In the last issue of the Republic Report, we discussed the differences between a democracy and a Constitutional Republic. We saw that America was created to be a republic and NOT a democracy. And we saw that so much of today’s America is trying very hard to redefine this republic into a democracy. In this issue, we are going to look a little more closely at the document that became the foundation of this Republic. We are going to discuss the Constitution for these United States of America. Notice first that we said “for these United States of America,” and not “of the United States of America.” The United States did not create the Constitution; the Constitution created the United States. Please read that again. The United States did not create the Constitution; the Constitution created the United States. This is a terribly important concept that no one in Congress or the Administration ever want you to know. Our politicians like to interpret the Constitution any way they please, and even ignore it when they want, and then expect you and I to accept what they say and do. They know that if they can treat the Constitution like they have authority over it, then they can do just about anything they want to do and raise our taxes to pay for it. But if the Constitution has the authority over the government, then the government is limited in what it can do to the Constitution! Please understand this: if the government has authority over the Constitution, then the government can define, redefine and explain the Constitution in any manner it wants. But if the Constitution has authority over the government, then the government cannot define, redefine or explain anything at all concerning the Constitution. Specifically, you cannot define your boss’ job description, can you? Of course not, because you have no authority over your boss! The same goes for our central government: it has absolutely no authority over the Constitution, because it is from the Constitution itself that the government gets its permission to exist! So what is this great document that wields so much authority? Once upon a time, a long time ago, there were thirteen States. Each State was sovereign, and had its own currency, legislature, judicial system and made its own decisions. But it became evident that there were some issues which were better dealt with by a single common group, a sort of “collective bargaining unit.” So these States got together and created a document which defined a central government. That document was carefully crafted to delegate only certain powers and authorities to the central government. It went even further, in case there was some sort of misunderstanding. The Constitution contained two separate Amendments for clarification; one indicated that any right not explicitly listed as a right reserved to the people was indeed still a right of the people. The second went even further and stated that those powers not explicitly delegated to the central government were explicitly withheld from the central government. Quite simply, the Constitution was designed to limit the federal government. It was never intended to limit or control We The People, only the federal government. All the authorities and responsibilities of the federal government are spelled out in detail within the Constitution. As stated above, it then goes on to clarify that any authority not delegated to the government is expressly reserved from the government. This means that the government can never grow or increase, can never take over new areas of political power, can never take control over We The People. Yet why has our government so vastly exceeded its limitations? Because We The People allow it! This is not a discussion of conservative politics versus liberal politics; this is a discussion of Constitutional limitations. America will always have conservatives and liberals, but America MUST ALWAYS be constitutional! Let us explore an example of what we mean. Take health care, as an issue. Liberals would create a large federal bureaucracy in Washington, DC to run things. Conservatives would create a small federal bureaucracy in Washington and allow the states to run most of it. Those who look first to the Constitution would say, “The Constitution gives the federal government absolutely no authority over healthcare at all. What are they doing even debating the issue?” The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution clearly recognized that all authority rested in We The People. We The People delegated some of that authority to the central government. All authority not expressly delegated to the central government is expressly reserved to the States or to the People! This is not conservative versus liberaL This is our Constitution! So why do we have a federal government that sits around all day every day just looking for more issues to write laws about, with no regard for nor discussion concerning any Constitutional authority for those laws? Again, because We The People allow it. All authority rests with We The People. No authority rests with our federal government. This is clearly stated in our Declaration of Independence! We are the owners and rulers and bosses of this great nation. And we elected some individuals to look after our rights and our interests. But we never gave them the authority to become our bosses! Yet we don’t keep up with our elected representatives, we don’t tell them how we want them to vote, we ourselves often don’t vote, and we certainly don’t fulfill our huge responsibilities to run this great nation through our elected representatives and under the Constitution. The natural tendency of government is to grow and expand and encroach on liberties. If we don’t guard against it, the government will always do what comes naturally. We have all the tools we need to hold our federal government accountable to the Constitution. All we need now are Citizens who will do their jobs. How can we expect our federal government to do its job if We The People do not do our jobs? If we allow the federal government to evolve into whatever it wants to, then we deserve the monster which results from that evolutionary process. Shame on us! “...it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds...” Samuel Adams The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despotism. -- US Supreme Court, Caidwell V. Parker (1866), 252 U. S. 376 “The right to freedom being the gift of God, it is not in the power of man to alienate this gift and voluntarily become a slave.” Samuel Adams “It is not the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from falling into error.” U.S. Supreme Court in American Communications Association v. Douds
The government hasn't been paying much attention to our Constitution for some time unfortunately. And it's not getting any better. On that note I'm really glad to see that someone realizes we are supposed to be living under a Constitutional Republic and not a Democracy. After all a Democracy is in all reality "mob rule." Pity more people don't really read the actual Constitution and the dictionary.
Some say a republic is a democratic form of government. I'll buy that, in much the same way the westminster form is democratic. A pure democracy has not existed (so far as I know) since early Greek history, possibly excepting tribal organizations. I don't know enough about that to state it as a certainty, but the little reading I've done indicates that it is so. :dunno:
I think our founding fathers has remarkable foresight to set this thing up as a republic, not a democracy. To truly function, a democracy must have people that stay informed, and make logical, rational decisions (votes) based on facts. We have people that blindly believe either side, and people that will only believe something if it's a conspiracy.
And in a Republic, 30% can deny the rights of 70%, depending on districting. The basic idea of a republic is that the elected sots are honorable, and the voters have a smidgen of common sense. Then we have kali and PR of MA to look to for the results.
btt. Stolen shamelessly from the first post in this thread -- The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government. Such a doctrine leads directly to anarchy or despotism. -- US Supreme Court, Caidwell V. Parker (1866), 252 U. S. 376 Red emphasis is mine.
