I participate on a listserv of veterans of the Army Security Agency Field Station in Berlin. One of my

former associates posted a rant against the “Tea Party blow hards who scream,’if it ain’t in the Constitution, then we don’t need it'”. 

 

My response follows:

 

Great rant.  I
do it often. If we are to have the rule of law and not the rule men we must
follow the proper procedures.  So
if the citizens of this great nation want the FAA, etc. then the proper
procedure is to amend the Constitution giving the federal government increased
powers.  I think we should respect
those guys 200 years ago. They lived under oppression that is hard for us to
understand.  They knew history in more
detail than most of us.  They
operated colonial governments and wrote new constitutions for 13 new
states.  They witnessed the
weaknesses in the Articles of Confederation. They knew first hand how interest
groups (called “stakeholders” today) operated to destroy the will of
the general population. (Federalist #10)

 

It is important to recognize that where we are today is the
product of a concerted effort by Progressives starting in the 1880s.  They looked not to John Locke and other
English and Scottish philosophers, but to the German philosopher Hegel.  They saw the fundamental structures established
in the Constitution (checks and balances, federalism, separation of powers)
impediments that should be abolished. And to a large extent they have been successful in abolishing those
structures that protect our liberty. For example, the EPA is in the process of
imposing regulations that were specifically rejected by Congress.  Is that the rule of law or the rule of
unelected, unaccountable men?

 

Thus the “blow hards” you speak of are recognizing
the fundamental subversion of the Constitution and asking the public to decide:
does the nation recognize and uphold the Constitution that the Founders wrote
or should we continue our journey as a nation based on the political theory of
the German philosopher Hegel and the Progressives who despised the Constitution?

 

The question before the nation today is just that simple.

 

BTW, I would love to have you attend my presentation at our
Citizens’ Constitutional Workshop tomorrow in Morehead City, NC where we
discuss these issues in detail. See the specifics at www.johnlocke.org/events.

 

Michael Sanera

FSB 71-73