Why We Need To Reeducate Ourselves to the US Constitution
What a miracle our Constitution represents and why we are a nation ruled by laws and not men.
9.15.2009
Written by Russ Magarity
Edited by Chris Janelli
Howdy Folks
Okay I am tired of writing about health care when we do not have a bill out of committee yet. I am tired of the non journalistic journalists not doing their job. Frankly I am sure our representatives think they got through August unscathed, except for a couple of pesky town hall meetings they had to sit through. I think they are wrong. I think the lid is about to blow off, and should. We the people are just not that stupid. I don't know how many people protested in Washington on Sept 12th, but the brave ones that were there sure did not look like they were going away, and there were a lot of folks.
This leads me to something I have wanted to do for a while. I recently have read two books I personally hope you will read. One is the Heritage Foundation's "Understanding the Constitution", where the Constitution is dissected and explained by way of the 56 folks who wrote it and understood what the risks to our new found freedoms, as well as how far afield we have gone in our 200 years to "interpret" what we have and what it has done for us.
The second and frankly more interesting book is called "The 5000 Year Leap" by Cleon Skousen published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies. It reflects this college professor's tour around the country giving lectures on what a miracle our Constitution represents and why we are a nation ruled by laws and not men. If you will permit me, I would like to write a paragraph or so from this book every time I write you. We are all busy and like me haven't read this great document in a long long time, much less understand why it is just a relevant today as 200 years ago. Folks, this is what all the fuss is about. We need to understand what is at stake. Let me begin the journey.
The book references the 28 great ideas that were written with such passion that they would change the world. This is what we are going to discuss. We need to see just how far we have fallen from the concerns of the original framers as expressed by such great leaders of our time as George Washington to Lafayette in a letter dated 1788. We have allowed the mortal enemies of freedom to dominate the debate "though when a people shall become incapable of governing themselves and fit for a master, it is of little consequence from which quarter he comes."
As someone who likes history, this story has to bear a little context.
The beginning starts in 1607 with the Settlement of Jamestown as the first permanent colony of England in North America. These settlers were tasked with establishing an Anglo Saxon foothold in the hot, humid, and hostile wilderness, which they named Virginia. The colony bore no striking dissimilarities to the other ancient pioneers who had been settling foreign countries for the 5000 years previous, and like those before them, the 9,000 or so that came, only 1,000 survived. But history shows that something different was going on here.
The European immigrants that made up the population experimented with the different communal forms of economics, but found them worse than Plato described. Eventually, a system of free market principals filtered up following the periods of starvation and were refined in writings, such as by Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations'. It was also from the early congregation of people that the first popular assembly of legislative representatives sprung forth in the Western Hemisphere. It was the descendants of these early folks that produced those that provided the later framework for what was to become the United States of America. Such men as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and George Mason the author of the Bill of Rights, led Virginia and also produced 4 of the 5 first presidents of the Republic.
What has allowed us to prosper over the last 200 years has been the "current of freedom". The founding fathers did not put forth a single new formula that someone hadn't thought of before, only the fact that in 1787 when the Constitution was written, none of those ideas were being practiced anywhere in the world. Keep in mind that it took 180 years from 1607 to 1787 to get it right, with numerous mistakes along the way.
What is clear is that there was no "left" or "right", but rather a balanced political center that they were seeking. "It is extremely unfortunate that political philosophy today has undertaken to measure various issues in terms of political parties instead of political power". "It is almost totally meaningless to place issues on parties of the left or right as both platforms are superficial and structured on shifting sands." The founders were about measuring political power in terms of coercive power or systemic control a government exercises over its people. The two extremes were Anarchy on one end and Tyranny on the other, the former being no government, no law, no systemic control, and on the other end too much control, too much political oppression, and too much government, i.e. no law versus ruler's law. They sought something in the middle, i.e. People's Law, "where government was kept under control of the people and where the political power was in the balanced center with enough government to maintain justice and security and good order, but not enough government to abuse the people."
Next we are going to go into the People's Law and the struggle for the balanced center. You will probably conclude as I have that we are there once again.
Your humble writer, Russ
PS ACORN continues to please. With the release of tape number 3 essentially confirming that just about whatever office you go in, the answers lead you to a pervasive corruption scandal. Finally the Senate wakes up and cuts off funding for these crooks. The vote was 83 to 7. Those 7 were: Burris (D-IL), Casey (D-PA), Durbin (D-IL), Gillibrand (D-NY), Leahy (D-VT), Sanders (I-VT), Whitehouse (D-RI).
Not one Republican, and that my friends is telling.
About Russ Magarity
Jackson, Wyoming Distressed Patriot Russell Magarity and Chris Janelli, Chief Distressed Patriot, have been business associates and close friends since working together at Chase Manhattan Asia in Hong Kong. Russ grew up in Cuba and Panama and graduated from High School in Peru. He received a BA in International Relations from the University of Oklahoma (Norman), an M.B.A. from the Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara (Mexico), and a Masters in International Management (with Distinction) from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).
Russ spent his career with Chase running countries and managing corporate finance businesses in Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong and throughout SE Asia. Prior to joining Chase, he served in the US Navy for 9 years first as a Midshipman and Naval Aviator. As a carrier pilot, he served 3 tours in Vietnam and flew over 250 missions.
|
2.8.2010
When the Census Clowns Come Knocking, Remind Them the U.S. Constitution Enumerates Exactly What You Need to Answer; and Nothing More
I love my country, but I am appalled by my government
12.21.09
The Republicans Had 6+ Years to Legislate Changes to America's Health Care Problems
12.15.09
Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Honest Al Say's Planet Core Millions of Degrees Hot
For all the hoopla, earth's atmospheric temperature has risen one half of 1% in the last 100 years.
12.11.09
Meet Ted Cruz, the Republican Obama
Republican leadership must speak to the values of mainstream Americans; there are few doing that. The Republican Party must elect people who have firm principles; backbone and the ability to communicate.
12.10.09
American Prisoner Labor to Put More Americans on Unemployment
The title of their new playbook should be: American Gulag by Barry Soetoro and Van Jones
11.8.09
THE SCIENCE OF CLIMATEGATE, MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS, AND THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PARADIGM CHANGE
What Might They Have in Common?
|
