by Diane Rufino, January 22, 2021
This article is dedicated to our great Founding Fathers – men who had the courage, the foresight, and the wisdom to secure the freedom that I exercise and enjoy every single day.
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this article is to remind Patriots and others who love this country that all is not lost. This article in essence, plain and simple, is a call to action! The answer and solution lies in the very document that articles the principles and natural law philosophy which define our country and the very foundation upon which she rests — The Declaration of Independence. The reason people don’t know this is because for too many decades now, the serious study of our founding documents has been removed from our public school curriculum
The solution lies in the first and second paragraphs of the Declaration. In the first paragraph, Thomas Jefferson boldly proclaimed: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
In the second paragraph, Jefferson explained: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.…. “ The reason why citizens need to be able to shed an abusive government is to protect and continue to secure their natural and God-given rights.
Abolishing this government is an absolute must. I have little doubt that it will shed any of its powers, divest itself of unconstitutional offices and agencies, decrease taxation so it doesn’t allow itself to spend for unconstitutional purposes, transform the federal judiciary into a system of courts that strictly interprets the Constitution (citing the Federalist Papers, the writings of any of its drafters or signers, or any of the debates in the state ratifying conventions in their “opinions”). I have no doubt that any congressman or senator would have any desire to limit his or her power, or that of the leviathan that he or she works for. Power corrupts. The other option is for the country to split up. Yes, I’m talking about secession or a negotiated and peaceful split. This option might be preferable in order to accommodate the diametrically opposed philosophy (government-wise) of its people. And yes, the very words and truths articulated in the Declaration of Independence provide the basis for this.
Now, as we have learned over the years —- talk is cheap. And the protests of elder, white-haired limping Americans is futile and laughable. Sure, we have the precious right of free speech and the right to petition our government (including protest). These rights are not only in the Bill of Rights but they are in the very FIRST amendment. We’ve seen how ineffective our speech, our massive protests, and our magnificent DC marches have been. More than anything, they have served to make us nothing more than fools, despicables…. domestic terrorists.
And now we have learned that our popular voice (ie, our vote) doesn’t work either. It can be bought, replicated, stolen, misappropriated from a death certificate, or simply fabricated by mal-intentioned party operatives.
But violence, threats, leaking sensitive information, looting, property damage, and even murder…. now that’s something. That is what works.
Violence and destruction does work, doesn’t it? Government recognizes it, responds to it (positively), and often encourages it (usually for its own purposes). And that’s the problem, isn’t it.? Government ignores the peaceful protests, the well-meaning petitions, the thoughtful supplications, and the intelligent debates but responds to the barbaric gang-style outbursts of hoodlum-types and ignoranuses. How are we to expect, or even hope to expect, that peaceful protests , well-meaning petitions, thoughtful supplications, intelligent debates, and sincere remonstrances will be effective? Surely they can’t be the only “weapons of choice” in this novel scheme called America. Surely our Founding Fathers didn’t think so.
Ambrose Bierce wisely stated: “Democracy is preserved with 3 boxes: the ballot box, the jury box, and the cartridge box.”
Surely our Founding Fathers didn’t expect such options to be the end all- be all in the defense of our liberties and in the vigilante oversight of our government…. one that has quickly become corrupt and tyrannical. After all, they certainly didn’t limit themselves to those options. We just need to look at the fiery speech delivered by Patrick Henry’s speech on March 23, 1775, at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia:
“We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne! In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free– if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending–if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained–we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!”
The point I am trying to make is that while speech is cheap (and is actually an essential protected right), it is action that Patriots MUST take. They absolutely must commit themselves to engage in mass civil disobedience (at the very least; for example, a nationwide protest involving not paying federal income tax) and even to commit violence and property destruction for this country. The government has become so badly tyrannical and abusive (as well as undignified and a universal joke) that most people have absolutely no trust or faith in it to do the right thing for decent hard-working Americans – that is, those other than minorities who are stuck in lower-paying jobs or have become generationally- dependent on welfare, or who have placed too much attention on victim hood, illegal immigrants, or those with confused gender issues, This government is hostile to such patriotic hard-working Americans – punishing them with progressive schools, high taxes, property confiscation, and suppression of speech.
James Madison wrote: “If there be a principle that ought not to be questioned within the United States, it is, that every nation has a right to abolish an old government and establish a new one. This principle is not only recorded in every public archive, written in every American heart, and sealed with the blood of a host of American martyrs; but is the only lawful tenure by which the United States hold their existence as a nation.” (September 7, 1793)
And so, again, the solution lies within the first and second paragraphs of the Declaration of Independence. It is grounded in the laws of Nature, Nature’s God, and in the statement in the second paragraph that establishes the Right of the People to alter or to abolish the government, and to institute a new one that serves only its rightful purposes. After all, as the Declaration acknowledges and establishes: Governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed,” which is we, the People. The Declaration of Independence, in a very sense, is the blueprint for the action we must take if we intend to save our original Constitution (with its stated meaning and intent), to continue securing our natural and God-given rights from government intervention, and to save our republic.
INTRODUCTION:
In the 12th century in England, the people began to become aware of their rights and to assert them. An early document, the Charter of Liberties of 1100 was written by King Henry I when he ascended to the thrown in that year. It was an early recognition of individual liberties. And then in 1215, the English nobles forced King John to sign the Magna Carta (the “Great Charter”) acknowledging the rights of those in his kingdom and therefore placing limits on his power. In 1649, after King Charles I suspended Parliament (the people’s body; established in the Magna Carta), instigated a civil war, and proved to be an absolute tyrant, Parliament successfully brought charges of treason against him and had him executed for his excessive abuses of power. In 1688, being fed up with the objectionable policies of King James II (including the confiscation of firearms of political opponents), a group of English Parliamentarians invited the Dutch magistrate William III of Orange-Nassau (William of Orange) to overthrow the King. They promised a bloodless transition. intervention. William’s successful invasion with a Dutch fleet and army led to James fleeing to France and abdicating the throne. In December 1688, Parliament appointed William as provisional governor. In 1689, William and his wife Mary (who happened to be King James II’s daughter), were presented with the English Bill of Rights, which was essentially written to have the effect of a contract. William and Mary would lose their right to the throne if they dared to violate or abuse the human rights articulated therein.
All of this history was absorbed into our history, and the repeated charters and remonstrances to the English kings and the subsequent abuses of those documents formed the bases for our founding documents – most especially our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and our Bill of Rights.
In the 17th century, philosophers like John Locke pondered on such subjects as where our rights come from and what the rightful role of government should be. He was probably the most prominent philosopher of the Enlightenment era. His writings, together with the England’s storied history, influenced our Founding Fathers, especially those who wrote and signed our founding documents, and certainly motivated those to fight for our independence in the American Revolution.
The impact of what our Founders wrote and created to establish this nation is best summed up by Charlotte Cushman in her American Thinker article (July 4, 2016), “Founding Principle of the United States of America: Individual Rights”:
Our country was the first and only country in history that was founded on a brand new idea, the idea that people have rights. These rights are:
• the right to one’s own life (which includes that which one has worked for)
• the right to one’s own liberty (freedom to live the way you want provided you don’t hurt anyone else)
• the right to pursue one’s own happiness (not everyone else’s—yours)
When America was created, there was another new idea — the idea that the only legitimate purpose of government was to protect these rights, to make sure no person violated the rights of another. Government was not there to tell men what to do, or how to live their lives, or to take by force what each man has earned by his own efforts to give to another. Initiation of force was banned from human relationships. The only proper use of force was in retaliation against those who had initiated force or fraud against another. Force was only used as a means of defending rights through three branches of government: the police, the military and the courts. And that’s it. The purpose of government was to only do that one thing and nothing else. It was to protect individual rights.
The implementation of these two ideas created something unseen before on the face of the earth. For the first time men were free from other men. They were no longer subservient to a lord, master or king. They could live their lives and pursue their goals independently yet associate with each other voluntarily instead of by force. With individual rights as a guiding principle, all other freedoms fell into place: economic freedom, religious freedom, social freedom, freedom of association, contractual freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom to bear arms and so on. And look what happened. The United States of America became the happiest, wealthiest, most prosperous, most advanced nation on earth. It was also the most moral country because it recognized individual rights.
The Declaration of Independence is indeed the magnificent charter that defines our nation. We read it’s second paragraph and we instantly become overcome with an intense sense of pride and gratitude. Or at least we should be. We can feel the sense of entitlement of fundamental liberty and the longing for independence in the words that Thomas Jefferson wrote. The Declaration is breathtaking in its scope and eloquent in its dialogue. It’s message is clear: Government is established by individuals to protect their inalienable rights and since the powers of government are derived from the people for that precise purpose, when the government fails to do so or frustrates the people in their exercise of their liberties, then they have the right – and the duty – to throw off that government and plan for another. As someone once said: “People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”
Jefferson wrote that individuals have the rightful expectation that their government will create a climate of protection and happiness for them. This is what each of us as Americans should expect…. not an expectation of money, an “Obama phone,” and other worldly things, but of protection (of our rights and of safety and security from harm from others)
Referring to the rights that all men are born with and entitled to, Jefferson wrote:
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness.”
People are meant to be free because of the laws of nature. They derive their rights from nature and not from any government. As Jefferson wrote: “The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.”
Jefferson emphasized that it was not only the right of the people to abolish an abusive government but a duty. Individuals have a duty to remind government who is the boss, and in doing so, to preserve our republic and its values and essential principles. Because the Declaration defines the expectations of government in our country and the Constitution provides the safeguards, government itself must be mindful and respectful of the right of the people to abolish it. Additionally, we have a Bill of Rights, which our most passionate of founders fought mightily to have included in the Constitution. “The very purpose of a Bill of Rights,” as explained by Robert H. Jackson, “was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy. One’s right to life, liberty and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly may not be submitted to vote; they depend on no elections.”
Perhaps this was Jefferson’s way of reminding Americans that sometimes governments must be abolished in order to preserve human rights. The British had to do it several times since the Magna Carta was signed. They never lost sight of protections they needed with respect to government. “Honor, justice, and humanity forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them.”
He then went on in the Declaration to acknowledge the weakness in human nature which causes people to suffer the evils and abominations of government instead of standing resolute and abolishing that government. “All experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed.”
The statement of inalienable rights was a necessary precursor to what would follow, and that was a statement of the reasons why it had become necessary for the “good people” of the American colonies to dissolve their bonds of allegiance to England. With respect to fundamental individual rights and an expectation of a ‘respectful’ government, Jefferson outlined a “history of repeated injuries and usurpations” committed by King George III in order to claim that he was ruling over the colonies as a tyrant.
The list included 27 instances of how King George imposed the will of government on the American colonies and colonists (themselves considered as British subjects) without any of the traditional safeguards that shielded the subjects of England, such as representation in Parliament and the protections of the English Bill of Rights. For example, he interfered with the laws of the colonies, suspended their legislatures, and obstructed their administration of justice. He appointed judges that were sworn to his will alone, incited domestic insurrection among them, destroyed their property, kept troops among them, and forced colonists to house and feed them. He taxed them without their representation in Parliament, subjected them to jurisdiction that was foreign to their constitution, cut off their trade with all parts of the world, deprived them of the right to a trial by jury, and transported them to England on trumped-up charges and for pretend offenses.
According to our Founders, these were the acts of a tyrant. At the end of the second paragraph in the Declaration, it reads: “The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.” According to Jefferson, “a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” He then used the Declaration to accomplish exactly the remedy he wrote just a few paragraphs earlier – to sever their bonds with the government of England and declare the colonies as independent sovereign states. “We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.”
While the Declaration is a “declaration” of rights, it is first and foremost, an article of secession.
I bring this up because there was a time when Americans understood the Declaration of Independence and appreciated its significance. There was a time when our leaders and our judiciary were able to connect the Declaration and Constitution together to be able to understand the role of government and protecting the sanctity of those documents. The first is the “WHY” the documents matter so much and the latter is the “HOW” to make them relevant again. Governments are instituted for the sole purpose of securing God-given, “unalienable” rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and they derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed” and nowhere else. The Constitution is meant to be read with the principles and truths in the Declaration in mind.
Among the 27 reasons Jefferson listed to justify secession, one in particular struck me: “For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.”
The government, the creation of the people, has become a rogue institution. It protects its own power and not the power of the people. It looks out for the interests of the government and not the interests of the people. It is supposed to protect the rights of the individual, including the right to be “left alone by government,” but it continues to take them away. Our government today no longer resembles the government intended by our Founders and is no longer defined or constrained by our founding documents.
Each time a federal judge considers a case with a “federal question” (meaning it touches on the Constitution, federal law, or treaty), he has the opportunity to make a decision that brings government in line with our founding principles and values or to open the government up to new, expanded, and unforeseen powers.
RE-DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE –
For those of you of mighty spirit and courage, of immense patriotism and loyalty, of great respect and pride in our Founding documents, and unquestionably duty-bound to preserve the historic republic (established originally in 1781 with the Articles of Confederation) and her principles of individual liberty and limited government, I implore you to re-dedicate yourselves to the cause of human liberty and to a society that our Founders envisioned, created, and fought for. In doing so, let us re-Declare our Independence from a corrupt and tyrannical government, just as Thomas Jefferson so eloquently did in 1776.
Contrary to what progressives like to say, our Founding Fathers were far from being evil men. They were, perhaps, the most important men who ever lived.
It light of this introduction, the purpose of this document is to re-assert the fundamental and everlasting message and principles articulated masterfully in the Declaration of Independence:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
The history of the present federal government is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over the States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to the good People of North Carolina, to fellow States (the parties who have been deprived of sovereign power with each injury and usurpation), and to a candid world:
[List of abuses by King George and Parliament]
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
THE HISTORY OF THE PRESENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS A HISTORY OF REPEATED ABUSES AND USURPATIONS, ALL HAVING THE DIRECT EFFECT OF ESTABLISHING AN ABSOLUTE TYRANNY OVER THE STATES AND THE PEOPLE —
“A constitution is not the act of a government, but of a people constituting a government; and government without a constitution is power without a right. All power exercised over a nation, must have some beginning. It must be either delegated, or assumed. There are not other sources. All delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation. Time does not alter the nature and quality of either.” — Thomas Paine, Rights of Man (1791-1792)
“People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.” — Alan Moore, author of the book V for Vendetta
The history of the present federal government is a history of repeated abuses and usurpations, all having in direct effect of establishing an absolute Tyranny over the States and the People. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to the good People of the several united States (the parties who have been deprived of sovereign power with each injury and usurpation) and to a candid world:
(1) For totally ignoring the Preamble to the Bill of Rights, which explains in detail WHY the first ten amendments were added to the Constitution and how important they were regarded by the States (so much so that several states would not have ratified the Constitution without a promise that a Bill of Rights would be added). The Preamble to the Bill of Rights reads: “The Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added. And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.” The PURPOSE of the Bill of Rights, not only in essence but in direct wording, was to “prevent misconstruction or abuse” of (the federal government’s) powers.” It is true that some of the amendments are “declaratory clauses” which mean that they are designed to “prevent misconstruction of the Constitution by explaining how the document SHOULD be interpreted. A good example are the Ninth and Tenth Amendments. The rest of the amendments of the Bill of Rights are “restrictive clauses” designed specifically to prevent ABUSE of federal powers by creating external limitations curtailing those powers. Here is a News Flash: No one at the time of our founding thought any of the rights would cease to exist without the approval of the Bill of Rights. In fact, it was widely understood that our rights were endowed by our Creator and a product of our very humanity. Theophilus Parsons perhaps summed it up best during the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention when he said: “No power was given to Congress to infringe on any one of the natural rights of the People.” Sadly, thanks to the rhetoric of the federal government, government agencies and officials, and political candidates, too many people today don’t understand this, our most essential of founding principles. They have never read the Preamble (and neither have members of government), and hence, they will likely never understand this which is our country’s original purpose. To be clear, the REASON the judicial branch, as well as the other branches, of the government has ignored the Preamble to the Bill of Rights is because it DOES NOT want to limit its powers over the American people and in its operation as a government and its action over the past 200 or so years and borne this out. I suspect that the reason it has weakened and allowed the government to limit the guarantees of freedom and civil rights in these first ten amendments is to ultimately allow the federal government to establish a monopoly over the meaning, intent, and scope of the Constitution – the document that created it and delegated its precise powers. [See the next item for further thoughts on this matter, and See the next section which specifically addresses violations of the ten amendments contained in the Bill of Rights].
(2) For allowing the US Supreme Court and other federal courts to establish a monopoly over the meaning and intent of the Constitution, as the government would have it interpreted, that is. Federal courts (especially the Supreme Court) – ignoring solemn responsibility of adhering to and interpreting cases strictly according to the Constitution, it has allowed the government to view the Constitution as a “living, breathing document,” thus allowing the federal courts alone to enact social change rather than allow the people to do so when they are ready through the representatives they send to legislate on their behalf. and even worse, to render the Constitution a document that means whatever the government wants it to mean. The courts have rendered it an essentially blank document. A perfect example is the ruling by the Supreme Court (or should I say, the opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts) in the healthcare case (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012), In the Court’s blinding desire to uphold the healthcare bill, they expanded the taxing power to punish people for not conforming to conduct that the government wants. Even though over 70% of Americans don’t want their government to have the power to force particular conduct on them nor believe their Constitution allows it, the Supreme Court did some questionable and detestable legal maneuverings to deny the people their right to define their government. Another perfect example is the Roe v. Wade opinion (410 U.S. 113 (1973), where the high Court came out with a new right (the right to an abortion), essentially out of thin air, simply for the purpose of allowing women total control over her body so she can either have the personal freedom she wants or to be able to compete equally in business or in the marketplace with a man. It was, safe to say, a manufactured opinion with no grounding whatsoever in the Constitution or Bill of Rights.
The members of the Supreme Court have used their enormous and consequence-free positions in black robes to act unconstitutionally to enact sweeping social change, such as abortion and gay marriage faster than We the People would ordinarily and rightfully accomplish over time through our state and local legislatures, to unconstitutionally enlarge the powers of the federal government, and to, at times, act as the legislative branch by making law. Again, through its loosey-goosey interpretation of the Constitution (the last check on government), the federal courts have secured a monopoly for the government. Former US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia admitted as much: “Within the last 20 years, we have found to be covered by due process the right to abortion, which was so little rooted in the traditions of the American people that it was criminal for 200 years; the right to homosexual sodomy, which was so little rooted in the traditions of the American people that it was criminal for 200 years. So it is literally true, and I don’t think this is an exaggeration, that the Court has essentially liberated itself from the text of the Constitution, from the text and even from the traditions of the American people.” Abraham Lincoln once said: “We the People are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Inherent in that statement is the right of the people to get rid of abusive federal judges – those who use personal political philosophy and personal social views to influence their rulings rather than pure constitutional interpretation – rather than have them appointed for life where too much damage can be done.
As we should all know, the Constitution sets up three branches of government, with a checks and balances setup. In theory each of the three branches; Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, should all have equal power and they should have the ability to stop the other from trampling the rights of the citizens and the principles set forth in the constitution. (And of course, with our system of federalism, the States are the last, and most powerful of checks and balances). But Thomas Jefferson saw the Judicial branch of the government as the one branch that was capable of slowly changing those rights and enacting laws without the consent of the people. In fact it was he, the founder of the Democratic-Republican Party, who first attempted to impeach a US Supreme Court justice, Justice Samuel Chase. It was unsuccessful. Samuel Chase, a Federalist, vigorously and aggressively worked to enforce the highly unconstitutional Sedition Act, but only against Democratic-Republicans. He seemed to make it his mission to shut them up; he left an Federalist offender alone. Jefferson didn’t believe a justice which such a flagrant discrimination against an opposing political party should sit on the bench and rule on national constitutional matters Here are some of the wise words Jefferson wrote over the years warning of the tendency of the federal courts to become too powerful and destructive of the Constitution written in Philadelphia in 1787, signed by the delegates, and ratified, one by one, by each State:
In his letter of September 11, 1804 to Abagail Adams, he wrote: “Nothing in the Constitution has given them [the federal judges] a right to decide for the Executive, more than to the Executive to decide for them. . . . The opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves, in their own sphere of action, but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch.”
In his letter of August 18, 1821 to Charles Hammond, he wrote: “The germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal judiciary; an irresponsible body, (for impeachment is scarcely a scare-crow,) working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little to-day and a little to-morrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped from the States, and the government of all be consolidated into one.”
In his letter of October 23, 1823 to Monsieur A. Coray, he wrote: “At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in a way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, little by little, the foundations of the Constitution, and working its change by construction before anyone has perceived that that invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is not made to be trusted for life, if secured against all liability to account.”
In his letter of October 31, 1823 to Monsieur A. Coray, he wrote: “At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous; that the insufficiency of the means provided for their removal gave them a freehold and irresponsibility in office; that their decisions, seeming to concern individual suitors only, pass silent and unheeded by the public at large; that these decisions, nevertheless, become law by precedent, sapping, by little and little, the foundations of the constitution, and working its change by construction, before any one has perceived that the invisible and helpless worm has been busily employed in consuming its substance. In truth, man is no made to be trusted for life, if secured against all inability to account.”
Compare what Thomas Jefferson wrote about the federal judiciary to what Abraham Lincoln warned in his First Inaugural Address: “…The candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the government, upon vital questions, affecting the whole people, is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court, the instant they are made, in ordinary litigation between parties, in personal actions, the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having, to that extent, practically resigned their government into the hands of that eminent tribunal.” — from his First Inaugural Address (1861)
(3) For threatening to limit, prevent, require certification, and even tax American citizens in their ownership and enjoyment of firearms (and/or ammunition). Members of Congress are currently (as they have done in the past) planning to pass legislation to require persons to be licensed in order to purchase ammunition. Congress intends to tax ammunition (probably at a high rate) and probably guns as well. Certain magazines and firearm types will be excluded from Second Amendment protection, at Congress’ discretion, of course. All of these are serious burdens on our right to gun ownership. Allowing Congress to interpret the Second Amendment on its own is perhaps the worst violation of our Second Amendment. Their stated goal is to destroy the NRA, an organization dedicated to keeping the Second Amendment alive and pertinent. We should all be well-aware that the Second Amendment guarantees the right of citizens to keep and bear arms for self-protection and to ultimately, if necessary, stand up against a tyrannical government (foe the purposes of protecting our Natural and God-given rights. The US Supreme Court acknowledged such in the cases District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) and in McDonald v. Chicago (2010). It was violations of such a right in England that caused the people to ultimately begin the movement to minimize the role of the monarch (which ended in 1688 with the ascension to the throne by William and Mary, with Parliament’s blessing) and it was King George’s orders to seize the colonists’ guns and ammunition that finally led to the first shots of our American Revolution. Such a violation can never be tolerated. We owe this to our children, our grandchildren, and future generations, but mostly we owe this to our Founders, our forefathers, and all those who fought for this right to bear arms. As Samuel Adams wrote: “Let us contemplate our forefathers and posterity; and resolve to maintain the rights bequeathed to us from the former, for the sake of the latter. – Instead of sitting down satisfied with the efforts we have already made, which is the wish of our enemies, the necessity of the times, more than ever, calls for our utmost circumspection, deliberation, fortitude, and perseverance. Let us remember that if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and involve others in our doom. It is a very serious consideration, which should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the miserable sharers of the event.”
(4) For US presidents attempting to add additional “rights” that Americans are entitled to without going through the proper and legal process of amending the US Constitution according to Article V. A perfect example is the effort by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to add additional rights belonging to Americans, particularly minorities and those living at or below the poverty level. In his Inaugural Address on January 11, 1944,, Franklin D. Roosevelt explained that economic inequality is a precursor to Fascism and that the influence of Soviet Communism is something the United States should fear. Consequently, he urged in strong terms that a “Second Bill of Rights” be adopted as a hedge against communism spreading to our shores. In that speech, he said:
“This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.
As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
- The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;
- The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
- The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
- The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
- The right of every family to a decent home;
- The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
- The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
- The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.”
Roosevelt did not argue that the Constitution should be amended to include the “Second Bill of Rights.” But he did believe that social and economic rights ought to be seen as a defining part of our political culture, closely akin to the Declaration of Independence — a place to look for our deepest commitments. I imagine he believed such “social and economic rights” fall under the provision in the Constitution known as the “General Welfare Clause.”
Roosevelt died in office before the war ended. His successor, Harry S. Truman, tried to carry forward his economic and civil rights initiatives with the “Fair Deal,” but Congress blocked nearly all of his proposed legislation. Imagine how history (and the Second Bill of Rights) would have played out had Roosevelt lived and used his force of will to push his plan through Congress.
The fact is that FDR’s progressive vision has endured. Many progressives over the years have drawn directly from Roosevelt’s vision of freedom and security. Indeed, his Second Bill of Rights is striking for its political boldness, but its ideas and proposals may have had their clearest articulation three years earlier when he delivered his famous “Four Freedoms” speech. In it he says, “The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are: (1) Equality of opportunity for youth and for others; (2) Jobs for those who can work; (3) Security for those who need it; (4) The ending of special privilege for the few; (5) The preservation of civil liberties for all; and (6) The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
The problems with FDR’s plan are many-fold: First, such a proposal would by-pass the legal and legitimate process of adding additional human rights (which is outlined in Article V of the US Constitution). Second, a “Second Bill of Rights” (additional social and economic rights) would give Congress greater ability to legislate and control the country’s population. Third, it would greatly expand our entitlement culture; there would be a consequential expansion of entitlements, largely funded and managed by the federal government. Fourth, it would give Congress the excuse to increase its reliance on THE GENERAL WELFARE CLAUSE as a separate grant of power in Article I, Section 8. Fifth, such promises and language by the country’s president would tend to confuse the American people as to which objects are legitimate “rights” and even legitimate “civil rights.” Most Americans already haven’t read the Constitution or Declaration of Independence and are ignorant of our country’s history. And sixth, a Second Bill of Rights serves to relieve Americans from personal responsibility and to rely increasingly on the federal government.
(5) For accepting fraudulent election results, even though there was an abundance of compelling evidence that the election was intentionally rigged through massive election tampering, election fraud, and election irregularities, thereby nullifying and ignoring the voice of too many decent, patriotic, law-abiding, and hard-working citizens, according to the Constitutional principle “One Person, One Vote.” (grounded in the 14th Amendment, if you believe it is even a legitimate amendment, but certainly grounded in our notion of equality and in our very right as an American citizen). Every citizen is guaranteed, by right and by the Constitution, to have an equal vote and thus an equal voice in the government that passes laws and enacts policies that affect our lives, property, and fortunes. While our Founders established our country as a republic (for very good reason), there is a very important democratic element, which is the ability of every citizen to vote and thereby have a voice in their government. Mike Huckabee noted: “A fraudulent vote is a stolen vote. It steals a vote from the thin air and nullifies the legal and legitimate vote of a tax-paying citizen, whose rights to a fair election shouldn’t be tampered with. Winning an election is important, but winning it honestly is imperative in a Constitutional Republic.”
(6) For the US Supreme Court ignoring its obligation under Article III, Section 2, clauses 1 and 2 regarding “original jurisdiction.” Article III, Section 2, clauses 1 and 2 read: (1) “The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another State;—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. (2) In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.” Being that the Constitution provides this as the only forum for an identified party’s day in court, to deny a hearing to one constitutionally assigned to the Court is akin to denying such party its right to justice. Some recent examples include its refusal to hear the Pennsylvania and Texas cases challenging the certification of the state presidential election results. Even though the high Court held that the Pennsylvania case in particular was filed a bit late, the gravity of the allegations should have encouraged the members of the Court to find an excuse to hear it. After all, at hear is the People’s rightful expectation of honest and transparent election results. And to be honest, the sheer number of election tampering, election fraud, and election irregularities was mind-blowing and rightfully caused the people to lose faith in the election system and to believe the election was rigged.
(7) For members and officials of the federal government secretly scheming among themselves, along party lines, to disparage, to concoct lies about, to frustrate, to embarrass, to publicly humiliate, to bring charges of impeachment against (based on a fabricated scandal they planted), and to incite protests and violence against a good and exceptionally effective president (President Trump)…. a president that the American people overwhelmingly voted for and supported. They did all such scheming to taint his presidency at the very least but hoping to remove him from office. In effect, the Democrat Party, its members in government, its political elites and wealthy supporters, and even the progressive main-stream media attempted a coup d’etat. Government (nor a political party so entrenched in the government) should never have the ability to undo the decisions and wishes of the American people. Government belongs to the People… NOT a political party nor one particular political philosophy.
(8) For scheming and succeeding in passing a bill through Congress to establish the Fourteenth Amendment and then scheming (thru the Reconstruction Acts and pure ambition) to have to adopted legally by all the States and then added to the Constitution. There is ample evidence of the shenanigans used by representatives from the Northern and other non-Confederate states in the House of Representatives and the Senate to pass the bill and then to hastily pass the highly unconstitutional Reconstruction Acts (then President Andrew Johnson acknowledged the unconstitutionality and did not want to sign it into law) to deny the former Confederate States their seats in Congress until each of those states ratified and adopted the Fourteenth Amendment. Note that at first, they were allowed their seats back in Congress (“they are our brothers”) and all was going fine; the nation was attempting to heal. The former Confederate States were on board with the northern and border States in working together to pass and adopt the Thirteenth Amendment (to abolish slavery) but they were not on board regarding the Fourteenth Amendment. When the former Confederate States refused to adopt that Amendment, its representatives were kicked out of Congress. Congress, exhibiting true and unadulterated ambition for their vision of “the new Union” (post-Civil War Union), passed the Reconstruction Acts, in part to deny them their seats, and their representation, in Congress and predicated on them adopting the Fourteenth Amendment. It was not only a blatant violation of the right to be represented in government (remember how the colonists’ cried “No taxation without representation!”), but also it was an outright exercise of coercion by one group of states over another group of states, both subject to the US Constitution and all its rights, assurances, and privileges, in order to alter that document. The Confederate States were good enough to help pass the Thirteenth Amendment but suddenly they were no longer good enough because they wouldn’t help pass the Fourteenth Amendment, and because of that, they were subject to extreme constitutional violations.
(9) For the Supreme Court abusing its power by articulating an unconstitutional doctrine known as the “Incorporation Doctrine,” using the arguably illegitimate Fourteenth Amendment. The “Incorporation Doctrine” is the doctrine by which portions of the Bill of Rights have been made applicable to the states. When the Bill of Rights was ratified, the courts held that its protections extended only to the actions of the federal government and that the Bill of Rights did not place limitations on the authority of the state and local governments. However, the post-Civil War era, beginning in 1865 with the Thirteenth Amendment, which declared the abolition of slavery, gave rise to the incorporation of other Amendments, applying more rights to the states and people” over time by sapping the states of their historic sovereign powers and right to legislate according to the will of their own people. Gradually, various portions of the Bill of Rights have been held to be applicable to the state and local governments by incorporation through the Fourteenth Amendment. (NOTE that the power of the federal judiciary to review the constitutionality of a statute or treaty, or to review an administrative regulation for consistency with either a statute, a treaty, or the Constitution itself, is an implied power derived in part from Clause 2 of Section 2). The Court took an extreme liberal view in interpreting the Fourteenth Amendment to come up with its Incorporation Doctrine.
(10) For wealth distribution (theft from those who produce to those who don’t or who are defined by government as not making enough money and therefore “living below the poverty line”) which violates the very words and promises laid out in the Declaration of Independence. The second paragraph of the Declaration reads: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..” Everyone knows that the term “pursuit of happiness” was meant not only to mean “property,” but all the happiness and security and success that comes with its accumulation. Charlotte Cushman in her article “Founding Principle of the United States of America: Individual Rights” (July 2016) explained it well: “Re-distribution of wealth doesn’t protect rights. The man who earns an honest living has his money taken against his will (theft) to be given to someone else. His right to what he has worked for, that which supports his life, has been violated.”
(11) For deciding that healthcare is an object for which Congress can rightfully legislate, even though the Constitution grants it no such power and even though the Supreme Court could not rightfully find another power which could support the national healthcare act (Affordable Healthcare Act). Yet the statute is still in effect. According to Thomas Jefferson: “To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition.” Charlotte Cushman in her article “Founding Principle of the United States of America: Individual Rights” (July 2016) said this about socialized medicine, as it relates to freedom: “Socialized medicine doesn’t protect rights or life. The doctors become slaves of the state that regulates how they should practice medicine and the patients no longer can choose the best treatments for the best prices. Their right to use their own minds to decide what to do and to form contractual agreements with each other has been violated.” Democrats and even a few Republicans pursued national healthcare and greater entitlement programs, as many suspected, to appeal to mostly Democratic constituents – to make them “more comfortable in their poverty.”
(12) For passing “Bail Out” legislation to rescue certain businesses the government deemed to be too important to fail. By the way, the “bail out” legislation was one of the direct reasons the TEA Party movement was born. In her article “Founding Principle of the United States of America: Individual Rights” (July 2016), Charlotte Cushman wrote: “Bail-outs and subsidies don’t protect rights. The government decides who succeeds and who fails instead of citizens who trade with each other. Taxpayers pay to support businesses by force through their tax dollars and become poorer because of it. The right to freedom of association and property has been violated.”
(13) For espousing rhetoric over the many years causing too many Americans (mostly on the left) to have a corrupted concept of essential rights. Now people claim they have a “right” or are entitled to things like an education, medical care, food, housing and so on. But if people have a “right” to something, it means that somebody has to provide it. And when someone has to provide something against his will for someone else, there is only one word to describe it – slavery. The government rightly abolished chattel slavery of humans with the Thirteenth Amendment (humans can’t own other humans, as if they were a piece of property), but it forces certain classes of Americans to be so-called slaves to “work for” and support other classes of Americans. Yet if man’s survival is the objective, freedom is imperative. Since man does not automatically know how to survive, he has to use his mind in order to figure out how to live. He requires freedom so that he can think and act in accordance with the conclusions of his mind. Therefore, a moral country provides the conditions necessary for this to happen and there is only one political system that does this – the one designed and created by our founding generations.
(14) For engaging in criminal solicitation by encouraging militant groups such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter to harm Trump supporters and to wreak violence and property damage to bolster the Democratic Party and its plans for government power.
(15) For colluding with the main-stream (liberal) media to control the message that the American people receive on behalf of the government, the Democratic Party, political elites, and other political movers and shakers. The collusion effort is to make sure the American people hear only one view of what is going on –the leftist or progressive government view. Many have labeled the main-stream media as “the fourth branch of government” as it has been serving to be its mouthpiece and promoter. Conservative points of view are excluded from TV, radio, and the internet. Conservatives have even mocked, ridiculed, and called horrible names such as despicables, irredeemables, and domestic terrorists. I think we all have come to understand the power of the media to brainwash the average American under-educated citizen. Such derogatory treatment, led by members of government, have caused great personal harm to good and decent American citizens.
(16) For raising taxes in order to spend federal revenue on non-constitutional programs (including state grants). Excessive taxation and wealth re-distribution programs are nothing more than legal plunder. Frederic Bastiat made it perfectly clear that it can never be consistent with a free society. “Legal plunder can be committed in an infinite number of ways; hence, there are an infinite number of plans for organizing it: tariffs, protection, bonuses, subsidies, incentives, the progressive income tax, free education, the right to employment, the right to profit, the right to wages, the right to relief, the right to the tools of production, interest free credit, etc., etc. And it the aggregate of all these plans, in respect to what they have in common, legal plunder, that goes under the name of socialism.” Gideon J. Tucker offered this astute observation: “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” (1866) In his Inaugural Address (1801), Thomas Jefferson spoke these words: “A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned — this is the sum of good government.” He also wrote: “To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Of course we know that Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence which outlines the essential principles and foundations of liberty that formed the basis of our existence as a free nation.
(17) For using tax revenue to unconstitutionally control and coerce the once-sovereign States. By using “conditioned” grants to the states, the federal government has found “an end run around the Constitution,” both in word and in the spirit of federalism (the one-time most effective of “checks” on the power of the federal government; this was a unique and brilliant design feature of our American government system to keep the federal government limited and constrained within the confines of the Constitution. The use of public taxation as a means to control the States (which are always revenue-poor), along with the Supreme Court’s unconstitutional creation of the “incorporation doctrine” using the Fourteenth Amendment to strip them of their historic sovereign rights and powers, has done immeasurable harm to the power of the States and has diminished greatly their ability to stand on their own and offer the kind of resistance to an ambitious federal government (the final and the most effective of “checks and balances”) that our Founders designed and created with the US Constitution, and which each of the States relied on in ratifying it.
(18) For unconstitutionally growing and multiplying our Entitlement programs. Chriss Jami explains: “Man is not, by nature, deserving of all that he wants. When we think that we are automatically entitled to something, that is when we start walking all over others to get it.” In absolute truth, there is no power granted to the federal government that authorizes it to establish entitlement programs, welfare programs, or wealth-distribution policies. According to Charles Koch: “Instead of fostering a system that enables people to help themselves, America is now saddled with a system that destroys value, raises costs, hinders innovation and relegates millions of citizens to a life of poverty, dependency and hopelessness. This is what happens when elected officials believe that people’s lives are better run by politicians and regulators than by the people themselves. Those in power fail to see that more government means less liberty, and liberty is the essence of what it means to be American. Love of liberty is the American ideal.”
(19) For engaging in criminal solicitation against American citizens whom they don’t respect (not their party). For example, Rep. Maxine Waters engaged in criminal solicitation by calling on her followers to harass members of Trump’s cabinet and advisors, to get in their faces, to threaten them, and as she specifically said :Make them feel like they are not welcome.” In fact, liberals/Democrats/progressives took her message seriously and did just as she instructed them. They harassed Sarah Huckabee Sanders so thoroughly that she and her family were forced to leave a restaurant where they went to dine in privacy. Calling out certain American citizens and making them feel like “they do not belong” is reminiscent of the Nazi Party of Germany in 1933. The party solidified its power by identifying every type of political opponent as a threat and as an enemy of the state, and one by one, going after them and either ostracizing them, jailing them, or sending them to concentration camps. And let us not forget Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex who engaged in criminal solicitation by calling on members of the left to occupy airports and interfere with its orderly operation.
(20) For suppressing free speech primarily by colluding with the highly liberal main-stream media and by weaponizing various offices and agencies of the federal government against those who espouse views it deems unacceptable. A good example is the actions of government ever since Barack Obama was elected as president. Another example is the mandate to Lois Lerner, head of the IRS, by President Obama, to use its powers to grant or deny tax-exempt status to organizations to deny such to any Tea Party or other patriot organization. Even though Obama publicly denied Ms. Lerner had any intent to do so, the evidence was overwhelming and an internal audit confirmed that there was a clear intent to target conservative groups. As Dennis Prager wrote in his article “I Now Better Understand ‘The Good German” (Townhall, January 5, 2021): “Half of America, the non-left half, is afraid to speak their minds at virtually every university, movie studio and large corporation — indeed, at virtually every place of work. Professors who say anything that offends the left fear being ostracized if they have tenure and being fired if they do not. People are socially ostracized, publicly shamed and/or fired for differing with Black Lives Matter, as America-hating and white-hating a group as has ever existed. And few Americans speak up. On the contrary, when BLM protestors demand that diners outside of restaurants raise their fists to show their support of BLM, nearly every diner does.” Dennis Prager further addresses this subject in his article “The Good American (Townhall, January 12, 2021): “Now we are faced with a lockdown on speech the likes of which have never been seen in America. And the parallels with Germany are even more stark. The left-wing party (the Democrats) and the left-wing media (the “mainstream media”) are using the mob invasion of the Capitol exactly the way the Nazis used the Reichstag fire. On Feb. 27, 1933, exactly one month after the Nazis came to power, the German parliament building, the Reichstag, was set ablaze. The Nazis blamed the fire on their archenemy, the communists, and used the fire to essentially extinguish the Communist Party and its ability to publish, speak or otherwise spread its message. Using the Reichstag fire as an excuse, the Nazis passed the Enabling Act, a law that gave the Nazi chancellor, Adolf Hitler, the power to pass laws by decree — without the Reichstag.”
(21) For using the full force of the federal government’s Department of Homeland Security to politically disable and ostracize all traditional conservative groups and individuals, such as veterans, those who support the Second Amendment, those who embrace religion, those who espouse the values of the Founding Fathers, etc, by labeling them officially as “domestic terrorists’ (those most likely to radicalize and become violent). See the Report directed by President Barack Obama and issued on April 7, 2009 by Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano – “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.” (https://fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf ).
(22) For engaging in retribution against American citizens (using the DOJ, the Department of Homeland Security, and the IRS, just to name a few) who are critical of the federal government and/or who hold different political views or a different political philosophy.
(23) For instituting an era of “fear of government” such that today’s “good (conservative) patriot” is afraid to do anything other than write articles, go on conservative talk radio, and otherwise protest and march on Washington DC in order to protect the republic that our Founders created and the individual States acceded to. They are seemingly afraid to do anything meaningfully to help their fellow citizens now living under oppressive dictatorships. They are afraid to do anything meaningful to undermine the government’s tyranny because they believe they have no other options other than their free speech (now in question) and their power at the ballot box (also now seriously undermined and in question). They believe to do so would bring the wrath of the federal government (thank you President Abraham Lincoln), which means the government has destroyed the spirit and the historic civic duty and responsibility of every American patriot.
(24) For pursing an extensive policy of lies to the American people and to the media (to spread out in order to monopolize the news) for purely political ambitions. First and foremost, the lies have been meant to tarnish the conservative groups in America (specifically to curtail or prevent conservatives’ ability to promote their views and ideas), and second, to further curtail civil liberties, thereby allowing government to further control the People.
(25) For treating Americans totally different, depending on the political party they associate with and vote, and in fact, at times showing absolute contempt for members of the American citizenry who don’t “tow the same party line.” For example, Antifa and BLM are referred to as “freedom fighters” and have been exempt by the Democrat-controlled House members for criticism, investigation, or prosecution while peaceful, law-abiding conservative Patriots are called by these same Democratic House members “domestic terrorists.” As another example, Joe Biden called all Trump supporters “Domestic Terrorists” for daring to protest and exercise their First Amendment rights of speech and expression, as well as the right to seek redress from their government. And furthermore, Alexandria Acasio-Cortez called all conservatives “lazy.” Obviously, their hope is that these conservatives will be seen as dangerous, as traitors and as enemies of the state. Members of “the Peoples’ House” (Congress) should never ever show contempt for the people – all people – of the country that they are ultimately legislating for.
(26) For pushing issues and politics of fear so forcefully that we have watched as America has reluctantly accepted the rationally and morally indefensible physical and economic lockdown of the country. It is apathy in the face of tyranny.
(27) For creating and using unconstitutional offices and agencies to over-regulate and use aggressive tactics, forcing tens of millions of Americans to accept irrational, unconstitutional and unprecedented police state-type restrictions on their freedoms, including even the freedom to make a living.
(28) For weaponizing the government and its agencies for criminal and political ambition purposes. (Examples: IRS (to prevent TEA Party groups from raising money to meaningfully influence the 2012 presidential election; that is, to support Obama’s opponent Mitt Romney as well as to invest in political adds against Obama),
(29) For pursuing and investing in the knowingly-fabricated Steele dossier which the DOJ paid for in order to initiate an investigation of Trump for the express purpose of taking focus off Hillary and her personal email server scandal,
(30) For going to the secret FISA courts and obtaining FISA warrants, using the knowingly-fabricated Steele dossier and making intentional and critical omissions, for the direct purpose of not only spying illegally on an American citizen but a presidential candidate as well (Donald Trump).
(31) For planting evidence (coerced false testimony) against an honest, decent, and highly competent Supreme Court nominee (Brett Kavanaugh).
(32) For hate-filled liberal/progressive/Democratic members in Congress not only creating a false premise to bring charges of impeachment against President Donald Trump for the sole purpose of trying to get him out of office and undoing the will of the people, but conducting planning and strategy meetings in secret and denying access to any Republican representative. It was a clear case of denying Trump his due process right.
(33) For making a “gender” issue against the immutable laws of nature (biology) for transgenders and others who make it their own choice of which gender to identify with (regardless of biological gender – solidified by DNA) for the purposes of federal discrimination laws, even though the core curriculum in our children’s education is to study the laws of nature and especially to study life in Biology
(34) For showing hostility to religion. Only by characterizing religious tenets as discriminatory can the government expanding and progress their progressive agenda.
(35) For showing hostility to those who embrace the Second Amendment (“those who cling to their guns and their religion”)
(36) For refusing to investigate a presidential election, and other federal elections as well, when there has clearly been election tampering, election irregularities, election defrauding schemes, and voter fraud,, especially by an overly ambitious and unscrupulous political party or candidate (involving collusion). The government has shown no interest or concern that it is a government “for the people” and is guided not only by a framework laid out in the Constitution and in the Declaration of Independence, but by common sense and decency as well, and therefore has denied the people their rightful expectation that elections are fair, honest, a product of “one person, one vote” (popular referendum), and transparent. The government has allowed the American people to lose faith in their federal election system and in some cases, has denied them the candidate they rightfully chose.
(37) For making secret deals with foreign adversaries (Russia, Iran), for covering up a terrorist attack and assassination of American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and other American government personnel (Benghazi)
(38) For proving to the American people that there is a “two-track” justice system by refusing to indict and/or otherwise investigate and punish those in government (like James Comey) other political elites (like Hillary) while aggressively going after American citizens who break federal law (dual set of standards)
(39) For putting the interests of illegal aliens before the well-being of law-abiding and documented American citizens. Even the thought of such misplaced interest and allegiance should shock the conscience of every American citizen.
(40) For allowing illegal and harmful drugs and other potentially deadly controlled substances to cross our borders to flood our streets and kill our children and/or lure them into gangs or addiction. Also, even though there is plenty of resources to patrol the borders and even to build a protective wall, the government has ignored such responsibility to allow uncontrolled illegal entry by aliens, including potential terrorists, into our country. It has allowed the unsecured borders to be a source of increasing human trafficking as well. Border control and patrol is a task delegated to the federal government by the Constitution for the primary purposes of national safety and security and for controlling who enters the country. It has the authority over immigration and naturalization.
(41) For denying the States their inherent and natural sovereign right of secession. Abraham Lincoln ambitiously and masterfully re-interpreted the Constitution to mean that the States had meant the Constitution to create a perpetual union (unbreakable and forcing the States to give up their right to ever secede. Nothing was farther from the truth). Secession is not mentioned at all in the Constitution. That is because it is a sovereign – a natural – right belonging to every state. It is inalienable which means that no state can ever be permanently denied of that right. It is tied with the natural right of self-determination and self-preservation. If it is not mentioned in the Constitution, then it is a right superseding the document. The right to life is not mentioned per se in the Constitution, and yet we know that it is a right that supersedes it. Anything not mentioned in the Constitution is not subject to federal legislation or to federal policy. Such action is outwardly abusive, unconstitutional, and subject to non-enforcement (nullification by the States or the People).
(42) For passing legislation or acting unilaterally (as President Lincoln did) to target those who dared to speak or write anything negative about the government especially during wartime or times of tense national or international events, to harass them, imprison them, seize their newspapers, pamphlets, and other publication materials, deny them the services of the US mail, confiscate their property, and even destroy their livelihood. Think back to the Sedition Act of 1796 which President John Adams, a Federalist, pushed through Congress and had enforced (especially aggressively to the opponent party, Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party), and think about all the jailing and confiscations of writers, journalists, editors and publishers by President Lincoln during the Civil War.
(43) For extreme harassment of a fine American patriot and dedicated public servant. Donald Trump is a great example and the most current example. Certain liberal members of Congress (mostly Democrats) are filled with such all-consuming hatred to him that they are pursuing an impeachment trial even though he is no longer occupying the White House as president. They are pursuing an impeachment trial of a past president, thus calling a private citizen to face inquisition by the federal government. The process of Impeachment, as laid out in the Constitution (Article II, Section 4, is that Articles of Impeachment must first be adopted by the members of the House of Representatives (by a simple majority) and then those Articles MUST be presented to the Senate – WHILE THE PRESIDENT IS STILL IN OFFICE. Furthermore, there is a REASON for an impeachment attempt… It is to ultimately remove the president from office on account of conduct that meets the criteria of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” The purpose of the Senate trial is to determine if the allegations (articles of impeachment) are serious enough to warrant removing him from office. It takes a two-thirds of senators present for the proceedings to have a president removed. Newsflash: Donald Trump is no longer president. Where is the need to remove him from office? Legal experts and even most Republican senators have said that it would be unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial of a president who has left office, arguing that the Senate lacks jurisdiction to try him because he us now a private citizen .I suppose the only real reason for such blatant and hate-filled harassment of Mr. Trump is that they want to make sure to prevent him from running for president in 2024. Doesn’t sound like the American thing to do, right? Doesn’t sound like anything that our Founding Fathers would have or could have considered.
Apparently, the Democrat-controlled US House voted last week to impeach then-President Trump, alleging he incited a mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6, which left five people dead. It is amazing to many that those obsessed members of Congress seemed to have ignored that it was its true domestic terrorist group, Antifa, which was responsible for the violence. Yet in the end, it has been reported that the single Article of Impeachment had support from all House Democrats and 10 Republicans. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said she would send the Article of Impeachment against former President Trump to the Senate on Monday (January 25, 2021), triggering a second impeachment trial. Not only does the action exhibit extreme ignorance (of the Constitution) on the part of congressional Democrats (and some Republicans), but it solidifies the notion that Democrats are, and have been for four years, absolutely motivated by hate and fear of Donald Trump in all that they have schemed, done, and taken action to destroy him and his good name. The Russian Collusion scandal, the appointing of Special Counsel Robert Mueller to investigate the 2016 election, the first impeachment attempt, the claims about his business ventures, the attacks on his cabinet members (Rep. Maxine Waters), the personal attacks on his family members, the constant claims that he was violating the Constitution, the constant claims that he is racist, xenophobic, etc, and the constant mocking…. These are all evidence of their hatred and fear.
Nothing exemplifies tyranny more than using deep-seated hatred of a president to go after him even after he has left office, and again to manufacture a basis to do so. It’s one thing to target those private American citizens who present political problems for them (like they did to the Democratic-Republicans, then to the Tea Party, and now to conservative individuals and groups), but to aggressively harass and target an ex-president is unconscionable and the very definition of tyranny. A great majority of the country love, appreciate, and have supported President Trump and these mal-intentioned members of Congress should be ashamed of themselves for the abject disrespect for their choice of leader.
(44) For creating unconstitutional departments and agencies. A few glaring examples are the Department of Education, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Energy, among others. Nothing in the Constitution authorizes the federal government to legislate in the area of education, the environment, agriculture, or energy. So many times, we see that federal judges find many federal, state, and local laws to be unconstitutional on the slimiest interpretation of the Constitution. These same judges, using the same judicial scrutiny, should find that many federal departments and agencies are unconstitutional and therefore must be abolished. As mentioned earlier, every time the federal government assumes a power not delegated to it in the Constitution, it takes it away from the rightful holder of that power – either the States or the People themselves. NOTE that any or all of these departments and agencies could become constitutional and part of the federal government, but only after following the legal pathway outlined in Article V, whereby each state holds a constitutional convention and ratifies the proposal by three fourths of the state legislatures. [See Addendum II for a much greater list (albeit not a complete one) of unconstitutional federal agencies].
(45) For creating the public school system and compelling all school-age children to attend when there is NO constitutional basis for the federal government to exercise that authority. As mentioned earlier, there is NO constitutional basis for the US Department of Education (it is an unconstitutional federal department; an unconstitutional creation), nor is there any constitutional basis to collect and use tax revenue for such purposes. Again, when the federal government assumes powers not delegated to it (from the States and its People) by the Constitution, it is: (i) acting as a tyrannical government (no better than King Charles or King George of England) and (ii) it is forcefully taking power away from the States and their localities who have the rightful, historic, and traditional authority to legislate in the area of education. How and why have the States allowed the government to hijack the right to create the public school system and to dictate education policy and curriculum? Because it relieves them of a good chunk of funding for their state’s education and plus, the federal government is always dangling the carrot of “federal grants” in front of them (also unconstitutional, as explained earlier). By hijacking the education system in this country, the federal government has found a great way to advance its liberal/progressive agenda. Since the 1960’s (when it took prayer and religion out of the schools), it has used the public school system, with its armies of liberal/progressive teachers to INDOCTRINATE rather than EDUCATE our children. Public schools today put more emphasis on indoctrinating children (and I refer to them as “children” because their mind has not fully formed as to its capacity to reason and appreciate consequences) on diversity, on tolerance of all alternative lifestyles, on the right of a person to choose which gender to identify with despite the one nature provided, on our country’s history of racism, on teaching the intimate details of the sex lives of various couplings, etc than on the historic and traditional core curriculum that teaches and stresses Math, Science, English, Reading, Writing, History (including a detailed study of our founding and the reasons for it, our Founding Fathers and patriots, the American Revolution to establish our independence, and our founding documents — the history and principles that should unite us all as Americans), and dare I say, instruction in the ability to think, articulate, and express oneself as an individual. Here is a brief summation of the status of today’s public school curriculum and policy: OUT with unadulterated US History!! OUT with our founding history!! OUT with our Founding Fathers !! (After all, they were racists and slave owners). OUT with any detailed study of our founding documents!! OUT with religion!! OUT with white men and their vast and immeasurable contributions to civilization, to our founding, and especially to the creation and wording of our founding documents (providing and securing the very freedoms that WE ALL, including the far left-wingers and extreme progressives, the looter, rioters, and domestic terrorist organizations, enjoy and all-too-often take for granted!! IN with diversity (of skin color and ethnicity only, but NOT of thought or viewpoint… we can’t have that!)!! IN with the LGBT movement lifestyle, and tolerance thereof!! The demands of the government in DC outweigh the wishes and concerns of the very parents of the children themselves.
(46) For presidents abusing “the pen” and using executive orders not for their rightful and legal purpose (to establish national holidays and proclamations, to clarify his understanding of a bill he signed into law, to flesh out details of a bill he signed into law when Congress was unclear in doing so, or to explain that a part or parts of a bill he signed into law, in his opinion, are unconstitutional), but rather to by-pass Congress. Using executive orders to un-do the laws and policies of former administrations or to create new laws and policies without the rightful and legal action of Congress is unconstitutional and therefore should be unenforceable.
(47) For allowing and accepting the action of a president, a single man, to re-interpret the Constitution, especially in a manner completely at odds with the principles laid out in the Declaration of Independence and against the very guarantees and explanations given by its drafters, by our Founding Fathers, and the States which ratified it. Of course, this president in Abraham Lincoln. He re-interpreted the Constitution as embodying a compact by the States to enter into a permanent and unbreakable union (when the Declaration of Independence itself was a secessionist document and embracing that right as an inherent sovereign right). When the topic of secession comes up, people today still comment: “Lincoln settled that issue. Secession is unconstitutional.” Lincoln waging war against the South to preserve the Union is like a man beating his wife to save his marriage.
VIOLATIONS SPECIFICALLY OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS —
While the abuses of power and acts of out-right tyranny above are outrageous enough and certainly enough to warrant abolishing the current federal government, there have been abuses and violations of the Bill of Rights, a listing of human rights and re-declarations of our government philosophy and system for which the federal government was primarily tasked with protecting. In other words, the Bill of Rights was a “hands off” notice to the federal government.
The following summary is taken directly from the article “The Bill of Rights Violated,” written by Joel Killion, in 2014:
The Constitution of the United States, which includes the Bill of Rights, is one of the most abused documents in American history. It was designed to provide a solid foundation for liberty by limiting the size and scope of the federal government in a way that has never been seen in the history of mankind, but it is the Bill of Rights which makes it especially unique. Contrary to what many may think, the Bill of Rights “is not a declaration of rights at all. It is a declaration of prohibitions against the federal government,” setting clear boundaries that were not to be crossed (Skousen 674). However, as you will see, these delineations have been sullied. The following essay presents each amendment in the Bill of Rights, provides a summary of each amendment, and shows how they have been violated by the federal government.
FIRST AMENDMENT —
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The first part of the First Amendment deals with freedom of religion, which in many cases forms the basis for and guides one’s conscience and actions. It contains the “Establishment” clause and the “Free Exercise” clause. Essentially what this provision states is that the government can never establish a state-sponsored religion (usually to the discrimination of others, like England had), it can not show favoritism toward one religion over another or even prefer religion over non-religion (a person can be religious, an atheist or an agnostic and all are equal in the eyes of the government), and it cannot show cannot prohibit anyone or any group of people from freely practicing their faith.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
“In the case of Gitlow v. New York [1925], the Supreme Court used certain provisions in the federal Bill of Rights and applied them to the states. The court justified this action on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment, which provides that ‘no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.’ The opponents of traditional theistic religion and morality saw the Gitlow case as an opportunity to invoke the power of the federal courts to build a wall between each of the states and any form of religious encouragement, even though it was provided indirectly. In other words they would reverse the Founders’ original policy” (Skousen 685). The first provision of the First Amendment prohibits the federal government from interfering in religious matters, leaving this jurisdiction to the states; yet, in the case, the Supreme Court violated this prohibition.
“The case of Cantwell v. Connecticut [1940] was the first ruling of the Supreme Court in which the “Gitlow doctrine” was applied to religious liberty…” (Skousen 685), followed by McCollum v. Board of Education [1948] where the Supreme Court “…used the Gitlow doctrine to tell a state board of education that it would not allow children, even with their parents’ consent, to take religion classes in school” (Skousen 686).
“…Everson v. Board of Education [1947] was the first time the Supreme Court applied the ‘due process’ clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to make the federal wall of separation apply to religious matters among the individual states. What this amounted to was the actual breaking down of the federal wall set up by the First Amendment so that the Supreme Court actually usurped jurisdiction over religious matters in the states and began dictating what the states could or could not do with reference to religious questions” (Skousen 685). Moreover, in this case, “…the Supreme Court made it clear that neither the federal government nor the state government could encourage religion in any way. Justice Hugo L. Black spoke for the court and declared in his opinion, ‘Neither a State nor the Federal government…can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. The Founders would have heartily endorsed Justice Black’s ‘no preference’ doctrine, but they would, no doubt, have objected vigorously to outlawing indirect aid for, and encouragement to, ‘all religions’…it was ‘all religions’ the Founders had said they were relying upon to undergird society with those moral teachings which are ‘necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind. No doubt they would have further objected to the court’s presumptive usurpation in taking jurisdiction over a religious question, which had been specifically reserved, by the First and Tenth Amendments, to the states themselves” (Skousen 686). “Without a doubt, there has been a severe wrenching of the Constitution from its original First Amendment moorings ever since this new trend began,” starting with the Gitlow case (Skousen 685).
In Zorach v. Clauson [1952], “…the Supreme Court took its newly acquired jurisdiction over religious questions in state schools to announce…that it was very solicitous of religion and would approve classes in religion during the regular school day, providing the classes were held separate from any tax-supported property” (Skousen 686).
In Engel v. Vitale [1962], the Supreme Court overruled the New York Court of Appeals’ approval of a prepared, nondenominational prayer for use in the public schools, thereby intermeddling in a religious state question (Skousen 687).
In Abington School District v. Schemp [1963], the Supreme Court intruded upon the religious liberty of a high school which had opening ceremonies that included reciting the Lord’s Prayer and reading Bible verses, declaring such conduct as unconstitutional. “It was pointed out to the court that ‘unless these religious exercises are permitted, a “religion of secularism” is established in the schools,’ but the Court rejected this argument” (Skousen 687).
Summary of “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech…”: The federal government cannot limit the freedom of speech.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
Catherine Engelbrecht, who is the chairwoman of the election integrity group True the Vote and is the founder and leader of King Street Patriots (a Tea Party group) and is the president of Engelbrecht Manufacturing, became a target of the federal government. As Mrs. Engelbrecht testified on February 6, 2014, before the House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform, “Shortly after filing IRS forms to establish 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) tax-exempt organizations, an assortment of federal entities – including law enforcement agencies and a Congressman from Maryland, Elijah Cummings – came knocking at my door. In nearly two decades of running our small business, my husband and I never dealt with any government agency, outside of filing our annual tax returns. We had never been audited, we had never been investigated, but all that changed upon submitting applications for the non-profit statuses of True the Vote and King Street Patriots. Since that filing in 2010, my private businesses, my nonprofit organizations, and family have been subjected to more than 15 instances of audit or inquiry by federal agencies [i.e. IRS, OSHA, ATF, FBI]… All of these incursions into my affairs began after filing applications for tax-exemption. There is no other remarkable event, no other reason, to explain away how for decades I went unnoticed, but now find myself on the receiving end of interagency coordination into and against all facets of my life, both public and private… these events were occurring while the IRS was subjecting me to multiple rounds of abusive inquiries, with requests to provide every Facebook and Twitter entry I’d every posted, questions about my political aspirations, and demands to know the names of every group I’d ever made presentations to, the content of what I’d said, and where I intended to speak for the coming year. The answers to these sorts of questions are not of interest to the typical IRS analyst, but they are of great interest to a political machine that puts its own survival above the civil liberties of any private citizen” (“Testimony” 2-4). This kind of testimony has been shared before Congress by Becky Gerritson (President of Wetumpka Tea Party in Alabama), Karen Kenney (Leader of the San Fernando Valley Patriots), Kevin Kookegey (President and Founder of Linchpins of Liberty), Susan Martinek (President of the Coalition for Life of Iowa), and many others, and has resulted in what has become known as the IRS Scandal (Pavlich).
On February 17, 2014, it was reported that “IRS Regulation-134417-13, ‘Guidance for Tax-Exempt Social Welfare Organizations on Candidate-Related Political Activities,’ is a proposed new regulation that is an outrageously brazen attempt by the IRS to silence the speech of 501(c)(4) organizations before the upcoming election. If implemented, the regulation would prohibit a 501(c)(4) from speaking to matters of public concern during the 2014 election cycle” (Staver).
Summary of “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom…of the press…”: The federal government cannot limit the freedom of the press.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
On May 13, 2013, the Associated Press announced that the telephone records for 20 of their reporters had been subpoenaed by the Justice Department for a two-month period in 2012; the subpoenas were not issued to the AP but to the AP’s telephone providers and Verizon Wireless (Ingram).
On May 19, 2013, the Washington Post reported that the U.S. Justice Department seized the email and telephone records of Fox News reporters, including chief Washington correspondent, James Rosen, and obtained a search warrant for the content of Rosen’s private and work emails and telephone records (as well as his parent’s phone records) in connection with Stephen Kim, a former State Department contractor who was charged with disclosing classified information about North Korea to Rosen (Marimow & Howerton). The warrants were obtained on the accusation that Rosen was a possible “criminal co-conspirator” with Kim.
Thomas Drake, who worked as a senior technical director with the NSA for 32 years but is now a prominent NSA whistleblower, recently “…warned that journalists are being increasingly frozen out of government sources.” He went on to say, “In our post-9/11 world, the government is increasingly in the ‘First Un-amendment’ business, engaged in a direct assault on free speech and the very foundation of our democracy.” He also said, “How…will the press report the real news when their sources dry up and the government becomes a primary purveyor of its own news?” (Lyngass)
Summary of “Congress shall make no law…abridging…the right of the people peaceably to assemble…”: The federal government cannot keep the American people from peaceful assembly.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
On October 1, 2013, National Park Service employees erected a barricade around the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., prohibiting World War II veterans from gathering there; according to the National Park Service and the U.S. Department of the Interior, access to the memorial was blocked due to the federal government shutdown (Spakovsky).
In the Spring and Summer of 1932, Washington D.C. was flooded by over 20,000 unemployed World War I veterans from all over America who needed the federal government to pay them for their service based on the bonus certificates they had been given after the war, which promised a cash bonus sometime in the future; they needed the money and would not leave until they received it. When the Senate rejected their demands, President Hoover was left to deal with the marchers, who eventually started camping out with their families in central Washington, refusing to move until they were paid. The camping site, made up of huts and tents, became known as Bonus City. In response, Hoover ordered General Douglas MacArthur (including Major George S. Patton and Major Dwight Eisenhower) to clear out Bonus City, using “cavalry, infantry, tank troops and a mounted machine gun squadron” to complete their mission. The Veterans and their families were dispersed with bayonets and tear gas. Hoover’s overreaction and overreach of power became known as the greatest tragedies in American history. (“The Bonus March…” and “The Bonus Army March”)
Summary of “Congress shall make no law…abridging…the right of the people…to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”: The federal government cannot prevent the American people from complaining to the government regarding their grievances.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
In 2013, after the petition entitled “Immediate Action Requested for Romeikes — Grant Permanent Legal Status to Persecuted German Homeschool Family” garnered well over 100,000 signatures in the time-span required to receive an official response from the administration, the White House essentially provided an elongated “no comment” (Hallowell).
“President Van Buren’s administration was marked by a struggle to prevent the receipt and consideration by Congress of numerous petitions for the abolition of slavery. Senator John S. Calhoun even declared such petitions to be ‘a violation of the Constitution’” (Skousen 689 and “Martin…”).
SECOND AMENDMENT —
“A well -regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Summary: Since freedom cannot be maintained unless the American people remain armed, the federal government cannot prevent the people from keeping and using guns.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
In 2009, under the leadership of President Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, “…the United States joined 152 other countries in endorsing a U.N. Arms Trade Treaty [ATT] Resolution” (“No Compromise…”).
On July 22, 2011, the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced that it had secured a partnership with 58 members of the U.S. Senate – acquiring a bipartisan majority in the Senate – to oppose the ATT; all 58 Senators signed strongly-worded letters addressed to the White House, cautioning the President and the Secretary of State to keep their oath in upholding and defending the Constitution of the United States (“U.S. Senate Stands with NRA…”). Then, on July 27, 2012, the NRA reported that 130 members of the U.S. House of Representatives joined the Senate in opposing the ATT after being urged by NRA members all over America to oppose the treaty; it also stated that the U.N. tried to draft another version of the ATT, hoping to salvage the failure of their prior attempt, but was unable to produce a draft that met the United States’ Constitutional standards (“NRA Stops…”). Finally, Secretary of State John Kerry, on September 25, 2013, in defiance of the American people, signed the ATT; however, the treaty cannot be ratified in the United States without a majority vote in the Senate (Nichols).
On July 21, 2014, Senator John McCain “…went on record Sunday saying “stand your ground” laws need review…because it’s very controversial legislation” (Morgenstern).
On July 29, 2014, the Associated Press reported that “A federal judge has rejected a push by gun rights advocates to let Illinois residents immediately tote firearms in public instead of waiting months for the state to outline the permitting process under its new concealed carry law” (Seidl).
On January 3, 2014, the Obama Administration announced pending executive action on who can buy a gun, “…focused mainly on mental health issues that would allow the government to get around certain privacy laws on the books in order to obtain more information” (Lucas).
On January 28, during the 2014 State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama promised to increase gun control when he said, “…I intend to keep trying, with or without Congress, to help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters, shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook” (Obama).
THIRD AMENDMENT —
“No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.”
Summary: Soldiers cannot force a home-owner to harbor them in their homes, in wartime or peacetime, without the owner’s consent.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
“In 1942…inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands were forced out of their homes, and in some cases troops were actually quartered there…” (Reynolds).
“…In a 1982 case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, prison guards evicted from their quarters and replaced with National Guard troops during a strike sued, and the Court of Appeals found that this action implicated their rights under the Third Amendment, which it characterized as ‘designed to assure a fundamental right of privacy’” (Reynolds).
On July 10, 2011, “a Henderson, Nev., family…claimed that their Third Amendment rights were violated…when police officers commandeered their homes and arrested two family members for ‘obstruction’”; according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this action by the police, who employed military weapons and tactics, violated “…the spirit of the Third Amendment of the U.S. Constitution…” (Adams).
FOURTH AMENDMENT —
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Summary: This amendment “…guarantees the American people the right to the privacy of their homes, their businesses, and all their private papers and effects…the right of the people to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures…[and] the right to be free from arrest except on the basis of a warrant which has been properly issued” (Skousen 701-703).
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
The Sixteenth Amendment is a direct violation of the Fourth Amendment. According to T. Coleman Andrews, former Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, “Congress [in implementing the Sixteenth Amendment]…repealed Article IV of the Bill of Rights, by empowering the tax collector to do the very things from which that Article says we were to be secure. It opened up our homes, our papers and our effects to the prying eyes of government agents and set the stage for searches of our books and vaults and for inquiries into our private affairs whenever the tax men might decide, even though there might not be any justification beyond mere cynical suspicion. The income tax is bad because it has robbed you and me of the guarantee of privacy and the respect for our property that were given to us in Article IV of the Bill of Rights. This invasion is absolute and complete as far as the amount of tax that can be assessed is concerned…under the Sixteenth Amendment Congress can take 100 percent of our income anytime it wants to…The income tax is fulfilling the Marxist prophecy that the surest way to destroy a capitalist society is by ‘steeply graduated’ taxes on income and heavy levies upon the estates of people when they die. As matters now stand, if our children make the most of their capabilities and training they will have to give most of it to the tax collector. People cannot pull themselves up by their own bootstraps anymore because the tax collector gets the boots and the straps as well” (Skousen 742). Moreover, according to Judge Andrew Napolitano, the Sixteenth Amendment “…is a terrifying presumption. It presumes that we don’t really own our property. It accepts the Marxist notion that the state owns all the property and the state permits us to keep and use whatever it needs us to have so we won’t riot in the streets. And then it steals and uses whatever it can politically get away with” (“Taxation…”).
In 2013, Americans were informed that the National Security Agency (NSA) hacked into the enormous computer servers of Google and Yahoo and engaged in massive telephone and internet surveillance, accessing an unlimited amount of consumer data and metadata (Associated Press). What is even more concerning is that the NSA has been “secretly” spying on American citizens for the past 60 years and now has a $1.9 billion Utah Data Center that collects a “staggering” amount of data on Americans (including elected and non-elected government officials) and non-Americans alike (Klimas).
On May 16, 2013, it was reported that IRS was being taken to court for stealing more than 60 million medical records of more than 10 million Americans (“IRS Accused…”).
In December 2012, President Obama signed “…an extension of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a George W. Bush-era legislation that has allowed the government expansive spy powers that has been considered by some to be dragnet surveillance… FISA, or the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, was first signed into law in the 1970s in order to put into place rules regarding domestic spying within the United States. Upon the passing of the FAA in 2008, however, the online and over-the-phone activities of Americans became subject to sweeping, warrantless wiretapping…” (RT).
FIFTH AMENDMENT —
“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
Summary: This amendment grants Americans the “…right to trial by Grand Jury for certain crimes, the right not to be tried or punished more than once for the same crime, the right to be tried only with due process of law and the right to be paid fair compensation for any property taken by the government for public use” (“The 5th…”).
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
On September 27, 2012, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, an American citizen and Coptic filmmaker, was arrested in the middle of the night from his home in the Los Angeles area for eight probation violations (Turner). At the same time, he was being demonized for creating an allegedly anti-Muslim YouTube movie entitled “Innocence of Muslims” that was “…initially and incorrectly blamed for inciting the terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi that killed the American Ambassador [J. Christopher Stevens] and three other Americans [Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, and Tyrone S. Woods]…” (Turner). On November 7, during his hearing, Nakoula “…admitted to lying to his probation officer and three allegations of using false identities…” (Turner). It is suspicious that Nakoula was charged in November 2012 with the 2010 violations and slapped with a two-year imprisonment recommendation by his probation officers after being disclosed as someone involved in making the film; what is more, his probation process after his highly-publicized arrest and perp walk and the judge’s ruling were extremely peculiar, providing strong evidence that his case was processed to appease those who opposed his alleged anti-Muslim speech (Turner). Nakoula was repeatedly and publicly charged by the White House and the media “without due process of law” for the death of four Americans and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to bring him, not the Islamic terrorists who actually killed them, to justice (Turner). But, in the aftermath, it is now common knowledge that the film had nothing to do with the terrorist attack (Darcy).
“…In 1923 a minimum wage law which required an employer to pay a certain wage, regardless of the earning ability of the employee, was held to be unconstitutional under this [Fifth Amendment] provision, since it took private property for the public welfare in violation of this clause [known as the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment]. It was reversed in 1937 by the Supreme Court under the influence of New Deal policies” (Skousen 707); the Supreme Court decision was made on March 29, 1937 in West Coast Hotel Company v. Parrish (Grossman).
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which was part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal, was signed into law on October 24, 1938, setting minimum wages for most categories of workers (Grossman).
On June 23, 2005, “…the Supreme Court ruled that the “public use” requirement of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment permitted the City of New London to exercise its eminent domain power in taking property from homeowners and transferring it to another private owner as part of an economic development plan” (“Kelo V. City…”). In their dissenting vote on this case, Justice O’Connor, along with the Chief Justice and Justices Scalia and Thomas, stated that “the Court has ‘effectively…delete[d] the words ‘for public use’ from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment’ and thereby ‘refuse[d] to enforce properly the Federal Constitution’” (“Sens. Rand Paul…”).
SIXTH AMENDMENT —
“In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.”
Summary: Americans have a right to a speedy trial, to a public trial, to be judged by an impartial jury, to be notified of the nature and circumstances of the alleged crime, to confront witnesses who will testify against them, to find witnesses who will testify in their favor, and to have a lawyer.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
“Pfc. Bradley Manning made headlines in 2010 when he was arrested for the leak of around 250,000 private documents concerning operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to the website WikiLeaks, known for its mission of transparency in government. Manning was arrested on May 26, 2010,” and was held in pretrial confinement for 845 days, thereby violating Manning’s right to a “speedy trial” (Bell).
“In December 2011, President Obama signed the 2012 NDAA, codifying indefinite military detention without charge or trial into law for the first time in American history. The NDAA’s dangerous detention provisions would authorize the president — and all future presidents — to order the military to pick up and indefinitely imprison people captured anywhere in the world [including American citizens], far from any battlefield” (“NDAA”) “The controversial components of the bill can be broken down into two parts. The first questionable portion of the bill (section 1031) explicitly exempts U.S. citizens, and…states that the government would be mandated to place into military custody: ‘any suspected member of Al Qaeda or one of its allies connected to a plot against the United States or its allies.. [and] would otherwise extend to arrests on United States soil. The executive branch could issue a waiver and keep such a prisoner in the civilian system.’ The second provision (section 1032), however, does not include an exemption for U.S. citizens, and would give the government “the legal authority to keep people suspected of terrorism in military custody, indefinitely and without trial” (Sexton).
SEVENTH AMENDMENT —
“In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.”
Summary: Americans, in a civil case, possess “…the right to have a jury just as in criminal cases (provided, of course, that the suit involves a sum of $20 of more)” and “…the right to have its facts ‘as found’ remain unmolested during the appeal process” (Skousen 710)
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
In Tull v. United States, “…The United States (P) filed a civil suit against Tull (D) for discharging fill material into wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act. P sought over $22 million and injunctive relief. The district court denied Tull’s motion for a jury trial and entered judgment for P for $325,000. The court of appeals affirmed the denial of a jury trial and the Supreme Court granted cert” (“Tull V…”).
“Many modern courts use a legal theory known as the “complexity exception,” whereby a judge may take a civil lawsuit out of the hands of a jury because the issues are supposedly too complicated for the jurors to understand. This is most common in patent disputes, which often involve complex scientific principles. But this is in direct contravention of the Seventh Amendment. What gives the government the authority to determine that something is too complicated for a jury to understand?” (“Amendment VII…”)
EIGHTH AMENDMENT —
“Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
Summary: This amendment protects Americans from excessive bail and fines and from cruel and unusual punishment.
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
In 1910, in the case of Weems v. United States, the court overturned the conviction against Paul Weems, a U.S. officer, who was found guilty of falsifying a document and was cruelly and unusually punished with “a 15-year prison term, hard labor, lifetime surveillance, and loss of his civil rights” (“A Progressive…”).
In 1992, in Hudson v. McMillian, the U.S Supreme Court “…found a violation of the Eighth Amendment when prison officials punched and kicked a prisoner, leaving him with minor bruises, swelling of his face and mouth, and loose teeth. The Court held that a guard’s use of force violates the Eighth Amendment when it is not applied “in a good faith effort to maintain or restore discipline” but instead is used to “maliciously and sadistically cause harm” (“Your Right…”).
NINTH AMENDMENT —
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
Summary: This amendment says that “…any right not enumerated, or listed, in the Constitution is still retained by the people” (“9th…”).
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
“Who determines which unlisted rights are to be protected by the government? According to the 10th Amendment and Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution, this power is reserved to the States, not to the Courts. There is nowhere in the Constitution that says the Courts have the power to determine which rights not listed are to be protected. The Constitution does say that powers not given to the federal government are given to the States and since the power to determine which unlisted rights are to be protected is nowhere delegated to the Federal government, this right is therefore given to the States (“9th…”). In 1973, in the Roe vs. Wade abortion decision, the Supreme Court made all state laws banning abortions illegal. “The people of Texas had passed a law banning abortions. They believed that having an abortion should not be a protected right. The Supreme Court said otherwise, ignoring the 9th Amendment, and declared the law unconstitutional. So, a handful of judges defiantly overruled the vote of the people of Texas, and other states that also had anti-abortion rules” (“9th…”).
In the Declaration of Independence, it says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life…” (“The Declaration…”). Life is a God-given, unalienable right that springs from our humanity. Therefore, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of abortion in Roe v. Wade, it denied and disparaged the fundamental right of the unborn to live their lives.
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.”
Summary: This Amendment states that “…the federal government only has powers over the things that are specifically given to it in the Constitution. All other powers are reserved to the States” or to the people (“The 10th…”).
Examples of how the Founders’ original intention of this provision has been violated by the federal government:
“The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public possession of alcohol age to 21. States that did not comply faced a reduction in highway funds under the Federal Highway Aid Act” (Hansen).
“In Wickard v. Filburn (1942), the Supreme Court held that a farmer who grew wheat just for the consumption of his own family violated federal agricultural guidelines enacted pursuant to the Commerce Clause. Though the wheat did not move across state lines—indeed, it never left his farm—the Court held that if other similarly situated farmers were permitted to do the same it, might have an aggregate effect on interstate commerce” (Napolitano).
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) of 2010 is, at its core, unconstitutional. As a strategy, Congress used “The Commerce Clause” (Article I Section 8 Clause 3) of the Constitution to justify the regulation of the entire health care industry through this law – The Commerce Clause says that “[The Congress shall have power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes.” According to the Framers, to regulate something meant to keep it “regular,” and, in the case of PPACA, this clause limits Congress to the regulation of interstate commerce between states (not to be confused with intrastate commerce, which is within state lines). With this in mind, consider the following: “The practice of medicine consists of the delivery of intimate services to the human body. In almost all instances, the delivery of medical services occurs in one place and does not move across interstate lines. One goes to a physician not to engage in commercial activity, as the Framers of the Constitution understood, but to improve one’s health. And the practice of medicine, much like public school safety, has been regulated by states for the past century” (Napolitano).
“In…Printz vs. United States, 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that the Congress could not force the States to conduct criminal background checks on gun purchasers. This would have forced the state to use its own resources to accomplish the Federal mandate. This was also barred by the 10th Amendment” (“The 10th…”).
In conclusion, according to the preamble to the Bill of Rights, the Framers provided us with these ten amendments in order to insure public confidence in the government. Yet, as you have seen, all three branches of our national government have failed, on numerous occasions – certainly more numerous than the examples used above – to trample upon the rights of “We the People,” which the Declaration of Independence says are unalienable and God-endowed. Good government possesses only the power derived from the consent of the governed so that it can fulfill its purpose in securing the rights and liberties of the people. But, more and more have seen and are seeing good government replaced by that which is oppressive and tyrannical. Why? Because “We the People” have allowed it. We have failed to be students of history and of current events and have relinquished our sovereign control of these United States by casting unwise votes for greedy and corrupt politicians who do not regard our Constitution or our freedoms. However, if we will pray, become extreme in our defense of liberty, work hard to educate our neighbors, and vote for adamant constitutionalists, America will be restored.
Again, we MUST keep in mind the warning given to us by Thomas Jefferson: “I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have … The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”
Thomas Eddlem wrote an article, “A Legacy of Violations of the U.S. Bill of Rights, Hyperlinked,” in February 2014 and also listed various violations of the Bill of Rights, with resources provided:
Violations of Amendment I
(a) “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”
1838: Missouri Mormon Extermination Order — https://www.sos.mo.gov/cmsimages/archives/resources/findingaids/miscMormRecs/eo/18381027_ExtermOrder.pdf
1844: Philadelphia Bible Riots — https://exhibits.library.villanova.edu/chaos-in-the-streets-the-philadelphia-riots-of-1844
2006: Massachusetts Catholics Charities and Adoption — https://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=42906
2011: Spying on Muslims — https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/22/AR2011022206987.html
2013: ObamaCare birth control mandate — https://www.catholicleague.org/obamacare-vs-catholic-church-2/
(b) “or abridging the freedom of speech,”
1863: Clement Vallandigham — https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/68/243.html
1918: Eugene Debs — https://www.oyez.org/cases/1918/714
2013: Yakima, Washington — https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news//2020319712_apwapolicefreespeech1stldwritethru.html?mbaseid=2020319712
(c) “or of the press;”
1861-65: Lincoln censorship — https://www.lewrockwell.com/2003/02/thomas-dilorenzo/the-lincolnian-graveyard/
1798: Sedition Act — https://constitution.org/ (then use “SEARCH” for “Sedition Act”)
1798: Cooper/Callender/Lyon prosecutions — https://www.fjc.gov/history/docs/seditionacts.pdf
1918: Sedition Act — https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/wilson/filmmore/fm_act.html/
(page is currently undergoing a make-over, but instructions are given at this link)
1919: Charles Schenck — resource was not provided
2013: Surveillance of journalists — https://insider.foxnews.com/2013/05/22/new-info-doj-monitored-30-phone-lines-including-james-rosens-parents
(d) “or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,”
1866: Civil Rights marchers New Orleans — https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/new-orleans-massacre-1866/
1950s-60s: CoIntelpro — https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro
1965: Civil rights marchers Selma — https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/07/march-7-1965-civil-rights-marchers-attacked-in-selma/
2004: Free speech zones — http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/04/hilden.freespeech/
2011: Disbursement of Occupy Protesters — https://www.syracuse.com/news/2011/12/occupy_protesters_sue_over_fre.html
(e) “and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
1836-44: Slavery gag rule — https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/treasures_of_congress/text/page10_text.html
1907: Tilman Act — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tillman_Act_of_1907
2002: McCain-Feingold law — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bipartisan_Campaign_Reform_Act
Violations of Amendment II
1934: National Firearms Act — https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/history-of-gun-control-legislation/2012/12/22/80c8d624-4ad3-11e2-9a42-d1ce6d0ed278_story.html
1968: Gun Control Act — http://www.keepandbeararms.com/laws/gca68.htm
1993: Brady Act — https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-103hr1025enr/pdf/BILLS-103hr1025enr.pdf
2005: Gun confiscation Hurricane Katrina — the video resourced is no longer available
2014: Background checks — https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/nics/nics
2014: Federal gun laws — https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/other-laws-policies/key-federal-regulation-acts/
2014: California laws — there was no resource provided
2014: Connecticut laws — https://www.nraila.org/gun-laws/state-laws/connecticut.aspx
Violations of Amendment III
1812-14: War of 1812 — http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/pdf/97-2/Dugan.PDF
1861-65: Civil War — https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1624&context=wmborj
1941-45: Aleutian Islands during WWII — https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1624&context=wmborj
1979: Engblom v. Carey — https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1624&context=wmborj
2013: Henderson, Nevada – article cited is no longer available
Violations of Amendment IV
1919-20: Palmer Raids — http://debs.indstate.edu/n277t6_1920.pdf
1861-65: Lincoln wiretapping — https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/opinion/lincolns-surveillance-state.html?_r=0
1950s-60s: CoIntelpro — https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro
1950s-60s: MK-Ultra — article cited is no longer available
1970s: NSA — http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=4834
2004-Present: FBI National Security Letters — https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/aclu-analysis-and-recommendations-justice-department-oig-report-misuse-national?redirect=national-security/aclu-analysis-and-recommendations-justice-department-oig-report-misuse-national-se
2014: NSA — https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/the-nsa-files
Violations of Amendment V
(a) “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger;”
2002-05: Jose Padilla — https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1027.ZS.html
2004: Yaser el-Hamdi — https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/542/507.html
(b) “nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb;”
2000-present: Stalking cases — https://victimsofcrime.org/our-programs/stalking-resource-center/stalking-laws/stalking-case-summaries/double-jeopardy
(c) “nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,”
1982: Stanley Wrice — https://guardianlv.com/2013/12/torture-by-police-forced-guilty-confession-chicago-man-finally-released/
2004: Al-Nashiri — http://web.archive.org/web/20130702105026/http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/03/31/220
2008: Mohammed Jawad — http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2008-10-28-438389687_x.htm
2009: Fouad Al-Rabiah — https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/28/world/meast/guantanamo-former-detainees/
2011: Binyam Mohamed — https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/apr/25/guantanamo-files-binyam-mohamed-torture
(d) “nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;”
1814: Andrew Jackson suspends Habeas Corpus — https://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Jackson-Politics-Martial-Law/dp/1572336242
1861-65: Lincoln suspends Habeas Corpus — http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-lincoln-suspends-the-writ-of-habeas-corpus-during-the-civil-war
1863: Ex Parte Vallandigham — https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/68/243.html
1945-47: Habeas Corpus suspended in Eisentranger case — https://www.lawfareblog.com/wiki/the-lawfare-wiki-document-library/world-war-ii-era-materials/world-war-ii-era-materials-court-cases/johnson-v-eisentrager#.Uwvr4fldWSo
2002-04: Murat Kurnaz denied Habeas Corpus — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-terror-detainee-says-us-tortured-him/
(e) “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
2011: Sacketts v. EPA — https://reason.com/2011/12/15/the-epa-vs-the-constitution/
2014: Civil forfeiture laws — https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/08/12/taken
Violations of Amendment VI
(a) “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law,”
1857: Dred Scott case — http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2933.html
1863: Ex Parte Vallandigham — https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/68/243.html
1942: Ex Parte Quirin — https://www.oyez.org/cases/1941/1
2005-07: Jose Padilla — http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2037444.stm
2006: Military Commissions Act — https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/s3930
2011-present: NDAA — https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/president-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-bill-law?redirect=national-security/president-obama-signs-indefinite-detention-bill-law
(b) “and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,”
2002: Rasul v. Bush — https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/rasul-v-bush
2002-07: Military Commissions — https://www.hastingsconlawquarterly.org/
2013: al-Nashiri case — https://truthout.org/articles/guantanamo-prisoner-al-nashiris-case-demonstrates-unfairness-of-military-commissions/
(c) “and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.”
2002-05: Jose Padilla — https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/03-1027.ZS.html
2004: Yaser el-Hamdi — https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/542/507.html
2012: Guantanamo and Obama — https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/opinion/the-right-to-counsel-at-guantanamo-bay.html
Violations of Amendment VII
1996: EPA v. Condor Land — https://www.epa.gov/alj
2008: Texas Tolls — http://popblogculture.blogspot.com/2008/05/how-toll-authorities-violate-7th.html
2012: Entin v. Provident Life — http://zalma.com/blog/right-to-jury-trial-in-declaratory-relief-action/
2013: Baldauf v. Florida DOR — https://www.thecentersquare.com/florida/2013/10/14/florida-cites-english-common-law-to-deny-small-businessman-right-to-trial-by-jury/
2013: Chevron v. Donziger — https://www.thecentersquare.com/florida/2013/10/14/florida-cites-english-common-law-to-deny-small-businessman-right-to-trial-by-jury/
Violations of Amendment VIII
(a) “Excessive bail shall not be required,”
2004: Robert Durst — http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/08/26/durst.ctv/
2004-08: Michigan judge — https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/judge_censured_for_excessive_bail_severe_attitude/
2012: Activist bail — http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/dnc-activist-kept-in-jail-terrorism-watch-list/6329/
(b) “nor excessive fines imposed,”
2012: EPA fines — https://cnsnews.com/news/article/epa-levies-438000-fines-and-mandatory-environmental-projects-school-bus-contractor
2013: FERC fines — https://www.law360.com/articles/406804/how-ferc-s-proposed-penalties-may-violate-8th-amendment
(c)“nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”
2002: Khalid El-Masri — https://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/torturing-the-wrong-man
2002-03: Maher Arar — https://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/13/maher_arar_my_rendition_torture_in
2002-05: Murat Kurnaz — https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-terror-detainee-says-us-tortured-him/
2003: Omar Deghayes — Video has been terminated on YouTube
2003-05: Waterboarding — http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/11/05/bush.book/
2003-07: Binyam Muhammad — http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2009/03/08/seven-years-of-torture-binyam-mohamed-tells-his-story/
2012: Abu Omar — https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/italys-high-court-upholds-convictions-of-23-americans-in-abu-omar-rendition/2012/09/19/af06022c-0286-11e2-91e7-2962c74e7738_story.html
Violations of Amendment IX
2010-present: Right to anonymous political speech — https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielfisher/2011/03/01/supreme-court-rules-corporations-dont-have-privacy-under-foia/?sh=63e169334cb5
2014: Freedom not to associate — https://naturalrightslibertarian.com/2013/09/fredom-of-association-denied/
2014: Right to know government actions — https://www.huffpost.com/?err_code=404&err_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2013%2F03%2F11%2Ffoia-request_n_2851980.html
2014: Freedom from identity cards — https://epic.org/privacy/id_cards/
Violations of Amendment X
2014: Unconstitutional federal agencies — https://heritageaction.com/blog/issue-profile-unconstitutional-federal-agencies/
CONCLUDING REMARKS ON GOVERNMENT –
What is the role and status of the federal government in your life and livelihood? Is it the limited government promised by our Founders in the Constitution? Is its primary function to protect your “life, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness? Or has it become abusive, overbearing, corrupt, a cabal of ambitious politicians and political elites, and destructive of your rights and liberties? Our current federal government is a bloated ambitious leviathan. It can be amply described by a quote from Pierre-Joseph Proudham from the mid-1800’s: “To be GOVERNED is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. To be GOVERNED is to be at every operation, at every transaction noted, registered, counted, taxed, stamped, measured, numbered, assessed, licensed, authorized, admonished, prevented, forbidden, reformed, corrected, punished. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be place under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, at the slightest resistance, the first word of complaint, to be repressed, fined, vilified, harassed, hunted down, abused, clubbed, disarmed, bound, choked, imprisoned, judged, condemned, shot, deported, sacrificed, sold, betrayed; and to crown all, mocked, ridiculed, derided, outraged, dishonored. That is government….”
We must always keep in mind the essential truths and dire warnings given to us by two of our greatest and most passionate Founding Fathers, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson.
Who can forget what Patrick Henry decried to the members of the Virginia convention on March 23, 1775 at the time the British redcoats, under orders from King George, were seeking out and seizing the colonists’ firearms and destroying their stockpiles of ammunition: “It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
And Thomas Jefferson warned: “I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious. Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have … The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases. The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.”
We need to get back to the rightful purpose of government and divest the current federal government of all the rest of its illusory powers and especially its control over us as individuals and productive members of society.
BACK TO THE “BLUEPRINT” –
Our Founders concluded the Declaration of Independence with these words: “With a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” They chose these words because they faced severe retribution (most probably death) by the King of England for sedition. I choose to conclude by echoing some of Jefferson’s words….. I appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world for the intention of this article and this project – that the good and decent and patriotic People of this country re-declare their full freedoms and their independence from an aggressive and ambitious government. Unless the government deconstructs, sheds all the unconstitutional offices and agencies, acknowledges that it has abused its powers and consolidated its branches so as to create a monopoly regarding its powers, abolishes the notion of “precedent” in the federal judiciary, and agrees to re-set itself and exercise only those powers expressly delegated to it in the US Constitution, then of right we ought to be free as we were meant to be and absolved from all allegiance to this tyrannical federal government.
As I outlined above, and it is not even nearly a complete accounting, one is clearly able to see that the federal government has abused and violated almost every aspect of the Constitution over the many years. It is barely recognizable as the central government our Founders envisioned and embodied in form in the Constitution, and which was then ratified by all of the States. Most offensively and most dangerously, its three branches (or four, if you believe the mainstream media has morphed into a fourth branch of government) have created a monopoly on the meaning, scope, and intent of the Constitution. In other words, it has created a monopoly on what powers the government has and how intimately it can insert itself into our lives, our businesses, and into our pursuits of happiness. So, what do we do? That is the question. Well, there is one thing that I know to be true. Talk is cheap. We can talk, complain, protest, march, petition, pray, and watch Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity and Laura Ingram and Don Bongino and Mark Levin all day long, but NONE OF THAT is going to matter or make one bit of difference. These conservative talk show hosts and pundits preach primarily to the choir. The left is shutting down our speech and not only ignoring our protests, but using them as opportunities to mock and ridicule us. Remember, we are “domestic terrorists” now. And because we are a danger to the progressive agenda of the government, we must somehow be disarmed or at least highly frustrated and burdened in our ability to keep and bear arms. God forbid we should take them up against those in government.
We need to do what the colonists did. They had their great orators and writers – like John Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, etc – but they also had the “militant” wing of the resistance against Great Britain…. the Sons of Liberty. They engaged in many acts of civil disobedience, acts of interposition (such as blocking the American harbors, destroying British products that the King insisted the colonists buy, burning down royal homes and offices, and even acts of mild violence. That is what works. Every time the Sons of Liberty resisted the Crown, the Crown gave in. They repealed taxes and they gradually gave the colonists back their freedoms. So the answer is — ACTION !!! But what kind of action??
I support breaking up the country into at least two parts; two new countries. The political factions are far too diametrically different from each other and therein lies the problem. We cannot negotiate or reconcile without surrendering the freedom our founding generation secured for us and our great generations after that for protecting and fighting for. Freedom MUST always come first.
Our understanding of freedom and the foundation on which our country was created and built is outlined clearly in the Declaration of Independence. It’s premise is inalienable and God-given rights and Individual Sovereignty. The Declaration talks about how these rights can never be surrendered and because they are so important, it must be the primary role of government to protect them. For that reason, our Founders created a limited government. It was created by the Constitution and all the powers it has, and will ever have (until the Constitution is lawfully amended) is outlined in it. The federal government is a “creature,” That is, it was created by the States and the People thru the compact that is the Constitution. The States independently ratified it through ratifying conventions (called up by the people and comprised of ordinary folk). A creature can never be a master over its creators. That is the key to why we must act. That is the key to why we should break up the country. That unique and critical principle is at stake. The Declaration tells us – promises us – that if the government fails to serve the purposes for which it was instituted, it is the right, and even the duty, of the People to “alter or abolish it” and institute a new government.
Any and every act that the government takes that supersedes or abuses, or violates, any article or provision of the Constitution (including every amendment) takes the rightful power away from another, whether it be the States or the People. This is outright usurpation. Every such act is unconstitutional and hence, unenforceable. This is the concept behind the theory of Nullification. Whenever the government proceeds to abuse, supersede, or violate the Constitution’s limits, it is an act of tyranny. We are witnessing the most tyrannical government of any generation. And it has to stop. The point of this article is to emphasize that we NEED to stop with the talking and the peaceful respectful protests in DC and to take action instead.
It starts with re-introducing ourselves to perhaps our most important of founding documents – the Declaration of Independence – which declares to we the citizens of the united States and to the world the government philosophy on which we fought for our independence and the principles on which we established our unique and noble nation. It starts with us re-acknowledging the rights and liberties on which our country was founded back in 1776 (when the Declaration was adopted) and 1781 (the treaty signed to officially separate us from Great Britain)? Patrick Henry perhaps said it best at the Virginia Ratifying Convention on June 5, 1788: “If a wrong step be now made, the republic may be lost forever. If this new government will not come up to the expectation of the people, and they shall be disappointed, their liberty will be lost, and tyranny must and will arise. I repeat it again, and I beg gentlemen to consider, that a wrong step, made now, will plunge us into misery, and our republic will be lost.”
We NEED to re-dedicate ourselves to preserving the country as it was founded for liberty sake, and therefore we, as our great Founding Fathers did before us, must re-Declare our Independence from this tyrannical government and corrupted political system. Charlotte Cushman explained it perfectly in her article “Founding Principle of the United States of America: Individual Rights” (July 2016):
“Any violation of our rights completely contradicts the ideas of our Founding Fathers who were very serious about individual freedom. On February 25, 2011 Yaron Brook gave a rousing speech at the Tea Party Patriots Summit in Arizona where he pointed this out about the Founding Fathers: “They didn’t say, ‘We just want a little bit less taxes, please, King George.’ They didn’t say, ‘Give us some liberty, please, King George.’ They changed the world because they asked a fundamental question. And the question they asked is, ‘Who does your life – does my life – belong to?’ That’s a question that people had never asked, because it was always obvious: your life belongs to the state, to the king, to some emperor, to somebody else – and it’s your job to do his bidding. The Founders of this country said ‘No: sovereignty belongs with the individual. My life is mine. Your life is yours. And nobody can take that away – not a king; but not even a majority!”
If we want to restore freedom to our country, we must re-discover our roots. Our Founding Fathers were so committed to their revolutionary ideas that they were willing to put their lives on the line for the document that laid the moral foundation for the United States of America—the Declaration of Independence. We need to be willing to do the same. We need to be willing to stand up and say: “My life belongs to me, not to the government, not to the state, not to King George, not to a welfare program, but…to me!” We need to believe in that principle and commit to that principle, the principle of individual rights.
‘I want you to look at the birth of a miracle: the United States of America. If it is ever proper for men to kneel, we should kneel when we read the Declaration of Independence. The concept of individual rights is so prodigious a feat of political thinking that few men grasp it fully – and 200 years have not been enough for other countries to understand it.’ — Ayn Rand “
Just like parasites (including leeches, intestinal worms, viruses, bacteria, fleas, and ticks) suck the life and health out of a healthy host, Democrats, leftists, progressives, Antifa, atheists, and the like are like parasites on our healthy conservative society. They have destroyed our essential institutions (like the traditional family unit, our churches and their doctrines, and our free exercise of religion in any public place) and they are attacking our traditional and historic natural and civil rights. Why are they succeeding in doing so? And why are we allowing them to get away with it?
James Monroe once said that “he best form of government is that which is most likely to prevent the greatest sum of evil.” And this is true. As the great Roman Senator, Cicero, once explained, the purpose of good law is to prevent and punish evil and wrongdoing and to reward good behavior. As we have all observed for many years now, our current federal government, and especially those Democratic congressmen and senators, and Deep State members in its various agencies have gone overboard to encourage and reward all that is bad in and for our society and to suppress, mock, and punish all that is good.
When I read Glenn Beck’s book, Overton Window, I was struck by one particular paragraph. It read: “The riddle today is the same one faced by our Founding Fathers when they began their experiment. Societies need government. Governments elevate men into power, and men who seek power are prone to corruption. It spreads like a disease. And sooner or later the end result is always a slide into tyranny. That’s the way it’s always been. And so this government of the United States, so brilliantly and deliberately structured by our Founders, was designed to keep that weakness of human nature in check. But it required the people to participate daily, to be vigilante. And they have not. It demanded that they behave as though their government was their servant, but they have not. While they slept, the servant has become their master.” It struck me because it seemed a perfect summation of what has happened here in America with our government, to the destruction and decay of our individual and social existence.
I always knew Hollywood’s Moses, Charlton Heston, was a great actor. But as of the last ten years, I came to recognize that he was a great American patriot as well. He was president of the NRA, has been the featured speaker at several law school graduations, and has spoken up very publicly about what are treasured values are. For example, he once said: “Every one of us born beneath this blessed American sky has rights that no one can take away because no one gave them to us. They were ours from the beginning. Each of us has a birth certificate, but it didn’t give us life. It merely put on paper what everybody knows – that we’re alive. In the same way, the Constitution doesn’t give us rights. It just puts on paper what everybody knows – that we are free to say and write and think and work and worship as we choose. We’re also free to own a firearm, and that right shall not be infringed. A firearm is the fundamental symbol of our freedom”
And he also said: “Our core beliefs are the work of all the men and women of our childhoods – a constellation of people who orbited around us, tugging here and pushing there, day after day as we grew, shaping our beliefs and carving our characters until we became who we are. Remember them? Parents, who didn’t just talk about values but who lived out those values. The gym coach, whose knotted robe taught you to pull your own weight. The scout master, who surely had a job and family to tend to, but always made time for you. Clergymen, whose moral compass helped guide your way. The grocery store owner, who played along with Mom in an unscripted scolding that ended your candy-pilfering days forever. The principal, whose handmade paddle meant punishment for sure, but who also showed the meaning of forgiveness and who gave you the opportunity to make a fresh new start. The neighborhood teenager, who bragged about joining the Army but whose silence after the war taught you even more. The teacher, who stood up for the weak and who stared down the bully, taught you that everyone should be treated the same. The neighborhood policeman, who not only knew the law but somehow also knew what you were thinking. All those strangers, men and women, you happened to watch at football games who instinctively put their hands over their hearts during the Pledge of Allegiance and who stood with their eyes transfixed on the flag. All those people…. they gave you a sense of geography about your life. They taught you where you fit in, what is right and what is wrong, what you must be responsible for, and what values are important and why. Each of us is a tapestry of threads, woven by all of them. This is the living torch that they pass to us. And in turn, we must pass to others.”
Let us never forget what one of our greatest Founding Fathers emphasized: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government — lest it come to dominate our lives and interests.” Nor let us forget what Thomas Paine wrote: “It is the duty of the patriot to protect his country from its government.” And “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.” He, of course, was restating a core principle of the Declaration of Independence.
Ronald Reagan reminded Americans again when he offered this critical warning: ““Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Please take all this to heart and share.
REFERENCES:
Declaration of Independence, transcript, from the National Archives – https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
Charlotte Cushman,“Founding Principle of the United States of America: Individual Rights,”American Thinker, July 4, 2016. Referenced: https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/07/founding_principle_of_the_united_states_of_america_individual_rights.html
Thomas Eddlem, “A Legacy of Violations of the U.S. Bill of Rights, Hyperlinked,” The New American, February 26, 2014. Referenced at: https://thenewamerican.com/a-legacy-of-violations-the-u-s-bill-of-rights-hyperlinked/
Joel M. Killion, “The Bill of Rights Violated,” WilsonNC Tea Party, May 22, 2014. Referenced at: http://wilsonncteaparty.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/the-bill-of-rights-violated/ [Joel originally wrote the paper in 2014 for a college assignment] *** Full article was incorporated in this paper with Joel’s permission
James Madison, Helevidius, No. 3 (September 7, 1793)
Declaration of Independence – https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
“Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” issued by Secretary of Homeland Security on April 7, 2009. Accessed at: https://fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf
Dennis Prager, “I Now Better Understand the Good German,” Townhall, January 5, 2021. Referenced at: https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2021/01/05/i-now-better-understand-the-good-german-n2582563
Dennis Prager, “The Good American,” Townhall, January 12, 2021. Referenced at: https://townhall.com/columnists/dennisprager/2021/01/12/the-good-american-n2582982
Andrew Brookhiser, “That Time When Jefferson Tried to Have a Supreme Court Justice Impeached,” HistoryNet, August 2019. Referenced at: https://www.historynet.com/the-time-when-jefferson-impeached-a-scotus-judge.htm
Thomas Jefferson on Judicial Tyranny. Referenced at: http://www.robgagnon.net/JeffersonOnJudicialTyranny.htm
Thomas Jefferson – Thoughts on the Judiciary. Referenced at: https://www.foundingfatherquotes.com/articles/28
Thomas Jefferson, Quotes – https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Thomas_Jefferson
Full text of Patrick Henry’s Speech in Richmond, Virginia (March 23, 1775 – “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”). Referenced at: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/coretexts/_files/resources/texts/1775%20Patrick%20Henry%20Liberty%20or%20Death.pdf
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s State of the Union Message to Congress, January 11, 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. Referenced at: http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/address_text.html
Josh Jones, “F.D.R. Proposes a Second Bill of Rights: A Decent Job, Education & Health Care Will Keep Us Free from Despotism (1944),” Open Culture (History, Politics section), August16, 2017 Referenced at: https://www.openculture.com/2017/08/f-d-r-proposes-a-second-bill-of-rights.html
Lindsay Wise, Siobhan Hughes, “Impeachment Article Against Trump to Be Delivered to Senate Monday,” MSN News, January 22, 2021. Referenced at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/impeachment-article-against-trump-to-be-delivered-to-senate-monday/ar-BB1d05zH?ocid=spartan-ntp-feeds
David Deschesne, “Unconstitutional Federal Government Agencies (Partial Listing),” Christian Political News, September 8, 2017. Referenced at: http://christianpoliticalparty.com/unconstitutional-federal-government-agencies-partial-listing/
Works Cited Specifically in the Section on VIOLATIONS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS:
“The 5th Amendment.” Revolutionary War & Beyond. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. <http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/5th-amendment.html>.
“9th Amendment to the US Constitution.” Revolutionary War and Beyond. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/9th-amendment.html>.
“The 10th Amendment.” Revolutionary War and Beyond. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/10th-amendment.html>.
Adams, Becket. “Third Amendment Violated? Nev. Police Allegedly Invade Family’s Home to Use During SWAT Call, Arrest Two for ‘Obstruction’ When Owner Refuses.” The Blaze. N.p., 8 July 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/08/third-amendment-violated-nev-police-allegedly-invade-familys-home-to-use-during-swat-call-arrest-two-for-obstruction-when-owner-refuses>.
“Amendment VII: Jury Trial in Civil Disputes.” The Rutherford Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <https://www.rutherford.org/constitutional_corner/amendment_vii_jury_trial_in_civil_disputes/>.
Associated Press. “Report: NSA Secretly Broke into Yahoo, Google Data Centers, Collected Millions of Records Each Day.” The Blaze. N.p., 30 Oct. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/10/30/report-nsa-secretly-broke-into-yahoo-google-data-centers-collected-millions-of-records-each-day>.
“The Bonus Army March.” American Treasuries of the Library of Congress. The Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm203.html>.
“The Bonus March (May-July, 1932).” UNC-TV/American Experience. PBS, n.d. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pandeAMEX89.html>.
Darcy, Oliver. “Timeline of Terror: Benghazi One Year Later.” The Blaze. N.p., 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/09/11/timeline-of-terror-benghazi-one-year-later/>.
“The Declaration of Independence: a Transcription.” The Charters 0f Freedom. The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html>.
Grossman, Jonathan. “Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Maximum Struggle for a Minimum Wage.” United States Department of Labor. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.dol.gov/dol/aboutdol/history/flsa1938.htm>.
Hallowell, Billy. “White House Declines to Weigh in on Petition to Grant German Homeschool Family Asylum…After Petition Garners Enough Signatures for Response.” The Blaze. N.p., 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/15/white-house-declines-to-weigh-in-on-petition-to-grant-german-homeschool-family-asylum>.
Hanson, Ph.D., David J. “The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984.” Alcohol Problems and Solution. The State University of New York At Potsdam, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://www2.potsdam.edu/alcohol/YouthIssues/1092767630.html#.UzCdb_ldWtY>.
Howerton, Jason. “It Gets Worse: More Shocking Details about DOJ Spying on Fox News.” The Blaze. N.p., 21 May 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/21/doj-accused-of-going-even-further-than-first-thought-in-probe-of-fox-news-reporter>.
—. “Sens. Rand Paul and John Cornyn Introduce Bill to Limit Power of Government to Seize Private Property.” The Blaze. N.p., 21 June 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/06/21/sens-rand-paul-and-john-cornyn-introduce-bill-to-limit-power-of-government-to-seize-private-property/>.
Ingram, David. “Associated Press Says U.S. Government Seized Journalists’ Phone Records.” Reuters Canada. N.p., 13 May 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCABRE94C0ZW20130513>.
“Kelo V. City of New London, Conn.” Rule of Law Initiative. The Heritage Foundation, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.heritage.org/initiatives/rule-of-law/judicial-activism/cases/kelo-v-city-of-new-london-conn>.
Klimas, Liz. “Connecting the Dots: a Timeline of NSA’s Spying.” The Blaze. N.p., 6 June 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/06/06/connecting-the-dots-a-timeline-of-nsa-spying>.
—. “IRS Accused of Stealing 60 Million Medical Records That Could Include Every Calif. State Judge and Hollywood Execs.” The Blaze. N.p., 16 May 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/05/16/irs-accused-of-stealing-60-million-medical-records-that-could-include-every-calif-state-judge-and-hollywood-execs>.
Lucas, Fred. “Obama Administration’s Two Quiet New Executive Actions on Who Can Buy a Gun.” The Blaze. N.p., 3 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/01/03/obama-administrations-two-quiet-new-executive-actions-on-who-can-buy-a-gun/>.
Lyngaas, Sean. “NSA Whistleblower Thomas Drake Criticizes Government ‘secrecy Regime’.” The National Press Club. N.p., 16 Mar. 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://press.org/news-multimedia/news/nsa-whistleblower-thomas-drake-criticizes-government-secrecy-regime>.
Marimow, Ann E. “A Rare Peek into a Justice Department Leak Probe.” The Washington Post. N.p., 19 May 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/a-rare-peek-into-a-justice-department-leak-probe/2013/05/19/0bc473de-be5e-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html>.
“Martin Van Buren, 8th Vice President (1833-1837).” Art & History. United States Senate, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/martin_vanburen.pdf>.
Morgenstern, Madeleine. “John McCain Says ‘Stand Your Ground’ Laws Need Review.” The Blaze. N.p., 21 July 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/21/john-mccain-says-stand-your-ground-laws-need-review>.
Napolitano, Andrew P. “Health-Care Reform and the Constitution.” The Wall Street Journal. N.p., 15 Sept. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. <http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203917304574412793406386548>.
—. “Taxation Is Theft — So Why Do Americans Put up with It?” Fox News. N.p., 18 Apr. 2013. Web. 12 Mar. 2014. <http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/04/18/taxation-is-theft-so-why-do-americans-put-up-with-it>.
“NDAA.” Blog of Rights. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <https://www.aclu.org/blog/tag/ndaa>.
Nichols, Michelle. “Kerry Signs U.N. Arms Trade Treaty, Says Won’t Harm U.S. Rights.” Reuters. N.p., 25 Sept. 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-un-assembly-kerry-treaty-idUSBRE98O0WV20130925>.
“No Compromise: NRA Takes on United Nations.” NRA-Media. National Rifle Association (NRA), n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/11466/no-compromise-nra-takes-on-united-nations>.
“NRA Stops U.N. Arms Trade Treaty.” NRA-ILA: News & Media. National Rifle Association (NRA), 27 July 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/articles/2012/nra-stops-un-arms-trade-treaty.aspx>.
Obama, Barack. “Transcript of the State of the Union Address.” Real Clear Politics. N.p., 28 Jan. 2014. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/01/28/transcript_of_the_state_of_the_union_address_121390-4.html>.
Pavlich, Katie. “Riveting and Chilling: Victims of IRS Targeting Tell Their Stories on Capitol Hill.” TownHall.com. N.p., 4 June 2013. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2013/06/04/riveting-and-chilling-victims-of-irs-targeting-tell-their-war-stories-on-capitol-hill-n1612696>.
“A Progressive Turn.” The Supreme Court: Timeline. PBS, n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/timeline/1910.html>.
Reynolds, Glenn H. “Uphold the Third Amendment: Column.” USA Today. N.p., 7 July 2013. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/07/07/third-amendment-henderson-nevada-police-column/2496689>.
RT. “Obama Authorizes Five More Years of Warrantless Wiretapping.” RT.com. N.p., 31 Dec. 2012. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://rt.com/usa/obama-fisa-faa-signed-143>.
Seidl, Jonathon M. “Federal Judge Now Throws up Roadblock for Those in Illinois Looking to Immediately Carry Concealed Weapons.” The Blaze. N.p., 29 July 2013. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/29/federal-judge-now-throws-up-roadblock-for-those-in-illinois-looking-to-immediately-carry-concealed-weapons/>.
Sexton, Buck. “Can the ‘Indefinite Detention’ Bill Send Americans to Military Prison without Trial?” The Blaze. N.p., 8 Dec. 2011. Web. 13 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2011/12/08/can-the-indefinite-detention-bill-send-americans-to-military-prison-without-trial>.
Skousen, Cleon W. The Making of America: The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution. The National Center for Constitutional Studies, 2007. Print.
Spakovsky, Hans V. “Storming the Barricades in Washington.” The Foundry. The Heritage Foundation, 3 Oct. 2013. Web. 9 Mar. 2014. <http://blog.heritage.org/2013/10/03/storming-the-barricades-in-washington>.
Staver, Mat. “IRS Proposed Regulations Will Silence Conservative Organizations.” The Blaze/Liberty Counsel. N.p., 17 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/irs-proposed-regulations-will-silence-conservative-organizations>.
“Testimony of Catherine Engelbrecht.” House Committee on Oversight & Government Reform. United States House of Representatives, 6 Feb. 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Engelbrecht.pdf>.
“Tull V. United States – Case Brief.” Lawnix. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://www.lawnix.com/cases/tull-us.html>.
Turner, Adam. “Case Against ‘Innocence of Muslims’ Filmmaker Raises Eyebrows.” The Blaze/Endowment for Middle East Truth. N.p., 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/case-against-innocence-of-muslims-filmmaker-raises-eyebrows/>.
“U.S. Senate Stands with NRA in Strongly Opposing U.N Gun Control Efforts.” NRA-ILA. National Rifle Association, 22 July 2011. Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://nraila.org/legislation/federal-legislation/2011/7/us-senate-stands-with-nra-in-strongly.aspx?s=%22UN+Arms+Trade+Treaty+(UN+ATT)%22&st=&ps=>.
“Your Right to Be Free from Cruel and Unusual Punishment.” Jailhouse Lawyer’s Handbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. <http://jailhouselaw.org/your-right-to-be-free-from-cruel-and-unusual-punishment>.
——————————————————————————————
ADDENDUM I – The original Declaration of Independence, full text, written by Thomas Jefferson:
In Congress, July 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript
ADDENDUM II – A List of Unconstitutional Federal Agencies (Partial Listing)
Advanced Research Projects Agency
Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
African Development Foundation
Agency for International Development
Agricultural Marketing Service
Agricultural Research Service
Agriculture, Department of
Economic Research Service
Energy, Office of
Environmental Quality, Office of
Federal Acquisition Regulation
Federal Crop Insurance Corp.
Food and Nutrition Service
Foreign Agricultural Service
Forest Service
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards
Administration
Information Resources Management
Inspector General, Office of
National Agricultural Library
National Agricultural Statistics Service
National Resources Conservation Service
Operations, Office of
Procurement and Property Management
Rural Business – Cooperative Service
Rural Development Administration
Rural Housing Service
Rural Telephone Bank
Rural Utilities Service
Secretary of Agriculture, Office of
Transportation, Office of
World Outlook Board
AMTRAK
American Battle Monuments Commission
American Indians, Office of Trustee
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Appalachian Regional Commission
Architectural/Transportation Barriers Compliance Board
Arctic Research Commission
Assassination Records Review Board
Benefits Review Board
Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, Office of
Blind or Severely Disabled, Committee for Purchase from People who are
Board for International Broadcasting
Broadcasting Board of Governors
Federal Acquisition Regulation
Central Intelligence Agency
Child Support Enforcement
Children and Families Administration
Civil Rights, Commission on
Civil Rights, Office for
Commerce Department
Economic Analysis, Bureau of
Economic Development Administrations
Emergency Management Assistance
Fishery Conservation and Management
International Trade Administration
National Marine Fisheries Service
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
National Weather Service
Productivity, Technology and Innovation, Assistant Secretary
Technology, Undersecretary for
Commercial Space Transportation
Commodity Credit Corporation
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
Community Development Financial Institutions Fund
Community Planning and Development
Community Service, Office of
Construction Industry Collective Bargaining
Commission
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service
Corporation for National and Community Service
Cost Accounting Standards Board
Council on Environmental Quality
Delaware River Basin Commission
Drug Enforcement Administration
Economic Affairs, Undersecretary of
Economic Analysis, Bureau of
Economic Development Administration
Economic Research Service
Education, Department of
Bilingual Education and Minority Languages
Affairs, Office of
Civil Rights, Office of
Educational Research and Improvement
Elementary and Secondary Education
Federal Acquisition Regulation
Postsecondary Education
Secretary of Educations
Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, Office of
Vocational and Adult Education
Emergency Oil and Gas Guaranteed Loan Board
Emergency Steel Guarantee Loan Board
Employees’ Compensation Appeals Board
Employees Loyalty Board
Employment and Training Administration
Employment Standards Administration
Endangered Species Committee
Energy, Department of
Energy, Office of
Engineers, Corps of
Environmental Protection Agency
Environmental Quality, Office of
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Equal Opportunity, Office of Assistant Secretary
Export Administration, Bureau of
Export-Import Bank of the United States
Family Assistance, Office of
Farm Service Agency
Farm Credit Administration
Farm Credit System Insurance Corp.
Federal Acquisition Regulation
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Claims Collections Standards
Federal Communications Commission
Federal Contract Compliance Programs
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
Federal Election Commission
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Federal Employees Life Insurance
Federal Employees Health Benefits
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
Federal Financing Bank
Federal Highway Administration
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.
Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Office
Federal Labor Relations Authority
Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
Federal Management Regulation
Federal Maritime Administration
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Federal Mine Safety and Health Review
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
Federal Prison Industries, Inc.
Federal Procurement Policy, Office of
Federal Property Management Regulations
Federal Property Management Regulations System
Federal Railroad Administration
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
Federal Service Impasse Panel
Federal Trade Commission
Federal Transit Administration
Federal Travel Regulation System
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network
Fine Arts, Commission on
Fiscal Service
Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S.
Fishery Conservation and Management
Food and Drug Administration
Food and Nutrition Service
Foreign Agricultural Service
Foreign Assets Control, Office of
Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
Foreign Service Grievance Board
Foreign Service Impasse Disputes Board
Foreign Service Labor Relations Board
Foreign Trade Zones Board
Forest Service
Geological Survey
Government Ethics, Office of
Government National Mortgage Association
Harry S. Truman Scholarship Program
Health and Human Services, Dept. of
Health Care Financing Administration
Housing and Urban Development
Federal Housing Commissioner
Human Development Services
Independent Counsel, Office of
Indian Affairs, Bureau of
Indian Arts and Crafts Board
Indian Health Service
Information Resources Management
Information Security Oversight Office
Inspector General
Institute of Peace, U.S.
Inter-American Foundation
Intergovernmental Relations, Advisory Commission
Interior Department
Internal Revenue Service
International Boundary and Water Commission
International Development, U.S. Agency on
International Development Cooperation Agency
International Fishing and Related Activities
International Investment
International Joint Commission, U.S. and Canada
International Organizations Employees Loyalty Board
International Trade Administration
International Trade Commission
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission
Joint Board for the Enrollment of Actuaries
Labor Department
Labor-Management Standards, Office of
Land Management, Bureau of
Legal Services Corporation
Management and Budget, Office of
Marine Mammal Commission
Maritime Administration
Micronesian Status Negotiations
Mine Safety and Health Administration
Minerals Management Service
Mines, Bureau of
Minority Business Development Agency
Monetary Offices
Multifamily Housing Assistance Restructuring, Office of
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National and Community Service Corp.
National Capital Planning Commission
National Commission for Employment Policy
National Commission on Libraries and Information Science
National Council on Disability
National Counterintelligence Center
National Credit Union Administration
National Drug Control Policy, Office of
National Foundation on the Arts and Humanities
National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration
National Imagery and Mapping Agency
National Indian Gaming Commission
National Institute for Literacy
National Institute for Standards and Technology
National Labor Relations Board
National Mediation Board
National Park Service
National Railroad Adjustment Board
National Science Foundation
National Telecommunications and Information
Administration
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp.
Northeast Dairy Compact Commission
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Occupational Safety and Health Review Board
Oklahoma City National Memorial Trust Operations Office
Overseas Private Investment Corp.
Payment from a non-Federal Source for Travel Expenses
Payment of Expenses Connected With the Death of Certain Employees
Peace Corps
Pennsylvania Avenue Development Commission
Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
Presidential Commission on the Assignment of Women in Armed Forces
Presidential Documents
Presidio Trust
Prisons, Bureau of
Procurement and Property Management
Productivity, Technology and Innovation, Assistant Secretary
Public Contracts, Dept. of Labor
Public and Indian Housing
Public Health Service
Railroad Retirement Board
Reclamation, Bureau of
Refugee Resettlement, Office of
Regional Action Planning Commissions Relocation Allowances
Research and Special Programs Administration
Rural Business-Cooperative Service
Rural Development Administration
Rural Housing Service
Rural Telephone Bank
Rural Utilities Service
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation
Science and Technology Policy, Office of
Secret Service
Securities and Exchange Commission
Selective Service System
Small Business Administration
Smithsonian Institution
Social Security Administration
Soldiers’ and Airmens’ Home
Special Counsel, Office of
Surface Mining and Reclamation Appeals, Office of
Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Office of
Surface Transportation Board
Susquehanna River Basin Commission
Technology Administration
Technology Policy, Assistant Secretary of
Technology, Undersecretary for
Tennessee Valley Authority
Thrift Supervision Office
Trade Representative, U.S.
Transportation Dept.
Transportation, Office of
Transportation Safety Administration
Transportation Statistics Bureau
Utah Reclamation Mitigation and Conservation Commission
Veterans Affairs Dept.
Veterans Employment and Training
Wage and Hour Division
Worker’s Compensation Programs