items tagged with Constitution

"I call not upon a few, but upon all: not on this state or that state, but on every state; up and help us; lay your shoulders to the wheel; better to have too much force than too little, when so great an object is at stake."" -- Thomas Paine, 1776

Federal law mandates that all high schools, colleges, and universities across the country that receive federal funds host educational events about the Constitution on Constitution Day, September 17. There will also be various festivities in Washington, D.C., and in some communities across America celebrating the Constitution.

Yet we would do well to do more than pay lip service to the Constitution once a year. Formally adopted on September 17, 1787, it has long served as the bulwark of American freedom and as an example for struggling nations worldwide.

Unfortunately, the rights enshrined in the Constitution are under constant attack.

There are many politically inspiring books available for citizens interested in changing the direction of our country, and none more so than The County Sheriff: America's Last Hope by Sheriff Richard Mack, published this year.

Not only does this easy-to-read, 47-page book sensibly explain the current destructive path America is on, it opens up a whole new set of possibilities for restoring this country's focus on its constitutional republic.

Sheriff Mack is the former sheriff of Graham County, Arizona, who in 1994 brought a lawsuit against the Clinton Administration and the recently enacted Brady Bill for what he believed was an unconstitutional abuse of authority.

Put Down the Remote, Pick Up the Mouse Videos from April 29 Commentary
http://www.rcreader.com/commentary/put-down-the-remote/

Over 500 people gathered from Noon to 2pm in downtown Davenport, IA as part of the nationwide
protests against excessive government spending and what many perceive as threats to citizens'
rights as guaranteed by the US Constitution. This video includes seven interviews with protest attendees
including an 11 year old whose sign read, "Even an 11 year old knows Obama is wrong." When asked
what Obama was wrong about, the young person replied that taking money from those that work
and giving it to those that do not work.

One protester carrying a sign that read "Democrats are spending our grandchildren's future."
He is asked what he would say to critics that point out the Republicans spend just as wildly when
they were the majority. One protester claims that Obama is a puppet of the Bildeberg Group,
Trilateral Commission and Council on Foreign Relations, and that Americans who
voted for him have been "bamboozled."

Put Down the Remote, Pick Up the Mouse Videos from April 29 Commentary
http://www.rcreader.com/commentary/put-down-the-remote/

Imagine for a moment that somewhere in the middle of Texas there was a large foreign military base, say Chinese or Russian. Imagine that thousands of armed foreign troops were constantly patrolling American streets in military vehicles. Imagine they were here under the auspices of “keeping us safe” or “promoting democracy” or “protecting their strategic interests.”

Imagine that they operated outside of US law, and that the Constitution did not apply to them. Imagine that every now and then they made mistakes or acted on bad information and accidentally killed or terrorized innocent Americans, including women and children, most of the time with little to no repercussions or consequences. Imagine that they set up check points on our soil and routinely searched and ransacked entire neighborhoods of homes. Imagine if Americans were fearful of these foreign troops, and overwhelmingly thought America would be better off without their presence.

Imagine if some Americans were so angry about them being in Texas that they actually joined together to fight them off, in defense of our soil and sovereignty, because leadership in government refused or were unable to do so. Imagine that those Americans were labeled terrorists or insurgents for their defensive actions, and routinely killed, or captured and tortured by the foreign troops on our land. Imagine that the occupiers’ attitude was that if they just killed enough Americans, the resistance would stop, but instead, for every American killed, ten more would take up arms against them, resulting in perpetual bloodshed. Imagine if most of the citizens of the foreign land also wanted these troops to return home. Imagine if they elected a leader who promised to bring them home and put an end to this horror.

Imagine if that leader changed his mind once he took office.

The reality is that our military presence on foreign soil is as offensive to the people that live there as armed Chinese troops would be if they were stationed in Texas. We would not stand for it here, but we have had a globe straddling empire and a very intrusive foreign policy for decades that incites a lot of hatred and resentment towards us.

According to our own CIA, our meddling in the Middle East was the prime motivation for the horrific attacks on 9/11. But instead of re-evaluating our foreign policy, we have simply escalated it. We had a right to go after those responsible for 9/11, to be sure, but why do so many Americans feel as if we have a right to a military presence in some 160 countries when we wouldn’t stand for even one foreign base on our soil, for any reason? These are not embassies, mind you, these are military installations. The new administration is not materially changing anything about this. Shuffling troops around and playing with semantics does not accomplish the goals of the American people, who simply want our men and women to come home. 50,000 troops left behind in Iraq is not conducive to peace any more than 50,000 Russian soldiers would be in the United States.

Shutting down military bases and ceasing to deal with other nations with threats and violence is not isolationism. It is the opposite. Opening ourselves up to friendship, honest trade and diplomacy is the foreign policy of peace and prosperity. It is the only foreign policy that will not bankrupt us in short order, as our current actions most definitely will. I share the disappointment of the American people in the foreign policy rhetoric coming from the administration. The sad thing is, our foreign policy WILL change eventually, as Rome’s did, when all budgetary and monetary tricks to fund it are exhausted.

Orginally published March 9, 2009 at Congressman Ron Paul's House website blog entitled Texas Straight Talk.