Free Republic

The Latin rebellare means renewal of war. When a town or tribe was conquered and terms of peace agreed to, it was in rebellion if it violated its settlement with the Romans. From this, the root of the word rebellion involves rejection of an agreement by the conquered. Violence to reassert dominance and control is typically the conqueror’s response. Closer to home, recall that sporadic slave disturbances of early America were ruthlessly put down with Roman-style force. Our duty as American citizens goes no further than obedience to the law of our making requires. We are not servants of the...

The government of our creation rarely does any of the things it is supposed to do, and spends enormous sums doing that which it is not empowered to do. The next time you and your smug, liberal in-law get into politics, I have a curveball for you that he is sure to swing at and miss. Since the vast majority of Leftists substitute passion for reason, it is but a small task to put their nonsense to rest, IF we are armed with fundamental knowledge of our Declaration and Constitution. First, ask him if he believes government exists, as per...

Through a series of lessons arranged in three Books, the thrust of Niccolo’ Machiavelli‘s Discourses on Livy deals with how nations in general, and republics in particular, can design, keep, and if necessary, restore free-government. The media for this exercise are the experiences, trials, successes and failures of the Roman Republic as related by Titus Livius (59BC – 17AD). J.G.A. Pocock, an historian at Washington University in St. Louis Missouri, coined the term “Machiavellian Moment” to identify the commencement of clear thinking in which civil society realizes that unless it takes corrective action, the corruption into which the nation has...

Like you, I listened slack-jawed as James Comey argued that somehow there is an unbridgeable legal divide between Hillary’s extreme recklessness and indictable gross negligence. Bravo Sierra meters pegged nationwide. Once again, a Clinton dodged earned and deserved punishment. Not only will no federal prosecutor indict Hillary, no grand jury will get to see and judge the evidence either. While good for Hillary, what of the effect on the nation? The first clause to the Fifth Amendment of our Constitution provides that “No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment...

As I recall from Gibbon, the Western Roman Empire went out with more of a whimper than a bang. By the time of Alaric and his Visigoths in 410 AD, Rome was so corrupt and weak there was little to stand in his way. In broad strokes it is fair to say that Roman society declined simultaneously with government. Long before the fall, Roman republican citizenship was a precious possession, a jewel of unsurpassed value. As such it was held closely and kept in short supply, for among other privileges, the Roman citizen wasn’t taxed. He was exempt from the...

When various objections to the draft Constitution arose in the fall of 1787, James Madison asked his fellow citizens to shun despair. The future was bright if Americans did not listen to those who claimed our problems were insurmountable. In similar fashion, America 2016 can avoid disunion if the sovereign people utilize Article V to meet their problems head-on. From the last portion of The Federalist #14, by James Madison: I submit to you, my fellow-citizens, these considerations, in full confidence that the good sense which has so often marked your decisions will allow them their due weight and effect;...

If we pause for a moment and consider the grand, historic sweep of governing forms in England and America, the conclusion must be that action is needed now to save what precious little remains of free government. Freedom for our English ancestors waxed and waned in cycles as the Roman empire, Saxon kings, Vikings, William of Normandy, Magna Charta, the rise of Parliament, religious wars came and went. By the mid-18th century, no people on earth were more prosperous than the American colonists of King George III, yet our forebears revolted when they viewed the approach of hard tyranny. Having...

The American republic is on its knees. No methodical and orderly process like that in Article V can keep up with the pace of unconstitutional executive branch and scotus derived amendments to the Constitution. What is to be done? Apply for a Convention of States for one purpose? Events are moving far too fast to be limited by artificial bounds imposed on Article V that serve to delay a state convention. While Washington disregards the supreme law of the land, we are expected to follow it to the letter. How many decades must go by before the sovereign people respond...

If there is one aspect of the crisis that Convention of States supporters and opponents can agree on, it is that our governing institutions have been corrupted from their constitutional purposes to “ . . . form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty . . . “ Where the two sides differ is what to do about it. Regular readers know of my admiration for the late Stuart-era martyr for free government, Algernon Sidney. The fundamental thread of his voluminous Discourses Concerning...

Article V opponents often echo, from The John Birch Society and Eagle Forum talking points, an admonition to “Just enforce the Constitution we have.” On the other hand, our Framers, the most brilliant thinkers in political history were not so conceited as to believe their design was perfection on earth. The existence of Article V is self-evident proof of their humility. In previous posts I cited the republican lessons that Niccolo’ Machiavelli, Charles De Montesquieu, Algernon Sidney and Cato’s Letters drew from history that pointed toward the necessity of eternal vigilance, of using experience to inform our actions toward keeping...

The trend toward reform of western governing systems through federalism may be catching on. In view of the oh-so-close decision by Scotland in 2014 to remain in the United Kingdom (UK), and last month’s decision by England to exit the European Union, a constitutional reform movement in England hopes to head off possible dissolution of the UK! The Constitution Reform Group (CRG) is a committee initiated by academics and politicians whose immediate purpose is to blunt continuing efforts by the Scottish National Party (SNP) to exit the UK, and to ultimately pass a new “settlement” that preserves the union. Like...

Our Framers don’t get the credit they deserve. Their presidential electoral system was designed to avoid the road to ruin so typical in republics: popular election of a demagogic strongman who promises to quell that which he foments, meaning societal discord and anarchy, by rewarding his supporters and destroying his opponents. How in the world did our Framers come up with the method in Article II to elect a president? Contrary to popular belief, there are two central purposes to their outwardly clumsy and confusing process. First, it was to elevate men of only the highest virtue, wisdom and talents...

In a short YouTube video (link below), Bill Whittle not only explains why Hillary Clinton belongs in prison stripes, but he closes with some observations all patriots understand: The President will not protect the American people. The SecState will not protect the American people. The DOJ will not protect the American people. The FBI will not protect the American people. The Department of Defense will not protect the American people. All that remains is for We The People to protect the American people. End. Bill is spot on. I would only add that neither congress nor scotus have shown any...

Our revolutionary Constitution violated two accepted truths of 18th century political science: stable republics require small territories, and external commerce was detrimental to republics. As to the first, any government that depends on the direct or indirect participation of the people requires a certain commonality in traditions, religion, and culture. This was thought possible only in city-states or across small territories. Yet, not only history, but our experience after 1776 had shown that even small republics had to guard against majoritarian tyranny. All forms of direct or indirect democracies were prone to the rise of factions that would put their...

My last post touched on the religious, societal and political upheavals endured by 17th century England. The outcome was twofold: an English Bill of Rights crafted and ratified by a non-parliamentary convention, and the end of the Stuart line of kings. Members of parliament alternatively served as both political representatives and delegates of the sovereign people. To this day, as evidenced by the recent Brexit referendum, the British system does not differentiate very well between the electoral and sovereign capacities of the people. While war and religious turmoil preoccupied the mother country, her colonies on the North American continent fought...

One of the concerns expressed by Article V opponents stems from an assumed equivalence between popularly elected representatives to the US House and Senate, and delegates appointed by the states to an Article V convention to propose amendments. With that in mind, it is worthwhile to examine the two dimensions of the American polity, the electoral and sovereign capacities of the people. In the American Republic the people are entrusted by God and themselves to exercise two distinct duties. First, under the guidance of the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God, they are to craft and amend as necessary the...

A shiver ran through me as I watched James Comey’s clumsy dance around the edges of why Hillary was guilty of selling out her country, yet would not be prosecuted. Could that day, July the 5th, two days into America’s 241st year be the end of the republic established in 1788? Did we witness THE historic moment of the 21st century? As opposed to authoritarian regimes in which the moment of their deaths is known exactly by the date and time their despots pass on into hell, what of republics? When do republics die? One of the most famous ancient...

In parts I & II last April, I referenced Niccolo’ Machiavelli’s examination of the tough job that awaits good men in corrupt republics to restore free government. Just as a body in motion tends to stay in motion in the direction it is headed, so too do societies and their governments. The government of our republic, dedicated to unalienable rights, has been so corrupted that its next president might be not a hidden traitor, but one who openly sold out her country. Crooked Hillary is a symptom, rather than a cause. Congress long ago perfected the art of exempting themselves...

One of the reasons I enjoy Independence Day is that it makes Leftists squirm. These citizens of the world are uncomfortable at the sight of unabashed and self-confident patriots celebrating the founding of a nation dedicated to undeniable truths. Tough. Let the micro-aggressions roll as we stand athwart the progressive junking of all that is good and decent. On our nation’s 150th anniversary in 1926, Republican president Calvin Coolidge gave a speech in which he responded to the progressive wave that was muddying the minds of the nation. Only thirteen years after the passage of the destructive 16th and 17th...

In my last post, Professor Randy Barnett described the Left’s conception of We The People as a collective, a single mass that expresses its sovereign will through congress. Here, first comes government, then come rights. Rights are what We The People collective say they are. The Republican Constitution. On the other hand, We The People of a Republican Constitution are composed of sovereign individuals. The people we send to government are fellow citizens and servants who exercise limited, enumerated, and “just” powers. Their purpose isn’t to reflect majoritarian will, but rather to secure the unalienable rights we all possess. A...