Do We Keep Our Republic Or Just Let It Slip Away?
Posted on 14. May, 2009 by James Devere in American Politics
While exiting the Constitutional Convention, Ben Franklin was asked by a bystander, “What have you given us, a republic or a monarchy?” His answer: “A republic, madam, if you can keep it.” This year the celebration of America’s independence comes at a time when we are in danger of failing to keep that Republic.
The continued troubles of auto makers, insurers, and banks in the wake of bailouts shows that throwing money at noncompetitive companies, choked with bad debt and overburdened by labor contracts, is not the answer. What our leaders have done, in the guise of economic stewardship, is akin to a friend asking you to dinner, inviting 20 strangers, and then stealing your wallet to pay the bill. On tax day Americans protested the bailouts, the stimulus, and the budget. It is easy to feel that something big was accomplished by Tea Party revelers on April 15th, and it was. But something big is not always something lasting. Average Americans can not slip back into silence. Our leaders did not get the message. The spending continues unchecked, but more egregious are the actions of the Administration in scrapping the principles that have made this country great.
The media would have us believe that the Democrats simply won the November election and are just putting the country on a new “friendlier”, “fairer” path. This is not the case. The “Change” is not a change in ideology from Republican to Democrat; it is a change in our very form of government—we are losing our Republic.
We are in the midst of the largest power grab in American history. Every day we are confronted with multiple announcements from the President, Cabinet Members, and Congresspersons, each heralding new programs and new legislation. And to what end, other than the consolidation of power in the hands of an elite few? The powers being seized are not powers reserved for the President. They are powers given first to The People, then to the States, and finally to the Congress. Ultimately, it is our power to govern our own communities, to govern our own lives and to control our own destinies that we are losing.
We have a populist leader with a “government is the answer” attitude, carte blanche from the legislature, and a pension for placing empathy above principle. The check and balance system is slipping away. Our elected officials have neglected their oversight responsibilities. The Democrats in Congress are like giddy school children begging for attention from the popular kid. And the Republicans are sulking, brooding in the corner of the playground as if Obama just stole their football. Neither party has demonstrated the will, nor the integrity, to stop what is happening. Where is the debate as our economic and political freedoms slip away?
Obama has based our future on a 180 degree turn from the “failed policies of the last 8 years.” However, those failed policies are being construed as failures in American principles. The epicenter of our current economic woes is a housing crisis two decades in the making, with architects in both parties and with special interests and Wall Street calling the shots. The failure was not a failure in policy or a failure in principle. It was a failure en mass of the ethics and integrity of our elected representatives. The failure and ineptitude of politicians is not a failure in American principles. Yet it is the principle of the American Free Enterprise system and our principle of Separation of Powers that are under attack. We are throwing away 200 years of a Republic on a whim. We are scrapping our “broken” free enterprise system (the beauty of which is that it fixes itself when left alone) just because we were told it is not fair.
The Fair Tax, The Fairness Doctrine, The Employee Free Choice Act– These sound great, but they have nothing to do with Fairness or Free Choice. The American system of Government and enterprise is fair, though not always kind. The system guarantees fairness, more so than any other form of government. It just doesn’t guarantee success. Nobody as an individual, corporation, or government entity has the right to not fail. They just have the opportunity to succeed.
With ACORN entrenched in the political system and funded by the stimulus, with Government dolling out healthcare, and with energy, banks, agriculture, education, and the auto industry controlled by the government, what — besides taxes — is left? Strong-arm tactics are being used to wrestle away our free enterprise system. The government can fire CEO’s and set salary limits. Sure, soon the government will allow us to choose the color of drapes in our public housing. But, as for our individual destiny, that will be in the hands of the President and his community organizer friends.
Take a step back and look at what we have allowed to happen. Lost in the daily barrage of news conferences is the scope to which the President and a willing Congress have “Changed” not just the direction but the very principals of the Country. The president jaunts around the world campaigning in foreign countries, and lauding the arrogance of American People while lamenting the failures of American Principles. He favors subjecting American industry and finance, not to our Constitution, but to international regulatory bodies, run by a committee of unelected foreign political appointees. Though we may still not know what principles he stands for, we are beginning to understand what he stands against: Individual Freedom.
We are no longer a “beacon for Democracy”, or a shining example of a Constitutional Republic. We no longer promote freedom and liberty throughout the world. President Ronald Reagan’s example of America as the “last, best hope for the world” is fading away. Old friends like Israel and Great Britain are being tossed aside for new seedy relationships with Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Hamas. We have emboldened those who wish us harm. When the Administration came in, the Surge was working and the Taliban were hiding in caves. Today, violence is on the rise in Iraq and the Taliban are about to grab some nukes.
We went to bed in January with a housing crisis and woke up in April with nationalized banks, nationalized auto makers, and the government in control of our energy supply. We woke up in a world where the Administration and ACORN can intimidate families by bussing paid protesters to the homes of private citizens.
What has happened to our country, our Constitution, our Liberties, and our Leaders? As the 233rd anniversary of Dr. Franklin’s Republic approaches, it is time for Mainstream America to be heard again. It is time to make our leaders listen. It is time to Keep the Republic.
How do we re-dedicate ourselves to principle without a morality based in absolutes. The relativism of our day, that morality depends on temporary circumstances, has no solid foundation, only the wind…and the wind reaps worldwind. When compromise is out of the question, anger becomes the chief motivating force and civility goes the way of being shouted down. When principle is a matter of opinion, then there is only politics. When celebreties get away with murder and petty crimes are routinely committed as too numerous to pursue, when our jails are over-crowded as we try to build a trickle-down service-based economy, when our leaders cannot speak the truth for fear of reprisal of special interest group opposition, when we cannot talk intelligently about the facts of any issues because we corrupt discussion with our personal spin, then we are living with blinders on. We can hope that what we give to others will be given to us in return, but expect what you do to others to be done to you. What is your reason for hope?
Do I detect a MOVEMENT to retake America and our Constitution???