Blind and Tame Submission

5-4...Why elections matter

Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation.....James Madison. 

I think he had something or other to do with writing our Constitution.  And the Bill of Rights?  He sort of INTRODUCED them.  The Second One goes like this:

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

Yet four Supreme Court Justices believe Washington, D.C. could infringe the right of the People to keep and bear arms.  The dissenters:  Justices John Paul Stevens, Stephen Breyer,  Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter:

In a dissent he summarized from the bench, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the majority “would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.”

He said such evidence “is nowhere to be found.”

Scott Allan sums it up nicely:

Nowhere to be found???   How about right in the Constitution?   It’s there.  Get those glasses checked old man.  “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

It’s the old liberal trick. If you say something loud and often enough, it must be true. I bet you think the emperor is wearing clothes too. Justice Stevens, whether you like it or not, the Constitution was in fact designed to limit the tools available to local officials so they don’t infringe on our basic liberties.  That is the entire point of the Constitution.  You sir are an idiot.

Yet Stevens sits on the Supreme Court.  The Second Amendment is quite clear.  SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.  There was no qualification, no ambiguity.  Scott concludes:

If you don’t like the Second Amendment, there is a method for altering the Constitution which does not consist of activist life-appointed Justices taking matters into their own hands. This is not an interpretation they are undertaking, it is a bastardization based on their personal beliefs.

Even if you are not thrilled by John McCain, you MUST vote for him. This election is bigger than who the next President is. Can you imagine an unchecked Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government with no regard for our Constitution?

Every election matters.  We do not need any more Supreme Court Justices whose personal beliefs take precedence over our Constitution.  This issue should have been a no-brainer, the ruling should have been 9-0, in favor of our right to keep and bear arms as GUARANTEED by our Constitution:

The basic issue for the justices was whether the amendment protects an individual's right to own guns no matter what, or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia, a once-vital, now-archaic grouping of citizens. That's been the heart of the gun control debate for decades.

I believe Madison's statement in Federalist 46 answers that question definitively. 

...Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain, that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, who could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments, and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance, that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it. Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion, that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession, than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors. Let us rather no longer insult them with the supposition that they can ever reduce themselves to the necessity of making the experiment, by a blind and tame submission to the long train of insidious measures which must precede and produce it. 

Yes, Madison talks about militias.  But he also talks about the People.  Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation.  He does not say which the American militia possesses.  But if our four dissenters want to obsess over the militia part, I'm sure there are more than a few Americans who will be happy to oblige and form one.

All I Can Do Is Write About It

Some folks are already living the American Dream.  And they just want to be left alone to enjoy it.

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What Constitution?

The federal government has grown too large, too powerful, and has extended its power way beyond anything our Founding Fathers envisioned.  The title of this blog, (and this one), comes from the Federalist Papers, Number 46, written by James Madison.  He was trying to convince critics of the new Constitution that the federal government's powers would be limited and would not encroach on the authority of the States.  (Madison always capitalized the words State and States.)  His point was if the federal government attempted to "extend its power beyond the due limits", the States would "still have the advantage in the means of defeating such encroachments".  The "means of opposition" would be "powerful and at hand".

But ambitious encroachments of the federal government, on the authority of the State governments, would not excite the opposition of a single State, or of a few States only. They would be signals of general alarm. Every government would espouse the common cause. A correspondence would be opened. Plans of resistance would be concerted. One spirit would animate and conduct the whole. The same combinations, in short, would result from an apprehension of the federal, as was produced by the dread of a foreign, yoke; and unless the projected innovations should be voluntarily renounced, the same appeal to a trial of force would be made in the one case as was made in the other. But what degree of madness could ever drive the federal government to such an extremity.

Madison supposed in Number 46 that the opponents of the Constitution assumed the only way the federal government could usurp the power of the States (and therefore the people) would be to "accumulate a military force for the projects of ambition".  He considered this possibility extremely far-fetched:

Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.

He called it an insult to the people:

Let us not insult the free and gallant citizens of America with the suspicion, that they would be less able to defend the rights of which they would be in actual possession, than the debased subjects of arbitrary power would be to rescue theirs from the hands of their oppressors. Let us rather no longer insult them with the supposition that they can ever reduce themselves to the necessity of making the experiment, by a blind and tame submission to the long train of insidious measures which must precede and produce it.

Obviously Madison did not foresee the IRS.  He also did not foresee that the American people would eventually become apathetic, lazy, submissive, and dependent.  There would be no need for the federal government to amass a military force to use against its citizens, the people have willingly accepted the federal government's "yoke".

Witness the millions of Americans who are supporting Barack Obama for President.  What is it they are supporting?  Besides Hope and Change, of course:

He's going to CREATE JOBS:

Barack Obama believes we need to double federal funding for basic research and make the research and development tax credit permanent to help create high-paying, secure jobs. Obama will also make long-term investments in education, training, and workforce development so that Americans can leverage our strengths - our ingenuity and entrepreneurialism - to create new high-wage jobs and prosper in a world economy.

He's going to RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE:

Barack Obama will raise the minimum wage, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit to make sure that full-time workers earn a living wage that allows them to raise their families and pay for basic needs.

He's going to BAIL OUT HOMEOWNERS:

Obama will create a fund to help people refinance their mortgages and provide comprehensive supports to innocent homeowners. The fund will be partially paid for by Obama's increased penalties on lenders who act irresponsibly and commit fraud.

He's going to EXPAND THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT:

The FMLA covers only certain employees of employers with 50 or more employees. Obama will expand it to cover businesses with 25 or more employees. He will expand the FMLA to cover more purposes as well, including allowing workers to take leave for elder care needs; allowing parents up to 24 hours of leave each year to participate in their children's academic activities; and expanding FMLA to cover leave for employees to address domestic violence.

He's going to PROVIDE $1.5 BILLION TO STATES FOR PAID-LEAVE:

As president, Obama will initiate a strategy to encourage all 50 states to adopt paid-leave systems. Obama will provide a $1.5 billion fund to assist states with start-up costs and to help states offset the costs for employees and employers.

He's going to DOUBLE FUNDING FOR AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS:

Obama will double funding for the main federal support for afterschool programs, the 21st Century Learning Centers program, to serve a million more children. Obama will include measures to maximize performance and effectiveness across grantees nationwide.

He is going to TAKE CARE OF YOUR KIDS...FROM BIRTH:

Obama's comprehensive "Zero to Five" plan will provide critical support to young  children and their parents.  Unlike other early childhood education plans, Obama's plan places key emphasis  at early care and education for infants, which is essential for children to be ready to enter kindergarten.    Obama will create Early Learning Challenge Grants to promote state "zero to five" efforts and help states  move toward voluntary, universal pre-school

He's going to PAY FOR YOUR CHILD CARE:

Obama will also provide affordable and high-quality child care to  ease the burden on working families.

That's just a small sample.  By the time Obama gets through there will be nothing left for you to do.  Except send in your pay check. 

By the way, he's also shredding our Constitution.  You know the one he will swear to uphold? 

Madison concludes Federalist Number 46:

On summing up the considerations stated in this and the last paper, they seem to amount to the most convincing evidence, that the powers proposed to be lodged in the federal government are as little formidable to those reserved to the individual States, as they are indispensably necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Union; and that all those alarms which have been sounded, of a meditated and consequential annihilation of the State governments, must, on the most favorable interpretation, be ascribed to the chimerical fears of the authors of them.

It turns out the authors with the chimerical fears were right.

(Original post here)

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