March Forth,
Patriot
Charlie Earl
The pilgrim
is a wanderer, one who travels to a holy place or shrine. In these unsettled
times all of us are pilgrims to one degree or another. Either we are wandering
around in a state of disbelief, or we are engaged in a pilgrimage to find the
tools to restore our nation to its founding ideals. There are many who scoff
when we longingly speak of founding principles. They suggest that the
principles were never real, or that our nation has drifted too far from them
for any hope of returning. I must admit that our Founding Principles may be
idealistic, but without lofty aspirations to challenge us, we will wallow in
the lower reaches of our natures.
Dreams,
goals and aspirations are vital for human accomplishment. Without them our
compasses for achievement will lead us nowhere. We will be lost in a morass of
mediocrity struggling to extract some meaning from our mundane lives. Icarus
may have crashed, but Daedalus’ imagination provided a pathway to liberty. Most
of us lack the time, energy or knowledge to design a structure for governance
that encourages individual liberty while defining the parameters of limited
collective action. Our learned and passionate Founders and Framers did that for
us. Although their recipe for freedom was an imperfect construct, the
self-correcting mechanisms in the founding documents gave later generations the
means for improving the design or for compensating for oversights.
Unfortunately….because
of any number of reasons, our political leaders through the years have not only
chosen to ignore the beauty and simplicity of the original plan, they have
nonchalantly failed to use the methods developed for changing or correcting our
controlling legal document. Is the Constitution of the United States a flawed
document? Of course it is. That is why the Framers included a means for
correcting it….the amendment process. They understood that some course
corrections would be needed, but they set the standard high enough so that an
inflamed tyrannical majority could not abuse the minority. The three-quarters
state approval would ensure a broad and diverse consensus for any proposed
change to the Supreme Law of the Land.
Whether
because of impatience or egotism, our political leadership has decided to
ignore the wisdom of the amendment process. Consequently, they have
consistently passed legislation, rules and regulations that are contrary to the
provisions of the Constitution. They have assumed powers that the document does
not allow without the amending process. I believe that one could legitimately
argue that many of the legislative, executive and judicial actions are
extra-legal and therefore can be ignored or brazenly disobeyed. The rule of law
is a cherished component of our constitutional republic, but its impact and
effect are abrogated when the government uses illicit means for creating laws.
Therefore it can be logically and legitimately argued that defiance or
resistance of illegal lawmaking is the duty of patriotic citizens.
If public
servants fail in their responsibilities to the electorate, then it is an
obligation for the citizens to correct the wayward course. Some could validly
argue that bi-annual or quadrennial elections are a sufficient remedy for an
out-of-control government. Historically that may have been true, but the
severity of the problem has been exacerbated to the point that changing a few
faces or names is not sufficient. Furthermore…it seems that when careerists
move from lower office to higher, they often suffer from several serious
maladies including deafness, blindness and severe loss of intellect. It
follows, therefore, that when the “public servants” have demonstrated that they
are incapable of legally performing their duties, the people must step forward.
The people must march forth. Either Samuel Adams or Mahatma Gandhi can be a
model for resistance, but resist we must. Patriots must march forth.
Charlie Earl
