Michael Connelly
Welcome to my website and Blog. I am a U.S. Army veteran, a retired attorney, and am now a published author, freelance writer, and teacher. I am the author of four books, "Riders in the Sky: The Ghosts and Legends of Philmont Scout Ranch", "The Mortarmen", a story about my father's unit in WW II; my novel, "Amayehli: A Story of America" and the newly released "America's Livliest Ghosts" In addition, I have an affordable, pocket size booklet on the Constitution called "Our Constitution" that is receiving great reviews. You can read more about these books by going to the pages on each book on this website.
You may also want to check out my new radio talk show that airs every Wednesday at 4:00 Eastern. Here is the website containing the link: http://www.radiosandysprings.com/showpages/OurConstitution.php
I have recently formed a non profit corporation named the Constitutional Law Alliance (CLA).To find out more about the the CLA and the type of projects we are working on go to the webite at www.constitution.jigsy.com
I am also currently working with the United States Justice Foundation on several matters involving Constitutional issues. It's website is www.usjf.net.
The Blog you see below is designed to deal with the challenges to our Constitutional rights that are being made almost daily. I will try to post articles frequently and your comments are welcome.
New feature! I have added a new feature to my blog. I will be placing Legislative Alerts on the blog to notify you of specific pieces of legislation pending in Congress that contain direct threats to our Constitution.
You may make donations here to help support and continue this site. You can also make donations by mailing a check or money order to me at 3560 Country Square Dr, # 802, Carrollton, TX 75006. Thank you for your support.
THE STATE OF THE CONSTITUTION
President Obama made his 2012 State of the Union address and as expected, it was primarily a campaign speech to reinforce his changes for re-election in November. He is not the first President to have done this, and will probably not be the last. However, this speech was different because what Americans need to look at now, and consider when voting in November, is not just the State of the Union, but the State of the Constitution. The fact is that if we discard our Constitution there will be no union. The United States of America will cease to exist.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration, with the help of the leftist elite in the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, and even some Federal judges are systematically destroying our Constitution, our freedoms, and our country. It is not an accident; it is being done with malice and design. Here are the facts about what has occurred in the three years that Obama has been in office.
Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution has been violated by Congress passing the Obama health care bill. Congress has no authority under that section or any other section of the Constitution to enact legislation requiring the American people to purchase health care insurance, or to provide free health care to illegal aliens. Yet, this among other things is what has been done. I am confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will rule that it is unconstitutional; yet, President Obama has repeatedly shown his disdain for the rulings of the Judicial Branch of government.
Article 1, Section 1 of the Constitution also gives Congress the sole legislative powers in the federal government. Article 2 of the Constitution that establishes the Presidency and the Executive Branch of government gives no such legislative powers to the President. In other words, only Congress can make laws and the President and his cabinet appointees can only enforce laws made by Congress; the President has no authority to make laws. Yet, that is exactly what Obama is doing.
By misusing the power to issue Executive orders to enforce laws or take emergency action if Congress is not in session the President is bypassing Congress and the Constitution to implement his personal agenda on immigration, cap and trade, gun control, and in many other areas. He actually brags about this in his taxpayer funded campaign speeches, and during the State of the Union Address he stated that he plans to continue the practice if Congress doesn’t do exactly what he demands.
In addition, ever since he took office Obama has continuously violated Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution by making appoints to major positions in the Executive Branch of government without the required Senate approval. I’m referring of course to the over 40 Czars that the President has appointed. These appointments are in numerous areas from overseeing the takeover of the automobile industry to regulating free speech on the internet. These Czars are not under the control of the Congress, and are given massive budgets at taxpayer expense. By the way, the very use of the term Czar violates Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution that specifically forbids the U.S. government from bestowing titles of nobility on anyone.
Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution does give the President the right to make short term appointments when the Senate is in recess. The important point here is that the Constitution only empowers the Senate to declare when it is in recess. Obama recently showed his disdain for that part of our governing document by making several high level appointments when the Senate had not formally declared a recess. Obama claimed he has the right to decide when the Senate is in recess. The purpose of these appointments was to put people in positions of power that the Senate would not have approved. The reasons are already becoming clear because the new appointees to the National Labor Relations Board are preparing to order companies that are not unionized to turn over the private phone numbers and email addresses of their employees to labor union organizers. This is a clear violation of the right of privacy of these individuals.
Article 2, Section 2 also authorizes the President of the United States to sign treaties with other countries; however, the Senate must ratify the treaties by a two thirds vote of those Senators present and voting. Now Obama has decided that this Constitutional requirement should not keep him from doing what he wants. Since the SOPA and PIPA bills were withdrawn in Congress Obama is looking for a new way to take control of the Internet and limit freedom of speech.
According to the U.S. Justice Foundation Obama is going to sign and enforce an international treaty “which will give governments and special interest groups the power to shut down websites, and terminate your access to the internet, without the due process of law.” It is called the ACTA Treaty and Obama does not intend to send it to the Senate for ratification, but instead will do it as a “sole Executive Agreement.”
There is nothing in the Constitution that allows such agreements although Federal courts have allowed Presidents to enter into some international agreements that are minor in nature. The ACTA agreement is not minor, but would allow websites to be shut down, such as my blog site, at the whim of the President. I also suspect that Obama is planning to use the same approach to enter into and enforce the United Nations “Small Arms Treaty” that would virtually eliminate the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution that protects the rights of Americans to keep and bear arms.
The state of the constitution is not good; in fact it is gravely ill. This article has just scratched the surface and in my next post I will talk more about Obama’s all out assault on the Bill of Rights. A good friend of mine recently said that this upcoming election is not about personalities or even the economy. It is instead a referendum on the Constitution and whether it and our American way of life are to survive. I concur with that statement.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Great news! The two bills mentioned in my recent blog designed to regulate the Internet have been pulled out of consideration in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. I refer specifically to HR 3261, the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and Senate Bill S 968, the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA).
This is directly due to the loss of support the proposed bills suffered as a direct result of the public outcry made by people like you. I know that many of you had been working on defeating this legislation long before I wrote my article and want to say congratulations to all of you for a strong effort that paid off. This proves that in this election year we can have an impact by continuing to contact our representatives and senators.
The fight is far from over because it is likely that the liberals will try to introduce this type of legislation again in a different form and it is also likely that Obama may try to bypass Congress by having the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) illegally implement similar restrictions on freedom by agency action. We must stay vigilant and I will keep you informed through my blog and radio show.
By the way, you can now listen to my radio show on your Smart phone. You find out how at this link http://www.radiosandysprings.com/index.php?id=1
LEGISLATIVE ALERT!
I pointed out in my last blog article that President Obama has started off the year by continuing to ignore Congress and implement his socialist agenda by using Executive action. However, that does not mean that the rest of us can also ignore Congress. There are currently some important pieces of legislation pending in either the House or the Senate that demand the attention of every patriotic American. Some of them merit our support while other bills need to be defeated.
There are two pieces of pending legislation that are very dangerous to our First Amendment rights since they are designed to limit our ability to use the Internet to express ourselves, and to find out the truth about what is actually happening in our country. These are HR 3261, the so called “Stop Internet Piracy Act” (SOPA) in the House of Representatives, and S 968 in the Senate, the “Protect Intellectual Property Act” (PIPA), The Senate version has heavy support from the usual far left Democrats while surprisingly the House version has a lot of Republican support.
Both pieces of legislation profess to have noble intentions to prevent Internet piracy, and copyright infringement, . However, I have read the proposed bills and both of them contain some very dangerous language that would basically give President Obama and his Attorney General, Eric Holder a kill switch over the Internet. For example, if you have a website and post content from other websites on it the government can shut you down if anyone complains that you don’t have permission to use the material.
The key is, “if anyone complains.” If I give you permission to repost my articles and you do so, it would not me necessary for me to claim you misused them, anyone can do it and you would be shut down until you proved otherwise. It is assumed you are guilty until you take the time and go to the expense to prove your innocence. There are other provisions in both bills that would essentially allow the Federal government to severely restrict and control the content of the Internet such as is the case in countries like Iran and China. Please contact your representative and Senators and urge them to oppose these bills.
On the other hand, there are some good pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the House of Representatives that I urge you to support. The first is HR 973 that restricts the use of foreign law in deciding cases in U. S. Courts. This bill has become extremely important in light of the recent unbelievable ruling by the U. S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld a lower Federal ruling striking down an amendment to the state Constitution of Oklahoma that was adopted by a favorable vote of 70% of the people of Oklahoma. The amendment stated in part, "The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia law."
A Muslim representative from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a radical Islamic group, challenged the law on the grounds that it violated his freedom of religion. The court agreed and found the state constitutional amendment unconstitutional under the Federal Constitution. This ruling is incredible to me since Sharia law relegates women to what amounts to slave status. Under Sharia law women are subordinate to men, and a Muslim man can rape, beat, and even kill his wife for virtually any reason. He can also murder his daughters if they “dishonor the family” by dating a non Muslim or adopting American dress or habits.
If this court ruling is allowed to stand Sharia law could potentially be used as a valid defense against charges brought by U. S. prosecutors for any of these crimes. HR 973 is designed to prevent that from happening. It is sponsored by Republican Representative Sandy Adams of Florida and has 83 cosponsors. Contact your representative now and ask them to support this important legislation.
Two other house bills that need your support are HR 204 and HR 2913. The first cuts Congressional pay and the second cuts the extravagant benefits given to members of Congress. For example, if you serve one term in the House of Representatives you get full retirement benefits for the rest of your life. On the other hand, if you risk your life serving our country in the military you get no retirement benefits at all until you have served at least twenty years. At a time when our deficit is at an all time high and many Americans are struggling to even feed their families, it is time for members of Congress to share some of the sacrifices that the rest of us face.
HR 204 was introduced by Democrat Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona and has only 18 cosponsors while HR 2913 was introduced by Republican Mike Coffman of Colorado and has only 15 cosponsors. Let your representatives know you expect them to support these bills.
AMERICA’S EMERGING DICTATORSHIP
When our founding fathers declared our independence from Great Britain in 1776 the colonists were already in the middle of a bloody and costly war to secure their freedom. Once the war was successfully concluded it was necessary to create a new nation with a form of government that would not allow a single individual or group to establish another totalitarian regime and steal the freedom of Americans.
It took years and one failed effort with the Articles of Confederation before the founders settled on the Constitution of the United States that established a unique type of government with three separate, but equal branches of branches. These are the executive branch that includes an elected President and his cabinet appointees, the legislative branch that consists of a Congress made up of two houses, the Senate and House of Representatives, and the judicial branch that consists of the Supreme Court and any lower federal courts that Congress might authorize.
A system of checks and balances was put into place to ensure that none of the three branches would be able to dominate the others and establish a dictatorship. In addition, the basic distrust of a powerful centralized government caused the framers of the Constitution to adopt the Bill of Rights that protected the rights of both individual Americans and the various states that formed the United States of America. The system has worked so well that our country became the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world.
Yet, now, almost 250 years later, elements in all three branches of government are conspiring to shred the Constitution and rob us of our God given rights. We have a rapidly emerging dictatorship and prime examples of it can be found in what is occurring in the first days of this New Year. As part of the balance of powers prescribed in the Constitution, the U.S. Senate must approve Presidential appointments to major positions in the Executive Branch of Government. The only exception is that during the times that the Senate is in recess the President can make appointments without the approval of the Senate, but they are temporary in nature.
However, on January 4, 2012, President Obama appointed three members to the National Labor Relations Board and a new “Czar” to head the Consumer Protection Agency without Senate approval despite the fact that the Senate was not in recess. This has created a Constitutional crisis of epic proportions.
I refer to this as a Constitutional crisis because this is not the first such action Obama has taken that has clearly violated not only the provisions of the Constitution, but also his oath of office, and he obviously plans to continue ignoring both the legislative and judicial branches of government. In fact, he actually brags about what he is doing while campaigning for reelection at the expense of American taxpayers.
There is now no doubt that the current President of the United States considers himself a de facto dictator who is so much smarter than the rest of us that he can ignore the Constitution, the supreme law of our nation, and do whatever he wants. History has taught that in order to establish an effective dictatorship there must be three decisive actions taken.
First, if the military in the country is patriotic and pro freedom, it must be marginalized to minimize its ability to resist the imposition of tyranny. Right after the New Year, Obama announced drastic cuts in the size and strength of our military forces across the board. He is claiming to have the authority to do this under the bill passed by Congress that created the so-called super committee that was to enact wide ranging spending cuts.
If it failed to do so there would be massive reductions of the defense budget. In previous articles I pointed out that the very creation of this super committee was unconstitutional and that its failure to act would cause the “doomsday scenario” to unfold for our military. Unfortunately, not only are my predictions coming true, but Obama is not even waiting for the automatic cuts to begin in 2013, he is unilaterally moving to destroy the military now.
Secondly, the citizens of any country to be subjugated must be disarmed in order to diminish their ability to resist the imposition of a dictatorship. It is now clear, by virtue of the ongoing investigation in Congress of “Operation Fast and Furious” that over 2500 semi automatic weapons were sold to Mexican drug dealers on orders from the U.S. government not for the purpose of entrapping the drug dealers, but so Obama could impose gun control laws on U.S. citizens. He has now done so by Executive Order, bypassing Congress that had refused to take the same action.
In addition, Obama and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton have pledged to sign the United Nations Small Arms Treaty that specifically targets private gun ownership in the United States. This treaty would essentially abolish the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution and make private ownership of firearms illegal despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court has twice ruled that the right to keep and bear arms is a valid and individual right under the provisions of the Constitution.
Of course, the Constitution requires that any treaty that is signed by a President must be approved by two thirds of the Senate to be valid. The U.S. Supreme Court has also ruled that no treaty can supersede the provisions of the Constitution, particularly those that deal with individual rights. All of this would seem to render the treaty moot since two thirds of the current Senate will not ratify it, and it clearly violates the provisions of the second amendment.
So why is Obama pushing for it? Simply put, he believes he can ignore the Senate and the court, sign the treaty, and then allow the United Nations to begin enforcing it. If you believe that he won’t try that, just look at what he has done in other areas.
The third goal of an effective dictatorship involves limiting the rights of the citizens to have free speech and a free press. People who can’t communicate and learn the truth are easier to control. Most of the main stream media in this country have already relinquished their freedom of the press and are doing whatever Obama tells them to do. Those that oppose him are under constant assault and Obama’s minions on the Federal Communications Commission are looking for ways to shut down conservative talk radio and control internet content. This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court has said that the FCC has no authority to regulate the Internet. Once again, Obama has issued orders that the Supreme Court and the Constitution be ignored.
Even more frightening is the fact that legislation pending in both houses of Congress will effectively give Obama an Internet kill switch. It is being pushed in the Senate by the usual leftists like Reid and Schumer, but in the House of Representatives it is some Republicans that are pushing it. My next blog article will contain more information about these and other bills pending in Congress.
The bottom line is, we are headed for a country that is no longer a Republic, but a nation controlled entirely by a small group of elitists, and unless the American people wake up soon it will be too late to stop it.
IN MEMORY OF PATRICK
On December 21, 2011 my son Patrick died of complications related to a rare degenerative muscle disease that was untreatable. He was only 36 years old. Many of you who are reading this were aware of Patrick’s epic struggle with this disease and supported him with your prayers. However, few knew who Patrick really was.
He was a brilliant young man with an IQ that was off the charts and that sometimes caused him problems. He didn’t fit in with his fellow students in high school and the teachers had trouble dealing with someone who could read an entire textbook in a few days and often got bored in class as a result. He actually dropped out of high school at one point and then got his GED, but decided to go back to high school and get his diploma because he didn’t want to leave anything unfinished.
Patrick was an Eagle Scout and was very proud of that fact. He was also a member of the elite scout honor society, the Order of the Arrow. He loved the outdoors and spent several summers as a camp counselor teaching young people about the beauty of nature. At the same time he was a black belt in karate and an accomplished kick boxer.
Patrick always wanted to help other people so he decided to go to nursing school and was determined to pay his own way by starting several small and successful businesses. He was also a patriot and joined the Louisiana Army National Guard and became a combat medic. When he graduated from nursing school he became a traveling nurse working in one of the most challenging and stressful areas of medicine, Emergency room care. However, Patrick felt that this was where he could do the most good.
In 2004 while he was working in Connecticut he volunteered to go to Iraq as a combat medic to join his older brother Sean who was a combat engineer officer. However, since he was a registered nurse the army decided to commission him as an officer and send him overseas as a nurse. Unfortunately, he failed his physical because of an irregular heart beat that was ironically the first indication of the emerging health problems. He received an honorable discharge from the military, but I learned just a few years ago that he felt guilty because he had not been able to serve his country overseas as his brothers Sean and Tim had done.
Yet, Patrick soon found another way to serve his fellow Americans. In August of 2005 he and his wife had moved back to our home town, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which is just 60 miles north of New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina roared through New Orleans and caused massive devastation and loss of life, many of the refugees and injured ended up in Baton Rouge. The hospitals were soon overwhelmed so many of the injured and homeless were housed on the Louisiana State University campus.
Pat was working his regular eight hour shift at the hospital and then going on from there directly to the LSU campus where he worked another eight to ten hours a day as a volunteer nurse. This went on for weeks and I later learned that he and his wife Sarah gave away virtually all of their clothes to the people of New Orleans who had lost everything. For a long time Patrick had nothing to wear but his nursing scrubs.
In 2006 my wife Kay, who was Patrick’s stepmother, was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer. Patrick and Sarah came to visit us in Dallas and wanted to know where Kay would like to go on a trip. Kay decided on Disney World where we had spent so many wonderful times with our six children. Pat and Sarah gave us $1,000 to get things started and then our other children, our many friends, and my fellow veterans jumped in to help raise enough money to give us a remarkable final trip together.
Shortly after Kay died in June 2008 Patrick made a special trip to stay with me for three days in Dallas. We cried together over our loss and then he went on his way to continue his ER nursing career. I knew he was having health problems, but it was not until early 2011 that it was determined that he had a terminal illness. Patrick continued to fight the disease and to work doing what he loved, helping others as an ER nurse. We talked often and I marveled at his courage. Then, about six months ago all communications between Patrick and I ceased.
He stopped talking to me. He wouldn’t respond to my emails or telephone messages. Then, I learned that he had died while in California, still working as an ER nurse. He had continued to work despite being in severe pain. I then heard from Pat’s sister, my oldest daughter that he had talked to her and told her that he knew I had watched my wife die and he didn’t want to put me through that again so he was determined to go it alone. In the midst of all his suffering Pat was still watching out for those he loved.
So, who was Patrick Connelly? He was brilliant man, an athlete, an Eagle Scout, a dedicated nurse, a patriot, and a soldier; yet most of all he was my son and I am grateful that for 36 years God allowed me to have this remarkable individual in my life. Our country needs more men like him. I miss you Patrick and I love you.
Michael Connelly
Christmas, 1944
It is that time of year when I start thinking about the importance of friends and family and why I should be thankful for the country I live in. It is also the time when I think about those fellow Americans who have stepped forward in the past and the present to place their lives on the line so that the rest of us can celebrate this holy season in freedom and peace. This will be the fourth Christmas since 9/11 that my oldest son, U.S. Army Major Sean Connelly, has spent away from home and in harm’s way.
However, the true story below is not about Sean and the fighting Americans of today, but about Sean’ grandfather and another Christmas long ago. I wrote it many years ago and it has been reprinted and put on websites around the world. I offer it once again to honor our heroes of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Come to think of it, this story is really about all of them because it epitomizes who and what they are.
Christmas 1944
The frigid night air cut through the Lieutenant’s army issue coat as the stopped in the knee deep snow to survey the perimeter. A heavy snow continued to fall on this Christmas Eve 1944, but it was not a silent night. The flashes of artillery lit the sky and generated a rumble like distant thunder as the young officer finished his tour of the unit’s outposts. He was an officer in Company B, 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion, the men who fired the big 4.2 mortars which were so critical to the effort of the infantry to advance. They were someplace in Belgium, he really had no clue where, and for the first time in a while the battalion was together again. All four companies had been brought in to help stop the German breakthrough. They didn’t know it, but the 87th was about to be thrown right into the heart of the Battle of the Bulge.
As the Lieutenant finished his rounds he wearily dragged himself into the monastery where the command had taken refuge for the night. The warmth that enveloped him as he entered the large community room was certainly welcomed. He glanced around and saw his comrades sprawled in every available space. They were bedraggled and exhausted after 201 days of almost continuous combat, and by the looks on their faces you could tell that it was only going to get worse. Despite the thickness of the monastery walls, a new sound intruded, the quick crack of tank gunfire.
Everyone knew what that meant, American tankers were making a last ditch stand against the German armored columns in the area. They were outnumbered and outgunned and their Sherman tanks stood no chance against the awesome German Tiger tanks, but they fought anyway. When the battle ended, and it would before dawn, then the 87th became part of the last American line of defense. The war hung in the balance, and so did the lives of everyone in the ancient house of God.
The Lieutenant found a place to sit against one wall and sank down in exhaustion, gratefully accepting the wine, bread and cheese being offered by the monks. In the corner of the room, a soldier fiddled with the dial of a radio, finally picking up the armed forces station. Christmas carols filled the room, but only added to the loneliness. Then as, the sound of the tank battle increased in intensity, a new song started on the radio, Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas."
For the Lieutenant the song immediately invoked memories of the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas on the farm in Mason City, Iowa and of how far away he was from those he loved. He could not help himself, the tears began to flow and embarrassed, he glanced around the room to see if anyone had noticed. His eyes fell first on the Company Commander, Captain J.J. Marshall, one of the toughest men the Lieutenant had ever known. The Captain sat ramrod straight, unashamed, as tears streamed down his stubbly cheeks. It was universal that night, strong men, the bravest of the brave, cried over a Christmas carol, and over the homes many would never see again.
As dawn broke the next morning, Christmas Day, the battalion was again split up with Company B assigned to take up mortar positions in support of what was left of the 289th infantry, 75th Division, and defend a Belgium village called Sadzot, a key location in the thin American defense line. For three days they fired their mortars in support of the hastily assembled defense units, and then disaster struck. Early in the predawn hours of Dec. 28th enemy elements of the 12 SS Panzer Division, the infamous Hitler Jugend, broke through the infantry lines and overran the mortar position.
They hastily assembled all of the men they could, and the mortarmen fought a delaying action, fighting hand to hand and house to house against overwhelming numbers. As the fighting retreat continued, they men of company B were joined by remaining elements of the 509th Parachute Battalion which had formed a new defensive position north of the village. There they held until reinforced and then joined a counterattack which retook the village, and recaptured six of their nine mortars and most of their vehicles.
It was later learned that this makeshift force of Americans had successfully stopped a major attack by German troops designed to capture a major highway intersection which would have broken the American line. No one has ever been able to tell me how they won. History recorded it as a classic situation where the attacking enemy held all of the advantages, yet was stopped by the cold determination of a hand full of defenders on the verge of physical and mental collapse. Somehow, they emerged victorious, with Company B reporting almost half of its men killed, wounded, or missing.
For his actions during the defense of Sadzot the Lieutenant and the other men of the company received both the French and Belgium Croix de Guerre medals. I know the story of that lonely Christmas Eve and the ensuing days from my Father’s diary. He was the young Lieutenant, Roy E. Connelly, Co. B. 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion. He would read that story to us on Christmas Eve every year until his death in 1987, and then I took over the job with my children.
He never read it without crying over the friends he lost during that Christmas season of 1944, and to this day, I can not read it or even write about it without the same reaction. What was done during that six day period by the men of Co. B and the other companies of the 87th, who also held the line, surpasses the ability of most of us to comprehend. They fought for each other, and they fought for us. We must never forget.
FOR MY DAD, AND THE MEN OF THE 87TH
Michael Connelly: Author of “The Mortarmen”
http://michaelconnelly.jigsy.com/the-mortarmen
ABOUT OUR CONSTITUTION
Some people seem to be forgetting that it is “our Constitution.” It belongs to the American people. It is not the property of the President, the Congress, or even the Federal courts. It is not theirs to tinker with, rewrite, or ignore depending on their personal whims and ideologies. It was carefully crafted by the founding fathers to provide a form of government that was limited, not all powerful.
The Bill of Rights does not contain a list of rights that are given to the American people by the government. Instead it provides a list of the rights that are inherently ours, and they can’t be taken away by the government. For example, despite their claims to the contrary, freedom of speech and freedom of the press don’t just belong to those that agree with a certain political ideology. In addition, the Constitution and Bill of Rights were not designed for only the people who consider themselves elite and better than the rest of us. In fact, it was designed to protect us from them.
However, despite these truths that have been the foundation of our Republic for over 200 years, every article, section, and amendment of one of our most precious documents is under constant and unrelenting attack by the current administration. The balance of powers between the three branches of government is being ignored in favor of a de facto dictatorship by those who consider themselves above the rest of us. They think they are ordained to tell us how to live our lives and to decide what is best for us.
Yet, sadly, even as we face the imminent prospect of losing our freedoms and the way of life that so many brave Americans have fought and died for, there are many citizens of this country who seem oblivious to this fact. This is because they have either never read the Constitution in its entirety or don’t really understand what it means. This is probably not really their fault because for years the importance of the Constitution has been downplayed or ignored in many of our schools, especially in our so-called institutions of “higher education.”
The bottom line is that if Americans are unfamiliar with the Constitution and the way our government is designed to work, how will they know that it and the rights it protects are being taken from them? That is why I have done something new. I have prepared a pocket sized booklet on the Constitution that doesn’t just contain the wording of the document, but after each section and amendment contains my comments on what each means.
Here is an excerpt from the booklet about the 2nd Amendment:
“Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Comments: The Second Amendment to the Constitution has been the subject of much controversy over the years. Many individuals in the United States own firearms, either for protection, or for hunting, or for both. There are other individuals who feel that only the police and members of the military should be allowed to carry firearms, and that individual citizens should have restrictions put on their gun ownership rights. These “gun-control” proponents have long argued that the Second Amendment does not provide an individual right of gun ownership, but, only, a collective right belonging to state militias or to the National Guard. In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that the right to keep and bear arms is, in fact, an individual right, and it cannot be restricted unduly by either the federal government or by state and local governments.”
Many people who have read the booklet have told me that they have learned things about the Constitution that they had never realized before. The booklet is being offered through my non- profit corporation, the Constitutional Law Alliance (CLA). The website is www.constitution.jigsy.com and single copies can be ordered through the site for $6.00 each including postage. There are also substantial discounts available for multiple copies and these are explained on the website.
I encourage everyone to get at least one copy to carry with you. That way when you hear someone making an incorrect comment about the Constitution or our freedoms you can have the document there to show them. However, I also hope you will let others know about the booklet and order additional copies to distribute. You can also make donations to the CLA to help us supply this booklet to youth groups and schools at reduced prices.
I believe that this booklet will raise the consciousness of Americans when it comes to understanding how important our Constitution is and how it must be defended.
THE DOOMSDAY SCENARIO
Members of the U.S. Military are calling it the “Doomsday Scenario” and that is a completely accurate assessment of what is about to occur on November 23rd of this year. Unless something changes in the next two weeks that day will mark the beginning of the end of the United States military as the most powerful fighting force in the world. The end result will be putting our nation and our people in a position where we will be unable to effectively defend ourselves against those who would destroy us.
Dismantling our military has been something that the far left in this country has been trying to do for decades, and now with the help of the Obama administration and Congress they are about to be successful. It will occur as a result of the ill advised and unconstitutional legislation agreed to by Congress in order to avert a failure to raise the debt ceiling. A super committee of Congress was appointed made up of six Republicans and six Democrats from both houses of Congress that was given the task of finding and agreeing to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts by November 23rd.
If the super committee fails to come to agreement, then the legislation provides for an automatic $1.2 trillion in cuts to be made. Approximately half of this amount will come from the defense budget. This will be in addition to some $850 billion in cuts that have already been made to the defense budget since Obama has taken office. Some of these cuts have already taken place, or are scheduled to happen over the next few years. Even Obama’s choice for Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, has said that these additional cuts triggered by the super committee’s failure to act will be devastating to the military and our national security.
Exactly what will happen to our military? The strength of the Army and Marine Corps will be reduced by about 50%. The Air Force will lose two thirds of its fighters and strategic bombers, while the Navy will have to mothball a number of ships including two aircraft carrier groups. The Army, Marine Corps, and Air Force will be at the smallest they have been in many years and the Navy will be smaller than it was prior World War II.
Many military bases will be closed, both at home and abroad, and the Navy will be barely strong enough to patrol our own shores, much less make its presence felt in the Mediterranean, Persian Gulf, or close to China. This is happening at exactly the same time that China is rapidly increasing its own military strength including building an increasingly strong Navy. (This is all eerily similar to the scenario I laid out in and my 2009 novel, “Amayehli: A Story of America.”)
In addition to the impact on national security, we can expect to see large increases in the unemployment rate. Over the next 10 years hundreds of thousands of members of the military will be thrown into an already dwindling job market. Thousands of civilian employees who work at soon-to-be closed military bases will also lose their jobs. The development of new weapons systems and equipment for the military will virtually cease as will the upgrading of our current equipment and weapons. This will undoubtedly put some defense contractors out of business, and at the very least cause thousands of additional people to be out of work. So, with a sagging U.S. economy in a dangerous world with countries like Iran about to have nuclear weapons, our military is going to be gutted.
Of course, is not going to stop there. Veterans are also going to see their benefits cut. Pensions are going to shrink and many medical benefits are simply going to go away. At the beginning of his Presidency, Obama proposed that members of the military who were wounded in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq should pay for their own private insurance, and thus pay for their own medical treatment. The outcry from the American people was so great that the idea was soon dropped, but now Obama may get his way after all.
If the Doomsday Scenario happens, and it appears it will, the people who have laid their lives on the line to defend our country and its freedom will be punished for their sacrifice. At the same time there are a large number of people who will lose nothing. Members of Congress will not have their salaries or benefits cut, and they will keep their generous pensions, even if they have served only one term in office as compared to the minimum 20 years members of the armed services have to serve to even qualify for a pension.
White House staffers and Obama’s illegally appointed Czars and their staff members will lose no pay or benefits, and this is true of most other Federal employees, but then they will vote to re-elect Obama, while most military personnel and families will not. Do you see a pattern here? I certainly do. By the way, does anyone remember the proposal that Obama made during his campaign that there be a Civilian Defense Force formed that would be as well funded and equipped as the military? If we have a weak military then such a force will probably be formed and be under the complete control of one person, Obama.
There is one chance to stop this disaster. A committee in the House of Representatives is working on proposals to stop the Doomsday Scenario from happening, and it has bi partisan support. Everyone should write, call, or email their Senators and Representatives to support this and keep our military intact. Here is a link to a website that will help you contact your Congressional representatives: http://www.contactingthecongress.org/.This is urgent.
OCCUPYING AMERICA
They bill themselves as the Occupy Wall Street movement, and they claim to be a new wave of outraged Americans. Yet, in my view there is nothing new about them. They are camping out in public places in various locations around the country smoking dope, singing protest songs, screaming obscenities at anyone who disagrees with them, and spitting on men and women who proudly wear the uniform of the United States military.
It is all eerily reminiscent of the late 1960s and early 1970s when you had the hippies, and the antiwar protesters banding together in the streets and on college campuses in order to disrupt the lives of ordinary Americans. In the turbulent 1960s the protesters were demanding an end to the war, the end of capitalism, and a redistribution of wealth. In other words, they wanted to take everything away from Americans who work for living and give it to those who preferred not to work.
Now, we have this current band of protesters who are demanding that we end the war on terrorism, that we let the government take complete control of our economy, and that everyone be entitled to a living wage whether they work or not. So, who are these people? Well, in the 1960s they were mostly spoiled rich kids who never had to work in their lives and whose parents were paying for their college educations. There were also the far left college professors and the committed radicals from both the Socialist and Communist parties.
This 21st century group of protesters is basically a new generation of the same type of people. I can remember attempting in vain to speak to the campus protesters in the 60s in ordsr to find out what they really wanted and what they believed. I quickly learned that it was impossible to carry on a coherent conversation with most of them. They were protesting a war that many of them knew nothing about. In fact they couldn't even find Vietnam on a world map. They were also protesting the economic system when they were clueless about how it worked.
They spoke mostly in platitudes and clichés, and you could tell they were simply parroting what they were being told by their college professors, leaders of various far left groups, or the liberal news media. It was virtually impossible for them to produce an original thought on their own. I can remember one young woman that I was debating on a local radio show that actually shouted at me to stop confusing her with the facts about the Vietnam War.
Today, when I watch the protesters being interviewed on television, I'm hearing the same tiresome rhetoric that I heard back then. They sound like good little androids that have been programmed by their masters in universities, in the far left media, and in unions like the NEA and the SEIU to repeat what they are told and under no circumstances engage in independent thought.
Unfortunately, this new group is being led by well-financed and well-organized individuals and organizations that believe the time has come to destroy the United States. They include Communists, Socialists, and radical Islamists. They are being aided and abetted in their quest by the liberal media, and are being encouraged and applauded by Barrack Obama and Nancy Pelosi.
It is past time for the American people to wake up and realize that our Constitution and our way of life are being seriously threatened. In fact, in many ways we are already an occupied nation. The President of the United States continues to shred the Constitution and assume dictatorial powers. He openly boasts of the fact that he is bypassing Congress, and enacting laws despite the fact that the Constitution has established a balance of powers in the federal government that was designed to keep that very thing from happening. By using a combination of executive orders and rules and regulations issued by various departments under his control, Obama is killing jobs, destroying the free enterprise economic system, and opening our borders to illegal immigrants, potential terrorists, and drug runners. In addition, he is using his office to dictate new laws and regulations that are robbing the American people of the God-given rights protected by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
He is also looting the U.S. Treasury and using taxpayer money to reward those individuals and companies that support his actions. Of course, that is illegal, but is being covered up by the mainstream news media. In fact, virtually everything that Obama is doing is illegal and unconstitutional and a clear violation of his oath of office. Yet, there seems to be no great outcry from the American people.
Perhaps, that is because so many people have never read the Constitution, were not really talked about it in school, or just don't understand what it means. That is why, the nonprofit Corporation I formed, the Constitutional Law Alliance, has just released a pocket-sized booklet that sets out the Constitution and has comments after each section and amendment that explain what they each mean. The booklet is available at www.constitution.jigsy.com.
We would like to have this booklet widely distributed prior to the upcoming 2012 election. Please consider buying copies and handing them out to your friends and neighbors or making a donation to help us provide the booklet to students and others at a reduced price. It is important for Americans to understand what we're losing.
IN DEFENSE OF PATRIOTS
Obviously, this blog is dedicated to defending the Constitution of the United States of America. It is something that I have been trying to do, in one way or another, since I was a junior in high school, 46 years ago. During that time I have been awed and inspired by those much more learned than I am who stood up and defended what I consider to be one of the greatest documents ever written. In the beginning, even those on the other side of the political spectrum believed resolutely that the Constitution was the heart and soul of our great country.
I can remember on Wednesday afternoons going to free-speech alley at LSU and as president of the Young Republicans on the campus getting into heated arguments with my counterpart, the president of the LSU Young Democrats. We had different views on many issues, and were not afraid to express them, but the one thing that was constant for both of us was that we loved our country and the Constitution. Often, after our fierce debates, the two of us retired to the student union to have a beer or two. The fact is, we were friends and respected each other, and we considered each other patriots.
Unfortunately, that type of civility has disappeared in our country today. Thanks to the far left progressives in our government, in our news media, our institutions of higher learning, and in the entertainment industry, to name but a few, patriotism has become a dirty word. Those who love America and express that fact are viciously attacked, and repeated attempts are made to silence them. None of us who are defenders of the Constitution are immune from such attacks, but one group in particular has been singled out. I am referring to the tea party movement, and its members around the country.
Simply because they have stepped forward to take a stand for what they believe, they are being castigated as racists, extremists, and lunatics. They're being blamed for inciting acts of violence even when those acts are committed by individuals who have no connection with the tea party and in fact, have beliefs that are the opposite of those expressed by the tea party. Some left-wing commentators in the media are almost foaming at the mouth as they hurl insults at their fellow Americans who dare to disagree with them.
At the same time, President Obama, and members of his administration are blaming tea party members for many of his own failures as president. That is, when he is not blaming the tsunami in Japan, the economic crisis in Europe, ATMs, or President George W. Bush. Left-wingers in Congress tell tea party members to go to hell, and accuse them of wanting to have blacks lynched at the nearest tree, while members of labor unions declare war on them and make not so vague threats. At the same time, the liberal elitists in Hollywood and on university campuses openly call for the tea party to be kept from using their First Amendment rights to express themselves.
So who are these terrible individuals and groups that are considered such a threat by progressives? Well, I have spoken to tea party groups and worked with them, and I found them to be ordinary Americans who come from varied backgrounds, varied economic situations, and all of the racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds that make up this melting pot that is America. They are professionals, small business owners, housewives, military veterans, and students who are united in their belief in the Constitution and the United States of America. In other words, they are patriots.
They believe in what our founders believed in, a limited government, maximum individual liberties, the right of the states to govern without undue burdens being placed on them by the federal government, and a robust free-market economy. They do not believe that socialism, communism, or any form of fascism is the inevitable wave of the future for the people of this country, and they are prepared to speak up and resist those who do. Many of them carry a copy of the Constitution with them wherever they go.
They are the same men who over 230 years ago would have stood shoulder to shoulder at Bunker Hill to beat back the British onslaught. They're the same women who would have torn up their own clothes to make bandages for our wounded warriors, and who would have sewed the flags that were proudly carried into battle. They are the same people who sacrificed so much so that tyranny could be defeated, and a new and vibrant free country could be formed.
In fact, only between 40 and 45% of the colonists supported the American Revolution while 15 to 20% supported the King of Britain. The remainder tried to avoid taking sides and many of these continued to do business with both sides. Yet, the rebels were successful, and a new nation was born. Now, we have a new group of patriots standing up for America, and I'm proud to say that I stand with them.
Yet, unfortunately, the vicious assault on them seems to be having some effect. Support for the tea party movement seems to be diminishing, at least according to some polls. Of course, I have little trust in many of the public opinion polls being taken today, but that doesn't really matter. To the members of the tea party I say this; you are the present-day embodiment of the men and women who forged this great nation. Do not give up the fight, you're not alone. I am proud to call many of you my friends, and I'm proud to stand with you in defense of our Constitution.
I may not always agree with you on every occasion, but that is what has made America great in the past. We again need to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. My fellow Americans should understand that those who support the tea party movement are fighting for us and deserve our respect, admiration, and support. All of us who believe in freedom must stand tall, stand together, and be resolute in our defense of the Constitution and our way of life. At the same time, those who would destroy our nation must be made aware that we will not let them win. God bless America!
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