Most people I know have a lot on their minds and do not feel that they have the time to seriously delve into the legal intricacies of the Constitution. Some are struggling to make ends meet; others have hobbies, or kids that take up much of their time. Then there are those who cannot seem to pull themselves away from their televisions long enough to read anything that can’t be read during commercial breaks during their favorite television shows.

Yet the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights are the very foundations upon which this entire country was built upon. If people do not have a thorough understanding of those documents, how can they expect to make intelligent choices when choosing whom they will elect into office to uphold them?

There is a simple point that I have tried, time and time again, to get across to people, but for some reason it seems to be too complicated for them to understand. The fact is that without the Constitution our government would not exist! It is that simple. Whatever powers our government has can be found within that document, nothing more, and nothing less.

Each and every one of those who serve as elected representatives of the people have taken a sacred oath to uphold, defend, and support that document. Does it mean nothing to you that they, on a daily basis, violate that oath?

The two primary purposes of our government are to manage the general affairs of the nation, and for the protecting of the rights of the citizens who inhabit this country. Do people not recall what the Declaration of Independence states about the purpose of government? It says, “…That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…”

To further emphasize this point, the preamble to the Bill of Rights, in part, states, “that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.”

Those ten amendments were restrictive clauses which placed them outside the reach of government, making them off limits to regulation and restriction. Furthermore, the purpose in them being added to the Constitution was to ensure the beneficent ends of the government, which was to secure those rights equally for all citizens.

Yet we, as people of this country, value those rights so little that we have allowed them to be trampled upon and restricted, to the point where they are basically nonexistent! We have allowed the propaganda ministers in our government to convince us that it is better off that certain rights be restricted for our ‘general welfare.’

In 1776, John Adams wrote, “Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.” Oh, how I wish he had been right! But we have become stupid and miserable, and it is all because we have allowed our rights to be trampled on because of that fear. We fear for our safety, so we impose laws restricting our right to keep and bear arms. We fear terrorists, so we pass laws which pretty much shred the entire Bill of Rights. We fear being politically incorrect, so we ban any public displays of our religious beliefs lest we offend someone. Honestly, have we become a nation of sniveling cowards?

Thomas Jefferson once asked the question, “Yes, we did produce a near-perfect republic. But will they keep it? Or will they, in the enjoyment of plenty, lose the memory of freedom?” I think if we are truthful with ourselves, we will find the answer to that question.

Yet, going back to the Declaration of Independence, our founders believed, “…That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…”

Did you catch that people; it is our right to alter, or ABOLISH, our government if it fails to secure our rights. To once again quote Jefferson, “The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all.”

This nation was built upon the blood and sacrifices of a few brave men who believed that their rights were more important than their lives. They were labeled as traitors by their government, and they were opposed by many of their fellow countrymen; but their cause was just, and it was upon their triumph over tyranny that our nation grew.

Have we become so pathetic, so cowardly that their sacrifices and their legacy to us, no longer matter? If so, we may as well burn the damn Constitution in effigy, we may as well defecate upon the monuments erected to these men who bequeathed to us the blessings of liberty, for we do not deserve them!

According to current data, the Census Bureau estimates that there are 311 million people living in this country now. I don’t care if 310.99 of them want to live as slaves to an oppressive government; they have absolutely no right to demand that I do! If 300 million people just up and decided that major league sports were un-American and petitioned their government to ban them, how would YOU feel? My rights are mine, and neither you, nor some pissant elected official has any authority to pass laws that infringe upon them.

This country is in a shambles because those whom we have elected have overstepped their authority and violated their sacred oath to uphold the Constitution. Whether their actions are due to incompetence or by the fact that they have been corrupted by special interest groups is of little significance. Those 535 people in our nation’s capital are to blame for all the problems this country faces, and we, the people are ultimately to blame because we continue to vote for them, and people of the same morally deficient character.

Until, and unless, we the people change our expectations for those whom we elect, not a damn thing is going to improve in this country. As long as we live in fear, and demand that our government continue to do things FOR us, instead of relying upon ourselves, nothing is going to change.

I know I am going to upset a few people over this next comment, but I feel I must say it anyway. I have nothing against Ron Paul; in fact I think he is probably the ONLY person in our nation’s capital who pays any heed to the Constitution. Yet he is only ONE MAN. If, by some miracle, he became our next president, what could he do? The American people demand results…yesterday. They have no patience for long term solutions. Yet our country had been going downhill since at least 1913, probably earlier than that. Do you honestly think that Ron Paul could correct nearly a century of damage to the Constitution and our rights in four years?

John Adams once said, “But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.” I fear that to solve our nation’s problems, if they can be solved at all, will take more than electing a few constitutionally minded individuals.

It has been said that our nation’s war for independence was fought by a meager 3% of the people who inhabited America at the time. For the most part, the people of America at that time accepted the outcome and embraced their independence. Would that happen today were there another revolution? Would the people once again embrace liberty, become self-reliant and independent of all government constraints?

I don’t think so, and that is why I feel so cynical and pessimistic. I feel that the people of this country are too addicted to government assistance and regulation that they could not deal with life as a free and independent individual. And, unfortunately, that is why I see things only getting worse, not better.

I know I have used this quote before, but it expresses my sentiments so well that I will continue to use it until it sinks in. It is from Samuel Adams, leader of the Sons of Liberty, “The liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil Constitution, are worth defending at all hazards; and it is our duty to defend them against all attacks. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy ancestors: they purchased them for us with toil and danger and expense of treasure and blood, and transmitted them to us with care and diligence. It will bring an everlasting mark of infamy on the present generation, enlightened as it is, if we should suffer them to be wrested from us by violence without a struggle, or to be cheated out of them by the artifices of false and designing men.”

When we are judged for our actions upon this earth are you going to be able to say that you did everything you could to fight for your rights, or are you going to meekly admit that you did nothing, that your liberty meant less to you than the courage or blood that it might require to defend them?

Think about that for a second or two, as I know your time is precious. But whatever you think, remember that it was people who held the same beliefs as I do, that my rights and my liberty were more important than my life, who founded this country. I intend to honor that gift by fighting for them, against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

May 22, 2011

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com.

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