Constitution

Letters to Editors Archive: The Loss of American Neutrality and More.

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A shorter version was originally written in April of 2003 (Quincy Valley Post-Register) Please see Epilogue below for some more recent thoughts in August 2024.

J. Reuben Clark, former US Undersecretary of State and former US Ambassador to Mexico once said, “America, multi-raced and multi-national is, by tradition, by geography, by citizenry, by natural sympathy, and by material interest, the great NEUTRAL nation of the earth.”  

Today America is experiencing the results of casting aside that tradition and has become embroiled in a War that has polarized our nation and the world.  

We have lost the spirit of Lady Liberty, who holds her lamp high to symbolize to the world that there is justice, peace, and mercy available to all who would choose to abide by the principles of the Constitution of the United States of America.  

We have lowered our standard of morality.

We have made citizenship a matter of financial gain rather than of honor.

We have squandered the blood of our young men and women warring in foreign nations, nations which often turn to bite the hands that feed them.  

My solution:

Let us return to our Great Tradition of independence and liberty, of economic freedom and prosperity, of justice and mercy.  

Let us return to the original intent of the Constitution.  Let us teach the principles upon which this nation was founded – that all mankind are created with the un-alienable rights to equality under the law, of economic opportunity, and the untouchable freedoms as enumerated in, but not limited by, the Bill of Rights.

Let us remember that these gifts were bestowed upon us by a benevolent Creator, not a government, that mankind cannot usurp nor deny those rights.  

We can regain our status as the torchbearer of representative government and liberty by remembering the above quote and working towards re-establishing that government through the political process, by voting our conscience, by electing moral and just persons to public office, and by educating ourselves about the issues placed before us each election. 

The End.

EPILOGUE: Whatever our position on the issues in this current election year, we face a critical decision which will affect all our futures — good or bad, easy or hard, war or peace. Rather than taking sides and playing an “I win/you lose” game, perhaps we should try the Principle approach and a “blind test”, that is judging candidates, issues, and national policy by the following standards:

  • Does the (candidate, issue, policy) promote Liberty or Tyranny?
  • What has been the history of each (candidate, issue, policy)? Have their historical and documented actions or results promoted Liberty or Tyranny?
  • Governments do not create wealth, they redistribute the wealth of others, usually taken by threat of force through taxation. Does the (candidate, issue, policy) take more wealth or less wealth?
  • Do the (candidates, issues, or policies) promote a free-market economy (Liberty) or do the regulations exceed that which is necessary to protect the lives and liberty of consumers (Tyranny)?
  • Does the candidate represent the people he or she will serve, or do they represent their financial backers, or their own personal agenda or the agenda of their declared party?

May the candidate with the highest score get your vote and win, without regard for party affiliation or fear of the enemy. It’s the only way to start swinging the pendulum back towards the promise of American Liberty in its purest form.

EyeWitness 2020: Re-Establishing the Constitutional Republic

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In the beginning was the Word . . . in the beginning was the Word of the Declaration of Independence; in the beginning was the Word of the Constitution of these United States, a culmination of all the Words which went before – the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Arbroath, the Mayflower Compact, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, and many more.  In the end, will there be the Word of Liberty or will there be the nothingness of chaos and anarchy, every man for himself, the survival of the fittest, tyranny?  Civilizations without a common Word to unite them fall. Civilizations which ignore their common Word fall.  2020 may very well be the tipping point for America.

The Word of the Declaration of Independence Defines the Spirit of America

Thomas Jefferson, as the author of the Declaration of Independence said it best, ” 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, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.  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.”

The Founding Fathers, in terms of education, having great minds and souls, have never had their equal gathered together and committed to creating a nation of Liberty in the history of the world.  There is certainly not their equal in our day.  There are a few Statesmen scattered here or there across the globe, but none their equal.  To be sure they were not perfect, none of us humans  are, nor have we ever been, nor will we ever be on  this mortal plane of existence.  But the ideal they gave us does not have its equal either, though many movements have tried.  Most countries have a constitution now, modelled on the American constitution, but none are its equal in spirit or potential for liberating the struggling masses of people in our world.

The Constitution and the Republic which it Defines is the Word for America

When the Constitution was finally crafted and Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall in Philadelphia, he was asked by a woman what form of government had the delegates giving the new country.  He answered “A Republic, if you can keep it”.

A Republic, in which the interests of the people and the interests  of the State are balanced, is a difficult form of government to keep.  Just ask the ancient Romans.  Corruption, greed, and other human failings can destroy it, if great care and diligence are not taken to keep the Rule of Law, as outlined by a constitution.  The Constitution of these United States is very particular about balancing the interests of the people, the interests of the State, and the interests of the Federal government so that no one aspect could gain power over the other and lead the nation into a tyranny – a tyranny of the people, or a tyranny of government.

America today has lost its constitutional moorings and has drifted into a strange creature  best defined as a democratic oligarchy, meaning that a small group of people with the idea of controlling every aspect of the average citizen’s life, while ignoring the rules they make for others, has been put in control by manipulating the demos, or the people, into believing they have a real choice, when in fact, the people in charge are really two sides of the same coin.  Both are determined to gain and keep power by manipulating the demos into re-electing them year after year after year, with no fundamental reversal of the destruction of the Constitutional Republic.  Both use the Constitution as their justification while ignoring it when it suits their agenda.

None of the current presidential candidates, nor the sitting president have any clue or mind as to the need to restore the Republic, or the understanding of how to do so.  It is a lot of hard work and will take a lot of sacrifice just to start the process, let alone see it through to the end.  It cannot be done over night, nor with the flick of a pen.  It will take several presidents and several congresses before it can be achieved.  It will take state legislatures and most importantly, it will take the will of the people.  The will of the people is essential.  On the other side of the struggle will be Liberty, the liberty of a limited government and low taxes, the liberty of being out of debt – both personally and nationally, the liberty of a free enterprise economy, and the liberty of being a free nation with the means to influence the world to move towards Liberty, instead of becoming an increasingly imperialistic power.

I’ll be addressing many issues this year, and although a constitutional Republic seems complicated, it is really quite simple.  I’ll also be looking at all the presidential candidates, including third parties, seeking for the one with the best understanding of the role of a constitutional presidency, and one which is committed to that end.  I recommend three things:

  1. Read the Declaration of Independence and contemplate its words.
  2. Read the Constitution of these United States.
  3. Read “A Constitutional Presidency” by Kerry L. Morgan.  It is downloadable for free if you want a copy.

PS: If you like what you read in “A Constitutional Presidency”, send a copy to your favorite candidate and challenge them to be that President.