A Republic If You Can Keep It

vanity ^ | 12/12/2005 | Hopeful Patriot

[HopefulPatriot]

A Republic If You Can Keep It

Breathes there the man with soul so dead, 

Who never to himself hath said,

'This is my own, my native land!'

    The ink wasn't dry on the Constitution before one of the Founders who gave it birth expressed his doubts about the ability of Americans to preserve the Constitution that defined the United States. Three Franklin quotes provide the insight needed to understand his cynicism:

• "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
• "They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety."
• "When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

    There are no Democrats who understand and are committed to honoring the provisions of the Constitution. The heart and soul of the Democratic Party is socialism. Socialism and democracy are unequivocally and irrevocably incompatible with the Constitution of the United States. Almost by definition, Democrats are at war with the Constitution. Here is what James Madison, the acknowledged "Father of the Constitution" had to say about socialism and democracy:  

• "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."
• "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide."

    John Edwards is correct; there are two Americas. The America that is seen by Democrats is an unconstitutional socialistic Utopian democracy. The America seen by Republicans is much harder to define. It is certainly run by a "little intellectual elite in a far distant capital" which barely qualifies it as a 'republic'. Far too many Republicans have become willing to accept or tolerate the premise that socialism is inevitably and inescapably now a permanent part of the American landscape. It also seems that there are increasing numbers of poorly informed or misguided Republican politicians who are embracing socialism for the same reason that Democrats brought socialism to America, to get elected and to stay elected. Socialism is unconstitutional and it is a mistake for Republican politicians to ever believe that conservatives will cheerfully support Republicans that condone socialism. Such a belief contains the seeds for disappointing, if not bitter losses in future elections. Republican politicians have failed to learn the lesson of Ronald Reagan's two landslide victories; conservatives will turn out and vote in over-whelming numbers for a genuinely conservative candidate. And it appears that congressional Republicans have deliberately chosen to ignore the lesson of the 1994 Republican Revolution; conservatives will turn out and vote in over-whelming numbers for a genuinely conservative agenda. Socialisticly leaning Republicans have more than earned the pejorative description of being a "RINO" as an acronym for Republican In Name Only. Regardless of party affiliation, in the absence of term limits, politicians seeking life-long careers in office, use the treasury to buy their constituents' votes for perpetual re-election. Socialism was created by, and is perpetuated by politicians. Socialism becomes their holy grail for re-election. Socialistic politicians effectively convert any republic into a democracy by surrogates.

    In truth, there is a third America. This America is only a memory, or more correctly stated, a mirage that is pictured only in the minds of conservatives. This mirage is an illusion because it no longer exists in the real world. It is the United States that was defined by the Constitution. Conservatives haven't yet been able to consciously admit to themselves or to even consider the possibility that they no longer live in an America that is the USA, but rather a country that is actually the USINO.

    It is a mistake in terminology and a mistake in logical thinking to allow the media or our educational institutions to be portrayed as representing or reflecting the mainstream. Mainstream Americans are conservative and still believe in freedom. The history of the past century is that the media has been nothing more than a propaganda organ for socialism and the Democratic Party. While Democrats and RINO's are the problem, it will be difficult to convince most conservatives of how grave the problem actually is until conservatives begin to recognize and begin to admit to themselves that they no longer live in the USA. The potential to correctly assess and address the problem will only be possible after conservatives begin to consider the possibility that they are actually living in the US In Name Only. There are three reasons why most conservatives have not recognized or noticed the transition from USA to USINO. First the transition was done in incremental steps, at a glacial pace over the course of a century. Secondly, the media has been incredibly successful in using propaganda to conceal the truth. And thirdly, our educational institutions became major players in the propaganda/brain-washing efforts that have successfully camouflaged the changes that have been continuously occurring, but ever so gradually. In lieu of thinking or questioning, Americans educated after 1950 have been conditioned to accept, rather than challenge, information provided by authority figures. This has been especially true when the information has been provided by the government.

Good News and Bad News

    It may not seem like it, but this article has actually been written to share good news with you. The bad news is that Franklin was right; we didn't keep it. The good news is that we can take it back if we respond correctly and with reasonable promptness. A small group of Freepers has devised the best plan ever put forward to restore the Constitution. You do not have to take my word for the quality of the plan. If you really are a Constitutional conservative, you are quite capable of deciding the relative merits of the plan for yourself. Even before you begin to plunge into the details of the plan in eager anticipation of disproving my claim that our plan is the best ever proposed, there are a few things that should be self-evident and some that should be considered:

• Recognition of the need to restore the Constitution means that in the last eighty years no one, and that includes Ronald Reagan, Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh, has put forth a plan that has already worked. 
• The fact that the resolution of the problem is not already in sight, means that on balance, it is debatable whether we have even made any praiseworthy progress in spite of Ronald Reagan's leadership or his undisputed immense contribution.
• Ditto with regard to the 1994 Republican Revolution resulting from Newt's Contract with America. At best, these may have only slowed the pace of our descent into socialism.
• Measured in terms of either the growth of government intrusion into our lives or the growth of government spending, it is clear that we have lost ground. 
• If you have read the Gokhale-Smetters report and found it credible, you should recognize the possibility that the country could be poised for catastrophe.
• The lessons of history are unambiguous. All democracies end in bankruptcy or hyperinflation whenever the public learns to vote itself benefits. Remember the warnings of Madison and Reagan.

FreeRepublic's Mission 

    In March of 1999, Jim Robinson clearly stated FreeRepublic's mission. Five years later in March of 2004, Jim Robinson had this to say, "We oppose all forms of liberalism, socialism, fascism, pacifism, totalitarianism, anarchism, government enforced atheism, abortionism, feminism, homosexualism, racism, wacko environmentalism, judicial activism, etc...We are conservative activists dedicated to defending our rights, defending our constitution, defending our republic and defending our traditional American way of life."

    In one of our very first articles, we issued this challenge to every Freeper. Dismayed does not begin to describe our assessment of the response to either our challenge or the response to the series itself. Here is a quick look at the results:

• Our first article, Free Republic And Freedom, has been viewed 1,616 times.
• Our second article, Free Republic's Roots, has been viewed 1,655 times;
• The third, Another Ronald Reagan, has only been viewed 747 times.
• The most recent, Where's the Instant Replay? has been viewed a paltry 544 times.

The trend is clearly headed in the wrong direction. With that thought in mind, we have a few comments and some questions:

• FreeRepublic.com ~ Conservative News Discussion Forum, from Webster's: forum-an assembly for the discussion of questions of public interest.
• The topic we (a presently small but hopefully soon to grow number of Freepers) are proposing for discussion is restoring the Constitution.
• What is our mission? Free Republic is dedicated to reversing the trend of unconstitutional government expansion and is advocating a complete restoration of our constitutional republic.
• Within that topic, our small group of Freepers has a specific plan to restore the Constitution that we would like to present for discussion and improvement.
• Our small group has challenged the members of the forum to evaluate the plan we are presenting and to offer their thoughts on how to improve this plan.
• We have proposed that at the conclusion of our presentation, that those Freepers who think this plan, with or without improvement, is unlikely to achieve the goal of completing FreeRepublic's stated mission, should present the members of the forum a plan of their own making for discussion.
• We believe that FreeRepublic's mission is important enough to warrant a section of its own on the News/Activism sidebar where articles or relevant posts could be linked and available to all Freepers for extended periods of time. We have asked for this addition to the sidebar twice. Both requests were politely refused.
• In that same March 2004 article quoted above, Jim Robinson was discussing the War on Terror and had this to say, "Believing that the best defense is a strong offense, we (myself and those whom I'm trying to attract to FR) support the strategy of taking the fight to the enemy.."

Here are our questions:

1. Is the over-arching goal of conservatives the restoration of the United States Constitution?
2. If the best defense is a strong offense, isn't it time for FreeRepublic to go on offense in an effort to restore the Constitution?
3. If the answer to both questions is yes, should accomplishing FreeRepublic's mission be a continuing discussion for the forum until such time as the mission has been accomplished?
4. Would having a News/Activism Sidebar section entitled "Mission" or something to that effect, where relevant articles and replies could be linked for extended periods facilitate the discussion and presumably facilitate the accomplishment of the mission?
5. Would it facilitate the discussion of the mission and therefore presumably facilitate the accomplishment of the mission to have this discussion moderated and possibly archived and/or excerpted to separate the wheat from the chaff?
6. If there are enough "yes" answers to all of the above questions, I would like to ask the members of the forum if they would be willing to ask the Founder of our Forum, Jim Robinson, would he be willing to act as The Moderator for the FreeRepublic Mission Discussion?
7. Is there anyone who believes the goal is politically unattainable?
8. If the goal is not attained, have you considered the alternatives and the consequences?
9. What does this Freeper want for Christmas? How about the initiation of a serious effort to restore the Constitution?

    This Christmas, our small group of Freepers would like to give every Freeper the opportunity to give their children and their other family members the gift of a lifetime. You can give them FREEDOM, the same freedom that was the birth right of every American from 1789 until 1912, the same freedom for which countless Americans have bled and lain down their lives. Is it too much to ask, Will you take The Pledge?

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!
                        

 

 

[writer33]

Sorry.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Good article, thanks. And thanks for reminding us what FR is all about. :-)

[MarkL]

"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

Jerry Agar had an interesting topic on his radio show today... A MO state legislator wants to turn I-70 into a toll road. It seems that the interstate is falling apart. Interestingly enough, it seems that the gasoline and trucking taxes have collected more than enough money to fix the interstate. It seems that the state has used that money for other things. So, since there's no money left to actually do what the state is supposed to do with the money, they need to find other sources of revenue. It's a shame that the rules of the private sector don't seem to apply to the government. Because what the state's done with those funds would be criminally and civilly punishable, and the people behind the illegal spending could expect a "perp-walk."

Mark

[Do not dub me shapka broham]

Bump.

[nopardons]

Because the message is not resonating with any but a handful.

The reason for that is simple...these posts sort of sound okay, but are just platitude filled day dreams.

[Sam Cree]

"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic."

Something they couldn't do before the imposition of the income tax.

[nopardons]

It's ILLEGAL for private citizens and that includes companies ) to print what they claim is legal tender.

[The Drowning Witch]

OHHH YOU have GOT to read THIS:

[ZULU]

I really like this post. I agree with almost all of it.

But I have been thinking lately about Freedom.

I don't think Freedom is something you can GIVE anyone. Its not a GIFT. Its a GOAL to be EARNED.

The Founders of our Republic EARNED their Freedom - with their tears, toil and sweat. Our philosophical forefathers fought for that Freedom in countless wars since then.

We, with the Brits, GAVE Freedom to Europe after WW2. WE GAVE Freedom to them AGAIN after the collapse of the Evil Empire. They have squandered it.

Are the French, Germans, etc, REALLY Free?? Or they merely like too many Americans today - individuals who merely enjoy the fruits of Freedom without understanding the cost and value of it? People who are unwilling or incapable of defending what was given them because they didn't really earn it themselves and hence have no appreciation of its value.

The people who founded our Republic had generations of experience here in America of running representative government. To an extent that experience was also brought here by THEIR forefathers from England.

Different ethnic groups who came here later, for the most part, accepted, learned and treasured that Freedom from being taught about the foundations of our Republic, learning from experiences with Native born Americans, and being willing to WORK - HARD - so that that Freedom could be passed on to their sons and daughters.

Look at what a mess South America is. Look at the endless succession of failed "Republics" in France.

Why the difference between THEIR experience and ours? Genetics and climate? I doubt it.

I think the difference lay in social structures. The South American Revolutions for the most part merely exchanged overlords. The average peon or peasant was just as wretched after their revolutions as before - they merely exchanged masters. This was due to a lack of any historical understanding or value of real Freedom.

The French had no experience of republican government - unlike the English and their settlers here. Where OUR revolution was based on the premise that men enjoyed rights granted by God, theirs was based on a belief that the State was responsible for granting rights.

I am very worried about America and its future and very concerned about our so-called allies and the cowardly mass of contented socialist cattle they have become. Too many of our fellow Americans have become like them.

[SeaBiscuit]

Bookmarked and bumped.

[JulieRNR21]

Thanks for the ping.

[writer33]

You're welcome. You have another one.

[GeronL]

good one!! thanks

[E.G.C.]

BTTT

[Kay Ludlow]

bump!

[metesky]

Because the message is not resonating with any but a handful.

It's not resonating because it's mostly a bunch of posters of the "More Conservative Than Thou" variety.

IMO.

[TomasUSMC]

Abolish the Senate

---

Definitely.

[listenhillary]

Bump for a return to constitutional government!

If there is a ping list, put me on it. Very good information that resonates with what I have been thinking.

Give me time to follow this before I take the "pledge"

[HopefulPatriot]

Grover Cleveland (22nd President left office in 1889) was the last President from the Democratic Party that faithfully upheld the Constitution. History will record that Woodrow Wilson's election in 1912 made socialism possible and will likely be dated as the beginning of the end of the United States.

Socialism lasted roughly 75 years before the Soviet Union cratered to the Ash-heap of History. The United States started from a much higher capital and manufacturing base while retaining substantial measures of capitalism. Gokhale and Smetters projected the amounts of the excess benefits over the tax revenues for Social Security and Medicare at somewhere between $30-70 trillion dollars with their best estimate at $45 Trillion in 2002 compounding at 1.5 trillion annually for each year that current law doesn't change.

The first boomers will be eligible for SS in Oct 2008 and Medicare in Oct 2012. There are an estimated 78 million boomers who will stop paying FICA taxes and start drawing benefits over the next 30 years. Using Enron accounting to keep these excess liabilities off the balance sheet, the US as a whole has been cash flow negative by more than 2.5 billion dollars every day for more than two years. Where is the money going to come from to pick up an additional 1.5 Trillion dollars a year when the boomers retire?

History tells us that socialistic democracies always end in bankruptcy or hyperinflation with the only other option being revolution which is usually followed by a dictatorship. If you do the math, by 2016 the economic pressures on politicians and the American people will be high enough to expect things to start coming apart. If you think the 2000 Presidential election was a revolutionary cliff-hanger, wait until the mountains of red ink turn everybody's knuckles white and all the politicians' spines yellow.

[HopefulPatriot]

"..platitude filled day dreams."

Our dreams fit together like the pieces of a puzzle that can come together to form a reality that can restore the Constitution.

nopardons,
It's a piece of cake to offer a critique of the status quo or a critique of a plan for the future. It is all together different to offer a plan for something that millions have not been able to do in almost a century of trying. We expect to finish publishing this series before next tax season which gives you several months to prepare if you are willing to accept my challenge.