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STATE'S RIGHTS?
Yesterday, I had the privilege of discussing my thoughts on States Rights at the Save America Convention in Grand Junction. I was charged with making my presentation solutions-focused. As much as I enjoyed the intellectual journey that followed my invitation to speak, solving the problems I see will be quite a challenge. I want to share some history with you today, then next week, discuss the solutions I proposed.
By 1776, tension between England and her subjects in the Colonies had gone from angry words to fighting. Militias had formed. Troops been sent to quell the insurrection. Men on both sides had died. Many colonists remained loyal to the King; others saw war as the only path to freedom. On July 4th, what was described as a long train of abuses and usurpations led fifty-six men, in General Congress Assembled, with "a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence", to throw off the yoke of despotism. They sought what they called new Guards for the unalienable rights endowed to them by their Creator. Pledging their Lives, fortunes and sacred Honor, and appealing to "the Supreme Judge of the world" they declared the United Colonies were Free and Independent States. Seven years later, it "having pleased the Divine Providence", King George acknowledged the United States of America were free, sovereign and independent states and, "In the Name of the most holy and undivided Trinity", on September 3, 1783, it became so.
Having thrown off the yoke of one despot, the challenge was how to protect the freedom their blood and treasure had won. Students of history, our Founders recognized that just as there are certain unalienable rights, there are certain undeniable truths. While there is bad in the best of men, there is good in the worst. We see this from the Old Testament stories of David and Solomon to this week's Internet display of Congressman Weiner's personal pornography. The Founding Fathers understood the more government men accept, the less freedom they enjoy. They believed the best government is the one that governs least. They knew that power corrupts, and is addictive. Their first attempt, a Confederacy of States, quickly led once again from angry words to fighting. Frustrated, in May, 1787, the States sent delegates to meet in Convention in Philadelphia. Their mission was to revise the Articles of Confederation. Their result was an entirely new form of government, a thing of beauty enshrined in our Constitution.
They recognized the Articles had failed because the central government was too weak, but feared creating a monster. Madison observed in Federalist Paper 45, the central question dealt with was whether over time, the operation of the federal government would by degrees prove fatal to the State governments. Their solution was the concept of specific and limited powers. Their genius was an intricate system of checks and balances designed to prevent the growth of federal government. Madison continues, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite ....The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people.... The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments in times of peace and security."
The specific powers delegated to the federal government would be divided between a legislative and an executive branch, with an independent judiciary to be ever watchful of attempts by either to usurp power, and a Supreme Court to be the final conscience of the nation in that regard. Lest misunderstanding arise, the doctrine of limited powers was codified in the Tenth Amendment. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People."
So, how has their genius been so turned on its head? How have we created the mess we find ourselves in today? Even a short recitation of the catastrophic failures of our federal government, from crushing debt, to undeclared wars, to failed schools, to astronomic incarceration rates, to a dependence mentality would require more time today than I have been allowed. Indeed, I suspect many of you are reading this because you understand full well the magnitude of the crisis we face. The Republic is in grave danger. We, the People rightly demand the Blessings of Liberty our Constitution guaranteed us be restored.
Keep the faith, and join me next week. |
