The constitution is sound. You’ve just got to use it.
The whole thing is designed to provide maximum freedom for the people and to restrict government to its severely limited powers. Now it’s natural for the government to try to force their way into grabbing more and more power as time goes by, but it’s just as natural for a free people to use their God-given rights to resist. And to resist forcefully when necessary.
It’s all laid out clearly, historically and legally in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
When the government willfully ignores or tries to skirt around the constitution, it is the duty of the PEOPLE to ENFORCE it.
It may be true that it was designed to do those things, just like the War on Poverty was designed to severely limit poverty, the War on drugs was designed to severely limit drug use, etc. The question, to me, is whether or not it DOES the things it's designed to do.
Rush Limbaugh has this rant he does about intentions. He always says liberals want their gubmint programs judged not on the results but on the intentions. Well then? Let's apply the same thing to the Constitution. Let's set aside the supposed intent (I say supposed because the framers clearly did not all want the same thing), and let's look at the results. I say the results speak for themselves. Epic fail.
Now it’s natural for the government to try to force their way into grabbing more and more power as time goes by,
I agree. In fact, I believe it's inevitable, which is why one must treat government, as Patrick Henry said, as "nothing more than a choice among evils." I believe the Constitution contained language that was unnecessarily broad--"general welfare" "necessary and proper",etc--that made it all too easy for this to take place. It doesn't happen over night. It happens bit by bit, always in the same direction.
but it’s just as natural for a free people to use their God-given rights to resist. And to resist forcefully when necessary.
Natural maybe, but is it common? If we look at history and the world, is it primarily a story of the people rising up and overcoming oppression, nipping it in the bud? Or is it primarily a story of long epochs of centralized domination of the people, with rare and sporadic instances of the people overcoming their rulers? It may be natural for people to rise up, but I don't think it's something to be relied upon as a check on national power. The best check on national power is to not allow it in the first place.
Further, appeal to force, what Madison called the "ultima ratio", is extra-constitutional. The Constitution does not provide for forcable overthrow of itself. Appeal to force is an appeal to natural law. The Constitution deserves no credit for that. It didn't create natural law. It is, as is anything, subject to it. When the government willfully ignores or tries to skirt around the constitution, it is the duty of the PEOPLE to ENFORCE it.
They haven't had to skirt around the Constitution. Everything that has transpired has been UNDER the Constitution. You mentioned the government being restricted to "severely limited powers" by the Constitution. Madison assured readers that the national powers would be "few and defined." And yet, in the Washington administration (!), Hamilton advanced the doctrine of "implied powers" and won the argument. That was later enshrined in law via the SCOTUS, with founding father John Marshall writing the opinion. It seems to me "few and defined" powers was blown out of the water before they even got out of the starting gate.
Great to hear from you. I say what I say with all due respect. I don't enjoy saying it. It's just where my thinking has taken me. In short, it's even worse than it appears. Merry Christmas.
Jim,
Screw emails and phone calls, screw tea parties and going to DC, etc. They aren’t going to listen to us, period.
It’s time WE organize against them. I propose, beginning Monday we have a general strike in the US
Do NOT go to WORK
DO NOT buy ANYTHING
DO NOT go ANYWHERE except for a protest/civil disobedience, etc
DO NOT spend a single penny on anything.
We starve the bastards while we prepare to take our country back.
Will you support doing this?