The Evening of Our Constitution
By James T. Moore (05/14/07)
Of all the ideas and innovations of the human spirit which have been translated into physical life in a way that man, in his present level of evolution, can understand, the U.S. Constitution towers high above all other codes of law and government systems.
It was man’s first struggling steps out of the stultifying abyss of serfdom, royal subservience, and insufferable tyranny into the light of self-government and individual freedom; freedom from oppression, freedom to think, to speak, to read, to worship, and most importantly, freedom to walk our own path and reach for our own dream, so long as it did not interfere with the dreams of others.
It is, therefore, an act of idiocy and self-destruction when we ignore, alter, or in any way undermine the Constitution to the point where its original intent becomes obscure and unsustainable, thereby putting its precepts and ideals in danger of being lost. Like precisely what’s happening in our government today.
It is also the reason why I would never agree with Franklin D. Roosevelt’s oblique statement that: “Our constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes its emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form.”
A deceptive utterance. How one can change the emphasis and arrangement of something “so simple and practical” without losing its essential form, is quite beyond me.
If the U.S. Constitution is based on principles of self-determination and freedom from tyrannical rule, what are the “extraordinary needs” that would require changes in emphasis and arrangement to the principle of that kind of living? None, except perhaps limiting or eliminating our personal freedoms and sources of liberty. Which without question, necessitates that any “extraordinary need” should be scrutinized in the light of reason, measured against the principles stated in our Constitution,
If a test aircraft is not flying as well as it should, you change the design of the airplane; you don’t try to change the principle of aerodynamics. No matter how you rearrange it, the principle of mathematics is immutable and does not change from day to day---unless, or course, you live in Orwell’s world.
This, however, does not mean, or even meant to imply, that busy fingers and foraging minds do not come up with ways to scramble the intent or twist the meaning of the world’s greatest political document to their own ends—usually with the limp rationale that “changing times demand changing rules.” They have always done thus, and always will. That, unfortunately, is the nature of the human beast, particularly those in positions of political power.
Examples of this kind of tampering with, and thus weakening, the Constitution, are rampant today in America. And these infringements on our constitutional rights have no bounds or limits. You can clearly see them if you take time to look at what’s happening, and listen to what’s being said.
They range from everyday acts which we now take for granted, such as unexpected tax hikes, speech restrictions, and “personal” airport searches, to acts which impinge on our basic freedoms, like tapping phone lines, searches without warrants, and depriving citizens of their property without due process of law.
But two of the most blatant and dangerous disregards for the Constitution is the President’s aggressive action on taking matters of national concern, such as declaring war, into his own hands. Conversely, is the president’s lack of action in refusing to shut down our borders to illegal aliens.
On both these issues, Bush is a fraud. He said at the beginning that he would consult Congress before going to war against Iraq and promised to listen to people who were against our going to war. But after “listening” to the comments and debate, he said, “I’ll be making up my mind based on the latest intelligence and how best to protect our own country, plus our friends and allies.” What else did Bush mean except that he, by himself, has the right to initiate a full-scale war against one foreign nation, while recklessly opening America’s gates for a full-scale invasion by another foreign nation?
Another flagrant disregard for constitutional law is the government’s deliberate use of secrecy as a tool for keeping citizen’s in the dark about what’s happening around them. Reporting on the recent “special interest” cases for deportation, a First Amendment commentary puts it is these words: “Today, the Executive Branch seeks to take this safeguard away from the public by placing its actions beyond public scrutiny. Democracies die behind closed doors. When government begins closing doors, it selectively controls information rightfully belonging to the people. Selective information is misinformation. The Framers of the First Amendment did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us. They protected the people against secret government.”
Although Archibald E. Roberts said in his treatise, The Most Secret Science, “No one is bound to obey an unconstitutional law and no courts are bound to enforce it”, my own good sense tells me that the time is coming when the Constitution will be “improved” into oblivion, and laws will be enforced by might instead of by right.
It is the Evening of our beloved Constitution. With midnight not far off. If that happens I don’t want to wake up in the morning.
James T. Moore
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