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Some people seem to have the crazy idea that violations of the Constitution started just recently. And that things were pretty hunky dory up until January 2009.
Charles in Texas had this to say:
“If Barack Obama is elected for another term, the 10th Amendment will be obliterated.”
We recently posed this question to a number of supporters – “On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate Mitt Romney on adherence to the Constitution”
Janice in Georgia responded with this:
“And the point is? We r getting close to nov election & must fire Obama! Get it? You better!”
And finally, Mathis in South Carolina didn’t even beat around the bush, for lack of a better term, when he responded with this:
“Bring Back George Bush!”
Mathis, you either hate the Constitution or have no idea what it says. Until we got the current criminal in chief, Bush was quite possibly the Constitution’s greatest presidential enemy in history.
Charles…are you, what…five years old? Or maybe you just woke up from some kind of time-traveling coma. I don’t know. But, to think that Washington DC has respected any limits on its power in recent years, is pure blindness. The 10th has been obliterated for decades.
Janice, I don’t even know where to start with you. If Constitutional adherence is of no point to you, then Barack Obama should be just fine and dandy.
And to all of you – and everyone else of this kind of viewpoint – things didn’t get bad when Obama got elected. Obama got elected because things already were bad.
ALREADY THERE
For decades – and decades – people in this country have turned a blind eye to violations of the Constitution. They’ve allowed politicians of their favorite political team get away with things so the other team wouldn’t win. Or, they’ve allowed new program after new program to begin – in order to fend off some great, scary emergency.
The result of this has not been good. Why? Because politicians should never be trusted.
When you allow politicians to break the rules given to them, or even allow them to simply bend those rules, and you allow them to do it for years without punishment – eventually you’ll end up with politicians who feel that the rules don’t apply at all.
So, let me break it to you. We’ve been there for quite some time already.
Look, I’m not going to get into reciting a list of Constitutional violations by every modern president – that list would be far too long for any human to read. Instead, I’m going to share with you a personal thought – who’s fault is all this?
THE POLITICAL TEAMS
Amongst presidential voters in this country, there are two main teams.
There’s the people who claim to believe that government does a good job at improving society. This team scares people into believing that if the federal government doesn’t run your life, your world could collapse. These folks rarely spend time talking about Constitutional limits on power. Obviously. We’ll call this the Blue Team.
Then there’s the people who claim to believe that massive federal power is a bad thing. This team often talks about limitations on federal power. They praise politicians who talk about the Constitution, and regularly cite the principles of the founders to back their views up. We’ll call this the Red Team.
These days, the Blue Team votes for Barack Obama. Even though many people on that team are in favor of ending wars, opposed to the Patriot Act and indefinite detention, and find the escalating war on marijuana to be reprehensible – they’ll still vote for Obama. He’s on their team after all.
And, the Red Team these days votes for Mitt Romney. This is the guy that’s supposed to be leading the team that’s in favor of the Constitution. But, maybe that’s not really the case. The word “constitution” barely appears on Romney’s campaign website. The only issue where he makes any reference to it is in regards to the Courts. And there, he makes this statement:
“The job of the judge is to enforce the Constitution’s restraints on government and, where the Constitution does not speak, to leave the governance of the nation to elected representatives.”
Skipping over powers reserved to “the states, respectively or to the people”- it sounds to me like Romney has rewritten the 10th Amendment to read something like this:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, or spoken of in the Constitution, are reserved to Congress.”
Both teams have grown the federal government far beyond anything authorized by the Constitution. It doesn’t matter if it was due to a defensive strategy, or actually cheering things on, or just complete and utter ignorance about what the Constitutional limitations are. The end result is the same. The Constitution – and the 10th Amendment – have been obliterated for decades.
But I digress.
OUR DISEASE
People like Obama, and Romney – and Bush and Clinton. They’re all extremely bad. But they’re not the disease. And merely voting one out for the other has not been our cure either. These people are merely symptoms of our disease.
Think of it this way. You open a business that makes and sells cookies. In your hiring process, you probably won’t get too many lawyers or engineers applying for a job to bake the cookies. Instead, you’ll mostly get people who love to cook.
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For decades, the People of this country have allowed federal power to grow unabated – and many have even asked for it too. So what kind of people do you think would apply for a job leading Murder, Incorporated?
You got it – people who love power – and not your humble, friendly neighbor. Or even the jerk who lives a few doors down. Those are normal people. Only megalomaniacs want to steer the ship of the most powerful government in history.
If you want to know how we got into this mess. Look in a mirror. Until people change their line in the sand, things will never change. Today, people everywhere have a line in the sand – but on one side there’s a red team and on the other is a blue team. Like Barack Obama and Mitt Romney’s campaign websites, the Constitution is rarely – or ever – even mentioned.
What is needed a new line in the sand. On one side of that line is the Constitution, and on the other side – the type of government this country has had for a long time.
For me, there’s no team. And there never will be. There’s only one thing that matters – the Constitution. Every issue, every time. No exceptions, no excuses.
WRONG! Americans are not being american at all, they do not Live their own documents, they do not deliver these ideas, they simply whine and cry and blame all others while sitting their in their very own apathy.
You cannot correct a Corporate Governing Body, you replace it or you have missed the very principals of this founding Nation which was formed by states and the life within them.
Here is the truth and this is our actions and our responsibility or who is it we lie to?
In The United States of America, August 5, 2012
The Declaration of My Independence
By the people for life in all communities and all states as the undersigned
A Declaring by the deciding of each individual within each state within this nation of states as the signed approvers.
When in the course of Human events such as ours it becomes necessary for all deciding to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of earth the separate and equal station, to which the laws of nature and of natures God LIFE entitled us the deciding, a decent respect to the knowledge of mankind requires that WE shall declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal by idea creation and choice ability; That WE are endowed by our creator with certain distinguishable and inalienable rights, that these primary principals of choice are LIFE, LIBERTY and the PURSUIT of HAPPINESS, that to secure these principals of choice, governments are instituted among us, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed us; that whenever any form of Government in time, place and space within galaxies becomes destructive of these ends, it is the total right of the deciding to alter or totally abolish it without question, and to institute a new Government body by their signing of this declaration and application of its principals without any such waiver, laying the foundation by such principals, and organizing it’s powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. CAUTION to these matters indeed will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for little weight or temporary causes; and accordingly all experience has shown that mankind are more inclined to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to correct themselves by abolishing the forms to which we are habitual of. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations begin at a distinguished period and pursuing invariably the same objective, totally manifest a design to reduce them under absolute authority, it is our right (responsibility), it is their duty to throw off such Government, and provide new guards for our future objectives. Such has been the patient suffering of us the people, and such is now necessity which constrains them to alter and change this former system of Government.
http://www.reclamationprojectx.org/PetitionPage.htm
Now stop the whining and start the activities that support you as a Republic or live with what you did not do to stand upon your very own principals that made you America at all by choice, yours for crying out loud.
William, in the first video Jeff Daniels said we were once great because we–among other things–waged a war on poverty. Why did you include that clip if you’re complaining about our country going off the deep end? The “War on Poverty” by LBJ greatly accelerated the abuse of governmental power. With The War on Poverty, LBJ took a huge dump on our Republic and rubbed patriots’ noses in it. I like the reclaimation effort, but I believe that the real power resides, untapped, with the states and the people; exactly the way it was designed.
@daveufirst
Dave, for real? Maybe you should watch the clip one more time and really see what he said. Who was complaining I only stated the obvious about supposed Americans that say one thing and act in some other direction.
Since it is designed so well by states and all the great attributes produced by said states which results would these be specifically?
Our remarkable ability to create war and enormous armies?
Or that we can watch a behemoth Federal Corporation grow beyond any realm of reality, under which part of this description is defined in our Constitutional limits to such a behemoth. And for all others that think and entirely broken Government will fix itself or that we will fix this Corporation without standing on our own two feet right in front of their faces is really naive.
In this paragraph right here;
When in the course of Human events such as ours it becomes necessary for all deciding to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of earth the separate and equal station, to which the laws of nature and of natures God LIFE entitled us the deciding, a decent respect to the knowledge of mankind requires that WE shall declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
What does this sentence tell you to do?
a decent respect to the knowledge of mankind requires that WE shall declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Now certainly we can read this and entirely pretend it is not there and we can sit and watch football, and baseball and keep pretending all the results of all our states and all of America is just grand and the only thing that will change is the growth of our apathy. So by all means tell me I am screwed up because , well I can take it knowing full well I understand how to apply my foundation of this Republic but that the rest of LIFE in these states and in this country did not have the strength to stand up for themselves simply because we have long standing habits of doing nothing and watch it happen in front of us.
If you find this offensive then by goodness I did a great job because you sir are the person I am talking to and the life next to you and the next life next to them and every single life in this country pretending nothing is wrong. Like Thomas Jefferson I do not care what you think about me because I know in my heart I did the right thing for Life on this planet and I can live with all my actions for the rest of time and all the honesty I personally put into it. Please do not compare me because there is no comparison. I have achieved in my life time and I understand how that works and I am surrounded by total under achievers who work so hard to achieve others poor ideas and even worse dreams.
America once great by the choices we made, by the manifestations we permeated our world with. Today the only thing growing is debt and you think this is grand, so with that being so who is lying to themselves, me? Its always someone else isn’t it?
I do agree our country’s constitution established sound by-laws influenced by concerned patriots like the 18th century NY supreme justice who wrote under the pseudonym “Brutus”. To again share his quote here, “Neither the general government, nor the state governments, ought to be vested with all the powers proper to be exercised for promoting the ends of government. … certain ends are to be attained by the one, and other certain ends by the other; and these, taken together, include all the ends of good government.”.
Such was our founders’ design of federalism, as backed by the tenth amendment’s sovereignty guarantee. A domestic right that’s been insidiously subverted for close to a century. The “ends of good government” have demonstratively gone bad. But being an optimist, I do believe our country can once again attain the status and benefits of said good government. It’ll require situational awareness, careful analysis and persistence. For example, Mitt Romney may not be a perfect candidate but he does offer a grab hold to slow the social progressives’ assault on individual freedoms and independence. From here we can begin to move forward reclaiming our country’s foundational inheritance.
While this is all true, I have a big concern of a seemingly growing sentiment of apathy toward national elections. There seems to be this (unconscious?) push from tenthers to simply abandon federal level elections and focus on local and state elections.
This is a part of great long-term solution, but to ignore, or worse minimize the importance of who holds office in Washington is fatal. We have to stop the bleeding NOW.
Yes, we most definitely need the long-term solution proposed here, but we also need to “dethrone” the socialists/marxists that are in power now by political means. We can’t ignore our responsibility to elect our federal representatives any more than we can ignore our responsibility to elect local and state representatives.
The “either/or” mentality that I see emerging from this movement is somewhat troubling. It’s not “either/or” it’s both! We need to be electing conservative representatives that will uphold our Constitution at ALL LEVELS of government.
Since we have this responsibility of electing our representatives, it then follows that we have choices to make. In this upcoming election there will be a choice we each make that will determine the next president. If you don’t think that matters, then quit reading now because nothing that follows will make sense to you.
While I appreciate the I’m-not-on-a-team-I-just-love-liberty stance, that won’t cut it in the real world. In the real world there are 2 polar-opposite ideas of how this country should function competing for power. Those ideas are manifested in the 2 major political parties we now have. The idea that you can sit idly by and simply demand liberty is naive at best. We didn’t lose liberty all in one chunk and we’re not going to regain it all in one chunk.
If you want to make a real difference in the real world, you have to make choices that are based on reality. The reality is that either Obama or Romney WILL be president. Not Ron Paul or Bubba from down the street. The reality is there are 2 political parties at this point in history. The reality is that one is at least somewhat aligned with socialism/marxism and the other is at least somewhat aligned with conservatism.
There is no perfect candidate. There is no perfect political party. There never will be. Yet we still must choose. It would be really nice if this presidential election didn’t matter as much as the election of the sheriff. But that’s not reality. It would be really nice if we had a truly conservative political party that stood a chance at winning an election. But that’s not reality. The reality is there is a party that will lead us toward more socialism/marxism and there is a party that will not. Yes, both parties will tend to grow government. Both parties will tend to overstep the Constitution. Neither party is ideal. But to choose neither is to allow others to choose for you. That’s not how a representative republic is supposed to work.
At this point in history, we not only have a potentially fatal disease, but we have a potentially fatal wound. If we don’t take care of the wound right now, it might kill us before we even have a chance to take care of the disease.
If I misread Michael’s intended message, I apologize. At the same time, I would rather see articles like this end with clarity: draw your line in the sand, but don’t sit idly on the sideline when it comes to national elections. Elections matter – at all levels. Elect the most conservative (Constitutionally-minded) candidate on the ticket at all levels. Push toward electing more conservative candidates next time… and even more next time.
I am guilty of trusting my “team” in the past. Those days are over, but that doesn’t mean I will abandon my “team”. It means I will work toward reforming my “team” – aka the Tea Party movement. I will work toward getting my “team” on the side of the Constitution.
The reality is that we will be a step closer to returning to constitutional government with the “red team”. We take another step towards tyranny with the “blue team”. Only one of these 2 “teams” will win – that is reality. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and watch them duke it out. You can choose to not be on a “team”, sit on the sideline, and just hope that the Constitution wins. That seems to me like a poor choice.
Pick a team and make a difference… you have no right to complain if you sit on the sideline.
@dsands that is exactly what I’m referring to in the article. Actually, if you VOTE for someone that increases the size of government (that’s all of them) you have no right to complain.
@Michael Boldin Wow – well hopefully no one hears that message…. well, actually it would be great if the socialists heard that message and didn’t vote… those of us who would like to turn this around need to get out there and vote for the most conservative person on the ticket – even if we don’t agree 100% with them. You’re never going to have a candidate that aligns perfectly with your personal view. The question is which way do you want the government going? It will never be static, it will continually be moving toward more freedom or less. Right now it’s moving toward less.
Even if the argument is that none of the candidates will completely turn it around, then why would we not at least try to slow it down? Doing nothing seems fruitless.
The Constitution calls for the people to elect their representatives. You don’t protect the Constitution by ignoring that responsibility. The only way we keep the republic is to participate in it.
@dsands I hope many hear it! I certainly understand your dilemma. Most experience it.
But, bottom line, I only support the constitution. And when given a choice of two extremely bad people on the constitution – I cannot, nor will I never – give them my precious approval.
I’ll spend my time and energy – and my money too – doing something that actually has the potential to reduce the size of government.
In disagreement – I do appreciate your feedback!
@Michael Boldin I don’t have a dilemma – other than seeing a great movement (tenthamendment) actually tell people to stay home and not vote. People have bled and died to give you that right, and you want to pass because the candidates don’t line up 100% with you? That’s arrogant and irresponsible.
I’m quite sure that those in power love this attitude.
If you want to “reduce the size of government”, and by that I assume you mean the *power* of the federal government outside the bounds of the constitution, then you must realize that this will not happen by nullification alone. That’s tunnel vision.
We have to flank this thing and attack it with everything we can. And that includes putting the most conservative leaders possible in office. Granted, they’re not as conservative as you might like, but this “they’re all equally bad” is totally wrong. They’re not.
@dsands @Michael Boldin And you want to pass because the candidates don’t line up 100% with you?Let me turn that question around – you want to choose the “best” guy between two people who are at best about 6 percent different?
@dsands But seriously…the point isn’t “don’t vote.” If you believe it is important, by all means. We just want people to get out of the paradigm that 90 percent of Americans are stuck in – that notion that if we just get the “right guy” in D.C., everything will be fine. There is no “right guy.” It’s not that Obama is so bad. It’s that the entire system is broken. Electing Romney isn’t going to shrink the size and intrusiveness of the federal government. Romney isn’t going to fix it. He is part of the problem. The federal behemoth WILL keep growing under a Romney administration – as it has for the past 100 years. So we had better figure out start doing something different than banging our head against the marble walls of D.C. every four years. You are 100 percent behind nullification…that is awesomeness! You are part of the solution. But most of your fellow Americans do not. They are fixated on “getting Obama out,” or “keeping Romney out” and in my view, that is a difference without a distinction.
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment @Michael Boldin
“6%” seems like a fairly random number – on what is that based? And even if accurate, I’ll take 6% less socialism ANY DAY.
So I’ll answer your question with “yes – I will vote for the best guy possible, even if he doesn’t line up 100% with my views”.
The reason is simple: one of those guys will be president. I’d like to help the one closest to conservative win. It’s not like by passing, or in Michael’s terms denying them my approval, that neither will be president and somehow everything is magically fixed because I withheld my vote.
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment Yes, I totally understand the education process here and I agree with it aside from this one point. I’m just concerned that this is an incomplete model for educating the general public and it’s especially dangerous to either imply or outright state that voting in federal elections is a waste of time.
I think timing is everything. Right now, I’d take 90% of Americans thinking Romney is the right guy, their only motivation being to get rid of the current bum – even though I know he falls short of a true conservative (and by “conservative” I mean one who governs according to the Constitution). I’d take Romney over Obama any day, because it’s a huge improvement. Is he the perfect solution? No. We won’t fix 120 years (post civil war) worth of liberty grabs by the federal government in one election… or 2… or 3.
What we can do is launch a multi-prong attack on the enemies of liberty. We can try to vote into office the best choice out of the ones running (at all levels) and then hold them accountable. We’ve never done the latter, but I see Americans rising up to do just that. And when they fail us, when they overreach their constitutional bounds, we nullify.
If you don’t see the difference between Obama and ANY of the Republican field, then I don’t know what to say. That’s like saying “I don’t see a difference between socialism and conservatism.” … or maybe “I don’t see a difference between the US Constitution and the French Constitution.” Really?
Disclaimer: Romney was my LAST preference, so don’t think I’m a big fan, but…
Romney has declared that on day 1 he will issue waivers to all 50 states for Obamacare – that will significantly shrink the federal government. There are a lot of things on his platform that have great potential to shrink the federal government: http://www.mittromney.com/collection/smaller-smarter-simpler-government. I’m not foolish enough to think it will all be implemented, but at least it’s the right direction and the right type of message, even if it’s not 100% perfect.
Again, I’m against this “either/or” tunnel-vision mentality that’s fixated on a single approach. I’m for an all-sides approach. Plus, I don’t think it’s wise to view all candidates as equally bad. It’s a dangerous thing to have the you-either-agree-with-me-100%-or-you’re-my-political-enemy mentality. You will go down in flames with this approach.
Bottom line is I’m hoping to see less “don’t worry about federal elections” messages, implied or otherwise, especially during such a critical time in our country’s history.
Elections matter.
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment We are not upset because the Candidates don’t line up 100% with our personal opinions. It’s because they don’t line up 100% with the Constitution. People need to get out of the paradigm that we only have 2 parties to choose from. Stop allowing our politics to be dominated by the wealthiest political team, the endless media ads and state rules that keep other parties off the ballot.
e @CarolineCarr Hey, if you could guarantee a third party’s riding lawnmower would stop the socialist wannabes’ massive train, then I’d climb on-board in an instant. Sadly, it’s not a very smart thing to do if you’re looking for the best outcome. I just don’t understand why folks would waste their vote to make an all or nothing ideological point. They’re only hurting themselves and those of us who are trying to derail the social progressives’ train. Today’s demagogues in control of the White House and Senate delight in conservative divisiveness. Divide and conquer is their malevolent theme. Please don’t help to reinstate these power-grabbing, overreaching socialist democrats by splitting the conservative vote. As an independent voter I’m pleading with all of you to vote Republican in November’s national election. It may be an uncomfortable small step, but at least it’s headed in the right direction. A better place to start than with the current state of affairs.
@CarolineCarr @MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment This is exactly my point. In *your* opinion none of the candidates don’t line up 100% with the Constitution – and you are correct. In *my* opinion, there will NEVER be a candidate that does – I am also correct, wouldn’t you agree?
What happens when you no longer have any choice at all because you sat on the sidelines waiting for some perfect situation to come along?
The road back to liberty is not paved with perfect stones. Waiting on some mythical 3rd party, or some perfect candidate, or some new legislation that makes elections “fair” is asking for defeat.
@West Texan @CarolineCarr God bless Texas! Amen brother.
@CarolineCarr @MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment If you could guarantee a third party’s riding lawnmower would stop the socialist wannabes’ massive train, then I’d climb on-board in an instant. Sadly, it’s not a very smart thing to do if you’re looking for the best outcome. I just don’t understand why folks would waste their vote to make an all or nothing ideological point. They’re only hurting themselves and those of us who are trying to derail the social progressives’ train. Today’s demagogues in control of the White House and Senate delight in conservative division.It plays nicely into the socialist democrat’s malevolent theme to divide and conquer. Please don’t help to reinstate these power-grabbing, overreaching politico-elitists by splitting the conservative vote. As an independent voter, I’m pleading with all of you to vote Republican in November’s national election. It may be an uncomfortably small step, but at least it’s headed in the right direction. A better place to start than with the current state of affairs
@dsands @CarolineCarr @MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment If you could guarantee a third party’s riding lawnmower would stop the socialist wannabes’ massive train, then I’d climb on-board in an instant. Sadly, it’s not a very smart thing to do if you’re looking for the best outcome. I just don’t understand why folks would waste their vote to make an all or nothing ideological point. They’re only hurting themselves and those of us who are trying to derail the social progressives’ train. Today’s demagogues in control of the White House and Senate delight in conservative division.It plays nicely into the socialist democrat’s malevolent theme of divide and conquer. Please don’t help to reinstate these power-grabbing, overreaching politico-elitists by splitting the conservative vote. As an independent voter, I’m pleading with all of you to vote Republican in November’s national election. It may be an uncomfortably small step, but at least it’s headed in the right direction. A better place to start than with the current state of affairs.
@West Texan I absolutely refuse to have some kind of loyalty to a party and to vote that way out of fear. I’m voting third party. Allowing this polarization between the two parties is part of our problem to begin with. I’m not waiting for a perfect candidate. Just one who can read and follow his job description in the Constitution.
@West Texan @dsands @MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment The Republican party has been just as power hungry and the Democrats. They pushed through the Patriot Act. They are no better and will not get my vote.
@dsands @MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment I thought Ron Paul lined up pretty well with the Constitution. I don’t agree with every single viewpoint he has, but I’m still voting for him. Legalizing drugs is “iffy” for me, but I’d rather compromise on that than on health care mandates and illegal war. So see, I’m not waiting for someone with whom I agree 100%.
@CarolineCarr @MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment It’s not that you’re voting out of fear by choosing the smartest way to use your vote. There will ALWAYS be 2 top dogs competing for power – that’s reality.
To say that Republicans are “just as bad” as Democrats is ludicrous. I could go down the list, but Repulicans are nowhere near the socialists that Democrats are. The Republicans are far from perfect, but they’re a lot closer to perfect that the Democrats. They are NOT the same.
Saying you’re voting for Ron Paul is like me saying I’m voting for Bubba down the street. What do you think about that? I like Bubba, I think he’ll do a great job.
And if people think like this, Obama will be the president again, and Democrats will control the legislation and we’re done.
Caroline I respect and appreciate your position but it’s a position that will not accomplish what we both want. In fact it will damage the country even more.
Don’t take this the wrong way, but if I were the enemy I’d plant a bunch of “Carolines” in our camp. Divide that vote. What a great strategy. All the conservatives voting for their own little favorite Bubba while the socialists all vote for one guy. They win.
There is just no logic whatsoever in throwing away a vote for a candidate that doesn’t stand any realistic chance of winning.
@dsands Bravo Zulu. I fully concur.
@dsands @CarolineCarr Under George W. Bush – a Republican – we got: Real ID, Patriot Act, the creation of a brand new department (Homeland Security), TARP, a stimulus bill, a massive expansion of Medicare (a huge nationalized health care plan), an invasion of Iraq, No Child Left behind (expanding unconstitutional federal intrusion into education), billions added to the debt and a continuation of an unconstitutional “drug war.” Under Obama, a Democrat, we got more stimulus, cash for clunkers, auto bailout, more nationalization of health care, extension of the Patriot Act, detention without due process written into the NDAA, war in Libya, drone strikes all over the place, an expansion of the war in Afghanistan, a continuation of the unconstitutional drug war, billions more added to the debt. Sure, the Republicans keep my taxes a little lower, but they won’t do anything about spending, so really, they are just taxing my kids and grandkids. Clearly, neither party really has any intention of shrinking government or following the Constitution. And to be honest, I find the Republicans grosser than the Democrats because they run around and do all of this progressive, big-government, unconstitutional crap while proclaiming themselves the party of the Constitution and small-government. The bottom line is that I cannot cast a vote – indicating my seal of approval – on a federal candidate who has already indicated he will willfully violate the Constitution in multiple ways. If you can – by all means, hold your nose and do it.
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment @dsands @CarolineCarr It’s a hard choice voting for a republican party that has contributed heavily to federal overreach. But the alternative is far worse. For example, I’d like to ” … keep and bear arms …” without the socialist wannabe democrats’ harassing gun control schemes. Not to mention their “tax” threat to my personal income and healthcare coverage. In addition, Texas’ small business owners could use some major relief from these politico elitists’ killer regulations. Yeah, we’ll do our best to clean up the stink for you on election day. Hopefully our efforts will be successful without your help.
@West Texan @dsands @CarolineCarr So Mitt is going to protect your guns?When he was the governor of Massachusetts, Romney signed a ban on assault weapons, like the one used in the movie theatre in Aurora. “Deadly assault weapons have no place in Massachusetts,” he said at the time. “These guns are not made for recreation or self-defense. They are instruments of destruction with the sole purpose of hunting down and killing people.” Romney also signed a law that raised the state’s gun-licensing fee to a hundred dollars, from twenty-five. Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/07/mitt-romney-the-gun-control-candidate.html#ixzz24JwaiH2Y
It seems to me your position is based more on perception and the “red team blue team” paradigm than any anchor in reality.And really – that’s the point. The Democrats swear the Republicans are the worst people in the world because they are Republicans and the Republicans claim the Democrats are the worst people in the world because they are Democrats, and people fall in line with their party. Meanwhile, they all DO the same thing once they are elected.But by all means, carry on. If it makes you feel any better, Mitt will take my state whether I cast a vote for him or not. So you will not be cleaning up my stink. And I’ll continue working to clean up the stink left in D.C. by the party loyalists.
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment @dsands I’m not sure why you are including me in these posts because if you had bothered to read any of my posts, you would see that I do not in any way support either Obama or Romney. Did you actually read any of my posts?
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment @West Texan @dsands Again, why are you replying to my in this manner? First of all I never said that I liked Mitt Romney or intended to vote for him. Thanks, but no thanks, I’ll pass on both big party candidates. I’m anything but team politics. As for protecting MY guns. I don’t own any. I’m well aware of Mr. Romney’s position on the second amendment as well as his disrespect for the rest of the Constitution. That’s why I don’t support him. Please read this carefully and make sure that you get this:
I DO NOT SUPPORT MITT ROMNEY OR BARACK OBAMA.
I DO NOT SUPPORT MITT ROMNEY OR BARACK OBAMA.
I’m also not voting for “Bubba” down the street. Whoever that is! I don’t actually think anyone named Bubba lives on my street….
I vote for the Constitution. It may not be popular, but that’s what I’m doing. Sorry if you all disagree with that.
Well the Constitution as we know it is getting shredded faster by Democrats than Republicans… so if you want to make an idealogical statement by throwing away your vote and reach the point where there is no constitution worth voting for then by all means make your statement.
I’d rather go the other direction.
I’ve seen all kinds of idealogical reasons given for throwing away your vote, but I’ve yet to see a logical reason,
@MikeMaharrey-TenthAmendment @West Texan @dsands @CarolineCarr According to the NRA, many well meaning folks have it wrong about Governor Mitt’s signed gun laws. But I’m not here to argue that point. IMHO, the only real voice Americans have in national government is their district’s U.S. congressional representative. Everything else depends on impersonal party platforms. Like corporations, political parties have taken on an identity all their own. You’re not necessarily voting for a certain individual so much as you’re voting for a party’s product. While today’s democrats continue to fall further to the left, republicans have been inching closer to the right. If you truly want elected officials to follow the constitution’s letter, voting for what the republicans have to offer is your best bet. By voting democrat, a third party candidate or not voting at all, you guarantee the constitution will continue to be trashed by the progressives’ never ending socialist agenda.
@Michael Boldin Furthermore, I’m 100% behind nullification and the Principles of ’98. I just don’t see where those principles preclude us from voting for the guy that is least likely to cause the need for nullification.
Nullification is a reaction.
Voting is proactive.
Again, it’s not “either/or” – it’s both!
The party system has been the bane of the Constitution. To quote a passage from George Washington’s farewell speech; “However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” Washington’s words have proven to be prophetic.
Republicans rose to power in the mid 1850′s and Democrats before that time. Together they have controlled the federal government for nearly 160 years. During that time they have created numerous unconstitutional federal agencies not in compliance with any of the enumerated powers granted to Congress in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution thereby usurping the people’s 5th, 9th and 10th Amendment rights.They have incrementally merged whatever differences they had into one big socialist Republicrat regime consisting of hardcore socialist Democrats and predominantly moderate socialist Republicans.
The Founding Fathers were able to write and ratify the Constitution, thereby forming a nation simply as Americans. There was no party system. Given the fact they were able to accomplish such achievements as unaffiliated, then we certainly accomplish the far less daunting task also as unaffiliated by restoring the already existing limited government principles in the Constitution. That can only happening by the people disavowing association with any political group and uniting as unaffiliated with the sole purpose of restoring the Constitution.
@DanHunt I’m just playing devil’s advocate here – I’m not sure what I think about the party system at this point – but at the time of the revolution, were there not 2 groups of political associations? loyalists vs patriots?
I guess maybe a “partyless” system would be good, but it’s not based in reality because human nature is to group together for power. We’ll never return to a political system without some sort of associations… and I’m not sure we ever had one.
@dsands
Prior to Thomas Jefferson they were only local political groups typically referred to as Democratic-Republican societies. Jefferson was instrumental in forming the first national party, the Democrats. it was founded on the principle of limited government. Unfortunately it has done a 180 by evolving into a political group supporting big government socialism. Thereby illustrating the point George Washington made as quoted in my original post; parties will incrementally stray from the Constitution to achieve their own agenda.
@DanHunt
Thank you Mr. Hunt, there is a party all right but you Americans are not invited, people posing as Americans do the acts of tyrants are hardly Americans by activity or by the party for them they create.
WE are LIFE, we are LIBERTY and we are to be in a REPUBLIC not as a party but as an activity but so few are intent on not understanding these basics of a Free people.
But then they don’t focus on them selves, you know the LIFE you are, most focus on what everyone else is doing as pigs. It is all about the focus of our attention since WE are the directors of such attention.
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