Free Republic

One of the concerns expressed by Article V opponents stems from an assumed equivalence between popularly elected representatives to the US House and Senate, and delegates appointed by the states to an Article V convention to propose amendments. With that in mind, it is worthwhile to examine the two dimensions of the American polity, the electoral and sovereign capacities of the people. In the American Republic the people are entrusted by God and themselves to exercise two distinct duties. First, under the guidance of the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God, they are to craft and amend as necessary the...

“THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED.” That’s the angry outcry from many Americans as we rush headlong toward the November election. Milton Friedman defined a worthy goal for a society seeking equal opportunity: There should be no arbitrary obstacles blocking people from realizing their ambitions. The angry public sees government overreach as precisely that–an arbitrary obstacle that thwarts their ambitions. This column has advocated a sweeping government upheaval that would rewrite federal rules in order to limit Washington’s power and redirect it toward growth, security and higher middle-class incomes. Every government department needs to be reinvented and, in most cases, downsized through...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg believes "everything" will be up for grabs if Donald Trump is elected president and has the opportunity to appoint several justices to the high Court. "I don't want to think about that possibility, but if it should be, then everything is up for grabs," Ginsburg said of the presumptive Republican nominee succeeding in his bid for the White House in an interview published Friday by The Associated Press.

“We, the People . . .” are the three most powerful words in the history of world governments. It was the promise of a new way of self-governance; a profoundly unique experiment born of America’s 13 colonies and defended with the blood of Patriots. But today, battles rage among a divided people over an array of issues. At the center of the conflict is an oversized American government no longer bound by constitutional limits and retaining only a vague recollection of the finite powers delegated to it at the time of its creation. As Americans we should honor and celebrate...

A shiver ran through me as I watched James Comey’s clumsy dance around the edges of why Hillary was guilty of selling out her country, yet would not be prosecuted. Could that day, July the 5th, two days into America’s 241st year be the end of the republic established in 1788? Did we witness THE historic moment of the 21st century? As opposed to authoritarian regimes in which the moment of their deaths is known exactly by the date and time their despots pass on into hell, what of republics? When do republics die? One of the most famous ancient...

Another explanation is that he sees trouble ahead for Hillary Clinton. Because of his close relationship with former NYC police Chief Ray Kelly and others in the law enforcement community, he might have the inside track on the FBI investigation into the former Secretary of State’s handling of classified documents and questionable foundation-related activities. Democrats have done a fine job of completely dismissing the FBI inquiry, but the possibility that Clinton could face serious legal hurdles may be encouraging Bloomberg’s ambitions. The probe is not, as some Hillary backers have claimed, scandal-mongering by right-wing zealots. It is a serious investigation,...

In parts I & II last April, I referenced Niccolo’ Machiavelli’s examination of the tough job that awaits good men in corrupt republics to restore free government. Just as a body in motion tends to stay in motion in the direction it is headed, so too do societies and their governments. The government of our republic, dedicated to unalienable rights, has been so corrupted that its next president might be not a hidden traitor, but one who openly sold out her country. Crooked Hillary is a symptom, rather than a cause. Congress long ago perfected the art of exempting themselves...

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY Let us once again put INDIVIDUAL interests over “public” (government) interests. Let us proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all the people (Lev. 25:10). On this Independence Day, July 4, 2016, we find ourselves wanting to celebrate freedom but freedom and the Constitution and their true meaning is no longer taught in schools. Instead socialism, the synonym for tyranny and big government, is taught and broadcast throughout the land. We’re not even sure what liberty and freedom means and many are not even sure freedom is desirable for individuals and society. How did we reach this...

Oregonian By Letters to the editor on July 04, 2016 at 7:33 AM, updated July 04, 2016 at 7:34 AM Fourth of July: American dream never meant government largesse Fourth of July: On July 4, we recognize the Declaration of Independence, which defines the American dream as inalienable natural rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Constitution establishes a government to secure those rights by promoting the general welfare and the blessings of liberty. Whatever the Constitution further defines relies upon natural human rights independent of and superior to any government construction. They are intangible property sourced...

If we want to restore freedom to our country, we must re-discover our roots. Our Founding Fathers were so committed to their revolutionary ideas that they were willing to put their lives on the line for the document that laid the moral foundation for the United States of America—the Declaration of Independence. We need to be willing to do the same. We need to be willing to stand up and say: “My life belongs to me, not to the government, not to the state, not to King George, not to a welfare program, but…to me!” We need to believe in...

The Constitution gives absolutely no authority, none, to the federal government to dictate marriage policy to the states. *** *** When the Obergefell case was decided by the Supreme Court, its ruling legally applied only to the plaintiffs before it, as is true in any case before any court. The concept of “judicial review” - in which the Court, and not Congress, gets to decide what the law is - is not found in the Constitution anywhere. It was invented out of the ether by Chief Justice John Marshall in 1803 as a way for the Court to grant dictatorial...

One of the reasons I enjoy Independence Day is that it makes Leftists squirm. These citizens of the world are uncomfortable at the sight of unabashed and self-confident patriots celebrating the founding of a nation dedicated to undeniable truths. Tough. Let the micro-aggressions roll as we stand athwart the progressive junking of all that is good and decent. On our nation’s 150th anniversary in 1926, Republican president Calvin Coolidge gave a speech in which he responded to the progressive wave that was muddying the minds of the nation. Only thirteen years after the passage of the destructive 16th and 17th...

"Since well before 1787, liberty has been understood as freedom from government action, not entitlement to government benefits." [Quote #7 - in dissenting opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.]

I once admired Jefferson, seeing him as an essentially good, no, great man with one tragic flaw: The writer of the inspiring words “all men are created equal” owned slaves. Now, I see Jefferson as an egregious hypocrite, who willfully betrayed the ideals he espoused. I reached this conclusion only after visiting Monticello, Jefferson’s famous Virginia estate, last month. Previously, I didn't realize the extent of Jefferson’s slave ownership, and I lazily—and ignorantly--excused it as a common ethical blind spot of his time. *Jefferson often denounced slavery. He wrote in 1774, "The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object...

In my last post, Professor Randy Barnett described the Left’s conception of We The People as a collective, a single mass that expresses its sovereign will through congress. Here, first comes government, then come rights. Rights are what We The People collective say they are. The Republican Constitution. On the other hand, We The People of a Republican Constitution are composed of sovereign individuals. The people we send to government are fellow citizens and servants who exercise limited, enumerated, and “just” powers. Their purpose isn’t to reflect majoritarian will, but rather to secure the unalienable rights we all possess. A...

The author of this book has been seen several times on various tee vee shows. Understand that the sales of this soon to be released tome are already soaring. If any here have had the opportunity to read it, please share your feelings. pro? con? informative? encouraging? I ask to due the fact the author was once entwined with the AP, NY Times, NRP and therefore must have some rust on his body of information.

Judge Richard A. Posner, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 and serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago, has published an op-ed at Slate declaring that the U.S. Constitution is a waste of time. Posner writes: And on another note about academia and practical law, I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation (across the centuries—well, just a little more than two centuries, and of course...

After a 4-4 tie in the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision, our nation’s fundamental transformation ran into a roadblock. The Courts had stopped President Obama’s generous immigration policies, so we saw the President immediately call a press conference to renew his desires—while ignoring the real problems, which are both national and international. Our nation’s problem is that the president is not taking “care that the laws be faithfully executed,” which is his duty from Article II, Section 3 of our Constitution. If he had obeyed his constitutional duty and enforced immigration law like a president should, he would...

This squib began as a review of Professor Randy Barnett’s latest work, Our Republican Constitution. However, once I got into his explication of the two contradictory visions of the Constitution and what it means for Western Civilization, I decided to linger on the high points. If the Leftist avalanche of executive branch lawmaking, group rights, collegiate snowflakes, moral relativism, and horrid supreme court decisions under a Constitution designed to secure unalienable rights leaves you puzzled, then Professor Barnett’s latest book will help clarify the insanity that is modern progressivism. For those familiar with his previous works going back to The...

According to 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner in a post published to Slate, U.S. judges should stop studying the Constitution. “I see absolutely no value to a judge of spending decades, years, months, weeks, day, hours, minutes, or seconds studying the Constitution, the history of its enactment, its amendments, and its implementation,” Posner argued. “Eighteenth-century guys, however smart, could not foresee the culture, technology, etc., of the 21st century,” he continued. “Which means that the original Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the post–Civil War amendments (including the 14th), do not speak to today.”