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!
                        

 

 

[HopefulPatriot]

"I do think we need a well spoken leader. A charismatic fellow who can get everyday Americans on board."

This is definitely part of the plan. There may be many such people out there who are similar to Ronald Reagan and the Founders.

"re the article: All this longwinded runup for some "plan" is not effective."

Our apologies, but we know that FreeRepublic can easily generate page views in the tens of thousands when something resonates. We are barely averaging a thousand. A ten fold or hundred fold increase would increase the odds of success proportionately. We are trying to increase the odds of success when we take our best shot. Because no one in our group has any particular claim to fame, we need to rely on other Freepers to entice their friends to review this effort. It takes time to enlist the help of others. How many people have you noticed using long ping lists to bring other Freepers to these threads?

We could "get this show on the road" straight away with a News/Activism Sidebar section for links and if Jim Robinson decides that it is time for FreeRepublic to discuss political solutions designed to restore the Constitution.

[HopefulPatriot]

"..he's but a loud mouthed, insult hurling dupe..KOOKS"

I promised myself that I was not going to engage in flame wars while these articles are being discussed. In your case, I have decided to make this one exception.

No one in our group remembers who added your name to the ping lists, but after our first article you asked to be removed. We will of course attempt to comply with all such requests, but there are multiple lists and people involved. At some point, I received a second request to remove your name from our list. Again, I thought we had complied with your request. Given our goal, asking to be removed from our ping lists reflects on both your thinking and your character.

Negative labeling and personal insults are the emotional substitutes to which liberals and Democrats resort when they lack the intellectual horsepower to point out specific factual or logical thinking errors. Hopefully, we have complied with your repeated requests and removed your name from all copies of all the lists. Now we are asking you to return the favor.
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." Samuel Adams

[HopefulPatriot]

Thank you.

[truth_seeker]

"We could "get this show on the road" straight away with a News/Activism Sidebar section for links and if Jim Robinson decides that it is time for FreeRepublic to discuss political solutions designed to restore the Constitution."

Do you have a plan? Or is there even a "plan?"

Or are you waiting for Jim Robinson to have one? Is he the leader? Has he agreed to be the leader?

What is your title, in all of this? What part of the "plan" are you responsible for?

[nopardons]

I have asked, repeatedly, to be removed from ping lists which ping me to your threads. Fat lot of good that was...NOT!

I keep getting notes, in FREEPmail, claiming that my nic has been removed, only to be once again pinged to a thread of yours yet again. Since I click onto the ping, no, I don't know it's yet another screed from posted by you, until I've gotten there. And as to flame wars and name calling, you'd best speak to those whom you've gulled, because they ( specifically he, on this one ) start them; not I. And BTW, calling what you're "selling" snake-oil, it a fact and not "flaming", insulting, nor anything else you may take umbrage with. I guess that your fervid fans are DEMOCRATS/LIBERALS, since at least one of them uses personal insults, flaming, and emotional replies as "refutation".

And you've called in a Mod...WHY?

You have not asked the owner of this site for his permission to launch your campaign here.

You have said that you've tried for at least five years, FIVE YEARS, to get Rush interested in this effort of yours, that he is the linchpin of it all, but that he has shown NO interest, whatsoever, in it and/or you. Great "plan" you have there. LOL

You have now stated that you will, at some future time ask people to turn over all of their legal tender to you and use YOUR (?) "money". That's selling a "service"/product, which is against ALL FR riles and forbidden. It's also pretty KOOKY!

Trust me, if I am not pinged to a thread of yours, I won't come onto one; neither will the vast majority of members and lurkers on FR. Without the contretemps, your threads would be 10 posts long; at the most. :-)

[nopardons]

Check out my sign up and compare it to your own, precious; I've been here longer than you have and that doesn't include the almost full year I was a lurker.

Cash only, and the lovely bridge is offered sight unseen. It's an antique, quite famous, and trust me, just because it's called the Brooklyn Bridge, you can also get to Manhattan too. ;^)

[ForGod'sSake]

You are such a doofus! And after further consideration, I'll take a pass on the bridge. The prospectus was shoddily prepared and totally inadequate for a project of this size. It's probably not your fault; you're just out of your league. You might want to consider a career change. You know something more in line with your abilities. Here's a line you might practice on: "Would you like fries with that"? I'm sure even you could get the hang of it after several months of OJT ;^)

[nopardons]

Oh yes indeedy, even posting to you, is "out of my league", because unlike you, I don't reside in a sewer.

That job, you imagine that I need, is more suited to you and your meager ability; but, at least it's honest work, for those who need a job.

[HopefulPatriot]

Do you have a plan?
We do. We are in the process of presenting what we believe to be the best plan for restoring the Constitution ever devised in a series of articles that are being posted to this forum . The current article contains links to the prior articles.

Or are you waiting for Jim Robinson to have one?
No.

Is he the leader?
We have asked him to be the Moderator of an ongoing forum discussion on restoring the Constitution until FreeRepublic's Mission has been successfully completed.

Has he agreed to be the leader?
Jim Robinson has not yet responded to our request.

[HopefulPatriot]

Ping.

[Jeff Head]

In 1998 and 1999 I started a project targeted and focused on Constitutional Restoration. It started before I came to FR. It was geared towards getting candidates to take a Constitutional Resoration Pledge with five planks and then supporting those candidates who did so.

A few very dedicated people became involved and a few candidates took the pledge. But there was no press, no advertising budget, no well known people involved and it did not take off.

I believe the basic elements of that plan are still sound and fit exactly into what you are talking about.

Here's the old web site:

Restoration 2000 Project Web Site

Most of the links and emails are now outdated, but the essentials of the plan are still there for review.

[Jeff Head]

See my post 171 on this thread, and the body of the article of this thread. In answer to your question on the other thread about what is to be done...this is it.

[ForGod'sSake]

I believe the basic elements of that plan are still sound and fit exactly into what you are talking about.

From your keyboard to God's ears??? You would agree this concept needs a major push just to determine whether or not it can be developed into a viable plan. Specifics are a little sketchy at this point but I'm convinced it deserves a long and hard look.

FGS

[Jeff Head]

If conservative Americans could be energized to stand up over these issues (I believe they already understand the issues), and if more Americans could be educated as to their heritage and the foundational principles of their liberty...this type of plan could sweep the nation if it were organized right and had enough dedicated people involved and could get out to people.

Those are the keys. I believe the numbers are there for success...but the Left, the DNC, the MSM, and the RINOs and other entrenched pure politicians, will fight it tooth and nail and do all in their power to first ignore it, then demonize it, then actively attack the organizers and adherants.

[ForGod'sSake]

Couldn't have said it better. Just off the top of your head, can you think of a better venue than FR to attempt a launch of something like this? And if it can't get some traction here, there's little hope of it happening at all? At least in the short term?

Grassroots is where it will happen, if it is to happen at all IMO. We can't rely on our politicians to get out ahead of the herd because they represent their constituents who, if this forum is indicative, apparently aren't that interested in restoring constitutional limits.

So, the push must come from us, the electorate; our representatives will not lead us out of this mess.

[Jeff Head]

Just off the top of your head, can you think of a better venue than FR to attempt a launch of something like this?

Nope.

[HopefulPatriot]

"I believe the basic elements of that plan are still sound and fit exactly into what you are talking about."

Thank you Sir for your reply. I have reviewed part of the material on the page that you linked in your reply. The overlap between these efforts are indeed remarkable. I wish that I could engage in more discussion immediately, but am going to have to postpone more effort until after Christmas and possibly until after the New Year.

My property rights are under active attack from our "fair" city on two fronts, and public hearings are going to be held tomorrow on one. And I will have until Thursday to provide the City a written reply on the other. We will be leaving shortly thereafter to share Christmas with our family. I will freepmail you my contact info.

Thank you again and Merry Christmas.

[Jeff Head]

Thank you...and Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

May His spirit, the true Spirit of Christmas be with you and yours throughout the holiday season and always. And may it rest on this nation as the dews from Heaven.

[Eastbound]

BTTT!

[ForGod'sSake]

~bump~