TAX Tea Party in Rome, NY

On July 4th, we visited the nice city of Rome, NY, to attend a Tea Party at the City Hall. It was the first Tea Party we’d attended.

I am not as politically active as I used to be, but I am still involved (and very much concerned) about the direction our nation is going; namely, far, far away from it’s Constitutional roots and from everything that made America great to begin with. It’s really gratifying to see these kinds of community events taking place. For almost two decades, I have been concerned about the direction our country is going– toward a police state where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are no longer endowed by our Creator, but by the government politicians and their corporate, fascist buddies. It’s just over the top. Attending an event where this was the primary discussion was so very encouraging.

The speakers were very good. Some speeches were planned, while others were impromptu. One gentleman, whose testimony was especially riveting, I had seen at Fort Stanwix earlier that day. His name is Perry Price, a world-renowned opera singer who spoke about his experiences behind the Iron Curtain while performing in East Berlin, during the 1980s. I have always joked about how New York State will eventually stop their pussy-footing around and install a barbed-wire fence around the NY’s border, to prevent us from leaving. I should stop joking about that– it just may give the NY Legislature too many ideas. :S The closing in of East Berlin back in the 1940s happened slowly, step-by-step, until one day, Berliners were told by the government that they could no longer cross over to the West side of the city. And a wall went up, with armed guards.

It’s encouraging to see that there is a growing body of Americans dissatisfied with the encroachments of our liberties. And I especially loved this sign:

You can read more about the Tea Party purpose and keep up to date with news by going to this national Tea Party website and here’s the link to the Oneida County912ers website.

And here’s a very cool video of the Tea Party of April 15, 2009, held at Fort Stanwix in Rome, NY. Look at all those people!

FFQF: Lex Rex

See what’s up with today’s FFQF at Meet the Founders blog

Today’s FFQF continues “moral authority.” Where is the basis for the precepts of “religion” and “morality” that America’s founding fathers incessantly spoke of? On what basis did it derive and how is this connected with our form of government?

James McHenry, a signer of the Constitution, had said:

[P]ublic utility pleads most forcibly for the general distribution of the Holy Scriptures. The doctrine they preach, the obligations they impose, the punishment they threaten, the rewards they promise, the stamp and image of divinity they bear, which produces a conviction of their truths, can alone secure to society, order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability and usefulness. In vain, without the Bible, we increase penal laws and draw entrenchments around our institutions. Bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses, and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience.

The founders believe that the Holy Scriptures were the message of authority– the standard, if you will- by which we could govern ourselves and our nations. This was a radical change from previous philosophy, where it was the rulings of kings, popes, and councils that had authority; whereas in those times past it had been Rex Lex (the king is law), it became Lex Rex (the law is king); (see Samuel Rutherford’s book that explains these apologetics). I love what Alexander Hamilton had to say about this, concerning our own government:

“No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy (agent) is greater than his principal; that the servant is above the master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people; that men, acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.

It is not to be supposed that the Constitution could intend to enable the representatives of the people to substitute their will to that of their constituents. A Constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by judges as fundamental law. If there should happen to be a irreconcilable variance between the two, the Constitution is to be preferred to the statute.” — Alexander Hamilton

Hamilton’s words no longer ring true in our hallways, because our form of government is moving away from Lex Rex and back to Rex Lex, where the “kings” (those in power and those of wealth) have the authority and make and enforce law.

The economic plights of the United States and many nations are on our minds lately. It has become very obvious that our government is no longer a government by “We the People,” don’t you think? Our government has a will of its own. The people of America /the Constitution did not want to issue any “bailouts” for anyone, yet our government has dismissed our concerns and the Constitutional restraints, and did as they pleased. We are rapidly transferring power away from the rule of law to the rule of lawyers.

I found this insightful statement by Horace Greeley (former editor of the New York Tribune).

We have stricken the shackles from… human beings and brought all labourers to a common level, but not so much by the elevation of former slaves as by reducing the whole working population, white and black, to a condition of serfdom. While boasting of our noble deeds, we are careful to conceal the ugly fact that by our iniquitous money system we have manipulated a system of oppression which, though more refined, is no less cruel than the old system of chattel slavery.– Horace Greeley

So while we still have the appearance of a free government, in all reality, we do not. And this explains a great deal of why things are happening the way they are.

How to resolve this issue? My answer is to re-read the first two quotes I included here, and to do them as one nation again.

FFQF: Oath of Office

See what’s up with today’s FFQF at Meet the Founders blog

The theme for this month has been “Virtue.” The FFQF group has really done well with the theme this week; I’ve really enjoyed reading the quotes and the posts about them. Most of the posts have concerned private virtue, that is, moral virtue. Since the presidential election is so near, I decided to do something different and mention about the virtue of the oath of office, particularly of the presidential oath of office. This is the oath required in the Constitution that the president is to make:

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

The phrase “So help me, God” was added by George Washington (he also kissed the Bible), in deference to Providence that had helped the patriots win the fight for liberty.

In reading the news and hearing so many campaign promises from various candidates for president, very little is mentioned of the oath of office the president will take. This oath does not concern national health care (unconstitutional), income taxation fluctuations (unconstitutional), the “war” in Iraq (unconstitutional), “exporting democracy” (unconstitutional), and bailing out financial institutions (unconstitutional).

If, for instance, the president is required to do any act, he is not only authorized, but required, to decide for himself, whether, consistently with his constitutional duties, he can do the act.
Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833

I sure wish our leaders would stick to their oaths. The office of the president is to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, not to eradicate the states’ sovereignty or dole out public largess at the slightest oinking.

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2