Sinking the Constitution
An article in the Wall Street Journal traces the erosion of the Constitution, from Franklin D. Roosevelt through George W. Bush, and the possible consequences of the upcoming election.
Personally, I think the legacy goes back even beyond FDR, to the Civil War. Big Government, in the form of the North and its supporting financiers, won the war. Abolition was a convenient duck-blind for the buy-out of the American government by the very industrial interests who had forced the parameters that led to the war in the first place. They've been writing history and re-interpreting the highest law of the land in their favor ever since, aided and abetted by an increasingly cloistered and degenerate press. George Bush is no more a Constitutionalist than Barack Obama, and I seriously doubt McCain is any better, judging by his track record. In that sense, they're all peas in a pod.
The political organism which eventually became the United States of America was originally founded under the Articles of Confederation, with the guiding principle that local and state governments should always be more powerful than any centralized government. Rule from the bottom up, so to speak.
However, some of the founders believed -- perhaps rightly -- that a weak central government would lead to disorder and endless contention, similar to that engendered by the prideful states of Europe. Thus the final, agreed-upon form of the Constitution grudgingly established a strong central government, but with very specific limitations.
Over the years, those limitations have been eroded and ignored, so that we're now staring in the face the very real possibility of an oligarchy. Some on the Left having been screaming for years that we already have one. In that, at least, the liberals may be more correct than they truly understand. All governments and institutions eventually fall. Let's just hope ours doesn't fall too hard or too fast. I'd prefer to go out with a whimper rather than a bang, similar to post-Imperial England. 'Bangs' are so messy... and permanent.
That hope, however, may be forlorn, and for one simple reason: the Second Amendment to the Constitution. It was placed there, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, at the firm insistence of the Virginians. The Second Amendment is a land mine that guards the Bill of Rights -- and by extension, the Constitution as whole -- from the ravages of those individuals who are driven by an all-consuming will to power. Potential dictators must step on that mine before they can seize control and bend the populace to their will. But if you're standing too close to your carefully-placed mine when it's detonated, it'll kill you as well as your enemy. 'Fools rush in...', as the old saw goes. And there's certainly no bigger fool on the modern political scene than Barry Obama -- the moreso if his strings really are being pulled by a detestable pustule like Bill Ayers.
So in the end, it may be a 'bang' after all, regardless of our desires. And for that, I can never forgive them.
___
(Hat-tip to Vizigoth)
Personally, I think the legacy goes back even beyond FDR, to the Civil War. Big Government, in the form of the North and its supporting financiers, won the war. Abolition was a convenient duck-blind for the buy-out of the American government by the very industrial interests who had forced the parameters that led to the war in the first place. They've been writing history and re-interpreting the highest law of the land in their favor ever since, aided and abetted by an increasingly cloistered and degenerate press. George Bush is no more a Constitutionalist than Barack Obama, and I seriously doubt McCain is any better, judging by his track record. In that sense, they're all peas in a pod.
The political organism which eventually became the United States of America was originally founded under the Articles of Confederation, with the guiding principle that local and state governments should always be more powerful than any centralized government. Rule from the bottom up, so to speak.
However, some of the founders believed -- perhaps rightly -- that a weak central government would lead to disorder and endless contention, similar to that engendered by the prideful states of Europe. Thus the final, agreed-upon form of the Constitution grudgingly established a strong central government, but with very specific limitations.
Over the years, those limitations have been eroded and ignored, so that we're now staring in the face the very real possibility of an oligarchy. Some on the Left having been screaming for years that we already have one. In that, at least, the liberals may be more correct than they truly understand. All governments and institutions eventually fall. Let's just hope ours doesn't fall too hard or too fast. I'd prefer to go out with a whimper rather than a bang, similar to post-Imperial England. 'Bangs' are so messy... and permanent.
That hope, however, may be forlorn, and for one simple reason: the Second Amendment to the Constitution. It was placed there, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, at the firm insistence of the Virginians. The Second Amendment is a land mine that guards the Bill of Rights -- and by extension, the Constitution as whole -- from the ravages of those individuals who are driven by an all-consuming will to power. Potential dictators must step on that mine before they can seize control and bend the populace to their will. But if you're standing too close to your carefully-placed mine when it's detonated, it'll kill you as well as your enemy. 'Fools rush in...', as the old saw goes. And there's certainly no bigger fool on the modern political scene than Barry Obama -- the moreso if his strings really are being pulled by a detestable pustule like Bill Ayers.
So in the end, it may be a 'bang' after all, regardless of our desires. And for that, I can never forgive them.
___
(Hat-tip to Vizigoth)
posted by Jar(egg)head at 14:21
1 Comments:
Since it's adoption, there have people that have been trying to overcome the limitations placed upon them by the Constitution. The Civil War abolished slavery, but it also abolished a small central government. From that point on, the limitation of powers has slowly eroded to where today, we are a few days away from potentially electing a Socialist to the highest office in the nation. I remember reading a quote that said "people get the government they deserve". Today it seems people are willing to accept their 12 pieces of silver in exchange for democracy. Enjoy.
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