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Of hope and hypocrites: Candid observations from a one-time loyalist
06/01/13 | Matt lexington

Posted on 06/01/2013 9:14:47 AM PDT by Matt Lexington

It is an admirable expression of loyalty, of devotion and duty towards one's own country. A pledge, currently spoken throughout the nation countless times each and everyday- "To uphold and defend the Constitution of these United States of America." Though it is in truth, a hollow pledge, as it is without even modest contemplation, it is devoid of any meaning or substance. For if it only requires us to THINK, such a pledge could not today be even uttered free of base hypocrisy. For who among us would remain willing to uphold and defend that which has so often withered in the face of even modest government challenge? From which direction has our beloved Constitution proved to offer the average Citizen any protection whatsoever, in the face of such challenges? Our so-called freedom of the press is under gag order, where it has not been totally extinguished. Of the Right to assembly, the "permits" now required are routinely denied. - Rights denied? Once sovereign Citizens are today being held for indefinite periods by our own government without charges, without Right to counsel, without even trial or due process, and left without hope to languish what remains of their lives in some secret government administered prison. Our emails, voice and text conversations, our snail mail, all once considered private, even protected under the Fourth Amendment, are now under the scrutiny and "just" purview of the prying eyes of government. Our automobile license plates come to us now "bugged" with RFID-chips, with driver's licenses themselves soon to follow. Soon, even what little remains of our freedom of movement, and of travel, will be severely tested, even restricted. Many Americans today, without even a thought to the price paid by others, unwittingly trade Rights for mere privileges by meekly complying with blatantly illegal requirements handed down from government that they must "apply" for the "privilege" of carrying any concealed firearm. Even though NO WHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION IS GOVERNMENT EXTENDED THIS AUTHORITY. Though government interference, with respect to this Right IS clearly spelled out in the document and strictly prohibited. Even the purpose for the adoption of the 2nd Amendment in the first place, seems to offer our modern citizenry, little concern for it's continued defense. The fact that it was adopted not primarily for individual defense, but as a bullwork against runaway tyrannical government, seems as foreign a notion to them as the man in the moon. All too neatly though, we can see if we only LOOK, how the once almost impenetrable Citizen is incrementally laid open, exposed, made thoroughly vulnerable, and subject. So why the pledge? Surely there cannot remain within this Nation, even a single candid American who can still think themselves SAFE when such a government can so effectively, as well so effortlessly undo those principles which were, until only recently, viewed as ESSENTIAL to individual American freedom and liberty. Principles enumerated in the very Constitution blindly referred to under these pledges. Though as these are in fact, our present circumstances, Society has proven that it may no longer be able to discern even this, that a Constitution is not a document that can be created by government, as government did not come before people. If it could be so, it would prove as unnatural and absurd as to admit that a child should rightfully establish rules for, as well rule OVER the parent! Further, as a Constitution cannot be a creation of government, it follows that it is not the property of the government, but of it's people. It is the laws of "the people" declaring in writing, their collective authority and rule OVER government. This being the case the obvious question becomes... How can that which belongs to the people, be rightfully altered or abridged by government? The simple truth is that it cannot! At least not legally. It can occur ONLY through usurpation. Though whenever government assumes this Right, the Right of altering itself, then by these means it becomes entirely arbitrary, and through this one flagrant ACT, it PROVES that there is no such thing as a Constitution. So again, why the pledge? To be clear not to minimize the true extent of the danger which now exists in our country, to live under a government which might enjoy even a small degree of arbitrary power, is to have it's citizenry live in constant jeapardy and fear. It is to live with no more freedom, no more so-called Rights than those which the State merely chooses not to strip away. In short, it is to live and die not as a Citizen, but as a subject! Arbitrary power is ABSOLUTE POWER! Make no mistake about it. It is a power completely unburdened with any fixed mechanisms or restrictions which would otherwise prove to govern the governors. Those in power of arbitrary governments are simply as free as jay-birds to do and act as they ALONE should please. They can repeal any law unfavorable or binding against them. They can pass to themselves any favorable law, or raise any tax. They can even direct taxes against certain groups or individuals while sparing others whom might only prove politically "connected." Any of this sounding a little too familiar? A little too close to home? Sadly, history is replete with many types of arbitrary governments. Man's avarice for wealth and power has proved throughout the centuries, to be a tough nut to restrain. Though with just a little insight and ingenuity, these temptations can most effectively be thwarted. It is the civilizations who lack this insight, which are, more often than not, the eternal breeding grounds for perpetual slavery. These base governments are known and recognized the world over by such titles as dictatorships, despotisms, oligarchies, even representative monarchies are in fact, forms of arbitrary government. They all share the same characteristics, as they are all simple, top-down governments that view all in their respective kingdoms, including their own populations, to be nothing more than property of the State, to be disposed of, however those in power merely decide. The rulers of these countries are in fact, mere thugs and thieves, as they believe themselves entitled and privileged above all others, and will even use force and intimidation to instill and reinforce this belief on their populations. They view their own countrymen as prey, and their nation's collective property as plunder. They believe themselves set apart from all others, and through extension, to secure power beyond the grave to their own descendants. Any rule of law, is what they themselves DICTATE to the people. There is, in reality, no such thing as honest representation, only interests, to be granted or dismissed. If honest representation appears at all, it is illusion only. Lawmaking is the exclusive domain of those in power, not the people upon whom those laws will be imposed and enforced. In those places, commonly referred to as houses of lords, or peers, or "representatives," or the senate, representation has been thoroughly corrupted to mean "special" interest, intentionally separated and set apart, from those interests of the Nation as a whole. Though it can no longer be said of our nation, but there did once exist, a time when our laws were instituted not from the top down, as they are today, but from the bottom up. Sadly, this is no longer the principal characteristic which distinguishes our form of government from any other. In fact, one will find it most distressing, should they only LOOK, to find ANY characteristic which genuinely proves to separate our current form of government from that of any other in the world, however they be known, as we discover OUR OWN laws, with ever increasing frequency, being dictated to us from some far off place, entirely removed from our individual communities, values, or way of life. Where laws were once imposed for government to obey, now they are imposed for the people to obey. Some might say the difference rests in that OURS is an elective government. Though we might alternatively reason that just because a government might claim to be elective does not make it any less a tyranny, if those in charge of it are filled with arbitrary power. These observations are not here intended as an attempt to somehow glorify this earlier period of our nation's history. As this nation was surely born with many injustices. Glaringly, that which stands out to most people, as well to this author, is it's unconscionable treatment and disposition of those peoples who were of a different race, class or gender than adult white males. The attitudes of that period were replete with bias, discrimination, viceral suspicion, hatred and stigma. Unfortunately, these made their way into the Continental deliberations as to exactly "who" could then qualify to become LEGALLY regarded as Citizens. Today, we should understand clearly, should we only open our eyes, that our individual security is inexorably linked, indeed DEPENDANT on our strict adherence to not only the notion, but the legal enforcement of UNIVERSAL EQUALITY. As to admit otherwise, is to inevitably invite, our own individual, as well national destruction. For wherever government can single out ANY Citizen for special disposition or treatment, it opens the door for government to do the same against ANY CITIZEN! THIS MEANS YOU! As wherever such policy is adopted and accepted as law, NO CITIZEN IS SAFE OR SECURE! As by this method, those in power are left utterly free to divide and carve up the Nation for their own 'interested' purposes. But here the founder's tapped upon the principle of the ages with respect toward both freedom versus security, and limited government - UNIVERSAL EQUALITY. They reasoned that if government could be somehow "bound" to treat each and every Citizen the SAME, without prejudice, then both the Citizen, as well his property, would remain safe from any tyrannical overreach of government. But they needed some "mechanism" to accomplish this goal, after all, it had never been done before. The fail-safe for this was of course, a good old fashioned revolution, which Jefferson famously reckoned should probably occur about every twenty years, mixing the blood of tyrants and patriots. Though this wasn't necessary, as the principle the founders devised effectively 'binding' government worked flawlessly, and accomplished precisely the goals intended, for nearly 137 years! No further, would government possess the power to tax, and thereby condemn, one Citizen into inescapable poverty while granting favorable exemption toward another. No further, would government possess the power to lavish upon ANY Citizen, wealth, lands and riches, while sending ANOTHER, as well his descendants to the poor house. Never again, could government impose taxes unevenly thus, unfairly. No longer, would government be permitted to bestow lands, title, or exemption to ANY Citizen, without bestowing the same, upon EVERY Citizen. Never again, could any in government, punitively extort excessive or burdensome taxes against any Citizen, without exacting the SAME BY AMOUNT from even their own accounts. This SINGLE LAW, enshrined into the Constitution as CENSUS and ENUMERATION, was, for 137 years, THE ONLY LAW NECESSARY, to effectively "bind" the hands of government against any temptation, or overreach toward any Citizen. Combining the ability to lay taxes unevenly, within the halls and corridors of arbitrary government, was precisely, the founders knew, the same old recipe for tyrannical government. They saw how the tyrannical governments of Europe impoverished their own nations through the perversity of arbitrary power and taxes. CENSUS and ENUMERATION they reasoned, would assure the individual Citizen universal protection, along with genuinely equal opportunities for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. While at the same time, limiting any government intrigue with regard to foreign meddling, as well to inhibit government from developing it's own interests, apart and separate from those of the Nation a whole. Here it was, truly representative government for EVERY Citizen at the least possible expense. What could be better? In the event that income taxes should ever prove a necessity for government administration, Census, assured that EVERY CITIZEN would be EQUALLY liable. Enumeration governed PRECISELY the extent of that liability - BY AMOUNT! In this way, government, as is its propensity, would never again be permitted to parse up the Nation, as had proved, up to that time, the perrogative and example of all other known governments. As when all taxes are instituted EQUALLY, and shared as such by EVERY CITIZEN ALIKE, ALL TAXES ARE KEPT SMALL, AND UNINTRUSIVE. Here, the Citizen enjoys true contentment, and peace, as by this method, the Citizen will also find his/her government, small and unintrusive. As well under this system, should taxes ever begin to rise, as to become excessively burdensome on the general population, then the tranquility of the Nation will become disturbed, as to even erupt it, into riot and tumult. A prospect the founders believed future governments would prefer to avoid. Here the founders ensured that as long as Census and Enumeration remained the LAW, that the representative interest, would remain inextricably linked to even that of the poorest in society. As the general welfare of government, could ONLY increase, as that of EVERY CITIZEN in society did also. Here was society, from the bottom up. Built upon a foundation of the Nation as a whole. Here truly, for the first time in history, was a government crafted toward benevolence, a government instructed toward a path of empathy and genuine concern for ALL its Citizenry. A government of single interest,- the Citizen interest. A government instituted Of, By and For "the People." Though to more clearly understand the founders motivations, it becomes important to observe, that the power that rests within any arbitrary government cannot be understated. Such power, they knew from painful experience, is truly limitless. For under such authority, ALL you own, ALL you may ever own, ALL your income, from whatever sources, ALL property including all holdings, even the Right to YOUR OWN LABORS, become subject and property of the State! Wherever this happens, even your life itself, whether you realize it or not, is laid directly at the feet of those holding power. Under this power, even the notion of justice is but merely an illusion. Kept up only to pacify the Nation, so that it can be carved-up, and devoured piecemeal. When this is properly understood, it becomes easy to understand why the founders risked all they possessed, even their lives, and their families lives to escape the clutches of this kind of authority. The power to tax is an unfortunate necessity for those wishng to live in any society. Though to administer taxes arbitrarily, is an OUTRAGE! Even the notion that any American should be compelled to give up a greater portion of his or her earnings or wealth is a slap in the face to the idea of Equal Liberty and Justice. If we truthfully believe that "All men are created equal" then how can we condone, without admitting to some form of base hypocrisy, that taxes SHOULD be imposed unequally? -How absurd! The notion goes against not only what we "say" we believe, but also flies directly in the face of any notion regarding our so-called notions of equal citizenship or justice. Is the person upon whom this greater penalty is being imposed a greater Citizen, or an equal Citizen? Are they perhaps any more or less an American? Do they enjoy greater Rights or privileges from society than the Citizen who is taxed less? I think not! Yet the American people today blindly submit to this outrage. Though to further prove how Census and Enumeration truly 'bound' the hand and reach of government, it should be observed that the annual federal budget for the nation, during the 137 years that Census and Enumeration remained the law, routinely hovered between $ 300 - 350 million dollars. The satisfaction of which, being easily maintained FREE OF ANY INCOME TAXES WHATSOEVER, as ALL revenues at that time were derived EXCLUSIVELY from excise and tariffs, meaning foreign trade. Even while the overall population grew, the annual budget NEVER changed, how odd? Then, in 1913, after numerous failed attempts, the Congress quietly passed what is today known as the 16th Amendment. Even the verbage used in the official law was revealing in so far as the real motive of a government intending to go bad, as it reads in part: that the Congress shall no longer be "bound" by Census and Enumeration. Interesting choice of the word 'bound' don't you think? Anyway, 1914 heralded in the nation's first permanent 'progressive' (meaning unequal) income tax. By 1920, in just seven short years from the law's enactment, the federal government now needed $ 4 Billion dollars annually to stay afloat.. By 1945, the figure was now up to $ 45 Billion. By 1960, the amount exceeded $ 100 Billion dollars. Today, it's in the Trillion's, and still skyrocketing. Now, for 137 years government was kept small and unintrusive in the lives of ordinary Americans and then, all of a sudden, it explodes beyond it's cage to become the devouring monster it is today. Now the ONLY substantive law that changed during that period was the enactment of the 16th Amendment! So vile and detrimental was this law to American liberty, it prompted then President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to remark: "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation, therefore, and all of our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. - no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men." Could it be that the Congress, with this enactment was no longer bound to only the general interest of the Nation as a whole, but was now set free to spend your money on every "special" interest coming down the pike as well? So let the coffers flow! After all, our so-called representatives don't have to pay for it! THEY EXEMPTED THEMSELVES with the Sixteenth Amendment! What to do? What to do? First, you're already doing it. Simply by reading this you're peeling back that which has been fronting only DISGUISE for only the last century. You have been quietly conditioned, up to now, to think it even benevolent and friendly. That it's been assisting you, lifting you up, and helping you succeed. Look around, at our communities and cities, do you see them being lifted up, or hollowed-out? Do you not see the blight? The inescapable poverty? The decline of overall society? Can you not see, that as our people try fruitlessly, only to lift themselves up, in order to stay even slightly ahead of outright destitution, their own government, at every opportunity seeks only to steal from them, their every encouragement and resource? Consider the labors of the overall people since the time of this amendment, those resources which have been coerced away year by year, from those who rightly earned them, only to go to some third-world dictator or middle-east Monarch, or even some so-called 'representative' to spend on his or her own accounts? When you consider these, you will begin to rightly understand just how destructive a power this is to any peoples wishing only to live in peace and freedom. As this is the ONLY POWER NECESSARY for any government to act and do as they ALONE should please, completely irrespective, and wholly unaccountable to any of their Citizens wishes or overall concerns. Secondly, we must realize that the Sixteenth Amendment is only a PLOY disguised as a law. As a "just" government cannot prove capable of altering ITSELF, this supposed 'law' is nothing more than a deception, which the government has nefariously used to pry ITSELF free from any and all Citizen authority. As this is in FACT, the ACTUAL CASE, ours becomes rightly a cause of justice and principle. Born in a revolution of honest reflection and truth. Though unlike all previous revolutions, ours requires not an ounce of bloodshed. It is quite sensibly, a peaceful revolution, of candid thought and insight. As to break free from the arbitrary power which now exists within OUR OWN government, it requires no physical danger or sacrifice, only an alert, well-informed citizenry. Even of this, a majority is not required to affect the change necessary for true and lasting freedom. A strong, well determined minority of the overall population will prove more than enough to effect a resounding REPEAL of the most despicable and oppressive law that mankind has ever devised. Though how would our Nation appear, were we only to return to the law of Census and Enumeration? Where the voice of "the People" would again rule OVER government. Where there would exist no lobbyists to "influence" OUR representatives away from the NATIONAL INTEREST, in favor of their own "special" interests or exemptions, as the representative, under the penalty of TREASON, could no longer grant them. Where the representative would be naturally "reconnected" to his or her community, State and Nation, as they become "reattached" to the genuine COMMON interest. Where ALL CITIZENS ARE TRULY EQUAL AND INDISTINGUISHABLE IN THE EYES OF GOVERNMENT AND THE LAWS OF THE LAND. Where fiscal waste and extravagance would INSTANTLY CEASE as the representative would discover himself EQUALLY LIABLE TO THE NATIONAL FUND as he commits the rest of his or her fellow countrymen. But these are just a very few of the overall benefits to Society, were we ONLY TO RETURN to the principle of Census and Enumeration. As everywhere in present society, if we only LOOK, we can witness the glaring perversity that only our abandonment of this SINGLE principle has caused to our values, our property, our way of life, and our individual Rights and Freedom. But should even this, yet again prove too much effort for our current so-called citizenry, should we here again shrink from that which is naturally our collective duty, to let even this continued outrage also pass with all those countless others, then we assuredly deserve OUR cowardly fate. Though that of our own children, as well theirs, and of those beyond them, will surely not! For if WE FAIL THEM NOW TO EVEN ACT, we will have assuredly handed them, without lifting a SINGLE FINGER in their defense, into a world far more oppressive than we can today even imagine. As the clutches of omnipotent government reaches for even the very last remnants of our human dignity and self-determination. As their freedom will die with us; theirs, will be a world free of hope or hypocrites, no faint utterances of Constitution or inalienable Rights , no light, and NO ESCAPE! And as this is not THEIR fight, IT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS. Yet do we remain so meek and cowardly as to only stand in disbelief, as we permit the inevitable exchange of those few 'liberties' which have only not "yet" been taken away for THEIR eventual slavery? If this be the case, then WE SHALL NEVER KNOW PEACE. As our souls will forever stand in perpetual shame in the eyes of our own descendants, for that which they will rightly perceive, as our knowing support of a government which so blatantly sought to encircle and enslave them.


TOPICS: Conspiracy; Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: 16thamendment; 2ndamendment; constitution; government

1 posted on 06/01/2013 9:14:47 AM PDT by Matt Lexington
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To: Matt Lexington

2 posted on 06/01/2013 9:16:46 AM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: Matt Lexington

Paragraphs

Paragraphs

Paragraphs


3 posted on 06/01/2013 9:17:46 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
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To: 1rudeboy

LOL

I use “Send to Kindle”. Its still a wall of text but much more manageable in page sized pieces.


4 posted on 06/01/2013 9:18:30 AM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: 1rudeboy

If you cannot or will not learn to format, DO NOT POST.

Even this geriatric old coot can make paragraphs!

“<” plus “P” plus “>” is the HTML code to put at the end of each paragraph. Type all three, one after the other.


5 posted on 06/01/2013 9:20:22 AM PDT by BwanaNdege ("To learn who rules over you simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"- Voltaire)
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To: Matt Lexington

Move it to the Religion Forum!


6 posted on 06/01/2013 9:20:23 AM PDT by jjotto ("Ya could look it up!")
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To: Matt Lexington

Textual bombardment underway. Darn, it is painful to see.


7 posted on 06/01/2013 9:29:57 AM PDT by txnativegop (Fed up with zealots)
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To: Matt Lexington

Matt lexington, tear down this wall :p


8 posted on 06/01/2013 9:37:45 AM PDT by Irenic (The pencil sharpener and Elmer's glue is put away-- we've lost the red wheel barrow)
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To: Matt Lexington

Uh, just no, dude.


9 posted on 06/01/2013 9:39:31 AM PDT by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: Matt Lexington

Welcome to Free Republic.

Very well thought out.

However, formatting is yer friend. I skimmed your screed and got the gist of it.

Like!

Post it again. Maybe tomorrow and fix the formatting of


10 posted on 06/01/2013 10:26:27 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Matt Lexington

BTW, my friends seem to be giving you the FNG treatment.

Roll with it. We’re all strong egos around here and nOObs always get special treatment.


11 posted on 06/01/2013 10:29:22 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Matt Lexington

Oh, always get special points by engaging in some useless banter on your own post.

It demonstrates you are a participant.


12 posted on 06/01/2013 10:32:06 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously, you won't live through it anyway)
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To: Vendome

Welcome to Free Republic.

Very well thought out.

However, formatting is yer friend. I skimmed your screed and got the gist of it.

Like!

Post it again. Maybe tomorrow and fix the formatting of
_______________________

Ditto!

Welcome to FR, Matt!

pax


13 posted on 06/01/2013 10:35:36 AM PDT by pax_et_bonum (Never Forget the Seals of Extortion 17 - and God Bless America)
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To: Matt Lexington
Thank you for sharing your understanding of the Ideas and principles underlying our nation's founding documents, as well as the threats you perceive today.

As to your questioning the value of the Oath, perhaps this bit of wisdom from an 1876 "Centennial Thanksgiving Sermon, celebrating the Declaration of Independence at St. Paul A.M.E. Church, Urbana, OH, may be helpful to all of us. The words were part of Ohio State Legislator and Rev. Benjamin W. Arnett's tracing of the foundations and histories of nations--more specifically, that of America, to that time. The entire Sermon may be read at "African-American Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection," 1820-1920; American Memory, Library of Congress web site.Excerpt related to "Oaths":

""Oaths and affirmations are appeals to God, by him who makes them, that what he has said, or what he shall say, is the truth. It is the most solemn form under which one can assert or pronounce anything, and its violation is a crime of the darkest hue; one which God has declared he will punish; one that is made infamous and punishable by fine and imprisonment, by the laws of the land. Thus Christian obligation is required of every officer of the general Government, who fills any position of trust, honor or emolument. Many reports are required in the form and shape of affidavits.

"The First and Last Presidents' Testimony.
"We find that the Father of our Country, General George Washington, in his first Inaugural Address to the American nation, made the following statement: ;No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible Hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an Independent Nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished, in the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations, and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have been established, without the return of previous gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seems to presage.' In his farewell address, when returning his important trust to his countrymen, he said 'abide by religion and morality as the firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.' The first in peace, the first in war, and the first in the hearts of his countrymen, in the ripenings of his manhood advises the Nation to abide by religion and morality, which is the same as Righteousness. It is in the language of the Holy Bible, 'Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.'" - (End of Excerpt)

Perhaps you will not object to my attempt at paragraphing your own post in order to satisfy those who find it difficult to follow unparagraphed thoughts:You wrote,

"It is an admirable expression of loyalty, of devotion and duty towards one's own country. A pledge, currently spoken throughout the nation countless times each and everyday- "To uphold and defend the Constitution of these United States of America."

Though it is in truth, a hollow pledge, as it is without even modest contemplation, it is devoid of any meaning or substance. For if it only requires us to THINK, such a pledge could not today be even uttered free of base hypocrisy.

For who among us would remain willing to uphold and defend that which has so often withered in the face of even modest government challenge?

From which direction has our beloved Constitution proved to offer the average Citizen any protection whatsoever, in the face of such challenges?

Our so-called freedom of the press is under gag order, where it has not been totally extinguished.

Of the Right to assembly, the "permits" now required are routinely denied.

- Rights denied?

Once sovereign Citizens are today being held for indefinite periods by our own government without charges, without Right to counsel, without even trial or due process, and left without hope to languish what remains of their lives in some secret government administered prison.

Our emails, voice and text conversations, our snail mail, all once considered private, even protected under the Fourth Amendment, are now under the scrutiny and "just" purview of the prying eyes of government.

Our automobile license plates come to us now "bugged" with RFID-chips, with driver's licenses themselves soon to follow. Soon, even what little remains of our freedom of movement, and of travel, will be severely tested, even restricted.

Many Americans today, without even a thought to the price paid by others, unwittingly trade Rights for mere privileges by meekly complying with blatantly illegal requirements handed down from government that they must "apply" for the "privilege" of carrying any concealed firearm. Even though NO WHERE IN THE CONSTITUTION IS GOVERNMENT EXTENDED THIS AUTHORITY.

Though government interference, with respect to this Right IS clearly spelled out in the document and strictly prohibited. Even the purpose for the adoption of the 2nd Amendment in the first place, seems to offer our modern citizenry, little concern for it's continued defense. The fact that it was adopted not primarily for individual defense, but as a bullwork against runaway tyrannical government, seems as foreign a notion to them as the man in the moon.

All too neatly though, we can see if we only LOOK, how the once almost impenetrable Citizen is incrementally laid open, exposed, made thoroughly vulnerable, and subject.

So why the pledge?

Surely there cannot remain within this Nation, even a single candid American who can still think themselves SAFE when such a government can so effectively, as well so effortlessly undo those principles which were, until only recently, viewed as ESSENTIAL to individual American freedom and liberty. Principles enumerated in the very Constitution blindly referred to under these pledges.

Though as these are in fact, our present circumstances, Society has proven that it may no longer be able to discern even this, that a Constitution is not a document that can be created by government, as government did not come before people. If it could be so, it would prove as unnatural and absurd as to admit that a child should rightfully establish rules for, as well rule OVER the parent!

Further, as a Constitution cannot be a creation of government, it follows that it is not the property of the government, but of it's people. It is the laws of "the people" declaring in writing, their collective authority and rule OVER government.

This being the case the obvious question becomes... How can that which belongs to the people, be rightfully altered or abridged by government? The simple truth is that it cannot! At least not legally.

It can occur ONLY through usurpation. Though whenever government assumes this Right, the Right of altering itself, then by these means it becomes entirely arbitrary, and through this one flagrant ACT, it PROVES that there is no such thing as a Constitution.

So again, why the pledge?

To be clear not to minimize the true extent of the danger which now exists in our country, to live under a government which might enjoy even a small degree of arbitrary power, is to have it's citizenry live in constant jeapardy and fear. It is to live with no more freedom, no more so-called Rights than those which the State merely chooses not to strip away. In short, it is to live and die not as a Citizen, but as a subject!

Arbitrary power is ABSOLUTE POWER! Make no mistake about it. It is a power completely unburdened with any fixed mechanisms or restrictions which would otherwise prove to govern the governors. Those in power of arbitrary governments are simply as free as jay-birds to do and act as they ALONE should please.

They can repeal any law unfavorable or binding against them. They can pass to themselves any favorable law, or raise any tax. They can even direct taxes against certain groups or individuals while sparing others whom might only prove politically "connected."

Any of this sounding a little too familiar? A little too close to home? Sadly, history is replete with many types of arbitrary governments. Man's avarice for wealth and power has proved throughout the centuries, to be a tough nut to restrain. Though with just a little insight and ingenuity, these temptations can most effectively be thwarted. It is the civilizations who lack this insight, which are, more often than not, the eternal breeding grounds for perpetual slavery. These base governments are known and recognized the world over by such titles as dictatorships, despotisms, oligarchies, even representative monarchies are in fact, forms of arbitrary government.

They all share the same characteristics, as they are all simple, top-down governments that view all in their respective kingdoms, including their own populations, to be nothing more than property of the State, to be disposed of, however those in power merely decide.

The rulers of these countries are in fact, mere thugs and thieves, as they believe themselves entitled and privileged above all others, and will even use force and intimidation to instill and reinforce this belief on their populations. They view their own countrymen as prey, and their nation's collective property as plunder. They believe themselves set apart from all others, and through extension, to secure power beyond the grave to their own descendants. Any rule of law, is what they themselves DICTATE to the people.

There is, in reality, no such thing as honest representation, only interests, to be granted or dismissed. If honest representation appears at all, it is illusion only. Lawmaking is the exclusive domain of those in power, not the people upon whom those laws will be imposed and enforced.

In those places, commonly referred to as houses of lords, or peers, or "representatives," or the senate, representation has been thoroughly corrupted to mean "special" interest, intentionally separated and set apart, from those interests of the Nation as a whole.

Though it can no longer be said of our nation, but there did once exist, a time when our laws were instituted not from the top down, as they are today, but from the bottom up. Sadly, this is no longer the principal characteristic which distinguishes our form of government from any other.

In fact, one will find it most distressing, should they only LOOK, to find ANY characteristic which genuinely proves to separate our current form of government from that of any other in the world, however they be known, as we discover OUR OWN laws, with ever increasing frequency, being dictated to us from some far off place, entirely removed from our individual communities, values, or way of life.

Where laws were once imposed for government to obey, now they are imposed for the people to obey. Some might say the difference rests in that OURS is an elective government. Though we might alternatively reason that just because a government might claim to be elective does not make it any less a tyranny, if those in charge of it are filled with arbitrary power.

These observations are not here intended as an attempt to somehow glorify this earlier period of our nation's history. As this nation was surely born with many injustices. Glaringly, that which stands out to most people, as well to this author, is it's unconscionable treatment and disposition of those peoples who were of a different race, class or gender than adult white males. The attitudes of that period were replete with bias, discrimination, viceral suspicion, hatred and stigma.

Unfortunately, these made their way into the Continental deliberations as to exactly "who" could then qualify to become LEGALLY regarded as Citizens.

Today, we should understand clearly, should we only open our eyes, that our individual security is inexorably linked, indeed DEPENDANT on our strict adherence to not only the notion, but the legal enforcement of UNIVERSAL EQUALITY. As to admit otherwise, is to inevitably invite, our own individual, as well national destruction.

For wherever government can single out ANY Citizen for special disposition or treatment, it opens the door for government to do the same against ANY CITIZEN! THIS MEANS YOU! As wherever such policy is adopted and accepted as law, NO CITIZEN IS SAFE OR SECURE! As by this method, those in power are left utterly free to divide and carve up the Nation for their own 'interested' purposes.

But here the founder's tapped upon the principle of the ages with respect toward both freedom versus security, and limited government - UNIVERSAL EQUALITY. They reasoned that if government could be somehow "bound" to treat each and every Citizen the SAME, without prejudice, then both the Citizen, as well his property, would remain safe from any tyrannical overreach of government.

But they needed some "mechanism" to accomplish this goal, after all, it had never been done before. The fail-safe for this was of course, a good old fashioned revolution, which Jefferson famously reckoned should probably occur about every twenty years, mixing the blood of tyrants and patriots. Though this wasn't necessary, as the principle the founders devised effectively 'binding' government worked flawlessly, and accomplished precisely the goals intended, for nearly 137 years!

No further, would government possess the power to tax, and thereby condemn, one Citizen into inescapable poverty while granting favorable exemption toward another.

No further, would government possess the power to lavish upon ANY Citizen, wealth, lands and riches, while sending ANOTHER, as well his descendants to the poor house. Never again, could government impose taxes unevenly thus, unfairly.

No longer, would government be permitted to bestow lands, title, or exemption to ANY Citizen, without bestowing the same, upon EVERY Citizen.

Never again, could any in government, punitively extort excessive or burdensome taxes against any Citizen, without exacting the SAME BY AMOUNT from even their own accounts. This SINGLE LAW, enshrined into the Constitution as CENSUS and ENUMERATION, was, for 137 years, THE ONLY LAW NECESSARY, to effectively "bind" the hands of government against any temptation, or overreach toward any Citizen. Combining the ability to lay taxes unevenly, within the halls and corridors of arbitrary government, was precisely, the founders knew, the same old recipe for tyrannical government.

They saw how the tyrannical governments of Europe impoverished their own nations through the perversity of arbitrary power and taxes. CENSUS and ENUMERATION they reasoned, would assure the individual Citizen universal protection, along with genuinely equal opportunities for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. While at the same time, limiting any government intrigue with regard to foreign meddling, as well to inhibit government from developing it's own interests, apart and separate from those of the Nation a whole.

Here it was, truly representative government for EVERY Citizen at the least possible expense. What could be better? In the event that income taxes should ever prove a necessity for government administration, Census, assured that EVERY CITIZEN would be EQUALLY liable. Enumeration governed PRECISELY the extent of that liability - BY AMOUNT! In this way, government, as is its propensity, would never again be permitted to parse up the Nation, as had proved, up to that time, the perrogative and example of all other known governments.

As when all taxes are instituted EQUALLY, and shared as such by EVERY CITIZEN ALIKE, ALL TAXES ARE KEPT SMALL, AND UNINTRUSIVE. Here, the Citizen enjoys true contentment, and peace, as by this method, the Citizen will also find his/her government, small and unintrusive. As well under this system, should taxes ever begin to rise, as to become excessively burdensome on the general population, then the tranquility of the Nation will become disturbed, as to even erupt it, into riot and tumult. A prospect the founders believed future governments would prefer to avoid. Here the founders ensured that as long as Census and Enumeration remained the LAW, that the representative interest, would remain inextricably linked to even that of the poorest in society.

As the general welfare of government, could ONLY increase, as that of EVERY CITIZEN in society did also. Here was society, from the bottom up. Built upon a foundation of the Nation as a whole. Here truly, for the first time in history, was a government crafted toward benevolence, a government instructed toward a path of empathy and genuine concern for ALL its Citizenry. A government of single interest,- the Citizen interest. A government instituted Of, By and For "the People."

Though to more clearly understand the founders motivations, it becomes important to observe, that the power that rests within any arbitrary government cannot be understated. Such power, they knew from painful experience, is truly limitless. For under such authority, ALL you own, ALL you may ever own, ALL your income, from whatever sources, ALL property including all holdings, even the Right to YOUR OWN LABORS, become subject and property of the State! Wherever this happens, even your life itself, whether you realize it or not, is laid directly at the feet of those holding power. Under this power, even the notion of justice is but merely an illusion. Kept up only to pacify the Nation, so that it can be carved-up, and devoured piecemeal. When this is properly understood, it becomes easy to understand why the founders risked all they possessed, even their lives, and their families lives to escape the clutches of this kind of authority.

The power to tax is an unfortunate necessity for those wishng (sic) to live in any society. Though to administer taxes arbitrarily, is an OUTRAGE! Even the notion that any American should be compelled to give up a greater portion of his or her earnings or wealth is a slap in the face to the idea of Equal Liberty and Justice.

If we truthfully believe that "All men are created equal" then how can we condone, without admitting to some form of base hypocrisy, that taxes SHOULD be imposed unequally? -How absurd! The notion goes against not only what we "say" we believe, but also flies directly in the face of any notion regarding our so-called notions of equal citizenship or justice. Is the person upon whom this greater penalty is being imposed a greater Citizen, or an equal Citizen? Are they perhaps any more or less an American? Do they enjoy greater Rights or privileges from society than the Citizen who is taxed less? I think not!

Yet the American people today blindly submit to this outrage. Though to further prove how Census and Enumeration truly 'bound' the hand and reach of government, it should be observed that the annual federal budget for the nation, during the 137 years that Census and Enumeration remained the law, routinely hovered between $ 300 - 350 million dollars. The satisfaction of which, being easily maintained FREE OF ANY INCOME TAXES WHATSOEVER, as ALL revenues at that time were derived EXCLUSIVELY from excise and tariffs, meaning foreign trade. Even while the overall population grew, the annual budget NEVER changed, how odd?

Then, in 1913, after numerous failed attempts, the Congress quietly passed what is today known as the 16th Amendment. Even the verbage used in the official law was revealing in so far as the real motive of a government intending to go bad, as it reads in part: that the Congress shall no longer be "bound" by Census and Enumeration. Interesting choice of the word 'bound' don't you think? Anyway, 1914 heralded in the nation's first permanent 'progressive' (meaning unequal) income tax. By 1920, in just seven short years from the law's enactment, the federal government now needed $ 4 Billion dollars annually to stay afloat.. By 1945, the figure was now up to $ 45 Billion. By 1960, the amount exceeded $ 100 Billion dollars.

Today, it's in the Trillion's, and still skyrocketing. Now, for 137 years government was kept small and unintrusive in the lives of ordinary Americans and then, all of a sudden, it explodes beyond it's cage to become the devouring monster it is today. Now the ONLY substantive law that changed during that period was the enactment of the 16th Amendment! So vile and detrimental was this law to American liberty, it prompted then President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 to remark: "I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the Nation, therefore, and all of our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. - no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

Could it be that the Congress, with this enactment was no longer bound to only the general interest of the Nation as a whole, but was now set free to spend your money on every "special" interest coming down the pike as well?

So let the coffers flow! After all, our so-called representatives don't have to pay for it! THEY EXEMPTED THEMSELVES with the Sixteenth Amendment! What to do? What to do?

First, you're already doing it. Simply by reading this you're peeling back that which has been fronting only DISGUISE for only the last century. You have been quietly conditioned, up to now, to think it even benevolent and friendly. That it's been assisting you, lifting you up, and helping you succeed.

Look around, at our communities and cities, do you see them being lifted up, or hollowed-out? Do you not see the blight? The inescapable poverty? The decline of overall society? Can you not see, that as our people try fruitlessly, only to lift themselves up, in order to stay even slightly ahead of outright destitution, their own government, at every opportunity seeks only to steal from them, their every encouragement and resource?

Consider the labors of the overall people since the time of this amendment, those resources which have been coerced away year by year, from those who rightly earned them, only to go to some third-world dictator or middle-east Monarch, or even some so-called 'representative' to spend on his or her own accounts?

When you consider these, you will begin to rightly understand just how destructive a power this is to any peoples wishing only to live in peace and freedom. As this is the ONLY POWER NECESSARY for any government to act and do as they ALONE should please, completely irrespective, and wholly unaccountable to any of their Citizens wishes or overall concerns.

Secondly, we must realize that the Sixteenth Amendment is only a PLOY disguised as a law. As a "just" government cannot prove capable of altering ITSELF, this supposed 'law' is nothing more than a deception, which the government has nefariously used to pry ITSELF free from any and all Citizen authority. As this is in FACT, the ACTUAL CASE, ours becomes rightly a cause of justice and principle. Born in a revolution of honest reflection and truth. Though unlike all previous revolutions, ours requires not an ounce of bloodshed. It is quite sensibly, a peaceful revolution, of candid thought and insight.

As to break free from the arbitrary power which now exists within OUR OWN government, it requires no physical danger or sacrifice, only an alert, well-informed citizenry. Even of this, a majority is not required to affect the change necessary for true and lasting freedom. A strong, well determined minority of the overall population will prove more than enough to effect a resounding REPEAL of the most despicable and oppressive law that mankind has ever devised.

Though how would our Nation appear, were we only to return to the law of Census and Enumeration? Where the voice of "the People" would again rule OVER government.

Where there would exist no lobbyists to "influence" OUR representatives away from the NATIONAL INTEREST, in favor of their own "special" interests or exemptions, as the representative, under the penalty of TREASON, could no longer grant them.

Where the representative would be naturally "reconnected" to his or her community, State and Nation, as they become "reattached" to the genuine COMMON interest.

Where ALL CITIZENS ARE TRULY EQUAL AND INDISTINGUISHABLE IN THE EYES OF GOVERNMENT AND THE LAWS OF THE LAND. Where fiscal waste and extravagance would INSTANTLY CEASE as the representative would discover himself EQUALLY LIABLE TO THE NATIONAL FUND as he commits the rest of his or her fellow countrymen.

But these are just a very few of the overall benefits to Society, were we ONLY TO RETURN to the principle of Census and Enumeration. As everywhere in present society, if we only LOOK, we can witness the glaring perversity that only our abandonment of this SINGLE principle has caused to our values, our property, our way of life, and our individual Rights and Freedom.

But should even this, yet again prove too much effort for our current so-called citizenry, should we here again shrink from that which is naturally our collective duty, to let even this continued outrage also pass with all those countless others, then we assuredly deserve OUR cowardly fate. Though that of our own children, as well theirs, and of those beyond them, will surely not!

For if WE FAIL THEM NOW TO EVEN ACT, we will have assuredly handed them, without lifting a SINGLE FINGER in their defense, into a world far more oppressive than we can today even imagine. As the clutches of omnipotent government reaches for even the very last remnants of our human dignity and self-determination. As their freedom will die with us; theirs, will be a world free of hope or hypocrites, no faint utterances of Constitution or inalienable Rights , no light, and NO ESCAPE! And as this is not THEIR fight, IT IS RIGHTFULLY OURS. Yet do we remain so meek and cowardly as to only stand in disbelief, as we permit the inevitable exchange of those few 'liberties' which have only not "yet" been taken away for THEIR eventual slavery?

If this be the case, then WE SHALL NEVER KNOW PEACE. As our souls will forever stand in perpetual shame in the eyes of our own descendants, for that which they will rightly perceive, as our knowing support of a government which so blatantly sought to encircle and enslave them." - End of re-paragraphed FR Post by Matt Lexington

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14 posted on 06/01/2013 10:41:09 AM PDT by loveliberty2
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To: Matt Lexington

Needs reformatting.


15 posted on 06/01/2013 12:25:44 PM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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To: Matt Lexington

bfl

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1944362/posts


16 posted on 06/01/2013 12:29:52 PM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: TBP
See my post above. Matt Lexington's ideas are so intellectually valid and exceptionally appropriate for consideration that they deserve a pat on the back and a heave ho to the top.

My try may not be perfect, but it is well-intentioned to help in the circulation of ideas today, not to discourage a real thinker from posting principled materials because of a possible inability to make them easy to read.

:=)

17 posted on 06/01/2013 12:48:13 PM PDT by loveliberty2
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To: Matt Lexington

“Free men are not equal; equal men are not free.”


18 posted on 06/01/2013 12:53:05 PM PDT by TBP (Obama lies, Granny dies.)
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