First of all, let's look at the oath that the 435 members of Congress took yesterday:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God. [emphasis added]
That came from the original oath, which was much simpler:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States. [emhasis added, although i really don't need it since it's more than half the oath]
You'll note that both versions of the oath requires supporting the very document that they read today. In full. Unlike all the shit that passed in the past couple years that didn't get read. This is a no-brainer, yet there are people whining about this.
Like this idiot, Ezra Klein (the blather starts around 1:30):
Oh, and skip to 2:05, since Speaker Boehner appears to need to read the Constitution (rather than misattribute his quote).
The fact is that there are far too many people that simply don't know what the Constitution actually says, actually does, and what it was not meant to do. And thanks to the Heritage Foundation (and my ability to READ!!!), I'll go ahead and enlighten.
First of all, there's a good reason the PC pukes decided to rename the Founding Fathers the "Framers" (the bad reason being that they are pukes that can't leave well enough alone): It's because they gave us a framework upon which to build the government, not a government in the box. It was assumed (and specifically referred in the Constitution and Amendments (ex. "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.)) that the Constitution could not do more than provide a general direction, and limits on the unbridled retardation of Man that is democracy. So that's what was created.
Article I defines what the Legislative Branch does (as in, specifically, what it can legislate on), and how it is constituted and elected. Article II does the same for the Executive Branch, and Article III for the Supreme Court (and lesser courts). Article IV establishes the basics of Federal-State and State-State relations, Article V defines the Amendment process, Article VI covers Federal sovereignty, and Article VII covers the ratification of the Constitution.
As for the Amendments, 1-8 address the rights of individual, specifically limiting the power of the government in passing laws restricting certain rights. The Ninth Amendment states that the people may have rights that are not enumerated prior and the Tenth reserves any powers not enumerated to the federal government or prohibited to the states, as reserved for the states or the people (i.e. states' rights). Some other significant ones:
12 - Changes the electoral process for the Presidency to our current system.
13-15, 24 - Outlaws slavery, redefines citizenship, and bars racial discrimination in elections (post-slavery). And a ban on poll taxes, etc, as a condition of voting (civil rights movement).
16 - Lets them tax us. Must be repealed, for FairTax supporters.
17 - Popular election of senators. Effectively, state gave up their voice in Washington.
18 - Banned alcohol, and 21 - corrected that stupid mistake.
19 - Women's suffrage. Biggest mistake we ever made (yeah, I had to...).
20 - Changes the term of office. It meant we didn't have to wait until March to get rid of Nancy.
22 - Term limits for the Prez.
25 - Presidential succession changes.
26 - Establishes age to vote as 18. Subsequent voter apathy means you can vote at 18, go to war at 18, but you can't buy a fucking beer. Go figure.
Now onto a simple point. There was not a complete set of rules. But there was a plan that was specific to limiting the powers and role of the government. And we lost sight of that, starting with the grandfather of big government, Woodrow Wilson, the father of big government, FDR, then continuing with the creepy uncle, LBJ, the retarded brother, Jimmy Carter, the horny son, Bill Clinton and the bastard grandchild, Barack Obama. As well as many other presidents and congressmen and senators and Supreme Court justices over the years, who forgot that the imperative of protecting a free people is to protect them from an ever-expanding government.
And trying to force the monolith that rules from Washington back down into something resembling the house that was built on the frame of the Constitution (which is an appendage of a 5000-car garage at this point), is the only way.
3 comments:
I am a Vietnam Combat Veteran who is sick and tired of watching our political leaders, Unions and others run this great country of ours into the ground.
Over the years I have seen our money go from being allocated under the Gold Standard to becoming nothing more than worthless pieces of paper. I have seen our political leaders send HUNDREDS of BILLION of dollars to other countries and cover it by reducing American's benefits and entitlements and by raising our taxes. I have see the Unions strike one American company after another OUT OF BUSINESS. I have seen people who have never worked a day in their worthless lives demand that the government support them.
Whom am I and just who do I think I am? One highly pissed off AMERICAN that is exactly whom I am.
Patrick: When I heard they were going to read the Constitution, my first thought was, “dog and pony show”. Don’t get me wrong, they NEED to read and understand it, but I’m not sure if reading it on the House floor is going to do that or not. I think at this point I’d rather them all read the damn budget line by line and cut out fraud and waste from EVERY department; stop writing 2,000 page bills and when they do write a bill—read IT!
Jim: Ummmmm..... Ok.
Pam: Never thought of the "dog and pony show" phrasing (as I'm far too messed up). But yeah, it was just that. But at this point, most of their acts are symbolic, because they haven't really begun to work through substantive issues.
The important thing is that we don't let up once they get down to the business of legislating and hold them to our expectations.
Post a Comment