When I heard that the Constitution was going to be read on the first day of the new 112th Congress, I was elated. I firmly believe complete and strict adherence to the Constitution is the only thing that will save these United States from total collapse. In reality, it should not have been necessary to read it, because they had all sworn an oath to it the day before. But then, D.C. does like a good dog and pony show, so I figured “have at it.”
Many of us thought, “Wow! This new Congress will really be different.” Did you wonder why this was the first time EVER that the Constitution was read on the floor of the House? The reason they never read it, in over two centuries, prior to this year, is because it was “assumed” that politicians had read it prior to taking their oath OR even running for office. How easily we citizens fall for political chicanery -- smoke and mirrors for our benefit.
New Speaker of the House, John Boehner, went to the podium and read the Preamble. Then, the former Speaker, Nancy “are you serious” Pelosi, an icon of all that is UN-Constitutional, started reading Article One. As she was reading, Boehner left the room. This was followed by a continuous parade of congressmen, coming to the podium and taking turns reading a section of our Country’s most important document. What struck me was how uncomfortable many looked as they read their part. A large number appeared to be reading something they had never heard before. Some even had strange looks on their faces as if to say, “is that really in there?”
I began thinking, starting with Boehner, many of these same guys originally voted for the “Fourth-Amendment- trashing” USA Patriot Act and nearly everything else they have done while in office has been UN-Constitutional. Maybe that is why the hall was virtually empty, except for those performing the reading “duties.” It was a charade as they paraded to and from the podium, then out the door. The only thing missing in their “parade” was the poop from horses. But, the place still had a foul odor.
The last straw was the fact that they didn’t read the “original” Constitution. They left out everything that had been amended. I think the main reason they left out certain parts in the original, is that they didn’t want to call attention to negro slaves only being counted as three-fifths of a person for the census. They probably thought that would be embarrassing, because none of them understand the reason why that was done. The Slave States wanted to count negroes in the general population, to give them more seats in Congress. The Northern Free States considered slaves as property and didn’t want them counted at all, which would decrease the Southern State’s power. Counting slaves as three-fifths of a person had nothing to do with “personhood.” It was simply a compromise between the North and the South concerning representation.
I hoped the reading of the Constitution would at least be a symbolic act, but it turned out to be nothing more than a farce. Will our representatives ever learn that we can see right through them? Hopefully, the freshmen TEA Party guys and gals will find some gumption and stop these dog and pony shows in the future.
Why the infighting: The reason for all of the disagreement and the nasty political rhetoric is because our representatives are NOT UNITED around our Founding Documents. The Framers of the Constitution did all of the bickering and hurling of accusations while they wrestled with writing those documents. Since that has been done and approved, there should be no more fighting. We have the Law of the Land. The only laws Congress can make must agree with the Constitution, so why all the arguing? Interpretation is unnecessary, as the Constitution is brief and understandable by everyone. If there is some question on a fine point, the Framers wrote in detail what their thoughts and reasons were. A little research can settle all questions. After that, it is only a question of whether you want to obey the document or not. That is where the problem lies, politicians DO NOT want to obey it.
State vs. Federal: Our Federal representatives, in Washington D.C., have very little they can do, as compared to State legislators. The Federal Government is limited, as prescribed in Article One, Section Eight of the Constitution. The States have a greater ability to make laws. (Read the 10th Amendment.) When your State legislator wants to run for an office in D.C., maybe you should instruct them that their power will be much more limited at the Federal level. There are very few in D.C. who understand that, so either they “get it” or we get rid of them.
November’s election of grassroots Constitutionalists gave us hope. But, when the Old Guard entrenched Republicans couldn’t get Bush’s UN-Constitutional Patriot Act past the new Tea Party folks, they changed things up so they could teach the new guys what D.C. is all about. The day after the election, Speaker Boehner predicted he would do just that. Remember, Boehner is a leftover Bushie. The cabal between the RINOs and the Democrats is easy to understand. The Patriot Act was Bush’s deal, so the RINOs like it and the Dems prefer a police state, so they like it. The USA Patriot Act is a blatant insult to the Fourth Amendment, as well as law-abiding American citizens. The use of the word “Patriot” in that legislation is blasphemy! We are told the Patriot Act is to stop terrorism, when in fact IT IS domestic terrorism committed by the U.S. against her very own citizens. Constitution-loving citizen-Patriots need to get up to speed and resist this Nazi-like legislation at every possible opportunity.
ALL Republicans must come to grips with the fact that Bush II was not restricted by the Constitution and furthermore, he opened the door for everything Obama is doing. An “R” by a name can deceive. Pay close attention. Do not be fooled.
I urge you to seek TRUTH and follow it, wherever it may lead. I would rather die defending my God-given rights, guaranteed by our Constitution, than live under the oppression of UN-Constitutional government restrictions. “Live free or die.”
The “take-away” should be that now is the time for everyone to determine what they will do when faced with UN-Constitutional rules and regulations. The Constitution is Liberty. Without it is Tyranny! ~ Rick Kiesz
