Monday, September 6, 2010

Parchment Worship

Our Constitution was and is the best governing document ever devised. That said, it is not worthy of "parchment worship." From its inception, it was deliberately handicapped to roll us eventually towards collectivized, consolidated control under a central governing oligarchy. For the myriad of ways in which that was accomplished at the behest of Hamilton, et al, read Hologram of Liberty, by Kenneth W. Royce, aka Boston T. Party. There is a fundamental dichotomy: Some (elitist Hamiltonians), often in good faith, believe the mass of mankind is simply unfit to have much say in its governance, apart from charades of relatively meaningless elections. Others believe a decently inculcated, educated, involved electorate should have political means by which to demand substantial respect. Unfortunately, the charade faction has all but won. And the great elitist consolidation under way now extends far beyond America's shores. If you believe in the essential dignity of all mankind, this is phenomenally tragic, for America is indeed the last stop before freedom and dignity for the mass of people perishes from the earth. There is much we can and should be doing. Throwing out bum fronts (Pelosi, Reid and Obama) for elitist promotion of Big Brother is a start, but only a faint start, for sympathizers with the cause of elitist consolidation abound also in the Republican Party. If you want ideas for more that we should continue to be about, read Hologram of Liberty.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The cynicism of Progs and Consolidationists has come to its high water mark. We've seen "deem and pass" and "are you kidding." We know a Constitutional Convention under Article V would be suicidal. We know the International Hamiltonians are far ahead of us in preparation. We've seen the flurry of thousand page bills that we have to "pass so we can learn what's in them." We know we're going to have to get eyeball to eyeball with evil, and not blink. So here's a thought I came across in Royce's "Hologram of Liberty." It's about circumventing (end running) the rules by deploying force of conviction. It goes like this:

Recall that the Philadelphia Convention of 1787 was not given authority to outline a procedure for replacing the Articles of Confederation except upon confirmation by all the States. Recall that the conventioneers instead purported to authorize confirmation by nine of the the States, and that "Rogue Island" did not (until later bullied) confirm or consent. Recall Madison's response: "... from the example of inflexible opposition given by a majority of one sixtieth of the people of America to a measure approved and called for by the voice of twelve states .... As this objection, therefore, has been in a manner waived by those who have criticized the powers of the convention, I dismiss it without further observation." http://www.constitution.org/fed/federa40.htm. (Force of conviction!)

Observe that Article V allows the Constitution to be amended upon ratification by legislatures of three fourths of the states, provided the amendment is proposed by two thirds of Congress.

Anonymous said...

Well now, if the Philadelphia Convention, through the voice of Madison (Federalist # 40), could dismiss as an absurd complaint that it had exceeded its authority (by engaging in what amounted to organized mugging), why then should not three fourths of the States dismiss "without further observation" any complaint that such amendments as three fourths of them approved had not first been proposed by a full two thirds of Congress, a Congress grown indebted to, and unseemly fond of, perverse, special, consolidating, freedom destroying and often disloyal interests? IOW, let the States, being closer to the people, float their own proposed amendments, bypassing Congress.

"Without further observation," the Constitution has become what our Supreme Court says it is. So when shall its membership be better? As Patrick Henry said, "Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm ...." "We have petitioned -- we have remonstrated -- we have supplicated." "There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends...."

Anonymous said...

From A.T.-
lrp101 said, " In Civil government, as we have, there can be no higher law than the Constitution and its Statu(t)es. Obama sets himself above these and claims some transcendental authority for his disobedience."

Well, I agree I wish Obama would have more respect for the Constitution than for his extraconstitutional agenda. But I have to disagree about "parchment worship." Two factions competed at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787: federalists and anti-federalists. And each respected a transcendental purpose, above the Constitution as it was ultimately crafted. In the broad way it was written, the Constitution could, over time, easily tip either way, depending on how flesh and blood people would thereafter apply it. The Hamilton federalists inserted numerous broad phrases that were calculated to allow subsequent generations to consolidate authority centrally, with relative ease. The anti-federalists tried to preserve phrases that paid homage to local and State rights. However, their language was by no means clear or even adequate to that purpose. See Royce's "Hologram of Liberty."

The Constitution itself consists of broad phrases written on mere paper. Its meaning much depends on what is in the hearts and minds of the citizenry. Had either the federalists or anti-federalists convincingly prevailed, the language could easily have been made clearer. As things stand, we carry with us still a controversy that transcends the parchment. That controversy is between (1) Hamiltonian Elitists who believe the mass of people are generally unfit to have substantial say in their governance versus (2) Jeffersonian Independents who believe government should be carefully confined so that it does not intrude on liberty beyond such extent as is essential, and then only if exercised at a level that is appropriately close to the people.

Anonymous said...

The real question is this: Have Americans become so dull, soft, mis-educated, uninformed, and irredeemable as to be unfit to have substantial influence in their own governance? If so, then freedom and dignity are to perish. They will be killed by consolidation into an international collective. Even the freedom and dignity of the rulers of the consolidation will be killed, for they, by their consolidated power, will themselves be absolutely corrupted. When all moral action is in Big Brother, there can be no moral action, by anyone. When only the collective is saved, no one is saved. That is what materialists and despots have no capacity to understand. And that is why, at all costs, we dare not continue to avail them with power.

Anonymous said...

It may depend on how you define middle class, i.e., in terms of wealth or in terms of political influence. In terms of political influence, Prog Rinos and Dinos are united in an unholy alliance of greed and ignorance and, as long as they preserve their entitlements to private estates and diversionary drugs, don't much care whether America or any other place is preserved as a land that empowers freedom of expression and enterprise among the general populace. That care is for the middle class. Until the Tea Party outbreak, the middle class was not much listened to, except for pretense and lip service. Now, many score years after Lincoln, we are met together at a great cataclysm: the election of a deceiving Marxist and Muslim sympathizer ... an errant collectivizer. Now, we will test whether N.W.O. Progs' grasping of central power and state sponsored media and academia are enough to forever bury the political influence of middle class Americans. If Progs can, they indeed will strangle and make to disappear all significant political influence of the middle class.