McCAIN, HILLARY AND OBAMA, BIRDS OF A FEATHER
By
Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.
June 3, 2008
NewsWithViews.com
Its recent losses of special Congressional elections in formerly safe districts indicate that the Republican Party may be in the process of self-destruction. Deservedly so. The past eight years have constituted a disaster the likes of which America has never before suffered—a disaster for the practice of constitutional government and the rule of law; for common Americans’ economic well-being; and for America’s true “homeland security”, both abroad and especially at home. And for all this the jackbooted leadership of the Republican Party is primarily to blame, and ought to pay a heavy price at the polls come November.
Changing one of the Establishment’s horses—or jackasses—for another in the middle of this septic stream, though, will alter nothing of substance for the better. If the Democrats end up controlling both Congress and the White House, the exorbitantly expensive socialistic policies they will enact within the first two years of an Obama or a Clinton Administration, in the context of a collapsing monetary and banking system among other crises, will engender catastrophic effects. Whatever confidence naive Americans will have lent the Democrats will evaporate in the white heat of economic and social meltdown amidst national bankruptcy. So the Democratic Party, too, will likely self-destruct.
And if by some quirk of malicious Fate the Republicans manage to maintain their grip on the White House while the Democrats (as right now appears certain) retain control of Congress, leading to political gridlock in the midst of economic and social turmoil, both parties will self-destruct simultaneously.
Well, good riddance all around! But what will take their places in the political firmament? Something will. The question is: Who will decide what that something will be?
Some people will argue that American patriots’ goal should be a new party, if organized not around Ron Paul himself then around the political revolution “from the bottom up” that his truncated candidacy for the Republican nomination has demonstrated is as possible as it is desirable. Others will propose building up and energizing one of the already organized third parties, such as the Constitution Party. In ordinary times, these would be good ideas, particularly if they could be combined into a single plan. Today, however, they are old and tired remedies ill-suited to the unprecedentedly perilous situation in which Americans find themselves.
Today, the focus of patriots’ attention must be, not simply a party, but a constitutionalist movement that sweeps aside the distinctions, discriminations, and distractions inherent in “party politics” to embrace instead every American of good will who desires to save his country. This will require not simply a movement for restoration of the Constitution as a generality, but for restoration of constitutional government specifically through the institution that includes potentially all Americans and that the Constitution itself tells us is “necessary to the security of a free State”: namely, “the Militia of the several States.” For once Americans have constructed the groundwork for revitalizing the Militia, not only the formation, reformation, or reinforcement of a viable constitutionalist political vehicle, but also many other patriotic actions, will become possible. And even if patriots cannot form a new political vehicle and elect honest and intelligent candidates to office in time to fend off in the short term the worst consequences of the mess the Republicans and Democrats have bequeathed to this country, nevertheless large numbers of Americans will have been mobilized, organized, and empowered with legal authority for the long march of reasserting true popular self-government, and thus taking back their homeland, State by State, through the Militia.
The Militia, after all, are far more important than any political party. No political party enjoys any explicit constitutional standing. To the contrary, most political parties—certainly the Republican and Democratic Parties—have proven themselves to be the avaricious “factions” that the Founding Fathers execrated as enemies of a lasting free society. And even a political party made up primarily of patriots might not be able to save this country, because it would still lack the constitutional position and powers to take the actions necessary under the extreme conditions that will soon confront America.
The Second Amendment declares that “[a] well regulated Militia”—not any political party, let alone any particular politician—is “necessary to the security of a free State”. How many times does one need to be reminded by the supreme law of the land that something is “NECESSARY” before he concludes that it needs to be in operation, and if it is not in operation now then it needs to be put into operation immediately, if not sooner?
Inasmuch as “the Militia of the several States” consist of every able-bodied citizen from sixteen to sixty—and whoever else among the adult population volunteers for service—putting the Militia into operation will require some contribution from just about everyone. So patriots, first and foremost, must stop pouring the bulk of their efforts and scarce resources into traditional short-term “fixes” that invariably fizzle, and instead concentrate on what the Constitution tells them, in no uncertain terms, is the long-term solution. If not, how can they possibly claim to be constitutionalists?!
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Anyone with the least historical foresight can predict what is coming. All too typically, when societies collapse into political, economic, and social chaos, “a man on a white horse” emerges to “restore order”—and then remains to impose it as he sees fit. Today, when the storm clouds are just gathering and the Establishment’s political machine still remains intact, he (or she) would probably emerge from one of the “two” big political parties—and every one of the “mainstream” candidates for President, with the instinct for seizing abusive powers inbred in all political predators, is already posturing as such a figure, in anticipation of the main chance. Yet, if History is any guide, they are all destined to be disappointed. In some not-so-distant tomorrow, when the crisis finally bursts forth in its full fury—and all political parties and politicians are in disarray, discredited, and despised because of the mess they have made of things—“the man on the white horse” will likely emerge from the Armed Forces. After all, from the Senate, to the Caesars, to the Praetorians is not a sequence of political devolution unique to ancient Rome. Under modern conditions, though, it will likely be accelerated. Even now talk is in the air about “martial law” being imposed in the event of a collapse of the monetary and banking systems or a major “terrorist” attack.
But America’s Armed Forces—as vitally important as they are for their proper purposes—should be, and should always want to be, the very last source of political leadership. For, as Blackstone told the Founding Fathers and continues to tell us, “martial law, which is built upon no settled principles, but is entirely arbitrary in it’s decisions, is * * * in truth and reality no law, but something indulged, rather than allowed as law * * * ; and therefore it ought not to be permitted in time of peace, when the * * * courts are open for all persons to receive justice according to the laws of the land.” Commentaries on the Laws of England, Volume I, at 412. The purpose of the Armed Forces is to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic—not to attempt to lead it.
For a crisis that threatens America’s survival as “a free State,” the Constitution prescribes a different remedy altogether:
The Armed Forces are not described by the Constitution as “necessary to the security of a free State”—the Militia are.
The Armed Forces are not composed of every able-bodied American from sixteen to sixty, and thus the very embodiment of We the People—the Militia are.
The Armed Forces are not organized on the basis of “the several States,” in keeping with the first principle of federalism—the Militia are.
The Armed Forces are not delegated by the Constitution the explicit responsibility “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions”—the Militia are.
So the Armed Forces—all the members of which have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution—should desire, perhaps more than any other group, the restoration of the Militia to their rightful constitutional place, prominence, and legal prerogatives.
In the final analysis, any “man on a white horse” is alien to the genius of American constitutionalism, because the essence of constitutionalism is popular self-government, not “the Leader Principle.” America has had more than enough of “the Leader Principle” in the last eight years to last eight lifetimes. But to avoid this danger staring them in the face, patriots must start seriously planning and acting now, in order to take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the next three years will offer. Not just once in my lifetime, or yours, but once in this country’s lifetime.
Quite apropos in this situation is the analogy with which an old mathematics instructor of mine reproved students who dawdled at the blackboard while they chalked out faulty arguments in Euclidean geometry: “Life is like a hunk of baloney; and time is like a knife. Every day you cut off a piece and consume it. But no matter how thin you slice it, one day you will be out of time and full of baloney!”
Every “leading indicator” of political corruption, economic instability, and social degeneracy tells us that this country’s time is running out. But too many Americans, patriots included, are still just sitting around, slicing into thinner and thinner pieces the same moldy baloney of divisive party politics that has inflicted upon their country one dose of indigestion after another—and now threatens to finish her off with a terminal case of food poisoning.
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We
know what the McCains, the Clintons, the Obamas, and everyone who advances
their anti-American agenda are full of. And it is nothing as wholesome
or tasty as baloney, either.
The question the answer to which will determine whether this country
survives in freedom and prosperity—or even survives at all as
an independent nation—thus remains: What are we full of? Baloney?
Or the courage of our convictions? Time will soon tell. And what it
tells will be tellingly told.
� 2008 Edwin Vieira, Jr. - All Rights Reserve
