Guest Post by John W. Whitehead
“I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life.”—Osama bin Laden (October 2001)
Ironically, we mark the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks in the same week we celebrate the 230th anniversary of the U.S. Constitution.
While there has been much to mourn since 9/11, there has been very little to celebrate.
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution today.
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The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind (the media, as well), worship, assemble, and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government. Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, Americans continue to be censored, silenced and prosecuted for challenging government misconduct and corruption.
The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Essentially, this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government. Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right, Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and militarized government agents armed to the teeth.
The Third Amendment prohibits the military from entering any citizen’s home without “the consent of the owner.” Yet with the police increasingly training like, acting like, and arming themselves like military forces, we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits the government from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or invading you, unless they have some evidence that you are guilty of a crime. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches, surveillance and home invasions.
The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem. These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, and government authorities cannot deprive you of your life, your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge. However, in our suspect/surveillance society, these fundamental principles have been upended.
The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial. Yet when the populace has no idea of what’s in the Constitution, that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears.
The Eighth Amendment is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Supreme Court’s determination that what constitutes “cruel and unusual” depends on the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.
The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people. Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—has been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme.
As for the Tenth Amendment’s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution, that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local, state and national entities has long since been rendered moot by the centralized Washington, DC, power elite—the president, Congress and the courts. Through its many agencies and regulations, the federal government has stripped states of the right to regulate countless issues that were originally governed at the local level.
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost, it is simply this: our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government’s powers could be expanded.
Yet those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of “We the People.” We have the power to make and break the government.
Still, it’s hard to be a good citizen if you don’t know anything about your rights or how the government is supposed to operate.
Americans are constitutionally illiterate.
Most citizens have little, if any, knowledge about their basic rights. And our educational system does a poor job of teaching the basic freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Thirty-five percent of Americans cannot name a single branch of the government. Only a quarter of Americans know it takes a two-thirds vote of the House and Senate to override a presidential veto. One in five Americans incorrectly thinks that a 5-4 Supreme Court decision is sent back to Congress for reconsideration. And more than half of Americans do not know which party controls the House and Senate.
Only one out of a thousand adults could identify the five rights protected by the First Amendment. Teachers and school administrators do not fare much better. One study found that one out of every five educators was unable to name any of the freedoms in the First Amendment. In fact, while some educators want students to learn about freedom, they do not necessarily want them to exercise their freedoms in school.
Government leaders and politicians are also ill-informed.
So what’s the solution?
Thomas Jefferson recognized that a citizenry educated on “their rights, interests, and duties” is the only real assurance that freedom will survive. As Jefferson concluded in 1820: “This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”
From the President on down, anyone taking public office should have a working knowledge of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and should be held accountable for upholding their precepts. I’d go so far as to require students to pass a citizenship exam before graduating from grade school.
Here’s an idea to get educated and take a stand for freedom: anyone who signs up to become a member of The Rutherford Institute gets a wallet-sized Bill of Rights card and a Know Your Rights card.
If this constitutional illiteracy is not remedied and soon, freedom in America will be doomed.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far. Barely.
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized.
For instance, Donald Trump wants to make America great again.
I, for one, would prefer to make America free again.
I cringe with disgust when I hear people , especially elected officials spout out “We must preserve and protect our democracy” . This is an attempt to relieve and lull people into some hypnotic state about our government and its duties in to and for . BULL SHIT
That comment only proves the person speaking it is functionally illiterate regarding our form of government . We were founded as a Democratic Constitutional Republic of Independent States . To long to cover that 3 second attention span for sound byte America . The very idea that the government has asserted itself as some ominipresent control with millions of “JUST DOING MY JOB” minions is so far from what we are to be as free people . I fear all is lost the personal risk is off the charts to challenge even the most egregious infringements .
Police , prosecutors and judges more interested in fines and other wealth extraction from the people (asset forfiture) that their combined actions are merely a full force effort to fund and justify their own existance . This has created a paracitical enviorment that infects our Republic from the bottom up as well as the top down !
So while this is all true, and I do like the civics test idea, I see the real problem is career politicians. So that is problem one and it can be solved by the simple rubric of “never return anyone to a government position.” But perhaps the second one in “educate the stupid.” And by this I mean that we can all help to inform those around us if we are only brave enough, and smart enough, to explain this to them. I am going to keep a copy of this post on my phone and show it to anyone I talk to. That’s a start. It might be better if John had mentioned Asset Forfeiture, but you can remember that in your discussions.
Sure, some of these bone heads, particularly here in SoCal, will lose their shit when they hear this but it will start them thinking. We might even change a few minds. I have been doing this at Newcombs Ranch up on Rt 2 outside of LA and it appears to be working. Remember – you change more minds through example. Become a teacher. The universities clearly have no intention of producing any so you won’t have much competition. The pay is awful but the reaction is priceless.
John W. Whitehead, I really can’t comment until I read your book, but I do know Constitutional Literacy is complex. The Framers’ didn’t tell us everything like “what does speedy mean in speedy trial?” and “what do we do when the 4th Amendment is violated”. For those answers we need to read the case law.
A huge problem is that we have elected people and people in charge that don’t believe in the Constitution. I think we need to demand leaders (even college presidents – of schools receiving any kind of government aid) take an oath to obey the US Constitution.
Read this unbelievable quote from De Blasio – not only doesn’t he believe in private property rights,
then he says something right out of the communist manifesto: “they would like things to be planned in accordance to their needs” – Here’s the asshole mayor of NYC:
And then there’s New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio, who was interviewed a few days back by New York magazine. He was asked, “In 2013, you ran on reducing income inequality. Where has it been hardest to make progress? Wages, housing, schools?” Take in his answer good and slow:
What’s been hardest is the way our legal system is structured to favor private property. I think people all over this city, of every background, would like to have the city government be able to determine which building goes where, how high it will be, who gets to live in it, what the rent will be. I think there’s a socialistic impulse, which I hear every day, in every kind of community, that they would like things to be planned in accordance to their needs. And I would, too. Unfortunately, what stands in the way of that is hundreds of years of history that have elevated property rights and wealth to the point that that’s the reality that calls the tune on a lot of development.
That guy is so stupid I can’t believe he remembers to breathe. The big mystery to a hick such as myself is why do all the “big city sophisticates” vote for low IQ commies and racist minorities to represent them continuously? Moral vanity? Guilt?
New Yorkers voted him in?
They deserve what they get.
Try this on for size.
https://theintercept.com/document/2014/02/24/art-deception-training-new-generation-online-covert-operations/
Good article but the fundamental error missed by Whitehead is that of organizing society through aggressive force, which is what political government does. As an anarchist I believe all government should be based on voluntary participation rather than coercion and force can only be justified in self-defense. No one has a right to aggress against an innocent individual and that simple fact is not changed because some individuals form a collective they call “the government.” Such a collective does not assume magical powers simply by giving it a name and signing a piece of paper.
Where the unarguably brilliant men who formed the various govts in America went wrong was in making the fundamental and profound error of creating a monopoly in the legal system rather than allowing competition. Judges must be neutral and impartial when making decisions but when they work for and are paid by one of the parties to a controversy that is virtually impossible. What we have today naturally devolved from where the legal systems of America’s several sovereign states began like night follows day because judges are not and cannot be neutral when deciding a case where one of the parties is the state itself. The charade of impartiality put on by “honorable” lawyers is a farce and eyewash for the simple and naive. Free competition works in legal systems just as well as it does in economic systems.
Whitehead is absolutely correct when he identifies the solution as education but he misses the mark by not recognizing legal monopoly by a coercive state as the culprit. Freedom in everything but the legal system is pointless and ephemeral.
Well said and spot on. To those interested in an exposition at length on free competition in legal systems – with a thorough refutation of common objections – I recommend Practical Anarchy [PDF].
From the article, Only 1 in a thousand people can identify the rights protected by the 1st amendment. The touchstone of liberty on which the whole bill of rights exist and no one has a clue. This used to be common knowledge to all school kids in the 60s and 70s. The disease has almost run it’s course as the cultural Marxists have nearly succeeded in destroying the republic, only a few threads are left hanging.
This is now considered Constitutional:
http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/mccormack-hands-on-with-the-tsas-new-enhanced-pat-down-procedure/article/2009631
I was going to have a prostate exam. But I got one free from the TSA. Not a bad deal.
Don’t pay your taxes and the IRS can give you a full colonoscopy.
We may now be seeing coming into view where the age of Trump is taking us. To begin with we look to be finally abandoning the silly notion that some writing on a piece of paper can be used to thwart the malignant growth of political power. The constitution, to be effective required it’s adherents to be honorable and honest in it’s interpretation. Does that sound like something Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham can be relied upon to produce? Can the vast bulk of the american people even recognize it as a founding document? Think Trump gives a shit about it-if he’s ever even read it? It’s been a long downward slide from when the ink dried to today but at least we now have reached the endgame: Beyond it’s value as a museum piece the u. s. constitution is worthless.
The next phase in our new existence is the abandonment of the laughable farce that is the debt ceiling. Once more the writing on a piece of paper has failed to change the nature of power seeking psycho’s. Of course it always was a ridiculous farce (stop me before I kill again) but the repo’s could use it as a handy devise to lead all those fools into believing they gave a shit about resisting, much less stopping the growth of gov’t spending. Trump, along with his buds ‘chuck and nancy’ have finally polished off this now completely dead horse. Henceforth we’ll not be burdened with the notion that there is some ‘ceiling’ to gov’t spending.
As the new reality presents itself the vanguards of the old order now passes on down the same road as moral law and fiscal probity. The dumo and the repo parties are in their death throes. Even their most die hard supplicants now have to admit the passion is long gone. Operators like debbie w schultz and reince priebus are pathetic laughing stocks. The individuals won’t go away, of course. They’re committed psycho’s who will shape-shift into whatever form is needed to continue their highly successful parasitic existence as long as there are suckers available who wish to be ruled.
Where does all this lead to? Damned if I know. But it’s hard for me to be optimistic about some new order devoid of honor and common sense.
Pissing into the wind. The constitution had been violated before the ink on the parchment was dry. Where did the authority to purchase the Louisiana Territory come from? Oh that’s right, it was made up., or its in the commerce clause…
The way to freedom is to get rid of that useless document.
Americans are ” constitutionally illiterate ” and it is all by design. The Elites want us poor ,dumbed down and defenceless.The only blessing I see is Trump appointing Conservative Judges that may begin to hold the line as this evil comes closer day by day.
You might appreciate this:
We could take all of these “constitutionally illiterate” numb-skulls, send them to concentration camps–stitch their eyes open with sutures as done to ‘Alex’ in Clockwork Orange… and attempt to program them all with pro-constitutional messages and images… and still not one bit of it would not stick.
We currently live in a ‘post constitutional’ era where ‘professional law-makers’ (right out of a Star Trek episode) concoct new regulation, restrictions, fees and infractions on an hourly basis, willy-nilly… all without restraint. And then these ‘professional law-makers’ sit back smuggly and piss upon you in contempt.
Even if Mark Levin could get his wet-dream “Convention Of The States” –and if everyone of his “constituuuuuuushinal amendments” were passed…. they/them would drive tour busses and Freightliners through these amendments using friendly courts, judges and ‘professional law-makers’ who would merely ignore said amendments with a shrug and a “so what?!”
I have a friend up in my mountain AO who is running some sorta’ campaign to support “constitutuuuuuuushinal sherrifs” and unite the American People. I asked him two questions: “how you gonna’ do it?” And… “then what once you (pie in the sky) reach your goal?” He didn’t have an answer but to fall upon his knees and mumble a prayer to Jesus (being a religiious nut-job)…. he had more of a chance of “Green Acres” returning to CBS than realizing his goal.
The USA the way you knew it is COMPLETELY LOST.
It will never, ever come back through political means as long as there are “professional law-makers” setting policy and lording over your lives.
Also “Green Acres” as well as “Petty Coat Junction” is not coming back to CBS.
Forget about “Gomer Pyle” as well.
What is taking place now is a slow revolution/transformation into a socialist (heavy) society here in the USA… and conservatives are too timid, to mild (especially Christian Conservatives) to oppose it other than sending in checks and contributions to conservative organizations, mumbling prayers to Jesus hoping he will float down soon with lasers shooting out of his eyes and ears and standing on street corners waving American flags while pumping their fists shouting “Murrrrrrika!”
The leftist and socialist are in fact two to five steps ahead with their media, propaganda and voting scams–and we do nothing but sit back and grumble. They are now in fact planing for this November some sorta’ national massive series of protests in hopes of achieving a ‘critical mass’ of violence and chaos with the goal of forcing out President Trump and Vice President Pence.
Don’t know if they will achieve their ‘critical mass’ –it could happen. Events are still developing.
FYI… it took only .02% of the population of Russia to overthrow the governement (Kerensky deposing he Tsar) and even a smaller percentage to oust the Kerensky government from power.
Thought/prediction…. what if many local governments and state governments (California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington State and others) sided with these leftist protestors (Antifa and others) during a period of mass chaos/protests–so much so that it was a defacto insurrection (just short of secession) propelling a constitutional crisis in DC?
Conservatives have yet to learn that like our fore-fathers who fought the Revolution against the British… they have to learn that like our fore-fathers, they will have to lay their live, fortunes and sacred honor on the line to sieze back their liberties.
Instead conservatives are too worried about obeying and breaking unjust laws and legal decisions made by degenerates in black robes.
Until conservatives learn to step out of their ‘comfort zones’ (NFL, NASCAR, grand-children’s birthday parties, golf, Carnival cruises and so forth) and mix it up in the streets confronting the leftists…. conservatives will loose on a consistant basis.
The early ‘Tea Party’ movement was sucessful at this, until that is Glenn Beck and others told them to stop wearing those ‘crazy costumes’ and ‘stop being so confrontational’ at town hall meetings and to sit down and shut up. The early Tea Party protestors were highly sucessfull FYI… they showed the ‘professional law-makers’ that the next step was AR-15’s, torches and pitchforks.
It was effective.
Hopefully these ANTIFA and other leftists will unleash a nation-wide spree of violence and chaos (most likely unfolding in the 10 major TV markets in the USA). I think this is the only thing that will get the Jesus nuts and fence sitting, check-pants Republicans out of their comfort zones and into action…. and wage a counter revolution (which is what must be done at that point).