sickness and brainwashing.

The more I read this book, the more I come to realize and understand how Germany ‘felt’ just before WWII. The problem being it is a feeling that has no real way of articulation or an ability to be stopped.

[Lion Den Dan]

It is for these abuses, the failure of officers of the government to enforce the law, that our revolution was fought.

[Lion Den Dan]

It is for these abuses, the failure of officers of the government to enforce the law, that our revolution was fought.

[nathanbedford]

Let me offer a few reactions to your thoughtful reply which are, just that, reactions rather than thoughtful analysis:

1. The odds of a candidate who is willing to break rice bowls to the extent necessary to reshape the system so that it is more congruent with the Constitution are remote. I think we agree that a candidate runs for office in order to secure power and the overall thrust of article V reform is to limit the power of Washington which inescapably includes the power of the president. With the experience of Barack Obama's tyrannical overreach fresh before us it is inconceivable that reform could be otherwise than to structurally limit the powers of the president in obvious applications such as governing not by article I legislation but by article II bureaucracy.

I cannot conceive of Donald Trump campaigning and certainly not governing in a manner agreeable to those who would support the reforms of article V. He does not campaign on this basis and I have been arguing respecting Donald Trump from day one that his election is not about conservatism but about Donald Trump. It is inconceivable to me that he will willingly tie his own hands merely because a true reading of the Constitution requires it.

Ted Cruz, whom I have supported from the beginning, supports the article V movement and is unquestionably in sympathy with its constitutional aims. But Cruz alone, even as president of the United States, will find himself confronted with the same realities that confronted John F. Kennedy in 1960s when he observed in frustration that the president orders the bureaucracy but nothing happens. The whole structure of the Constitution with its separation of powers and checks and balances works to inhibit reform, even well-intentioned reform congruent with the Constitution. There are too many rice bowls, too many interest groups, too many cubbyholes of power, too many judges protecting their turf to believe that a president, even a president as persuasive as Ronald Reagan or Franklin Roosevelt could possibly bring about the reforms required.

Of all the other candidates, I cannot imagine one as president with either the desire or the skills to effect a reform in the culture of Washington.

2. We do not trust politicians to go to Washington because as soon as they arrive there with their interests immediately depart from the interests of their constituents. The Washington culture is not a product of the waters of the Potomac, it is a product of our federal tax system, our power to borrow on the federal level, and the largess which these resources make available for elected representatives who engage in the business of Washington to enrich their business of being elected politicians.

The article V approach holds some hope of breaking through this formidable financial wall because the driving forces are state forces and to some degree are not enriched but actually burdened by much of what comes out of Washington. Whether that is consistently true or not, the greed of man can work for constitutional reform if the state legislators believe that they can grab hold of the golden goose and keep some eggs for themselves by returning power to the states. In my view, the best chance for the article V movement to succeed is not because of the nobility of state legislators but because their self-seeking interests conflict with the self-seeking interests of those who make up the establishment in Washington. That in effect is what went wrong when the 17th amendment was ratified.

3. Resistance to government at the level of violence is becoming more and more futile. I am amused by the threads which appear from time to time which sell the idea that a few patriots with revolvers can successfully withstand a government armed with lasers, drones, satellites, control of transportation, food, electricity and water. The government also will control the arms of propaganda if it ever comes to armed conflict. I believe many of the people who oppose article 5 do so because they actually want a showdown, a conflict they cannot possibly win except in romanticized daydreams.

However, the government must also always recognize that the price of physical tyranny is high and just as an honest yeomanry must shrink from such violence, the government itself must understand that all its violent victories will be pyrrhic victories and perhaps not worth the price. There is a great deal of deterrent power in the Second Amendment and in a well armed and vigilant yeomanry.

Although all of these approaches carry their own limitations and even deficiencies, that does not mean that they cannot be effective in combination. A Ted Cruz in the White House pushing for article 5 reforms in the wake of new incidences of unrest in cities like Ferguson and Baltimore might actually result in reform.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply.

[nathanbedford]

Correction: article 1 legislation and article II bureaucracy, not the other way around.

[Bulwyf]

You’re on target, but date is off, it’s been since 1865.

[Salvey]

Makes me wonder when the “Self Help” movement will kick in, with a vengeance. Maybe we’ll start to see a few “well regulated” militias move into action soon.

[trebb]

I noticed a funny thing about this, and many other thread. The majority of folks commenting, and obviously wanting a positive change, don't show up on the FR donor lists. Having had a bit of "repartee" with some from other threads, it also seems the trend is to not donate to any candidate either. I know a number of folks "go anonymous" for whatever reason and some may not show by mistake, but it is disturbing that so many who claim to espouse conservative principles don't believe in carrying their own weight....

Not pointing accusing fingers at any specific FReepers here, just sayin' what it looks like...

Now for a short public service announcement to all on FR:
I prefer Cruz and my money goes to his campaign, hence the Cruz link. If you like someone else, donate to him/her (find your own link to do it) and if you use FR and don't donate, then please don't complain about the welfare leeches or those who have Obama Phones because, functionally, you are no different than any other FReeloader.....

GO CRUZ!! Keep it up Trump!!

Donate to Cruz

Donate to FR

[ripley]

“The Constitutional Republic is gone.”

It is the irony of ironies to watch a bunch of elected politicians swear to uphold the Constitution, as they uphold instead a constitution that they’ve interpreted as existing rather than the original one.

The original Constitution is still there but it’s been interpreted out of existence and subverted to the point of nothingness.

IMHO

[STJPII]

Using the term “soft tyranny” harms our side because it euphemistically conveys a sense that it is hardly a tyranny at all. Not all tyrannies are Hitler/Stalin scenarios. Moreover Hitler was democratically elected and started out as a “soft tyranny”.

I love Mark Levin but always winced when he uses the term. The American Revolution was started over a 4 cents tax and the authority to level it. John Adams would have grabbed the his musket over the fire place and taken to the streets over Obamacare

[RKBA Democrat]

A good article that succinctly outlines part of the mess that we face.

The question of course is what do we do about it? Let me submit one important observation: we aren’t going to vote ourselves out of this. Our electoral system is hopelessly rigged, and the candidates are operating from the same script. And in any case, do we want to give it the legitimacy of our continued participation? I would say Hell No.

I would also suggest that the DOI was incorrect in noting that governments derive their power from the consent of the people. As recent events have pounded home, our consent is not required. No, power is derived from OBEDIENCE and Americans are nothing if they aren’t compliant.

Finally, we have an infinite number of things that we can do at a personal or small group level that will increase our freedom, happiness, and security. I suggest that we do those little things that mean a lot rather than continue to put our time, resources, and hope into elections that are so obviously broken. To continue to do so is counterproductive and frankly unhealthy.

[P.O.E.]

“The Road to Serfdom”

[ViLaLuz]

See my tagline...

14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

[Busko]

Better start to learn to goosestep and bend over backwards with the style of “freedom” we are having!

[skeeter]

Totally agree. People are voting for people who say the right words.

But those words are lies. They have no recourse anymore, but one.

[Big Red Badger]

Try not to be Bitter,

Be Ye Angry and Sin Not!

I’d put A chapter and Verse,but you know it’s in it.

[Georgia Girl 2]

“It falls vack on the people to defend it if govt wont”

Well if we don’t get Trump in the Whitehouse next year you and I and millions of others will be preparing to do just that.

[NormsRevenge]

Its what ya get for putting a congenital liar and ingrate in office.