Food for thought....

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

All human beings are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and that governments are created to protect those rights.
--Declaration of Independence—



Unalineable (adj.)
Not to be transferred or taken away.



When a government betrays the people by amassing too much power and becoming tyrannical, the people have no choice but to exercise their original right of self-defense –to fight the government.
Alexander Hamilton
The Federalist Papers No. 28



The ultimate authority resides in the people, and that if the federal government got to powerful and overstepped its authority, then the people would develop plans of resistance and resort to arms.
James Madison
The Federalist Papers No. 46



They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759

[Eric McGilp]

Good post Pooh-Bah!

The Federalist Papers are without question, the absolute source for the meaning of the constitution.

For those that aren't aware, they are a collection of articles that ran in newspapers after the signing of the constitution, to educate the public, as to what the founders intended in the constitution.

If you read them, you will be utterly AMAZED at what they say. Among other things:
* "All power resides with us.

* The states were to be the PRIMARY governments of the country.

* If the federal government becomes out of control, we HAVE the right to overturn it.


It is amazing how these are not taught in school, or EVER EVEN MENTIONED by the people who are in power. I'm sure they wish these "Inconvenient" papers didn't exist.

Eric

[The Grand Pooh-Bah]

Good post Pooh-Bah!

The Federalist Papers are without question, the absolute source for the meaning of the constitution.

For those that aren't aware, they are a collection of articles that ran in newspapers after the signing of the constitution, to educate the public, as to what the founders intended in the constitution.

If you read them, you will be utterly AMAZED at what they say. Among other things:
* "All power resides with us.

* The states were to be the PRIMARY governments of the country.

* If the federal government becomes out of control, we HAVE the right to overturn it.


It is amazing how these are not taught in school, or EVER EVEN MENTIONED by the people who are in power. I'm sure they wish these "Inconvenient" papers didn't exist.

Eric

I'm convinced the majority of those who purportedly represent us have never read the actual constitution in its entirety.

Id be willing to go one step further and say the overwhelming majority of academia and law enforcement have never read the constitution, let alone The Federalist Papers, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.

[JeffDubya]

Hmmmm... I'm not a big absolutist, even when that supports my point of view.

I believe the federalist papers are undoubtedly the PRIMARY source of inspiration for our Constitution, but there are many ancillary sources as well.

I'm convinced the majority of those who purportedly represent us have never read the actual constitution in its entirety.

Id be willing to go one step further and say the overwhelming majority of academia and law enforcement have never read the constitution, let alone The Federalist Papers, Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.

I think I agree and disagree with this statement. But where you say "I'm convinced the majority of those who purportedly represent us have never read the actual constitution in its entirety." I'll go a step further. A majority of Americans have never read the constitution in its entirety, or the Federalist Papers, or any founding documents. Why single out elected representatives, or educators or law enforcement? If we haven't read them, how can we expect others to?

I imagine your response to that question is that those individuals are charged with upholding/enforcing and/or teaching it.

And if you did, I would disagree. It's OUR job. We as citizens need to be vigilant. How many people do you know OWN a copy of The Federalist Papers and have actually read at least a portion of it?

It seems to me that many people go through life waiting for "someone else to do it," regardless of what that "it" is. It's always so much easier to just expect that someone else will step up and get the hard job done. For example, I KNOW that in his Public School, my sons will not be taught some material that I KNOW is critically important. So, I make sure that *I* teach them. I'm not waiting for someone else to do it.

As to the point that academia haven't read the founding documents, I would disagree. I have debated enough academics to know that they have undoubtedly read at least portions of these materials, enough to draw together spurious arguments that sound cogent and support their opinions, but are not based in fact.

And these arguments, my friends - especially to those who have NOT taken the time to read these documents, or books like the 5000 Year Leap - are the most dangerous. Because if they *sound* reasonable and based in fact, the average person who has better things to do than read Federalist 1-9 will simply accept them as the truth.

But if we all took the time to read and comprehend these works... a lot less of the garbage that happens now would be tolerated. This is one of the reasons why I believe so firmly in our educating ourselves.