Posted on 04/05/2009 12:09:04 PM PDT by Harrius Magnus
Conservatives and not a few liberals are in a whining mood these days. They recall studying the foundation of our Republic—all those white guys locked into that room in Philadelphia, and in the dead of summer to boot—and lament the direction our nation is heading. I understand such lamentation, as I have indulged in it myself. We may sit around and commiserate about the growth of government and lost liberty all we want, though I cannot imagine Washington and Jefferson and Madison and Adams doing likewise. If we admire these men perhaps we should act as they did.
And what they did was overthrow two regimes—one foreign and oppressive, the other domestic and weak. From these creative destructions came our Constitution. It was written to allow a government strong enough to deter aggression from an enemy nation, and with powers dispersed enough to prevent the rising of tyranny here at home. It succeeded in the first and failed in the second. But more of this in due course.
Those who liked the Constitution were called Federalists. Those who did not like the Constitution were called Anti-Federalists. One Anti-Federalist was Patrick Henry, he of “Give me Liberty, or give me death!” fame. Henry was concerned that the office of president would eventually allow a man to become a dictator. He also believed that the Constitution gave the federal government too much power and it would thus present a threat to individual and states’ rights. Henry insisted that any constitution include a specific bill of rights. Madison, a noted Federalist, disagreed. Madison thought such a listing of rights was unnecessary.
Henry’s view prevailed, and the result was the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights. To understand the importance and relevance of the Anti-Federalist position, imagine the US without the Bill of Rights.
Where the Federalists and Anti-Federalists went wrong was where all such men go wrong. They put their faith in a mere document. The finest constitution on earth—and the US Constitution is the finest governing document ever written—cannot deter men who care little for such things. Men whose sole interest is power will acquire it no matter what some document says. History is full of constitutions and of men who ignored them.
As Adams noted that our “Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people” it follows that as Americans became less religious and thus less moral, the Constitution would cease to have any retraining effect upon men driven by the pursuit of power. That is our situation today. Our government sees no limit to its power. It claims the authority to seize property, set income levels, nationalize entire swaths of industries and borrow trillions of dollars. It would be a waste of time to try to find the power to do these things in the Constitution, as such a power does not exist. Our government functions on whim and fancy. We call such a regime “lawless.”
And as the Anti-Federalists warned, any growth of government would mean a commensurate lessening of liberty. The Federalist Adams understood this quite well.
But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.
If Adams is right, then any talk of a return to constitutional principles is silly. We have gone too far, surrendered too much, sacrificed too seldom and learned too little. We the people have rendered ourselves unfit to be governed by our own Constitution. Even Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has pronounced the Constitution dead. But that does not mean we will not be governed.
We are at that point reached by the Roman Republic during the last years of its existence ( 133-30 BC) before becoming an empire. Our present ills can be found there as well: a weakening of the ancient faith, massive political corruption, a lawless senate, rampant divorce, birth control and abortion among the ruling classes, an economic system that expropriated wealth from the provinces to concentrate it at the capital, teeming masses of foreigners and a host of potential dictators eating their way through the Roman state. To put the matter simply, Rome became ungovernable. It took military intervention, civil wars and the foundation of a permanent dictatorship to bring back economic and political stability.
More than likely such will be our own fate. Our current system—if such a bizarre farrago of criminal caprice can be termed such—will be swept away. It is still too soon to predict what will take its place. Some will like it. Some will not.
The Anti-Federalists were right. Henry again:
A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.
Is their any sane man left among us who can possibly pretend that the regime now in place in Washington can be defined by “justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue”? Or that is governed by “fundamental principles”?
Our Republic has become a mere shell. In its place is a rule of lawless men. These men laugh at restraints to their power and even now plan on seizing more and more of our wealth and liberty.
Cicero lived during the last decades of the Roman Republic. He called government servitude “the worst of all evils, to be resisted not only by war, but even by death.” Henry, Adams, Jefferson and Madison would all agree with the old Roman.
Eventually our degraded times will call out for a Caesar. A Caesar will come.
Update: Think me too radical, outlandish, over the top? Well read this.
When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup.
Thomas Sowell wrote that two years ago. Prepare yourself accordingly for the shape of things to come.
Bump for later
Outstanding. Truer words were never written. We are way past the point of trying to fix through peaceful means what has become a corrupt tyranny.
Our children deserve better than the fate that awaits them. It is up to us.
They who mock and breach the fundamental law cannot use "law and order" as a cry to save themselves from destruction. Their "law" is not law at all. It is tyranny. There is only one way to deal with tyrants.
Such talk is pure absolute certifiable insanity. Nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with this country could possibly be made better from a military coup.
Fahgeddaboutit.
We need to convince liberals that they cannot continue with us; that they must split away from us, that there really does need to be a split of the U.S. into two groups, one socialist and one conservative. We need to make the liberals believe it is their idea to secede from us.
Very cogent and well stated. We are in GRAVE danger.
“Such talk is pure absolute certifiable insanity. Nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with this country could possibly be made better from a military coup.”
Absolutely. I fear talk of revolution, and I hear it. History has more Robespieres and Caesars than Washingtons and Mandelas
A military coup by patriotic soldiers is our last best hope. The criminal cabal brought on by the 0 presidency is unstoppable by any civil means.
Not until these despots now in power are overthrown and imprisoned can our nation’s honor and integrity be restored. That day will not be one to celebrate for it will demonstrate our inability to govern ourselves as free people.
?Such talk is pure absolute certifiable insanity. Nothing, absolutely nothing wrong with this country could possibly be made better from a military coup.”
Yeah, the issue I always have with the idea of a military coup is that Julius Caesar taking over led to Augustus Caesar, but also led to the Neroes and Caligulas. While Augustus was one of the greatest civil politicians/leaders ever, it eventually led to idiots.
Yeah, that's an apt comparison.</sarc> We ain't talkin' the same language, Brother.
Sorry pal, but that's just crazy talk. So, go check yourself into the luny-bin. Don't come out until you get rid of all that nonsense.
In the mean time, while you're in there, talk to the other inmates. Remind them that the next election is in November, 2010, and this time, if they will all get off their g*dd*mn dead *sses and VOTE, the problem will start to be solved.
Start now, there's not a minute to lose!
“We ain’t talkin’ the same language, Brother. “
Are you talking Spanish?
Your failure to understand our own history leads you into naivite. We are as susceptible to civil war, revolution, and military takeover as any other country. Tyranny has been the battle cry for patriots since the foundation of our country. This is no less true today.
A majority of colonialists opposed our own revolution. Appeasement is always the popular approach to tyranny. For many citizens, however, tyranny will not stand and appeasement with its seductive easy solutions will not suffice.
0 has effectively suspended the Constitution with his devil’s pact at G20, his control of large corporations, his creation of a standing domestic army, and on and on.
We are witnessing the wholesale dismantling of our nation. A preponderance of our electorate is blindsided and stupified. There is no possibility that elections will right the harm being done every day by a cabal of Marxists in leadership in DC.
I said it before and I will say it again. Our last best hope to avoid armed insurrection is a military coup and the reestablishment of Constitutional government.
I've said it before, and will say it again: you are an utter complete nut-case. You have no business on Free Republic. Go where you belong: sites for fascists, Nazis, military totalitarians -- what the h*ll are you talking about?
Military coups don't establish "Constitutional government." Military coup is the OPPOSITE of Constitutional Government. There is NO POSSIBLE WAY you get from military coup to "Constitutional government." It can't happen, period. Not in America.
The American Revolution was NOT run by military coup. It was run by the Continental Congress, which APPOINTED it's military and diplomatic leaders. Yes, long before he was a general, George Washington was a long time politician. Surprised?
Nothing, nothing could be more anti-Constitutional than a military coup. Furthermore, such a coup would ignite a civil war to make the last one look like a day at the park.
This whole idea is such stupid nonsense, I can't believe that anyone outside a luny-bin would even contemplate it. CERTAINLY NOT ON FREE REPUBLIC!!!
A majority of colonists DID NOT OPPOSE the Revolution. One third supported it, one third opposed it, one third were willing to support the winning side. The same has been true generally to this day.
Furthermore, we can see the level of American support in the fact that over 25,000 died from the war. In today's terms that's equivalent to 2.5 million -- many more than any American war except the Civil War (6 million equivalent).
Why would you spend even a minute of time fantasizing & wet dreams about military coup instead of using that time productively to convince your neighbors to VOTE for the good guys next time around?
People like us sitting on our hands is what got the O-team into power. If we'll just get off our dead *sses, we can vote them back out again.
As for your "armed insurrection," that's what criminals do every day in this country. And every day they go to jail for it, as would you.
Free Republic is not a home for fascists.
My! Your protestations are inflamed. Clearly you have intense sentiments about this matter. Yet, whether you are able to admit it or not, we are closer to civil war than we have been in 150 years.
As to your faith in the election system, ACORN has demonstrated that they are able to mobilize a substantial segment of the electorate to vote for Marxists. We are witnessing an overthrow of our government, much of which is not reversable by political means.
You are not willing to admit that a reasonable person could imagine a military coup in the midst of the continuing crisis that is the 0 administration. Assaulting me with ridiculous labels does nothing to counter my argument.
I witnessed a military coup in Haiti when the people elected Aristide, a Marxist. The military leaders were conservative Christians who sought a return to Constitutional government.
Clinton interceded, at the behest of Hillary who saw the importance of saving the Marxist movement in the Caribbean. The people of Haiti vigorously opposed the intervention of the US in their attempts to correct their errors.
With the blockade the entire economy of Haiti was destroyed over night. It was dependent upon American light manufacturing, all of which ended with the embargo. 90% of the economy was affected.
Aristide’s first act upon being returned to power by Clinton was to abolish the military. His personal bodyguuard established a reign of terror.
Just as an aside, an 18 million dollar draft handed to Aristide by our state dept for the upgrade of the electrical system in Haiti was used instead to build a palatial personal compound for the little priest dictator.
You honestly believe this cannot happen here? You do not understand very much about our military or their undying commitment to the Constution.
Your assaulting the world with lunatic ideas about a military coup is beyond the pale of reason. You deserve nothing but contempt.
"You honestly believe this cannot happen here? You do not understand very much about our military or their undying commitment to the Constution."
That's so insane, where do we even start? You can't get constitutional government from a military dictatorship, idiot. What are you going to do, exclude half the voters? And you'd try to pretend that was somehow Constitutional? What minuscule percentage of the population do you suppose would buy into such nonsense, 1%?
I'll say again, you are a nut-case beyond all reason, and have no business posting on Free Republic. Take your lunacies to fascist or military dictatorship web sites. This site is about constitutional government, and let me clue you pal: military dictatorship ain't it!
Here's the truth of the matter: in 19 months there will be another election. If idiots like you will stop fantasizing about military dictatorships long enough to talk to your neighbors about VOTING for the good guys, what was done in 2008 can start to be undone in 2010.
And that is the ONLY CONSTITUTIONAL way to improve the situation. And that's just the way it WILL happen. There will be no military coup and there will be no civil war. But if you try to start one, pal, you will go to jail, and that will be the end of that.
Your inflammatory protest and misrepresentation of my comments is sufficiently bizarre it is apparent you are a troll.
ZAP
If assaulting the world with suggestions about a US military coup and civil war is not the work of a troll, then I guess I don't know what a troll is.
If opposing suggestions to overturn the US Constitution by military force is the work of a troll, then that word "troll" is probably mis-defined.
Sorry pal, but you are not going to suggest overturning the US Constitution by a military coup and get away with it -- not as long as they let me continue posting on Free Republic.
You are reacting to something I did not say. Go back and read muy posts without the over the top reaction.
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.