"...And this is the tendency of all human
governments. A departure from principle in
one instance becomes a precedent for a
second, that second for a third, and so on
'til the bulk of the society is reduced to be
mere automatons of misery, to have no
sensibilities left but for sinning and
suffering..." -- Thomas Jefferson.
Damn near prophecy if you ask me. If there's one defining characteristic of a Republic, one thing that really makes it different from Democracies or anything else, its the concept of Rule of Law, IMHO.
Given the "Rule by Decree" policies of the current administration, and the increased powers of Federal bureaucrats, and the complicity of the courts, and the lack of initiative on the part of the Legislative branch to curtail the usurptation, I have to ask the question:
Do Americans, in all practicality, still live in a Republic?
Our Constitution is completely ignored. You cannot deny it. Case in point, there is a "Gore Tax" on your phone bill. Don't look for it there, you won't see it. Passed by Congress, the funds are to be used to expand the Internet to libraries and schools. So what's the problem, Jack, you ask? First, its completely hidden. Second, the FCC is in control of how much the tax will be. That's right, powers EXPLICITLY granted to Congress by the Constitution are now in the hands of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. We're not talking about "grey area" here, we're talking about an exclusive function of the Leglislative branch usurped by a Federal Bureaucracy. That's not a Republic, that's not adherence to rule of law.
Now we have the Federal Courts decreeing that the FBI can keep NICS records for 6 months. Here you have CLEAR and EXPLICIT leglislation, carefully drafted by our legislative branch, that in no uncertain terms mandates the destruction of these records (for the record, I don't believe they are EVER destroyed, but let's pretend for the sake of argument that the FBI will follow the law).
What's the reaction of the unelected, unaccountable, FBI? "We need to keep those records anyway, to, uhhh, audit and stuff." Well, its not thier job, or thier right, or thier perogative, to do this. So they get taken to court, which is fine and dandy, that's one of the checks and balances built into the system. Yet despite the CRYSTAL CLEAR wording of the legislation, the Clinton-stacked court decides it doesn't like the law and it really should be different, so we're going to amend it (the court didn't come out and say it, but that's essentially what they did was amend the legislation). Well, break out your handy copy of the Constitution. THAT'S NOT THE COURT'S PEROGATIVE!! Not only that, these judges are also unelected and unaccountable to the people. Can you say "Rule of Men?"
Similarly, the FBI, we now learn, is intercepting emails through the Carnivore system (lots of irony in that name). Not email of known criminals or those under investigation, but everybody's email. That violates the principle of innocent until proven guilty. No "grey area" here either. Its exactly why the 4th Amendment exists, to keep the government from conducting "blanket investigations." Too bad, so sad, we're doing it anyway.
Then you have Clintoon decreeing millions of acres off limits by Executive Order. Interestingly, Executive Orders are not found anywhere in the Constitution. There are no laws, to my knowledge, governing EOs. Where did this power come from? Consent of the governed? Nope. These were just made up out of thin air, and as Jefferson observed, grew by precedent until now, the Prez is essentially appropriating funds, which is also very clearly not within his Constitutional powers. Why do we even have Congress? Obviously Clinton can run the whole show by himself.
If you really want to know what's going on, just listen to the rhetoric:
"Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda Cool."
And how many times have we heard Clinton talk about "the will of the people is being thwarted by Congress." Usually right after that he issues a new decree. Is that a Republic? When the opinion polls reach a certain level, its OK for the Prez to go ahead and issue a mandate with that infamous "stroke of the pen"?
I would start in on the illegality of the 16th Amendment and the refusal of the courts to even hear the VERY VALID, VERY WELL DOCUMENTED FACTS surrounding the illegal, unConstitutional passage of that amendment. Unfortunately, we'd be out of server space very quickly. Suffice to say, this is the ultimate "wink wink, nudge nudge" fraud ever perpetrated by the gubmint. I guess that First Amendment guarantee of being able to redress greivences is just about as null and void as the Second Amendment's guarantee.
Other examples abound.
That's where we are today, a Republic in name only. Sadly, its not even recognized by the masses. Not that many would care anyway.
I don't know what we do, except hang on to our "Liberty Teeth" and shout from the rooftops, but you and I don't live in a Republic anymore and probably haven't since FDR. We should at least be honest with ourselves about that. Year after year it gets worse. I'm hopeful the next administration will turn things around, but realitically either Bush or Gore will probably maintain the status quo. Its that whole precedent thing Jefferson noted.
When you talk about your rights, remember that while they still exist and can never be eradicated by govt, the mechanisms by which they are guaranteed, the BOR and concept of Rule of Law, no longer exist. They fell with the Republic. Its just something you should keep in mind.
governments. A departure from principle in
one instance becomes a precedent for a
second, that second for a third, and so on
'til the bulk of the society is reduced to be
mere automatons of misery, to have no
sensibilities left but for sinning and
suffering..." -- Thomas Jefferson.
Damn near prophecy if you ask me. If there's one defining characteristic of a Republic, one thing that really makes it different from Democracies or anything else, its the concept of Rule of Law, IMHO.
Given the "Rule by Decree" policies of the current administration, and the increased powers of Federal bureaucrats, and the complicity of the courts, and the lack of initiative on the part of the Legislative branch to curtail the usurptation, I have to ask the question:
Do Americans, in all practicality, still live in a Republic?
Our Constitution is completely ignored. You cannot deny it. Case in point, there is a "Gore Tax" on your phone bill. Don't look for it there, you won't see it. Passed by Congress, the funds are to be used to expand the Internet to libraries and schools. So what's the problem, Jack, you ask? First, its completely hidden. Second, the FCC is in control of how much the tax will be. That's right, powers EXPLICITLY granted to Congress by the Constitution are now in the hands of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats. We're not talking about "grey area" here, we're talking about an exclusive function of the Leglislative branch usurped by a Federal Bureaucracy. That's not a Republic, that's not adherence to rule of law.
Now we have the Federal Courts decreeing that the FBI can keep NICS records for 6 months. Here you have CLEAR and EXPLICIT leglislation, carefully drafted by our legislative branch, that in no uncertain terms mandates the destruction of these records (for the record, I don't believe they are EVER destroyed, but let's pretend for the sake of argument that the FBI will follow the law).
What's the reaction of the unelected, unaccountable, FBI? "We need to keep those records anyway, to, uhhh, audit and stuff." Well, its not thier job, or thier right, or thier perogative, to do this. So they get taken to court, which is fine and dandy, that's one of the checks and balances built into the system. Yet despite the CRYSTAL CLEAR wording of the legislation, the Clinton-stacked court decides it doesn't like the law and it really should be different, so we're going to amend it (the court didn't come out and say it, but that's essentially what they did was amend the legislation). Well, break out your handy copy of the Constitution. THAT'S NOT THE COURT'S PEROGATIVE!! Not only that, these judges are also unelected and unaccountable to the people. Can you say "Rule of Men?"
Similarly, the FBI, we now learn, is intercepting emails through the Carnivore system (lots of irony in that name). Not email of known criminals or those under investigation, but everybody's email. That violates the principle of innocent until proven guilty. No "grey area" here either. Its exactly why the 4th Amendment exists, to keep the government from conducting "blanket investigations." Too bad, so sad, we're doing it anyway.
Then you have Clintoon decreeing millions of acres off limits by Executive Order. Interestingly, Executive Orders are not found anywhere in the Constitution. There are no laws, to my knowledge, governing EOs. Where did this power come from? Consent of the governed? Nope. These were just made up out of thin air, and as Jefferson observed, grew by precedent until now, the Prez is essentially appropriating funds, which is also very clearly not within his Constitutional powers. Why do we even have Congress? Obviously Clinton can run the whole show by himself.
If you really want to know what's going on, just listen to the rhetoric:
"Stroke of the pen, law of the land. Kinda Cool."
And how many times have we heard Clinton talk about "the will of the people is being thwarted by Congress." Usually right after that he issues a new decree. Is that a Republic? When the opinion polls reach a certain level, its OK for the Prez to go ahead and issue a mandate with that infamous "stroke of the pen"?
I would start in on the illegality of the 16th Amendment and the refusal of the courts to even hear the VERY VALID, VERY WELL DOCUMENTED FACTS surrounding the illegal, unConstitutional passage of that amendment. Unfortunately, we'd be out of server space very quickly. Suffice to say, this is the ultimate "wink wink, nudge nudge" fraud ever perpetrated by the gubmint. I guess that First Amendment guarantee of being able to redress greivences is just about as null and void as the Second Amendment's guarantee.
Other examples abound.
That's where we are today, a Republic in name only. Sadly, its not even recognized by the masses. Not that many would care anyway.
I don't know what we do, except hang on to our "Liberty Teeth" and shout from the rooftops, but you and I don't live in a Republic anymore and probably haven't since FDR. We should at least be honest with ourselves about that. Year after year it gets worse. I'm hopeful the next administration will turn things around, but realitically either Bush or Gore will probably maintain the status quo. Its that whole precedent thing Jefferson noted.
When you talk about your rights, remember that while they still exist and can never be eradicated by govt, the mechanisms by which they are guaranteed, the BOR and concept of Rule of Law, no longer exist. They fell with the Republic. Its just something you should keep in mind.
