Posted on 09/10/2007 5:34:15 AM PDT by Loud Mime
"Those gentlemen, who will be elected senators, will fix themselves in the federal town, and become citizens of that town more than of your state."
George Mason (speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 14 June 1788)
The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constituion of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is scarcely a scare-crow) working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little today and a little tomorrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one.
Thomas Jefferson (letter to Charles Hammond, 18 August 1821)
“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.”
James Madison
"A constitution founded on these principles introduces knowledge among the people, and inspires them with a conscious dignity becoming freemen; a general emulation takes place, which causes good humor, sociability, good manners, and good morals to be general. That elevation of sentiment inspired by such a government, makes the common people brave and enterprising. That ambition which is inspired by it makes them sober, industrious, and frugal.
John Adams (Thoughts on Government, 1776)
Please let me know if you want on this ping list....
Unfortunately the voters have been asleep since 1865
Seriously, I blame the Mainstream Media for our problem. The founders charged them with the duty of holding politicians accountable in their press so the voters would receive the information.
“”Those gentlemen, who will be elected senators, will fix themselves in the federal town, and become citizens of that town more than of your state.”
George Mason (speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 14 June 1788) “
And they even made the senators less responsive to the states by amendment.
Amendment 17 - Senators Elected by Popular Vote. Ratified 4/8/1913. History
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
I am being serious.
I know what you are talking about and for todays day and time I agree with you.
However monitoring the government is the responsibility of each free thinking individual. If he does not and abrogates his duty to the next generation, then the government will take another step.
We lost our republic during the war of 1861. It was barely 70 years old.
P.S. Using those quotes is fine except it looks like Jefferson is merely restating the notes of the covention in this case.
Interesting. You call it the war of 1861, others call it the war between the states, and some call it the civil war. (I refuse to call it the civil war) What would things be like if the secession had been treated differently? There’s so many possibilities....
I’ve considered the 17th Amendment the onset of the cancer that has killed the government designed by our founding fathers. There’s no official state representation in the legislative actions of the federal government; it’s all party politics.
“...it is the duty of the voters to police their ranks.”
That partial quote is the key to government reform-if that happens, we will again have a government “of the people, for the people, and by the people.” How can we make that happen, pronto?
“We lost our republic during the war of 1861. It was barely 70 years old.”
How right you are! Obviously, you are not medically incognitive.
I’m working on it at my end; my book is two chapters from being finished, then edited.
Actually I call it the war of Yankee Aggression. That too maybe a misnomer since it was my ancestors that fired on Fort Sumter. Instead of leaving it alone and waving at it whenever they sailed in and out, they gave Lincoln a reason and motivation to call up troops.
If Secession had been treated differently and there had been no war, I believe there would have been a reconciliation (at least with most of the cotton states) in 10 or 20 years.
As it is today the South maybe part of the Union, but we are a part of the Union by force, not by choice.
I agree with you on the 17th Amendment, but I personally view it as a continuation of what was started in 1861.
A war not on the people, so much as a war on the Constitution.
lol medicaly incognitive, I like that :)
G.M. was worried that elected senators would be MORE U.S. citizens THAN citizens of their State.
Little did he know that all the citizens of the states would suffer the same fate!
The consequences of this can be found on my about page. Follow my tag line and read. It's long. It's not perfect. It's a work in progress. But this issue of US vs. state citizenship and how much of each is good is discussed.
Email me. Tell me if you loveit/hateit/wasteoftime.
Unfortunately, government attracts the kind of people who care nothing for the rules. To them, all of life is a racket.
When they get direct popular election of the President, the States will have been utterly abolished.
There would have been a war anyway, just a couple of years later. The sectional crises arose over the status of slavery in the western territories, and that tension would only have been increased by the advent of two separate countries, one slave and the other free, vying for the same land.
Agreed! A triumph of party over everything else...
Very good point!
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