Posted on 02/25/2003 1:22:14 AM PST by JohnHuang2
"We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government, upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments."
– James Madison
Bulletin: "American People Ruled Unfit to Govern"
"WASHINGTON – In a historic decision with major implications for the future of U.S. participatory democracy, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Monday that the American people are unfit to govern.
"The controversial decision, the first of its kind in the 210-year history of the U.S. representative government, was, according to Justice David Souter, "a response to the clear, demonstrable incompetence and indifference of the current U.S. citizenry in matters concerning the operation of this nation's government.
"As a result of the ruling, the American people will no longer retain the power to choose their own federal, state and local officials or vote on matters of concern to the public."
That was an April 18, 1999, report from the Onion, a satirical online publication. They say humor only works if there is a grain of truth in it. In this case, there may be more than a grain of truth.
America is, indeed, losing its ability to govern itself.
I was on the Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" program defending a July 4 column I wrote on why Americans are less free today than they were in 1776.
Eleanor Clift was there to try to set me straight along with Alan Colmes.
I launched into an explanation of how we have lost the founders' concept of self-government today – and, that without it, the Declaration of Independence and the best Constitution ever devised by man aren't enough to keep our nation free. I suggested that nine out of 10 Americans don't even know what self-government means.
Clift jumped in and began her attack.
"Well, I would point to local communities and I think people are more interested in taking a role in how they are governed in their immediate neighborhoods and cities and towns than they are in how the central government is operating," she said.
To which I replied: "I think that Eleanor just betrayed that she's one of the nine out of 10 of Americans who do not understand what self-government is. It's not about local government, state government or central government. It's about governing ourselves as individuals, being accountable to God, having a morality that guides us in our actions."
Self-government. Even Eleanor Clift of Newsweek doesn't know what it means.
The War of Independence was fought 226 years ago principally over the issues of sovereignty and self-government.
These are two concepts that have been obliterated from the debate today. The war was fought so that we in America would have the ability and right to govern ourselves as individuals and that our individual states would have sovereignty with little interference from London, Washington or anywhere else.
Do we have that today?
In 1776, Americans were much freer to govern themselves and the states had less accountability to the crown than they do today to Washington. Today, Washington is God.
Washington dictates policies to the states and local governments and holds individuals accountable to thousands of unconstitutional laws – and declares perfectly constitutional laws invalid with a stroke of the pen. That's not the way our country was designed.
Does America have the courage to recover the freedom it has lost in the last 200 years?
Freedom isn't about prescription drug plans dictated by Washington. Freedom isn't about more laws. Freedom isn't about a false security promised by your federal government. Freedom isn't about being numbered from cradle to grave. Freedom isn't about having your wealth confiscated by government before you even cash your paycheck. Freedom isn't about the government mis-educating your child. Freedom isn't about United Nations peacekeeping missions. Freedom isn't about more cops on the beat.
Freedom, ultimately, is about the liberation of the individual to run his or her own life with minimal interference from government. Self-government. Period. End of story.
That was the goal of our founders in 1776. It ought to be our goal again today.
How many current officeholders could we poll before we got an answer to "What is freedom?" that was more coherent and sensible than that?
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason:
http://palaceofreason.com
I noticed he didn't say govern everybody else according to your understanding of the ten commandments. An unappreciated point for far too many(including quite a few freepers). Somehow some people see imposing a will and a view as tyranny only when they ae on the receiving end but think it's totally legit if they are directing it or in aggreement with those directing it.
Are you simply trying to remind us that slavery existed, in case we somehow forgot? Or are you trying to say that because the ideals of liberty were imperfectly applied at one time we should reject the concept? Just wondering.
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