The Blessings of Liberty

Thomas Jefferson made it clear in the Consti-tution’s preamble that it was written to, among other things, “se-cure the Blessings of Liberty to our-selves and our Posterity.”

To have liberty means to be able to act without undue hindrance or restraint. To secure something means to lock it into place.

With that in mind, can anyone doubt that the central objective of Thomas Jefferson and the other Founders was to keep Americans free forever of unnecessary and unreasonable government interference?

This is not an obscure detail in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. It is the all-encompassing and pervasive theme around which our entire system of government is built. Therefore, it is surprising to a great many of us that it has escaped the attention of such a large number of our recent and current leaders in Washington.

Keeping government small and innocuous, after all, is why our Founding Fathers went to the trouble of drawing up a written contract between citizens and government. That is why they erected so many safeguards around our precious liberties and set up so many barriers to government expansion.

They knew, as we ought to know, that ambitious and unscrupulous men and women live in every generation and every age, men and women who pose as champions of the people by offering them insubstantial and fleeting security in exchange for priceless and hard-won freedoms.

Over the years members of congress, presidents and supreme court justices, while serving in their official capacities, have acted in ways that have seriously diminished the rights of citizens while enlarging the power and scope of government.

I suppose we could be lenient and excuse their conduct by saying these decisions undoubtedly were made in ignorance. But are members of congress, presidents and supreme court justices supposed to be ignorant? When they seek or accept these high offices do they not lead us into the belief that they are the most worthy, wise and eminently qualified citizens in all the land? And if their assessment of themselves is correct, is it unreasonable to assume that they possess at the very least some small understanding of and appreciation for our Constitution, the document upon which our entire philosophy of government rests and which they swear before their fellow citizens and God to uphold?

Admittedly, correctly interpreting the Constitution could in certain instances and cases prove difficult, but should there ever be any doubt in anyone’s mind about what the Founders wanted most for American citizens, among them their own children and grandchildren? Doesn’t the whole tone and tenor of everything written by our Founders, beyond their mere words, resound with liberty?

Would it be asking too much then that when members of congress are debating and enacting a law, a president is executing a law or a supreme court justice is interpreting a law that they keep their eyes squarely focused upon this one preeminent fact--that our Constitution was written to secure the blessings of liberty?

Barnyard Wisdom

Recently there was a huge gathering at our nation’s capital of concerned citizens who have come to the realization that their once-limited government has mushroomed into something much too big, much too unwieldy, much too expensive and much too intrusive. These astute citizens also know that their government has a long and dismal record of hastily implementing costly and convoluted programs that exacerbate rather than solve problems.

In the period immediately following this orderly rally, some in the news media were attempting to portray these patriotic citizens--who had every right to assemble--as a disgruntled and meaningless bunch of radicals, a mere fringe group on the outer margins of society whose simple-minded 18th century views on politics were distinctly out of harmony with today’s more stylish, regal, paternalistic and avant-garde approach to ruling people. There were further insinuations that the march was motivated not by patriotism but by racism, even though many blacks were clearly in attendance.

Mislabeling and mischaracterizing those who stand in the way of advancing tyranny is not an unfamiliar tactic. Anyone who has studied even recent history knows that this tactic was employed with great success during the last century by Communists and Nazis alike. Though clever, the tactic essentially boils down to this: an unscrupulous and unhesitating willingness to engage in boldfaced lying.

As a reminder to everyone, just let me emphasize this. From the outset our government was never intended to be unnecessarily large or meddlesome. The Founders knew they could either have a big government that granted few individual liberties or a limited government that granted a great many individual liberties. They chose the latter and we have been richly blessed for it.

The recent demonstration in Washington was nothing more nor less than a legitimate means of emphatically conveying to our chief executive and lawmakers an important and urgent message: “You are leading this nation off course!”

Though some may have forgotten it, in this country the government is not permitted to wield absolute power. In America the government is authorized to exercise only those enumerated powers surrendered to it by the people and specified in writing in the Constitution.

Rather than casting doubt on those who are lawfully attempting to preserve our system of government, it would seem to me we ought to be questioning the motives of those who are using illegitimate means to pervert and destroy it. Since when is forsaking long-established values and principles considered to be more honorable and brave than standing up for them?

What is happening before our very eyes is that many of our political leaders and their accomplices in the news media are turning reality up-side-down. In order to make us believe that free enterprise is bad and collectivism is good they are subtly redefining terms--cleverly using what George Orwell called “newspeak.”

Don’t be taken in by it! It’s a shame that fewer and fewer Americans are capable of distinguishing truth from the stuff bulls leave behind, but nevertheless that seems to be the case.

Perhaps the day will come when spending four days in a barnyard will prove more beneficial to citizens than spending four years at Harvard.

Education Breakdown

America is in a state of decline. Countless individuals in and out of govern-ment are respon-sible for this condi-tion; however, today I wish to single out the dereliction of one special group--those who earn their livelihood as educators of our children. And I am not speaking of our nation’s teachers alone, but of the misguided PhDs who formulated and implemented our modern-day educational curricula.

When those entrusted with the critical task of faithfully passing on a clear understanding of our nation’s special legacy failed to do so, the spirit that had energized and animated Americans since 1776 began to be extinguished. And as a result of their inexcusable carelessness, we now have an entire generation of Americans partially or completely devoid of any meaningful understanding of how or why America developed into the distinct and special nation it did--a land of unparalleled freedoms and almost limitless opportunities.

When patriotism went out of style, when it became more fashionable to be cynical rather than optimistic, when it became more trendy to speak about what was wrong in America rather than what was right--and there was and still is so much that is right--that is when our uniquely American sense of identity and pride began to be smothered out--smothered out by the very individuals charged with keeping it alive.

Please understand this: The life-sustaining heart of a nation, any nation, is composed of its deeply committed citizens who firmly believe in the principles upon which their government was founded. Not surprisingly, when you begin reducing the number of those steady and stalwart citizens, the nation’s moral, political, and economic health starts to deteriorate. If no meaningful action is taken to arrest the condition, the afflicted nation soon becomes gravely ill and may ultimately die. And although it is true that another form of government may rise up to replace the one that preceded it, that which replaces it may be rank and bitter indeed--a system so foul and repugnant that brute force must be applied to implement it.

To prevent America from dying, and hopefully that is what we all earnestly desire, we must without delay begin fostering once again in our children and grandchildren a sincere love of country. Not a blind fanaticism but a sincere devotion and respect based upon knowledge. And we must further make it clear that those currently holding positions in government are but the present caretakers of government and not the government itself. To be sure, office holders may be flawed, some seriously, but our government “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal” is not seriously flawed. It is all anyone acquainted with the governments of the world, past and present, could ever hope for.

So let us join together as concerned Americans and get this vital project underway. For if we fail to act, there soon will be no one left willing to make the sacrifices necessary to promote America’s welfare or to ensure its survival.

Hopefully, there still are enough Americans out there, both young and old, imbued with a sufficient level of commonsense and patriotism to roll back this alarming and potentially deadly trend. We must all recognize that the preservation of America lies in the hands of our rising generations, and that we must equip them with the knowledge, skills, tools and spirit necessary to survive and succeed in a highly competitive and constantly changing world.

Of the Few, By the Few and For the Few

The form of govern-ment Americans live under is called a con-stitutional republic. In America we maintain order through a willing-ness by everyone to live according to an agreed upon set of laws. The solid, bedrock foundation of those laws is the Constitution.

Laws govern behavior. They determine what is appropriate and what is inappropriate. They set standards and limits. They create fair and equitable ways of doing things.

Years ago, the Founding Fathers of this great nation established in writing an agreed upon set of rules for government. In this code of rules--the Constitution--the Founders yielded to government only a small number of specific and limited powers. All the remaining powers were left to the states or to the people. Compared with other governments in the world, theirs was extremely rare and remarkable.

Sadly, not every U.S. president has strictly abided by the rules set forth in the Constitution or lived up to his oath of office. Many have performed well below expectations. But our current president, without any question or doubt, surpasses them all. Almost daily, our new president demonstrates in some way or other that he doesn’t believe it is absolutely necessary to confine himself to just those powers granted to him by the Constitution. Instead, he has shown us that he believes he may unilaterally exert power far beyond the wise and time-honored Constitutional limits set by our Founders.

This leads one to the inescapable conclusion that he considers himself to be above the law and superior to the rest of us. His behavior and attitude tell us that he is not a democrat, at all, but an elitist, someone who believes firmly in a government of the few, by the few and for the few.

And what is so utterly fascinating about all this is that no one is seriously challenging his deviant behavior. He is exhibiting a blatant disregard for long-established rules--for Constitutional boundaries--and yet no one seems to be very alarmed. And the president himself arrogantly acts as though no explanation of his behavior is necessary. If you were to mention the Constitution to him, he probably would be insulted by your insolence.

But let me ask you this. How does our new president expect to govern others and maintain order in our society when he himself will not be constrained by law?

Well, let me take a wild guess.

It appears as though he intends, with the aid and backing of the gang of cronies and crooks he works for, to push America and Americans one step closer to a new system of government, a system of government so powerful and so pervasive that gaining and holding the trust and support of its citizens will no longer be necessary.

If you think that’s far fetched, please think again.