Posted on 06/10/2003 4:17:50 AM PDT by Jim Robinson
One thing I've learned during the last six years or so of hanging around Free Republic is that politics is a dirty game. It may qualify as a runner-up for the understatement of the year, but it seems to me that one of the worst things about politics is that it is made up of politicians. These guys seem to be desperate to get into office and once they've had a taste of power they're even more desperate to hang onto it. Doesn't matter what the Founders had in mind for our Republic and or what they wrote into the Constitution, if the elected politicians feel that they can create or expand another give-away program or cater to the demands of one special interest group or another, and it will help them get re-elected next time, well, why not? Constitution be damned.The House represents the people. Sure, the Congressmen are supposed to be sensitive to the wants, needs, desires and demands of their constituents and they are and should be swayed by popular opinion and they should be passionate in their representation of the people. That's the name of the game and that's what the Founders intended. But when the people demand more than the Constitution allows, then what? Well, for one, you've got to get by the Senate. Then by the President, and perhaps by any Supreme Court challenges.
It's my understanding, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Founders established the Senate as the senior body of the bicameral legislature and set higher qualifications, higher standards and longer terms for its members. The Senators were to be experienced, wizened senior statesmen, insulated from swaying popular opinion, and the Senate as a body was to serve as a check on the hotheads in the House.
I also believe that one of the primary responsibilities of the Senate was to defend the Constitution and to guard over the longevity and continuity of the Republic. To this end, the Senate was designed to confirm judicial and high level executive appointments, ratify treaties and conduct impeachment trials--all highly essential elements to the maintenance of our constitutional republic, our national sovereignty and our Liberty.
To ensure that the Senators were truly insulated from swaying public opinion the Founders intended them to be appointed by the state legislatures rather than elected by the populace. It was hoped that only the very best statesmen, men of unimpeachable personal character, would rise to the top of the state legislatures and be considered to serve as U.S. Senators. Hmmmm... Hillary Clinton? Well, so much for high hopes.
I also understand that the three branches of the federal government were established as co-equal partners, with checks and balances designed so that no branch could control another and none could subvert the Constitution. The terms of the members of each branch were varied and staggered and the methods of election or appointment were different for each branch. The only members elected by the populace were to be the members of the House of Representatives. The Senators were to be appointed by the state legislatures, the President elected by the Electoral College and the Judiciary and high officers appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The members of the House serve for two years, the President four years, the Senators six years and the Judiciary for life. The number of representatives for each state is determined by the number of people in each state, each state was guaranteed representation by two senators, and the number of electoral college members for each state determined by the number of congressional representatives, etc.
The state governments were intended to remain sovereign and all rights and powers not expressly delegated by the Constitution were to be left to the states and to the people. The central government was restricted to only about a dozen and a half enumerated powers and functions and was never intended to be the absolute ruling authority over the states or the people that it is today.
The primary functions of the federal government was to defend our national borders, maintain the federal judiciary, run the post office, the weights and standards office, the patent office, etc., and to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and our individual rights.
Well, we all know that this is not how it ended up. What went wrong? For one thing, the balance of power was upset with the ratification of the seventeenth amendment. This amendment allowed for the popular election of the Senators instead of having them appointed by the state legislatures. At first glance, this looks like it would be more democratic. In fact, it is. However, as we conservatives love to point out, our Founders did not establish a democracy, they established a Republic.
With the popular election of both the House and the Senate, we are now one step closer to being a democracy where the mob rules rather than the rule of law. Also, the states essentially lost their representatives to the federal government and now, four-score and some odd years later, the result is that most of their states rights and powers have been eroded away. And we're now seeing where the democrats are wanting to do away with the electoral college. Al Gore won the popular vote in the last election, due mostly to the large highly populated liberal states, but President Bush obviously won in the electoral college. Thank God for the wisdom of the Founding Fathers! If Hillary and her mob have their way, the electoral college is history and so is the Republic. That's what happens when you allow mob rule and we're only one amendment and one step away from that sorry end now.
The liberals rule the land. They control the education systems. They control the media. They control the judiciary. Regardless of the party in executive or legislative power, the career liberals control the more or less permanent bureaucracy, the regulatory agencies and the courts. In defending the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic, I count the liberals (lumping in the greenies, the socialists, the anarchists, and other assorted un-American types, etc.) as our primary domestic enemy number one. I count the left-leaning moderates and RINOs as domestic enemy number two.
Pretty basic and simple so far, but here's where it gets tricky. Like it or not, we have a two party system. Our good friends, the Libertarians, Constitutionalists, Reformers, Buchananites, paleocons, and other right-wingers, etc., may have some pretty good ideas about constitutionality, freedom, Liberty, etc., however, they are weak numerically, and will probably never get much stronger. Let's face it. The general populace has been indoctrinated for decades (make that several generations) by the liberal state controlled education system, brain-washed by the liberal controlled media and conditioned by the liberal controlled judiciary to accept whatever mushy touchy-feely liberal policy or concept that comes down the pike.
Where are the libertarian, reformist or strict constructionist parties ever going to find enough voters to overcome the Democrats and Republicans? Answer is they can't. It's an impossibility. Perhaps they can draw from the conservatives or Republicans, but they can hope to draw almost no liberal or Democrat voters. So, even if they can draw away from the conservative parties, it will only serve to strengthen the liberals and we will only reinstall Democrats to the majority. Happens every time. We flop back and forth between the Democrats and the Republicans and we continue to make zero progress, but the head-long slide into socialism continues on.
My conclusion is we will never, ever regain constitutional government until we completely demolish the liberal stranglehold on the bureaucracy, the education institutions, the media and especially, the judiciary. How do we do that? The most straightforward way, IMHO, is to vote out the Democrats. Ensure that we maintain as large a Republican majority as we possibly can. Ensure that the most conservative judges as can be found are appointed by the Republican president and confirmed by the Republican Senate. Why do you think Daschle and the Democrats are fighting so hard to block Bush's judicial appointments? They see the handwriting on the wall. As we begin replacing the liberal judiciary. the socialist welfare state is going to fall. The socialist bureaucracy will begin to crumble. We will withdraw from the U.N. and begin rescinding international treaties not in our best interests. We will be defending America and America's interests first.
Who knows? We may even get to the point we can overturn Roe vs Wade, repeal the 16th and 17th amendments, abolish the slave tax, privatize social security and medicare, repeal the unconstitutional gun control laws, dismantle the welfare state and reestablish the American Republic. These are my dreams, my goals and my reasons for Free Republic. If sometimes my actions seem a bit odd, please remember that my ultimate goals are to restore constitutional government and I see the total destruction of the Democrat Party and liberalism in general as the only possible solution to the problem. I don't care if people call me a neo-con, a bushbot, a blind Republican, a statist or whatever. I've asked many times but there has been no Libertarian or Buchananite or Reformer or Rockwellian or paleocon who has documented and presented a better plan or one that has any prayer of success, so I'm committed to this one.
As we move forward into the next election cycle, the FR battle cry will be: Restore the Republic! Vote out the RATs!
See you at the Free Republic George Bush Second Inaugural Ball in January '05!
Jim
Sounds very tempting, but "lodging, bread & water?" Are they preparing people for being apprehended as dissidents? ;-)
Here's their schedule for the rest of the year:
June
6 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level I
7-8 Broadcast Journalism School
7-8 Grassroots Activist School
20 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level II
27-28 Grassroots Activist School - Portland, OR
28 Grassroots Communication Workshop - Sacramento, CA
28 Student Publications Workshop - Irvine, CA
July
4 Fourth of July Soiree (FREE)
11 Public Speaking Workshop
12-13 Youth Leadership School
25 Advanced Public Speaking Workshop
28-1 Candidate Development School
August
1 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level 1
2-3 Broadcast Journalism School
11-14 Public Relations School
September
4 Grassroots GOTV Workshop
7-13 Campaign Leadership School
12 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level 2
13 Grassroots Comm. WorkshopLos Angeles, CA
16-19 Capitol Hill Staff Training School
20 Capitol Hill Writing Workshop
26 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level 1
27-28 Grassroots Activist School - Harrisonburg, VA
27-28 Broadcast Journalism School
October
4 Internet Leadership Workshop
4-5 Youth Leadership School - Lincoln, NE
4-5 Grassroots Activist School - Orange County, CA
31 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level I
November
1-2 Broadcast Journalism School
14 Public Speaking Workshop
20 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level I
21 Advanced Public Speaking Workshop
December
6-7 Grassroots Activist School
8-11Public Relations School
11 Effective Television Techniques Workshop - Level II
Who was the fellow taking our names at the Chicago Conservative Conference who wanted to get LI in IL?
That's SERIES fun! Fun-fun is a silly thread!!
Hmmmm, don't think I said that. Not at all. The establishment of the Interstate Highway system was unconservative, however what to do with it now? Turn it over to the states and allow them to maintain it with no 'grants' from the national government? Or continue to keep the separate and sovereign states in subservience to the bureaucratic machine in Washington
And as I see you chose to ignore the other comments so that tells me pretty much all I need to know. From your statement, you're not actually for returning to a Federal Constitutional Republic as much as maintaining the status quo and having the 'conservative' party to stay in power to continue passing unconstitutional bills such as healthcare, more federal police powers on the domestic front, and a 'kinder, gentler' social security, eh? Or did I misunderstand your version of what a conservative should be?
I lived in Ron's district and campaigned for him during his first term in congress back in the early 1980's. He is an obstetrician in "real life" and has 5 children (I think) of his own. He is a very nice, very conservative, and a very sincere fellow. He went to DC the about the same time Tom DeLay was first elected to the Texas State Assembly (also my district). At the time I would have bet on Ron Paul to be the more successful of the two.
One of the best PR stunts Ron ever pulled was to park his little Chevette next to Tip O'Neil's limo in the House garage and have a picture taken of the two cars, side by side. Then he wrote a guest editorial about Government waste and sent it off to the newspaper with the picture of the cars. Priceless!
That's where I'm headed as well. I've said it before on other threads and I'll say it again. If the republicans gain enough power to affect a significant change in government and fail to make a change, they will lose their base completely. Disenfranchised voters tend to look for a new franchise. They could end up helping the liberals more than the liberals could ever dream of helping themselves.
Don't forget that before Reagan the top marginal tax rate was 70%.
My sentiments are with you there. If RINO's broker the power and know they'll automatically get our votes, there's no reason for them to nominate conservatives. But we need to use our people power to organize within and/or outside of party operations and beat them in primaries. Also, in districts that are outside of the GOP's reach, I have no problem with a reasonable attempt in the 'rat primary. I've heard Morton Blackwell say he thinks so to, btw.
Yeah thanks for that link earlier also. I skipped out of FR for a while to check it out. So far I am definitely interested. I think there is alot there to learn from and much I can use as I become more actively involved. Heck just the advice to keep reading and the list of recommended Periodicals and Books is good for anyone not already familiar with some. The only thing I'm a little weary about is the recommending Atlas Shrugged as a top 25 while omitting The New American Bible. LOL.
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