Article Archives by Subject:  Constitution

05-09-2013
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Loyalty Day
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Subject: Loyalty Day

According to Wikipedia, Loyalty Day was first observed on May 1st, 1921, as a counter to the growing influences of communism and anarchism on the American labor movement. In 1958 during the second Red Scare, Congress passed Public Law 85-529 declaring this to be a legal holiday — although one which is rarely observed. Wikipedia states:

With the exception of Eisenhower in 1959 and 1960, Loyalty Day has been recognized with an official proclamation every year by every president since its inception as a legal holiday in 1958.

In keeping with that tradition, on April 30, 2013, President Obama issued his own proclamation, once again declaring May 1st to be "Loyalty Day." Here is what he had to say:

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

In the centuries since America broke from an empire and claimed independence, our people have come together again and again to meet the challenges of a changing world. We have reinvented our cities with advances in science and reformed our markets with new understanding of the forces that guide them. We have fought for freedom in the theater of war and expanded its reach during times of peace. We have revamped and recovered and remade ourselves anew, mindful that when times change, so must we. But with every step forward, we have reaffirmed our faith in the ideals that inspired our founding. We have held fast to the principles at our country's core: service and citizenship; courage and the common good; liberty, equality, and justice for all.

This is our Nation's heritage, and it is what we remember on Loyalty Day. It is an occasion that asks something of us as a people: to rediscover those ageless truths our Founders held to be self-evident, and to renew them in our own time. We look back to Americans who did the same, from generation to generation — citizens who strengthened our democracy, organizers who made it broader, service members who gave everything to protect it. These patriots and pioneers remind us that while our path to a more perfect Union is unending, with hope and hard work, we can move forward together.

Today, we rededicate ourselves to that enduring task. We do so knowing our journey is not complete until the promises of our founding documents are made real for every American, regardless of their station in life or the circumstances of their birth. Progress may come slow; the road may be long. But as loyal citizens of these United States, we have the power to set our country's course. Let us mark this day by pressing on in the march toward lasting freedom and true equality, grateful for the precious rights and responsibilities entrusted to each of us by our forebears.

In order to recognize the American spirit of loyalty and the sacrifices that so many have made for our Nation, the Congress, by Public Law 85-529 as amended, has designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day." On this day, let us reaffirm our allegiance to the United States of America, our Constitution, and our founding values.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2013, as Loyalty Day. This Loyalty Day, I call upon all the people of the United States to join in support of this national observance, whether by displaying the flag of the United States or pledging allegiance to the Republic for which it stands.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-seventh.

BARACK OBAMA

But of course, as with all things Obama, there are interesting passages contained here that, in the name of this country's founding principles, turn those very principles upon their head. For example, Obama states:

But with every step forward, we have reaffirmed our faith in the ideals that inspired our founding. We have held fast to the principles at our country's core: service and citizenship; courage and the common good; liberty, equality, and justice for all.

Ignoring for the moment his appeal to faith rather than a conscious understanding and explicit agreement with our founding principles, what are some of those core ideas that he identifies?

"liberty, equality, and justice for all."

Contrast this with the Pledge of Allegiance which speaks of "liberty and justice for all. Where did "equality" come from and what does Obama mean by that?

When the founding fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them ... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."   [Emphasis Added]

it is perfectly clear that they are speaking of individuals who are separate from one another, but all of whom possess equal rights as an inherent aspect of their human nature—rights pertaining to their freedom and independence; rights which grant them the power to direct and control the course of their own lives.

But this is not at all what Barack ("I do think at a certain point you've made enough money.") Obama means by equality. He is not promoting equality of opportunity to pursue one's desires in the manner of one's choosing. No, he is speaking of egalitarianism — of guaranteeing equality of outcomes. It is his intention to "level the playing field" by chopping off the legs of those that rise too high and using those severed limbs as a platform upon which others will be allowed to stand. And it the government, with him at the helm, that will be doing the chopping and deciding just how much to amputate.

As is the case with all smart totalitarians throughout history, he doesn't plan to go to war with the population in order to extract his pound of flesh. Instead, he navigates the much easier course of simply issuing a call to sacrifice oneself on the altar of altruism, and then stands back as a majority of the sheep lead themselves to slaughter. When Obama speaks here of "our country's core: service and citizenship," or declares that Loyalty Day is "an occasion that asks something of us as a people," he is laying the groundwork to help confuse the latent positive feelings that people retain for the greatness of what remains of this country, and getting them to transpose those feelings towards the act of serving the needs of others at their own expense.

And this is not some one-time occurrence, but a concerted effort and core goal of Obama's administration. Already he has declared both 9/11 and Martin Luther King Day to be National Days of Service. His never-ending call to serve can be found buried within most of his speeches, while more and more children of all ages are being forced to perform mandatory community service in our government-run schools as part of the federal Service-Learning initiative. And as I pointed out in my original article on National Service, the annual spending on the Corporation for National and Community Service has been drastically increased during The past five years, with an underlying goal of ultimately making National Service become a mandatory requirement imposed upon all citizens.

When Obama declares:

It is an occasion that asks something of us as a people: to rediscover those ageless truths our Founders held to be self-evident, and to renew them in our own time.

he is counting on most people not being aware of the fundamental Enlightenment principles of individualism upon which our American history rests, and an uncritical acceptance of his replacement of our rights to autonomy and self-directedness with his collectivist notion of egalitarianism. Unfortunately, after many generations of a populace indoctrinated in government schools, he can now apparently get his wish.

03-06-2013
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Rand Paul
Rand Paul
Subject: Action Alert

Earlier today, Rand Paul, the Republican Senator from KY, began a filibuster of the nomination of Obama appointee, John Brennan, to head up the CIA. Paul is conducting this filibuster in an attempt to force President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to declare their allegiance to the Writ of Habeas Corpus (Section 9) and the right to trial by Jury (5th Amendment) as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. He is demanding that they state categorically that the Executive branch does not have the authority to unilaterally target for death, any American citizen on American soil who does not pose an immediate threat. So far, both have refused to make a clear declaration.

The need to take such a stand comes in the wake of the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) coupled with the administration's recent actions to turn Homeland Security into a unconstitutional, national, military organization and transition local police into a paramilitary force, while concurrently stockpiling arms and ammo and deploying drones across America.

Paul and Obama on Drones

If you are not already concerned, then you haven't been paying attention!

We now have a government that has gone mad with power and has no hesitation in mowing down any pesky constitutional concerns that still get in its way. Rand Paul has drawn a line in the sand and is taking a firm stand for limiting the government to its ennumerated powers and for protecting all of our rights. This filibuster is a symbolic act, and a very important one. The question is will the administration be forced to concede that their are limits to its actions, or will this filibuster simply fizzle out and soon be forgotten, along with the last remnants of our rights.

You can either sit back and wait to see what happens, or you can place yourself on the front lines and act to support this effort. I am asking everyone who reads this to act — and act immediately to provide support for what Rand Paul is doing. First, you can visit his Facebook page and adding your voice to the may others who are standing behind this effort. Follow this by going to his Senate Contact page, and leaving a personal message expressing your support for what he is doing. And then, most importantly of all, write a letter to the editors of your local papers, letting them know that there is considerable grassroots support for what Paul is doing—and why he is doing it. Contact like-minded friends and family and see if you can convince them to contribute their voice as well. In the big scheme of things, this may seem like only a small and inconsequential act, but I say that it is the first of many to come. Let's make this one count for all that it is worth!

Rand Paul's Filibuster

For those interested, the filibuster can viewed live on C-SPAN2

Thanks to all of you for your willingness to fight for the cause of liberty. It means a great deal to me.

UPDATE:

9:30 PM PST: Here is a link to a new White House Petition asking that the president to respond to Rand Paul on the drone strike issue. Sign it!

01-03-2013

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Ready. Aim. Fire!
Subject: Does The Left Have An Agenda?   Oh Yeah, You Betcha!

Throughout my life I have listened to the musings of people speculating on the actual intentions of those who align themselves with the philosophy of the progressive left. Many good-hearted people who always search to find only the best in others would look at the disastrous results being achieved by various wealth redistribution schemes, corporate bailouts, regulatory boondoggles, failed educational initiatives and programs based upon moral relativism, egalitarianism and altruism, and offer one excuse after another in an attempt to justify that, in spite of all the harmful consequences, the aim of these people was nevertheless still noble and well-meant.  But was it?

After four years of Obama's incessantly divisive rhetoric, capped off by his historic reelection last November, there appears to no longer be any need to attempt to conceal the true intentions of these folk. The time for polite conversation and gentle persuasion has drawn to a close, and more direct and decisive action is now being demanded. Take for example what Louis Michael Seidman — who, just like Barack Obama, was an instructor of constitutional law — suggests in his December 30, 2012 New York Times-sponsored piece entitled, Let's Give Up on the Constitution:

    AS the nation teeters at the edge of fiscal chaos, observers are reaching the conclusion that the American system of government is broken. But almost no one blames the culprit: our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.

    Our obsession with the Constitution has saddled us with a dysfunctional political system, kept us from debating the merits of divisive issues and inflamed our public discourse.

    [Emphasis Added]

That's right. Our reliance upon constitutional principles is a neurotic obsession, and those principles are not just wrong according to this constitutional scholar — but are morally corrupt and therefore evil! Well, let's give Mr. Seidman credit for finally coming out and explicitly stating this belief that so many have struggled to conceal for so long.

Seidman is the left's answer to John Galt. He stands up on the pages of the New York Times and proudly proclaims, "Get Out Of My Way!" — not to the looters and moochers — but to the last remnant of protection that this country has to offer in service of the rights of individuals wishing to exist on their own terms and live for their own sake. Who is he gunning for?  Me ... and for you!

If an objective guideline such as the Constitution is to be abandoned as a constraint upon unlimited government power, and the concept of inherent unalienable rights is to be abolished, then what will replace them?

    This is not to say that we should disobey all constitutional commands. Freedom of speech and religion, equal protection of the laws and protections against governmental deprivation of life, liberty or property are important, whether or not they are in the Constitution. We should continue to follow those requirements out of respect, not obligation.

    Nor should we have a debate about, for instance, how long the president's term should last or whether Congress should consist of two houses. Some matters are better left settled, even if not in exactly the way we favor.

    There is even something to be said for an elite body like the Supreme Court with the power to impose its views of political morality on the country.

    What would change is not the existence of these institutions, but the basis on which they claim legitimacy.

    [Emphasis Added]

Seidman is privy to the answers, which appear to be nothing more than a grab-bag of personal wish, whim and mystical revelation. For some unstated reason we should have respect for certain amendments (I guess he'll know them when he sees them) while abandoning others that are self-evidently undeserving. Some aspects of the Constitution represent great tradition or are too much a bother to change, while the remainder should be tossed out with the baby and the bath water. Seidman will let us know which is which. And then there's "something to be said" (of course, the actual reasoning is better left unsaid) for maintaining an unrestrained totalitarian body with the power to impose it's arbitrary will upon the remainder of us.

Who could argue with any of this? I mean, where exactly would you start?

What makes it possible for muddled linguistic regurgitations like these to pass for "thought," which then gets prominently displayed upon the pages of the New York Times? The answer is our postmodern educational system that has stunted the minds of the preceding and current generations, rendering so many incapable of any sort of rational analysis. As an example, consider this little gem:

    If we acknowledged what should be obvious — that much constitutional language is broad enough to encompass an almost infinitely wide range of positions — we might have a very different attitude about the obligation to obey. It would become apparent that people who disagree with us about the Constitution are not violating a sacred text or our core commitments. Instead, we are all invoking a common vocabulary to express aspirations that, at the broadest level, everyone can embrace. Of course, that does not mean that people agree at the ground level. If we are not to abandon constitutionalism entirely, then we might at least understand it as a place for discussion, a demand that we make a good-faith effort to understand the views of others, rather than as a tool to force others to give up their moral and political judgments.

Why is constitutional language so broad? Because in the postmodern world, words are no longer concepts with definitions and meaning, but merely "sounds" hinting at underlying platonic "feelings" which are all equally valid and must therefore be "embraced" through "good-faith" efforts.

And what's wrong with rigid, objective principles as embodied in our Constitution? For the postmodernist, these are the "tools" of oppression which force one to abandon their subjective "moral and political judgements." In this context, "judgements" means arbitrary assertions requiring no more justification than someone screaming, "this is what I want and demand!"

For additional information on how postmodern philosophy is infecting our educational system, I highly recommend a wonderful series of videos presentations by Professor Stephen Hicks, which form a part of his Philosophy of Education course.

Seidman concludes:

    If even this change is impossible, perhaps the dream of a country ruled by "We the people" is impossibly utopian. If so, we have to give up on the claim that we are a self-governing people who can settle our disagreements through mature and tolerant debate. But before abandoning our heritage of self-government, we ought to try extricating ourselves from constitutional bondage so that we can give real freedom a chance.

So the entire history of Enlightenment thought which developed throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries, and its impact that upon Western civilization, leading to the recognition of the concept of individual rights, limited government, the Declaration of Independence, the American Revolution, and the creation of the U.S. Constitution, is nowhere to be found. This history is reduced to a floundering heritage of "mature and tolerant debate" (whatever that is?) held in "bondage" by rigid constitutional ... what? Principle? No, nothing so grand — just archaic and idiosyncratic utterances.

The "freedom" that Mr. Seidman seeks, isn't the political freedom for which our forefathers fought. No, what he strives for is the unobtainable freedom from reality that, time and again, history has shown leaves only a trail of human death and destruction in its failed wake.

Here we find a classic case of our opening thesis. Do we make excuses and allowances for Louis Michael Seidman's apparent lack of knowledge regarding western history and the meaning and purpose of the Constitution which he has been teaching for nearly 40 years, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he doesn't actually understand the meaning of what he preaches — or do we hold him fully accountable for his ideas and the consequences that they portend? We'll come back to that.

Just one day earlier, on December 29th, Donald Kaul, was compelled by current events to come out of retirement and pen a column for his old newspaper, the Des Moines Register, titled, Nation Needs a New Agenda On Guns. [Note: This link is to a Fox News story, as the Des Moines Register is not a visitor-friendly site. The original column may be able to be accessed here.]

Like Seidman above, Mr. Kaul is no friend of our Constitution. In his article concerning the Sandy Hook shooting, he declares that, "The thing missing from the debate so far is anger." Well, anger is certainly something that Kaul has in ample supply!

In just a few short paragraphs, he calls for:

    • Repeal the Second Amendment. Owning a gun should be a privilege, not a right.

    • Declare the NRA a terrorist organization and make membership illegal. I would also raze the organization's headquarters, clear the rubble and salt the earth, but that's optional. Make ownership of unlicensed assault rifles a felony. If some people refused to give up their guns, that "prying the guns from their cold, dead hands" thing works for me.

    • Then I would tie Mitch McConnell and John Boehner, our esteemed Republican leaders, to the back of a Chevy pickup truck and drag them around a parking lot until they saw the light on gun control.

    • And if that didn't work, I'd adopt radical measures.

When it comes to feelings of anger, it is always time for the Constitution to be sweep aside, allowing those emotions to flower into the bloodlust that is the hallmark of the progressive left. And after all, there's simply nothing quite as eloquent as a good lynching to firmly make your point.

Just like the New York Times, the Des Moines Register considered this suitable material to promote as part of the national discussion on violence. However, considering the rhetoric above, it gives one pause to wonder if the elimination of violence is actually a goal of the left after all?

So just what is the left's agenda? As these examples demonstrate, it is nothing less than a concerted attack upon the principles articulated in the Constitution that provide a framework for autonomy and independence in thought and action. So long as individual rights are recognized and honored, even to a limited extent, it means that people remain somewhat free from the rule of other men. This sort of freedom cannot be tolerated by the tinpot dictator-wannabes like Seidman and Kaul, not to mention the staff at many of our news publications who promote these views while propping up the elected officials — the Reids, Pelosis, McConnells, Boehners, and their ilk — who share in this desire to control.

The agenda is simple, and it explains every position taken by the progressives: That which promotes individual initiative and personal choice is the bad which must be destroyed, while that which constrains individuals in any manner is the good. As always, it's the age old battle between individualism and collectivism, and it does no good to make allowances and excuses for those out to chain and control us. They know exactly what they are doing. Let's not allow them to hide from the consequences of their own sorry truth one moment longer.




External links to reprints of this article:
07-12-2011

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Under Attack...
Yet Again!
Subject: A Call to Action

    From the United States Constitution — Section 7:

    All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

    Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; ...

Today, the Associated Press released an article entitled:

In this piece it is reported that Republican Senator Mitch McConnell (KY) presented a proposal that would effectively turn the keys to the piggy bank over to President Obama, allowing him, at his discretion, to increase the debt ceiling by up to $2.5 trillion! In exchange for this broad new power, Obama would be required to submit to Congress a proposal for equivalent spending cuts — not from current levels, but from Obama's own inflated future spending projections — which would then be endlessly debated in Congress, with no assurance that they would ever come to a vote, let alone be implemented. And even if these spending reductions were to be enacted, there is no parity here, since, as Peter Schiff has so accurately pointed out, Obama would be increasing the debt today, while any cuts would certainly be set to kick in at some future date, and most likely be extended out over a period of five to ten years, and possibly longer, rendering their offsetting fiscal impact almost meaningless.

Now, why would the Republicans, who have a clear majority in the House where, according to the Constitution, revenue bills must originate, propose such an idiotic "compromise", giving up the authority that the voters vested in them during the last election, and capitulate to Obama's authority while burying us citizens under addition debt, raising the a total load to just shy of $17 trillion? As the article points out:
    [I]t would allow Republican lawmakers to avoid having to support an increase in the debt limit, something many of them find odious.

    "Republicans will choose a path that actually reflects the will of the people, which is to do the responsible thing and ensure the government doesn't default on its obligations," McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor.

Why would they do it? Because they are cowards! They prefer to both have and eat their cake silmultaneously. Unwilling to take a strong principled stand on the issue of the debt ceiling, they want to raise it because it is "the will if the people", but they do not want to actually have to vote on it because that is not "the will if the people". What are the Republicans actually concerned about?
    Any such proposals could also be used by Republicans in the 2012 campaigns, if only to blunt attacks made by Democrats.

That's right. They are more concerned with political maneuvering and reelection than they are on saving this country from total financial collapse as we are currently witnessing in many European countries.

Why is anything like this proposal being discussed? We are currently running a huge deficit and must cut federal spending immediately to balance the budget and stop the bleeding. Even if we gave ourselves a lobotomy and then were able to take this proposal at face value, believing that raising the debt ceiling would be countered with spending cuts of equal measure, that would be the same thing as standing still, and we would continue to hemorrhage. It solves nothing! The only possible path out of these dark woods is reduced spending, and it is clear that neither the White House, nor the Democrats, nor the Republicans are interested in taking decisive action. Raising the debt ceiling won't address our problems, it just makes things considerably worse.

Do not let this action stand! Contact Mitch McConnell and all of the other Republicans in the House and Senate and tell them exactly what you think, not only of this particular proposal, but of their entire failed record. Let them know that:
  • The President should not be given the ability to arbitrarily raise the debt ceiling.

  • Stop undermining the separation of powers embodied in the U.S. Constitution.

  • The debt ceiling should not be raised by any amount, under any circumstances.

  • The 2012 budget which begins this October, must be balanced.

  • Balance the budget with federal spending reductions, not tax increases.

  • Immediately de-fund and then repeal Obamacare.

  • Every American citizen should have the choice to opt-out of all entitlement programs.

  • We are tracking their actions and we will remember each and every one at the next election.

Here are links and phone numbers to some of the worst RINOs in the Senate. Use this information to let them know exactly what actions you expect of them.

    Name State Phone No. Email Contact
    Mitch McConnell KY 202-224-2541 Email
    Lisa Murkowski AK 202-224-6665 Email
    Jon Kyl AZ 202-224-4521 Email
    John McCain AZ 202-224-2235 Email
    Mark Kirk IL 202-224-2845 Email
    Richard Lugar IN 202-224-4814 Email
    Scott Brown MA 202-228-2646 Email
    Susan Collins ME 202-224-2523 Email
    Olympia Snowe ME 202-224-5344] Email
    Mike Johanns NE 202-224-4224 Email
    Tom Coburn OK 202-224-5754 Email
    Lyndsey Graham SC 202-224-5972 Email
    Lamar Alexander TN 202-224-4944 Email

If you would like to harass my RINO state Representative, by all means, please have at it! :-)
    Name State Phone No. Email Contact
    Dave Reichert      WA 206-275-3438 Email

And for all your other Representative and Senatorial needs, use this link to Congress Merge.

Remember, this is the second American Revolution, and you are all soldiers on the front line of this battle. Fight back as though your future was at stake — because it certainly is!


† I say contact the Republicans, because I have written off the Democrats as beyond hope. As the past two years demonstrated, they are operating from a social agenda that is to be imposed upon this country, that does not recognize self-preservation as a counter-force. They have demonstrated that they will not listening to our message. They must all be replaced, but attempting to sway their opinion is a waste of time.


[Thanks to Siska Van Soolen DeYoung for bringing this news story to my attention.]
02-18-2010

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The Rights of Man
Subject: The Rights of Man

There is a new activist website titled The Rights of Man which, as the name implies, is intended to promote the spread of ideas in support of individual rights, as articulated in the U.S. Constitution.

The main thrust of this site is directed at the creation of letters which can then be easily mailed to selected recipients such as politicians or media contacts. Additionally, letters made public on this site may be reviewed by others, and if desired, signed and mailed by them to the recipients, thereby increasing each letter's impact.

I encourage you to visit this site and craft your own contributions in the battle to restore our freedom and rights.
01-20-2010

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Scott Brown
Subject: My Direct Letter to Scott Brown

I just sent Senator-Elect Scott Brown the following letter.
    Dear Mr. Brown:

    Congratulations on your win last night. I was one of the many from outside MA that provided financial support for your campaign leading to this great day for both you and the entire country. But Mr. Brown, please do not let us down. You have been sent to Congress for one purpose: to do everything you can to stop the socialist juggernaut from crushing the spirit of America. Your job is to defend the rights of every individual and to cut the scope of government back wherever possible, doing what you can to return it to its singular function of protecting our rights, and nothing more. So once you have cast your vote against the health care legislation as you have promised, remain true to the principles of the people who elected you and continue the valiant fight to uphold the U.S. Constitution. If you do that, you will stand at the forefront of the Second American Revolution and earn yourself a place in history.

    Do not be seduced by the congressional seat and decide, as so many others have, that being elected has somehow granted you the wisdom and the powers to assume the role of making decisions for and manipulating the lives of the citizens of this country. Always remember that we are each sovereign individuals with the constitutionally guaranteed right to our own lives. We are not wards of the state. This means that we each get to make the decisions for ourselves as we best see fit, and that right is not limited to health care, but to every aspect of how we pursue our lives and every decision we make in disposing of our earnings. As the Constitution states:

    "No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;"
    Fifth Amendment

    "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."
    Ninth Amendment

    "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"
    Tenth Amendment

    The United States government was not granted the powers to make health care decisions for the citizens, and therefore, it remains a right of each individual. And that same reasoning holds true whether it pertains to deciding whether to invest in an energy efficient appliance, a fuel efficient car, determining whether and what type of mortgage to obtain, and whether we wish to provide financial help to a poor individual, a failing company or a foreign country in the aftermath of an earthquake. Always remember that the products of each person's efforts are their property, to dispose of as they - and only they - see fit. And the choices that they make are their means of pursuing their own happiness.

    The single proper role of federal government is to be a protector of the rights of the citizens. Every time the government steps outside that role and passes legislation to regulate business or personal actions, it has transformed from a protector into a violator of those rights. The majority of the text of the U.S. Constitution was written with the express purpose of constraining government so that it would not violate its mandate and become an agent of oppression. As you can clearly see, those protective measures were long ago breached and this country has been on a rapidly accelerating slide towards totalitarianism. Please make it your single-minded purpose to go to Washington D.C. to put the governmental genie back in its bottle and restore the right of every citizen to determine their own future.

    So again, I send you my best wishes for your victory and am excited to see you head to Washington and help us all in the struggle to recover our lost liberty.

    Sincerely,

    C. Jeffery Small

The election of Scott Brown is a watershed event with many positive consequences. But Brown has demonstrated with his actions before the election, and comments made afterwards, that he is not a person who sees the relationship between a government and its people as it was intended by the framers of the Constitution. I suggest that everyone who supported his election write their own letter to Scott Brown, letting him know that he is representing all citizens of this country, not just those of his home state, and explain to him your views and expectations for his term in Congress. Let's make sure that as he heads off to Washington D.C., he goes with a clear understanding of his proper role.

01-11-2010

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New York Post
Subject: ObamaCare vs. the Constitution

As readers of this blog are aware, I have long argued that the agenda of the current administration is nothing less than an all-out assault on the most fundamental principles of the U.S. Constitution. As one example in support of this position, consider the recent article by Betsy McCaughey in the New York Post, titled, ObamaCare vs. the Constitution, which highlights five specific way that the congressional health care bill "rob you of your constitutional rights." Here is a quick summary of the issues identified:
  1. Section 3403 of the Senate health bill establishes a commission to cut Medicare spending, and proclaims that the law cannot be changed or repealed by future legislators! In this way, the Senate attempts to assign dictatorial powers to its own actions.

  2. There is a $100 million allocation to an unnamed "academic health center" meating certain "qualifications". It turns out that those "qualifications" result in the money going to Chris Dodd's University of Connecticut. This is nothing more than an attempt to slip the provision past the public by outright deception.

  3. The requirement forcing every U.S. citizen to purchase health insurance is a clear violation of the powers allocated to Congress by the Constitution.

  4. The legislation mandates enrollment in an insurance plan that dictates that doctors are only paid if they act as directed by the government, thereby imposing the government directly between the doctor and patient. There is no constitutional authority for the government to intercede in this manner.

  5. The legislation caps private insurance company profit margins below current levels, which is a taking of the property of the business owners and shareholders without just compensation.

It is critically important that we make an understanding of, and adherence to the U.S. Constitution, the cornerstone of all future political activity. Every candidate must be grilled on this, proving that they have a working understanding of the constitutional guarantee for the individual rights of each citizens. They must demonstrate their recognition of the constitutional constraints and limitations placed upon each branch of government. And they must prove that they are dedicated to actively protecting our rights and adhering to those limitations in every one of their political acts. Every piece of congressional legislation, and every action by the executive branch, must be explicitly validated on constitutional authority.

In this way, the citizens of this country can once again assert their proper relationship to their government, and reign in the abuses that have grown over the past one hundred years.
12-20-2009

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The Declaration
of Independence
Subject: The Second American Revolution: It's Time To Make Your Stand

Today, Ben Nelson, the senator from Nebraska, declared that he is going to support the Senate's health care bill as the 60th member of a Democratic coalition that has no Republican support. As reported in The Huffington Post:
    "The Nevada Democrat [Harry Reid] agreed to a series of concessions on abortion and other issues demanded by Nelson"

Other concessions? What could those be?
    "The Nebraskan [Nelson] also won increased federal funds to cover his state's cost of covering an expanded Medicaid population at a cost that one Democratic official put at $45 million over a decade"

So taxpayers in other states will now also pick up the cost of expanded health care for Nebraska's residents similar to provisions that Harry Reid managed to write into the bill for Nevada citizens. Well, why not? It's all in keeping with the Obama administration's master plan for wealth redistribution. You still have some wealth left, and therefore it obviously needs to be redistributed to others. But is that the only last minute piece of pork added to the bill? Of course not.
    "Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., claimed credit for a last-minute, $10 billion increase in funding for community health centers nationwide"

    "Another provision in Reid's changes provides additional federal funding for hospitals in Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming and the Dakotas, although no cost estimate was available."

    "The revised bill also calls for a .9 percent increase in the Medicare payroll tax on incomes over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Reid's earlier bill had a smaller hike, .5 percent."

    "The bill also taxes high-cost insurance plans"

Read Robert Tracinski's article, You Will Lose Your Private Health Insurance for a concise summary of the true implications and impact of the final legislation that will soon be voted on once the House and Senate bills are reconciled.

With the imminent passage of the health care legislation, it is finally time to take a firm and uncompromising stand. As was stated over 233 years ago in The Declaration of Independence:
    "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new guards for their future security, ..."

    [Emphasis added]

Unlike the TARP bailouts, and other incursions into the US economy, which, with stretched-to-the-limit incredulity, might charitably be credited as horribly misguided efforts with underlying good intent, no such claim could possibly be made for the Congressional health care bills. These are nothing more than a naked power-grab, granting to the government a significant increase in the direct control over the personal lives and decisions of every in America, intentionally destroying individual liberty.

It is time to choose a side of the single greatest issue facing America, and declare your allegiance either to tyranny or to freedom.

The time for the Second American Revolution is now at hand. It is up to every freedom-loving person to commit all of their intellectual, physical and financial resources to the cause of liberty. We must retake control of a government which no longer represents us - or else, we must abolish it. As we have seen demonstrated time after time over the past year, the opportunity for reasoned debate with the opposition has long since passed and the moment has arrived to pull out all of the stops and take forceful action on every possible front.

Remember Ayn Rand's observation:
    "Evil is impotent and has no power but that which we let it extort from us"

Those committed to destroying the US Constitution and enslaving all of us into serving their tyrannical ends will only succeed if we stand by and allow them to do so. Recognizing this fact, it is up to us to mount counter efforts. While new opportunities for action are being organized and put into effect all across the country, there are many things that can be done immediately. Here are some suggestions:
  • Step up your efforts to write and phone the White House and all members of Congress. Commit a certain amount of time each week to write new letters and make repeated calls to the most deserving politicians. Don't tell them that you disagree with their policies — tell them that you're mad as hell and you're not going to take it any longer! Let them know in no uncertain terms that the gloves are coming off and that you are going to do everything in your power to dismantle the corrupt machinery of government and take back your constitutionally guaranteed rights to your life, liberty and property. When they are receiving this message from thousands of people all across the country, they are going to get very nervous. Make it your personal mission to make Nancy Pelosi cry. And don't stop with her! Contact information for all congressional members can be found at Congress Merge.

  • Write articles and letters-to-the-editor of your local paper expressing your outrage over the constitutional transgressions being exercised by Congress and the President. Help transition the political dialog in country away from less important issues of specific tax or legislative proposals to the critical issues of constitutional rights. As Nancy Pelosi and other politicians have demonstrated, they are completely unprepared to defend themselves on constitutional grounds. This makes them very vulnerable to attack from this quarter.

  • Get involved with your local Tea Party chapter and help organize local and state protests. Generate as much noise and publicity as possible. Again, the message should now become not one of simple disagreement, but a vocalization of honest outrage and a principled unwillingness to voluntarily comply with the intent of Congress and the President. Become conscientious objectors - unwilling to participate in your own enslavement.

  • Start planning your strategy for the 2010 Tax Day Tea Party on April 15th. Organize family and friends and come up with a creative idea that will generate publicity and convey your personal message to as many people as possible.

  • Make plans to go to Washington DC when the next Tea Party march gets scheduled in 2010. If the press thought that 1.2 million protesters was "a few thousand", let's see what they have to say when we make it 3 million or more!

  • Show your commitment and make a symbolic statement with a Personal Declaration of Independence, by adding your name to the John Galt Pledge, if you have not done so already.

  • Link to this article on your personal blogs and help spread the word that the time for action is upon us.

Working together, we will form an irresistible force that will beat back the destroyers of freedom.

In Liberty,

C. Jeffery Small
12-10-2009

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Brad Harrington
Subject: A Patriot's Open Letter

This open letter, written by Bradley Harrington to our political representatives, is an excellent articulation of the most fundamental issue currently facing our country. We are in nothing less than a battle for the enlightenment ideals of individualism, unalienable human rights and liberty that is embodied in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution.
    A PATRIOT'S OPEN LETTER

    By Bradley Harrington

    "I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." — Thomas Jefferson, Letter To Benjamin Rush, 1800 —


    An Open Letter To Our "Representatives" In The United States Government:


    As a patriot, and as a former military veteran, I need to tell you a few things. I know that you folks have a lot to do, and don't really want to take the time to listen to me. But I strongly suggest that you do; for that attitude, you see—of being to "busy" to listen to the people who populate this country—is part of the problem I need to discuss with you.

    For hundreds of years, people like me have kept this nation strong and free. Many of us are currently serving America in the Middle East; a lot of us still surviving served in Vietnam. Our fathers served in Korea; our grandfathers in World War II; our great-grandfathers in World War I.

    All the way back, we have fought, sweated, battled, bled and died to protect our nation from attack. Whenever you called upon us to serve, we were there. We didn't question your right to send us off to war; we assumed that you had our ideals at heart; we believed that you knew what you were doing, and we unhesitatingly took out whoever you named as our enemies. Hundreds of thousands of us were killed in that process—but, as long as we knew that we were defending liberty's torch, even the laying down of our lives was not too high a price to pay.

    In the Revolutionary War, we fought to separate ourselves from the tyranny of King George III and to establish this nation, "conceived in liberty," as a safe haven for individuals to peacefully live their lives and pursue their happiness. Those were, and are, our ideals, and we have always viewed America, her history and her institutions as mankind's last, best and greatest hope. And, for many decades, our efforts and achievements enabled our nation to shine as a magnificent beacon to the "poor and huddled masses" yearning to be free.

    "Patriotism," to us, you see, is not blindly following our leaders wherever they might lead: it is respect for, and admiration of, the principles of freedom that animated the creation of the United States. It is a profound passion we have, at the very core of our souls, in regard to man's unconquerable mind and the indomitability of the human spirit. Patriotism, to us, is not loyalty to a government, but loyalty to an idea, and it drives all of our thoughts and actions: the idea that men and women have a right to be free.

    Have you been doing your job as well as we have been doing ours? Have you been as true to the ideals our nation was founded upon as we have? Or have you used your power to "engage in a long train of abuses and usurpations?" (Declaration of Independence, 1776.)

    Today, we observe that you and your laws have reduced our economy to a shambles; have aided and abetted the destruction of our social order; hampered the processes of our courts; stifled our productive capacities; and ensnared the citizens of this nation in a web of offensive and arbitrary decrees that can be designed for one purpose only: to turn us into serfs. And, now, as you sit in your citadels of power in Washington, D.C., you tell us, when we protest, that you are "busy." Busy doing what? Taking away our liberties and turning this once-proud, once-free nation into a shoddy, second-class "welfare" state?

    I respectfully suggest that you'd better think again: for not all of us are mindless automatons to be led like sheep to the slaughter. Many of us know our history, and have read the Declaration, and are fully aware of the part that says: "That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it..."

    We military patriots haven't perished in one war after another so that you, our so-called "representatives," could destroy the ideals we have always combated to defend; we fought one revolution to protect those ideals in 1776. So, take notice: if you, in your colossally arrogant, controlling ignorance, continue to take us down this corridor of coercion, we might just decide that it is time to do it again.

    Bradley Harrington is a former United States Marine and a free-lance writer who lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
11-26-2009

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Joe Galloway
Subject: Thanksgiving: Learning How to Appreciate Your Rights

Joe Galloway is a combat journalist and author of the book "We Were Soldiers Once ... and Young". On a recent book tour through Lubbock, TX, he offered his views on military conscription, as reported in this article from Texas Tech:
    "When I was growing up, there was a draft," he said. "We fought World War II, Korea, and Vietnam on the draft, and nobody liked it, but it reached out and pulled in Americans from all walks of life, and that wasn't a bad thing at all.

    "We are a nation of 300 million people and fewer than one percent of us wear the uniform and do all of the serving and sacrificing for all of the other 299 million, and they've been worked pretty hard these last eight years."

    The U.S. dropped the draft system after the Vietnam War, but Galloway said he believes the United States would benefit from some program that compelled young men and women into national service, creating more appreciation for the liberties they enjoy as Americans.

In a video interview attached to the article, Mr. Galloway states:
    "I don't think that's what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they set things up. They thought you had to earn your freedom and democracy"

This got me thinking about the issue of Americans appreciating or failing to appreciate certain aspects of their lives, and I am in agreement with Galloway that many people in the U.S. have no real understanding of the nature of their individual rights, including their liberty, and therefore fail to properly appreciate them. But I cannot agree with Galloway's solution — the same one being proposed by the Obama administration — which is to violate those very rights in an effort to teach people to treasure them!

The "right to life" identifies that each person's life is sacrosanct and may not be violated by another, while the "right to liberty" means that each individual may select their own goals and pursuits in accordance with their will, free from external compulsion. I am sure that it is true that if you conscript a person into national service for a few years against their will, command their every move during that period, and place them in combat situations where their very life is in grave danger, if they survive the experience and are once again freed, most people will come away with a deeper appreciation for their life and their liberty. Of course, the same thing can be said for a survivor of a Siberian Gulag, and, in principle, there is no real difference between these two situations, as both are violations of the rights of the individual.

I also disagree with Galloway's interpretation of the Founding Father's intentions with regards to our rights. The Declaration of Independence states that we possess:
    "certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

which means that these rights are absolute and an indivisible part of our human nature. Quoting from unalienable.com:
    The absolute rights of individuals may be resolved into the right of personal security, the right of personal liberty, and the right to acquire and enjoy property. These rights are declared to be natural, inherent, and unalienable.    [Atchison & N. R. Co. v. Baty, 6 Neb. 37, 40, 29 Am. Rep. 356.]

    By the "absolute rights" of individuals is meant those which are so in their primary and strictest sense, such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy, whether out of society or in it. The rights of personal security, of personal liberty, and private property do not depend upon the Constitution for their existence. They existed before the Constitution was made, or the government was organized. These are what are termed the "absolute rights" of individuals, which belong to them independently of all government, and which all governments which derive their power from the consent of the governed were instituted to protect.    [People v. Berberrich (N. Y.) 20 Barb. 224, 229; McCartee v. Orphan Asylum Soc. (N. Y.) 9 Cow. 437, 511, 513, 18 Am. Dec. 516; People v. Toynbee (N. Y.) 2 Parker, Cr. R. 329, 369, 370 (quoting 1 Bl. Comm. 123).]

Clearly, if our rights are inherent, unalienable and exist outside of the Constitution and any formation of government, then they are not something that need to be earned. As the Declaration of Independence clearly states, governments are not formed in order to dispense rights, but instead:
    "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed"

The original purpose of our government's formation was to protect and defend the individual rights of each citizen. It is some twisted form of Orwellian illogic that concludes that those fundamental rights are protected by their violation! And it is the cruelest perversion when this method is applied to young, developing minds as is currently being done in public school civic classes all across the nation. In the name of "service-learning", school children are forced to perform hours of "community service" work while any discussion of the nature of individual rights and the guarantees of those rights in the U.S. Constitution are buried. And this is after these same children have already been conscripted into forced education.

People's gaps in knowledge, resulting in a corresponding failure to grasp the true value of a thing, is certainly not limited to the abstract concepts of individual rights. If one believes that it is the government's function to determine what is of value for each of us, and that it is the government's further role to educate us to appreciate those values, even if force must be applied to achieve that goal, then, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, let's consider another program that might be implemented.

I suggest that every American be required to live in an isolated log cabin in northern Minnesota for a period of two years: heating their home with wood that must be cut, hauled and split; getting water from a stream which must then be purified by boiling; using candles or open pit fires for light; butchering their own meat; plowing, planting, growing and harvesting their own crops; and maintaining the structure as required, including building an optional outhouse if desired. Of course, everyone would be encouraged to explore sources of alternative energy, sustainable forestry, organic farming, low-impact waste management, and energy conservation in their spare time. I know with absolute certainty that anyone surviving this wonderful experience would have "earned" a much greater respect and honest appreciation for: the hot dog that they purchase at their grocery store; the gallon of gasoline that they pump into their automobile; the flush of a toilet; the flick of a switch that floods the room with light; the push of a button that raises the room temperature by a few degrees; the convenience of picking up the telephone and calling a roofer when a leak is discovered; the simple pleasure of a conversation with another person; and so much more!

If forced military, national or community-service are good ideas that are justified due to their beneficial effect upon the conscriptee, then I can see no argument against this proposal which would have considerably more beneficial impact. Impact being the operative word!

Of course, I'm kidding. I would never suggest that a program like this was in any way justified in being imposed upon citizens of a free country. I was just making a point about individual rights and why conscription is wrong in principle. However, if someone were to suggest that we make this a requirement for anyone running for political office, then you would have my attention!

Happy Thanksgiving!
11-18-2009

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Sylvia Bokor
Subject: A Republic — If You Can Keep It

Sylvia Bokor wrote a great editorial piece on her blog entitled, "A republic if you can keep it." As words of encouragement for continuing the battle to restore our lost liberty, I would like to quote the closing paragraph of that essay:
    If we want a Republic, we have to work to keep it. Now, more than ever, more Americans realize the truth of this and are taking action. We will succeed. As one Albuquerque Tea Party member recently said, "I will never give up. Never. We will take back our country." Yes, we will. It's up to us to restore and keep our republic.

As for the rest of her article, I can confirm that I have received a similar response from all of my congressional representatives — both Republican and Democrat. They have all demonstrated a total disregard for my views and for my rights as an autonomous individual. Furthermore, they have demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the US Constitution and its purpose in protecting the rights of the citizens by restricting the allowable powers of the government.

To win back our liberty, we must clear this congressional stable and replace most members of Congress with people who have demonstrated a comprehensive understanding and respect for our Constitution.
10-15-2009

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Classroom Brainwashing
Subject: Exposing Obama's Classroom Brainwashers

In a PJTV video titled:

Joe Hicks covers much the same territory that I do on this blog, pointing out that our public schools are becoming more indoctrination centers than houses of learning.

I disagree with Joe on one point. We can stop this if a loud, vocal movement begins to speak out against the concept of state-run education and we work to completely privatize all of our schools. Quoting from the article by law professor Rodney A. Smolla that I reference in my previous blog entry below:
    "Nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires a state or local government to operate public schools. On one level, the existence of free public schools is thus a privilege that the state is presumptively free to extend or not extend to its student-citizens as it pleases."

There is nothing other than inertia stopping the citizens of this country from declaring that there should be a complete and total separation of both education and economics from the state, just as we have proclaimed a bright line separation for religion.

Unfortunately, over the past 60 years, the history of the separation of religion and state has been one of slow erosion. As the introduction of God has been pushed slowly into the secular realm of government, that movement has been responsible for opening the door for these other abuses. I would hope that it should now be clear that in order to prevent a torrent of abuses, government, as a repository of retaliatory force used to protect the constitutional rights of its citizens, must b e precluded from stepping over its rigidly defined constitutional boundaries. And this can only be accomplished when the wall between religion, education and economics remain unbreached.
10-14-2009

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Involuntary Servitude
Subject: Involuntary Servitude: The 13th Amendment Ain't What It Used To Be

Excerpts from a 1997 paper by Jessica Parr titled, Mandatory Community Service:
    Mandatory community service programs are increasingly becoming a standard part of the curriculum in many public schools across the country. For example, about 500 public school districts, including those in Washington D.C., Atlanta, and Detroit have adopted programs. A main reason for this increase in mandatory community service programs is because President Clinton has been strongly stressing the importance of volunteerism among the nation's students.   [Emphasis added]

Say it with me one more time: Mandatory service is not volunteerism!
    The court case Steirer v. Bethlehem Area School District provides a good example of the controversy involved with mandatory community service. The Bethlehem Area School District requires that every public high school student perform sixty hours of unpaid service during the student's four years of high school. The students must complete these hours after school, during weekends, or during the summer. [...] Lynn Steirer, a student, disagreed with the mandate. Therefore she did not receive her diploma. [...] Her lawyer, Scott Bullock, an attorney for the Institute for Justice, argued unsuccessfully in federal district and appeals courts that mandated volunteerism violates the Thirteenth Amendment, which prohibits involuntary servitude. Bullock also claimed that such service interfered with the First Amendment right to free speech because required community service forces students to express specific beliefs. [...] [L]ower courts, including a federal appeals court, dismissed Bullock's Thirteenth Amendment argument and rejected the notion that required community service is modern-day slavery. In order for the practice to be unconstitutional, the district would have to legally or physically punish students who decline to participate. Courts also rejected the Free Speech argument because the students could either choose to participate in the district's programs or design their own.   [Emphasis added]

So, apparently the court ruled that forcing a child to attend school, and then denying that child the possibility of graduating if they did not participate in mandatory service, was not a form of punishment! But if is isn't, I have some serious trouble understanding the rationale operating here.

In researching this issue further, I discovered a very interesting 1999 paper by Rodney A. Smolla, a law professor at University of Richmond, entitled: The Constitutionality of Mandatory Public School Community Service Programs. For readers wishing to get a better handle on how today's courts view these issues, I highly recommend taking a careful look at the entire article. Below I will excerpt a few of the sections that help explain the decision in the above case.
    As with all innovations in U.S. public life, such programs are inevitably challenged in the courts. At first blush, the challenges appear plausible: These programs are forced labor of sorts, an oxymoronic coerced volunteerism, the imposition of a particular philosophic vision of civic duty and community life on the whole student populace, and the cry that this just can't be constitutional is at least colorably serious.
         [...]
    Broad objections are likely to be grounded in the claim that community service is a form of involuntary servitude prohibited by the Thirteenth Amendment, or a deprivation of the students' or parents' liberty protected under the substantive due process principles that have evolved from the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
         [...]
    Before examining specific constitutional challenges to community service programs, one must contend with a broad issue that sweeps across all discussion of the constitutionality of such programs. The argument is that community service programs amount to nothing more than conditions attached to the "privilege" of a free public education and thus pose no constitutional problems whatsoever. While students may be forced by compulsory education laws into some accredited school until they reach a specified age, no student is literally forced to attend public schools. Those students who can afford the cost may attend private schools instead. This argument is a variant of one of the oldest and most perplexing issues in constitutional law, that posed by the "right-privilege" distinction and its doctrinal nemesis, the "doctrine of unconstitutional conditions."

    The right-privilege distinction is an old constitutional theme. The distinction is grounded in a dichotomy between "rights" and mere "privileges." In their classic conception, rights are interests held by individuals independent of the state. [...] In contrast to rights, privileges are interests created by the grace of the state and dependent for their existence on the state's sufferance. Nothing in the U.S. Constitution requires a state or local government to operate public schools. On one level, the existence of free public schools is thus a privilege that the state is presumptively free to extend or not extend to its student-citizens as it pleases. [...] The right-privilege distinction in U.S. constitutional law operated on the simple premise that government is entitled to grant citizens privileges on the condition that they surrender or curtail the exercise of constitutional freedoms that they would otherwise enjoy. [...] The tough-minded — if not downright mean-spirited — logic of the right-privilege distinction has never gone down easily in U.S. constitutional thought and has always been held in check by a counter-doctrine known as the "doctrine of unconstitutional conditions." [...] the Court emphatically declared the following:
      "For at least a quarter-century, this Court has made clear that even though a person has no 'right' to a valuable governmental benefit and even though the government may deny him the benefit for any number of reasons, there are some reasons upon which the government may not rely. It may not deny a benefit to a person on a basis that infringes his constitutionally protected interests — especially, his interest in freedom of speech. For if the government could deny a benefit to a person because of his constitutionally protected speech or associations, his exercise of those freedoms would in effect be penalized and inhibited."

         [Skipping considerable information]

    If a court can be persuaded that the community service is indeed genuinely integrated with the function and mission of the schools and the concomitant benefits of public education the student is receiving, the court will be much more disposed toward approving the program. With this broad unconstitutional conditions framework in mind, analysis then turns to the specific constitutional freedoms implicated by community service proposals.
         [...]
    The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the wake of the Civil War: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." A student challenging a community service program would not be so brazen as to characterize such programs as literally akin to the peculiar institution of African slavery that was the historical impetus for the Thirteenth Amendment. However, the student might very well argue with a degree of surface verisimilitude that coerced public service is nonetheless both servitude and involuntary, and thus barred by the broader meanings that might be ascribed to the Amendment. Indeed, there are pronouncements from the Supreme Court that appear to invite such broader understandings of the Amendment's coverage.
         [...]
    The mere claim that some percentage of one's labor or wealth has been commandeered by a state for the benefit of others will not, standing alone, be understood as constituting involuntary servitude. Much of the modern welfare state is structured around the redistribution of income and wealth. At a broad conceptual level, to the extent one's income is taken by the state through taxes for distribution to others, an involuntary servitude is being placed on one's labor. In a progressive taxation system, most citizens work some days for the government and some days for themselves. When tax dollars are redistributed, most citizens might be seen as working some days for the benefit of others. Yet this form of indirect labor transfer, and many other more direct impositions of labor for the service of others, have never been interpreted as violations of the Thirteenth Amendment and could not be interpreted as such without stretching the purpose of the Amendment wildly beyond its animating purpose and historical context. Similarly, requirements that citizens perform certain civic duties, such as jury service, have not been construed as involuntary servitude. The most gripping example is the military draft, a conscription that not only entails a complete deprivation of one's ordinary liberty, but the risk of crippling injury or death in the service of one's country. The military draft has been rhetorically attacked as a form of involuntary servitude that violates the Thirteenth Amendment, but, despite the hyperbolic utility of the argument, it has never been taken seriously by the Supreme Court. As early as the 1918 Selective Draft Law Cases, the Court stated that
      "as we are unable to conceive upon what theory the exaction by government from the citizen of the performance of his supreme and noble duty of contributing to the defense of the rights and honor of the nation as the result of a war declared by the great representative body of the people can be said to be the imposition of involuntary servitude in violation of the prohibitions of the Thirteenth Amendment, we are constrained to the conclusion that the contention to that effect is refuted by its mere statement."

    Against this general backdrop, Thirteenth Amendment challenges to school community service programs should not be deemed viable. Community service programs are simply too far removed from anything that might be persuasively labeled as a badge or incident of slavery to run afoul of the Thirteenth Amendment.

    [Emphasis added]

So, based upon this line of argument, the Thirteenth Amendment's reference to involuntary servitude is supposed to be read as exactly equivalent to the conditions of African slavery. And any form of servitude which does not rise fully to the level of such slavery is not covered by said Amendment.

Again, I suggest reading the entire document in order to get the full gist of these arguments and to see why the author argues that other types of constitutional challenges to mandatory service also fail.

I believe that a careful reader of the above excerpts will quickly see, as I do, a number of glaring holes in the arguments being presented. I do not offer these quotes in the belief that they present a cogent case for accepting the legality of mandatory service, nor do I think that they argue from a proper interpretation of the Thirteenth Amendment. However, it is a fact, as the author points out, that the courts have repeatedly upheld most forms of conscription and the "taking" of citizens' labor and property for redistribution under the guise of the welfare state, as constitutional.

It certainly gives one pause to contemplate exactly where we currently stand, and what steps would be required to move from our current position towards a more rational reading and application of the text of our Constitution!

Please send me your thoughts and ideas on the subject.
10-11-2009

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Bill Whittle
Subject: American Exceptionalism

Time for some good news for a change.

Here is a very highly recommended 15 minute video by Bill Whittle on PJTV where he discusses exactly what makes the United States a truly exceptional country. Watch and enjoy.

Bill Maher, Barack Obama and the Truth About American Exceptionalism


[Thanks to Richard Gleaves for bringing this to my attention.]
10-03-2009

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Subject: The Oath Keepers

In response to the John Galt Pledge at this site, a reader brought to my attention a very interesting organization called Oath Keepers. They describe themselves as follows:
    "Oath Keepers is a non-partisan association of currently serving military, reserves, National Guard, veterans, Peace Officers, and Fire Fighters who will fulfill the Oath we swore, with the support of like minded citizens who take an Oath to stand with us, to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God. Our Oath is to the Constitution."

The site then proceeds to outline the following action:
    Below is our declaration of orders we will NOT obey because we will consider them unconstitutional (and thus unlawful) and immoral violations of the natural rights of the people. Such orders would be acts of war against the American people by their own government, and thus acts of treason. We will not make war against our own people. We will not commit treason. We will defend the Republic.

    1. We will NOT obey any order to disarm the American people.

    2. We will NOT obey any order to conduct warrantless searches of the American people, their homes, vehicles, papers, or effects -- such as warrantless house-to house searches for weapons or persons.

    3. We will NOT obey any order to detain American citizens as "unlawful enemy combatants" or to subject them to trial by military tribunal.

    4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a "state of emergency" on a state, or to enter with force into a state, without the express consent and invitation of that state's legislature and governor.

    5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty and declares the national government to be in violation of the compact by which that state entered the Union.

    6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

    7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

    8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to "keep the peace" or to "maintain control" during any emergency, or under any other pretext. We will consider such use of foreign troops against our people to be an invasion and an act of war.

    9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies, under any emergency pretext whatsoever.

    10. We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

WOW!   What is so shocking here is not the words themselves, which for the most part, merely reflects language currently in the U.S. Constitution, — what is shocking is that a pledge like this was considered necessary by people in our military organizations at all! This shows to what depths concerns run regarding the possible actions of the current administration.
09-20-2009

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Subject: My Response to Frank Rich's Article in the New York Times

On Saturday, September 19th, Frank Rich posted an opinion piece in the New York Times entitled Even Glen Beck Is Right Twice a Day. In this article he attempts to slay many dragons including Joe Wilson, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Ayn Rand, and of course, Glen Beck. He opens his discussion with the following:
    "With all due respect to Jimmy Carter, the racist component of Obama-hatred has been undeniable since the summer of 2008, when Sarah Palin rallied all-white mobs to the defense of the 'real America.' "

and a short time later he writes:
    "The White House was right not to second Carter's motion and cue another 'national conversation about race.' No matter how many teachable moments we have, some people won't be taught."

So, according to Mr. Rich, my dislike for the impact that President Obama's policies and philosophy is having on my life and my future, is rooted in my "undeniable" racial bigotry. And furthermore, I'm too stupid to be "taught" anything, so don't bother trying.

Here is my response to Frank Rich, published in the online comments section.
    It's obvious that those of us who disapprove of Barack Obama's Marxist philosophy and altruistic morality of sacrifice are all simply racist. Why? Well because Frank Rich says so, that's why! That has to be the reason, because such an incredibly insulting statement has no other supporting evidence. Frank, like Jimmy Carter and others, has the god-like power to look into my soul and know, with a certainty that allows him to proclaim it to the world in the pages of the New York Times, that I am a low class bigot. And because of that "fact", Frank is able to dismiss anything that I might have to say as simply the loony rantings of a moron.

    Thanks Frank. I was really confused. I thought that there might be some issues here concerning the abridgment of individual rights; limiting the government's powers to what is enumerated in the Constitution; the shift in our country from a philosophy of individualism to socialism; the right to keep and dispose of my property as I, not the government, see fit; the short and long range trouble being created by an exploding national debt; the inability of the CIA to function in the wake of retroactive criminal investigations; the destruction of our financial institutions as all innovation is crushed under threats of 'clawbacks' and legal prosecution if you take any risks; ... to name just a few. But now I see that all of those "issues" are really just rationalizations I use to cover up my intense hatred of our President because his skin is a few shades darker than my own. Thank you Frank for your moral enlightenment. Oops, just kidding on that last comment!

    The truth is that Frank Rich, Jimmy Carter, and many others operate from an implicit position that those of us who disagree with their outlook and philosophy ARE actually morons. Because anybody with an IQ of 80 would obviously agree with them! The dissenting Glen Beck is just another moron - a broken clock - that could only be right occasionally by accident, but certainly not by dint of intellectual rigor and a proper analysis of the facts. Actually, this makes me start to wonder who the real bigots are?

    Finally, I would like to comment on what a joke it is to refer to Ayn Rand, and then link, as though it were relevant and insightful, to an article by Jonathan Chait in The New Republic. Yes, it's a feel-good piece for everyone who already thinks that Rand was also just another moron. But this reference is not going to do anyone any good if they want to actually discover what Rand, and her philosophy of Objectivism have to say that is relevant to what is happening in our country today. There are plenty of reference sites on the internet that people can explore in order to get a more balanced picture of Rand. What I would recommend is picking up a copy of her book, Atlas Shrugged, and read it. You might be surprised to discover an ominous set of parallels to today's events being depicted, despite the book having been written over 50 years ago. There is a fun game you can play while reading it. See if you can find your favorite politicians and commentators depicted, making statements and taking actions that could come right off of the front page of today's papers. Why, if you read closely enough, you might even find a bit of Frank Rich in there!

    Regards,
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    C. Jeffery Small
09-17-2009

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Subject: It's Constitution Day!

September 17th is Constitution Day.

Are you wearing your black armbands?

The patient is sick, but not dead yet! I encourage everyone to do what they can today to promote the fundamental principles embodied in that great document. Speak out and let others know that it is time for a revival of personal sovereignty and a restoration of our rights. And don't forget to have fun doing it! :-)
09-09-2009

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Subject: The Purpose of The John Galt Pledge Initiative

The United States of America is at a tipping point, where individual rights and personal freedom now hang precariously in the balance. As we move forward, will we be the masters of our own lives, deciding for ourselves what goals to pursue and how best to allocate our personal resources in service of those goals? Or will we allow ourselves to be treated as children, handing more and more of the decision-making over to the government, demanding that it assume the obligation of providing for all of our wants and needs? The price for abdicating responsibility for one's life is the forfeiting of one's freedom. Those of us committed to the path of personal autonomy must fight for our freedom if we are to retain what remains, and regain what has been lost since the founding of this country. My purpose for this site is to create another effective tool in that battle for liberty.

There are many avenues available for engaging in this struggle. Writing letters-to-the-editor, op-ed pieces, articles for magazines, blog entries or forum posts is one. This is a one-to-one type of activity where the individual writer communicates directly to the individual reader. Another is the use of organized protests. The Tea Parties are a good example of this technique, and on September 12th, many citizens will descend upon Washington D.C. to march in protest against the current administration's policies. This is a many-to-one activity, where the ultimate effectiveness of the action is directly proportional to the number of participants. For example, if 300 people show up in D.C. on the 12th, that might generate a page six mention in most newspapers. However, if 80,000 people march, then it becomes headline news which will have a profoundly greater impact.

[OK, I guess I was proven wrong on that count. You can ignore 80,000 people. You can even ignore a million! All the more reason to make sure that we do get our message out.]

The goal of this initiative is to create a permanent public record of protest that can later be referenced as a kickoff point for many different types of campaigns. But where the message of the Tea Party protests have been diffuse, I want the ideological message of this site to be strictly focused upon one critical point:
  • We demand that the government protect, not violate, the constitutionally guaranteed rights of every independent citizen

In order to have this demand taken seriously, it requires an outcry of protest loud enough that it cannot be ignored. So just as with the gathering in D.C., the number of people signing up here to show their agreement with the fundamental principle of the sovereignty of the individual is critical. And that is why I encourage you to participate, and then do what you can to make other like-minded individuals aware of this opportunity to also engage in this action.

Once a critical mass has been reached here, showing broad-based support for our constitutional rights, I would then encourage all of us to continue to become involved in other forms of education and protest that are of personal urgency. This might include arguments against nationalized health care, wealth redistribution, corporate bailouts, government control of the money supply, interference in the economy, national service, cap-and-trade, etc. Regardless of the specific topic, I would suggest that as part of the analysis, it should be shown that the proper position to take is the one which supports the rights of the individual, as delineated by the U.S. Constitution. And this site can be referenced to show the level of support that exists for making the protection of our rights a key requirement when considering any piece of legislation.

The value of this approach is that it provides an ideological basis for every issue, which is ultimately grounded on an unassailable constitutional foundation. Those arguing from a different viewpoint can then be reduced to either having to defend the Constitution themselves, or acknowledging their lack of support for that document. If this approach is used effectively, the entire tenor of the debate could be shifted from an ever evolving discussion of numerous pragmatic concerns to a very focused one of fundamental principles. And I can guarantee that those who are currently working feverishly to destroy our freedom cannot stand up to the scrutiny of fundamental principles.

So the goal for this initiative comes in two parts:
  • Phase one: Promote this site in order to reach a wide audience and allow every liberty-minded person the opportunity to contribute their support to this effort, creating a document that acquires power through the number of individuals standing behind it.

  • Phase two: Attack the government's proposals on ideological grounds by demonstrating that in violating rather than supporting our individual rights, they have no constitutional authority to proceed.

In closing, let me add one additional point. It is important to remember that, as individuals, each of us speak only for ourselves. By signing this personal Declaration of Independence, each person is indicating their support only for the ideas explicitly expressed in the pledge, and not for the words or actions of any other person. Please feel free to reference the list when making a point about the level of support for our constitutional rights, but do not assume or assert that anyone on the list supports your personal approach or viewpoints in fighting the battle for freedom.


Suggestions

I am very interested in receiving feedback and suggestions regarding this project, and I would enjoy hearing any ideas you may have for related activities. Interesting ideas, suitable for a wide audience, will be displayed on this page. Click on the button below to contact me by email.
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C. Jeffery Small