We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

I'd like to check the pulse of Freepers here regarding these opening lines of the Declaration of Independence in regards to ways in which its ideas might translate into practical courses of action at THIS point in our history.

The Declaration goes on a bit further with its opening ideas before declaring a list of grievances specific to the Founders' era, and the context of the further opening lines may also be taken into context for the sake of the discussion here.

I am hoping the discussion will not merely devolve into what is and what is not "Constitutional," since the Declaration, not the Constitution, is our original and true founding document as a people. The Constitution, for all its admirable qualities, was merely a practical attempt to form a new government that fulfilled the ideas of the Declaration. The Constitution now seems to have been subverted to support the very sorts of tyrants it was designed to protect us from.

As you contemplate the current state and course of our country, what do these words from the Declarations say to you? Do they still have meaning, and, if so, what do they suggest to you in terms of practical solutions?

"That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it..."

Some leaders of the pack after the war believed that the Articles of Confederation were in many ways becoming destructive to these ends. From thier point of view, especially Washington who had to deal with a near coup and cleanup after Shay's Rebellion, strengthening or replacing the Articles was a must for the Union to survive for more than a few years tops.

I don't see the predicament they faced as being much different. It seems like SCOTUS and the rest have taken it upon themselves over the last century to amend our constitution through the backdoor to where the nature of the federation it created is almost completely gone and we really do not have any constitution anymore.

I don't know what it's going to take to get people to the table to take another stab at forming a more perfect union. It will probably have to be something big, like when the Feds finally run the country into the ground financially and we end up on the brink of having life as we know it collapse and pass away. It will take at least something like that to get most people to where they believe that how we're operating now isn't sustainable and ultimately doesn't work.

The passage of the health care bill was very upsetting to me. It certainly tested my faith in peaceful revoultion system we have at the ballot box and I was ready right then to take what we have out behind the woodshed and put it out of our misery, like Washington et al did back in 1785.

If you believe fully in the statement you will see why we don't need a damn 14th amendment.

“That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,”

If we know nothing, learn nothing, hear nothing or see nothing - these words are all that stands between freedom and slavery. I, for one, have reached my tipping point. You probably won’t hear about it; ut I am committed to - for now - civil disobedience.

I was born a free man and I will die as one. My knee bends for none save He Who created me.

Interesting topic-

As it was during our founding, I think it will be a small group of educated, dedicated people who will bring about the change we are looking for. I also believe it is only a matter of time before a leader will emerge and galvanize this group of patriots to act.

In terms of what actions individuals or small groups of people could take, I couldn’t say, but my guess is it will begin with someone creating an alternative to the fiat currency. A hard backed currency (legal or not) will occur as people begin to catch on to the fact that the government is printing more than it can ever hope to back.

Just my two cents worth.

Thanks for your thoughtful replies, everyone. Interesting spectrum of viewpoints. Hopefully more will trickle in.

NTHockey, I think many, and a growing number still, agree with your sentiments about having reached a tipping point. I cannot imagine the center can hold much longer before things fly apart. I don’t know what our would-be masters have planned, but I think it’s coming soon, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

Keep your powder dry, and stay safe if you can. You know what Patton said about dying for your country!

Oh yeah, and his cousin, Chesty Puller, had some fine comments, such as:
“We are surrounded. That simplifies the problem.”

“Our Country won’t go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won’t be any AMERICA because some foreign soldiery will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!”

Semper fi

"If you believe fully in the statement you will see why we don't need a damn 14th amendment."

Article 4 Section 2 is reason enough to not need the 14th amendment with the exception that SCOTUS once upon a time decided that blacks were not citizens. The language "subject to the jusristiction thereof" used in drafting the amendment to overrule Dred Scott was meant to be precise enough in not granting citizenship to children born to foreigners who were just passing through.

But then SCOTUS decided that the 14th didn't actually intended to exclude those people in United States vs. Kim Wong Ark (1898). The precidence set in the Ark case was used as late as 1982 to strike down a Texas law that attempted to deny illegal immigrants access to public services. The anchor baby thing is entirely the doing of SCOTUS.

It would seem to me that many of our problems come from a dysfunctional judiciary that cannot read or understand the plain language in which the Constitution was written for a reason. There is too great of a temptation to read things into it that simply are not there.

If I were to set about fixing what is wrong I would deal with the judiciary first. The position of federal justice is not a lifetime appointment.

It states in Article 3 that that justices serve in times of good behavior. I certainly wouldn’t conclude that outlandish readings of any straight forward language in the Constitution would qualify as good behavior. On the contrary, it is quite derelict.

Congress has the power to act aside from it’s ability to send amendments to the states, but it would have to include changing the Judiciary Act rather than impeaching a justice as there is no provision for impeachment of a justice.

Then there’s the question of how would changes to Article 3 work to ensure that someone like Obama and the Pelosi/Reid congress wouldn’t just go and impeach federalist justices who are more inclined to preserve federalism rather than grant the Feds the power to run roughshod over the states. Perhaps the answer lies in granting the states some ability to directly check the power of the Federal judiciary instead of having Congress do it. The Confederate constitution was mostly evil, but it did have a provision to allow state legislatures to remove officials from the central government who were acting within the state including justices.

Something like that might go a long way to solving some of the issues we have with Fed usurpation of the state police power, but we would need something more to provide a check on SCOTUS. Perhaps a majority vote of state Attornies General could overrule SCOTUS.

When I read these words, I feel such sadness. Never before in the history of nations, excluding the children of Israel, has a nation been founded with the idea that it’s rights come from God. Our form of government was meant to stand above all others. But, alas, we let our guard down. “Anything worth having is worth working for” we’ve all heard— and yet, we have stepped aside from the work of understanding our government and preserving it for the future generations. My daughter, who is 14, asked me will there be an America when she gets to be an adult? I told her that there are many who are trying to protect America, but only time could really tell what will become of our beautiful country.I pray for mercy daily, and I pray that people will quit looking around and start looking up. Not to sound like an old-time preacher, but the time for repentance is at hand.

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