When dealing with people who want to change the Constitution, those that say it’s a “Living Document” and can be altered at will… Remember what John Adams said and you know the character of who you are dealing with:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
Well, it can be altered.
There’s a process for that.
Something beginning with, “a,” right?
And ending with, “mendment.”
Actually, I think we should scrap the whole mess, and go back to the Articles of Confederation. That would cure 95% of the problems with the government, instantly…
Only problem with that is that the Youth Indoctrination Program… uh, I mean the Public School System… has brainwashed at least one generation, possibly two, into believing that the Articles of Confederation nearly bankrupted the country, and the fledgling United States would have slid into anarchy had the Constitution been adopted and ratified.
That said, I’m with you 100%. Go back to 1776 and start over. It’s probably the only way to fix the mess that is the United States Government.
The necessity for the Constitution is explained very well in the Federalist Papers.
The individual States were unwilling/unable to repay our war debts. We needed a Navy and an Army. We needed the ability to speak as One People for trade agreements with Europe. We needed the ability to set fair and consistent Tariffs on Imports.
If you’re interested in the origins of the 2nd Amendment check out Federalist Paper # 29.
The travesty of the Constitution was explained very well in the Anti-Federalist Papers.
The Constitution did not create an Army; in fact, even under the Constitution, a standing army is prohibited. The Federal government is supposed to rely upon the several States to supply militia troops, as needed, which forms one of the most critical checks and balances upon Federal power.
The Second Amendment was not even an issue under the Articles, because there was no way the central government could create any law abridging the right to keep and bear arms. That’s the problem with central power; you give them power, then expect them to refrain from using it. It’s much safer to simply not give them that sort of power.
As Spooner noted, either the Constitution was designed to create tyranny, or it was powerless to stop it. No matter which way you fall on that debate, the fact remains that the Constitution, by action or inaction, led us where we are, today. I know, “if only they had followed it!,” but that’s the point… once you centralize power too greatly, those who hold it will cease to obey the restrictions. Whatever the intent was, the fact is that the Constitution served too much power to those who would get drunk upon it. You can’t feed someone a gallon of whiskey, then look shocked when he gets drunk and does something destructive. With power or alcohol, small amounts are fine, but when you cross someone’s tolerance level, the results are inevitable.
The Articles created a central government, and served it a couple drinks. The Constitution kept the liquor flowing, and the current drunken mess is what happened. The only long-term solution is to stop serving booze, clean up the vomit, and never drink that much, again.
And people called ME crazy because I don’t worship…uh, pledge my allegiance to the flag.
I’ll pledge allegiance to Old Glory. It’s the symbol of our Nation. I love MY Country. I took an Oath to protect the United States Constitution. My Oath has NO expiration date.
The country and the Constitution are two very different things.
A Patriot is loyal to the country – the people, and the common ideas which bind them together as one.
A Nationalist is loyal to the government.
The two are nearly incompatible, in this day and age, when the government’s needs and desires are almost totally in opposition to the People’s needs and desires.
The constitution is a politician claiming that their not strangling you, grants you a right to breath.
Moral people recognize that using force to imposing their will on others is immoral in every instance.
We need to stop trying to use violence to solve social problems. It’s the only moral and, in the long term, the only sustainable solution.
So long as a small group of people have the right to use the power of the state to force the majority to conform to their will, we cannot claim in any meaningful sense, to be a free people. We’re just free range tax live stock.
“Our peculiar security is in the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction.”
– Thomas Jefferson
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
– Mark Twain
All of which reinforces the Ogre’s (and the inestimable Mr. Adams’) point:
“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”