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From The American Thinker:
February 19, 2011
Thus Ever Are Tyrants
By Jim Mahoney
Contempt for the people and their just laws are the hallmarks of tyranny. When the tyrant looks out upon the masses he bestrides, he doesn't see people; he sees objects to be manipulated, mulcted and molested. The sacred trust binding the people and their government means nothing to the tyrant. At best, it's merely an obstacle to his objective.
Because he has no kinship with the people, he feels as free to poach and plunder them as any other criminal. Having the power of the state at his disposal there is no limit to his predation.
A free people, recognizing that the tyrant reflects the corrupt state of all men, wisely hem in their governments with rules. Wherever possible they diffuse power away from individuals. Separation of powers, like the rest of our Constitution, reflects a wise suspicion of fallen human nature.
Only people who acknowledge man's inherent corruption as an immutable truth will ever be free. Only people humble enough to recognize their own failings will ever accept restraint. Consequently, these are the only people who will ever voluntarily submit themselves to the rule of law. They are also the only people fit to lead a free society.
A tyrant, on the other hand, is as sure of his own perfection as he is certain that no limits apply to him. No law will ever contain him. If a people are to remain free, their only hope is to keep him away from power.
Perhaps this is why, when Ben Franklin emerged from the constitutional convention in 1787, he famously told the woman that the delegates gave birth to a "republic, if you can keep it." Understanding human nature as well as he did, his wisdom may have given him a glimpse into the future. Sadly, for much of the following two centuries, Americans failed miserably to meet to his challenge.
Today, America's elite culture is a squalid sludge of contempt. It is the perfect media for breeding tyrants. As with other forms of rot, our tyranny grew and developed unnoticed. The sudden rise of the Tea Party is akin to a man awakening to realize he has been feeding the termites threatening to collapse his home.
Stampeded by a series of shocking events, followed by a flurry of dubious laws justified by hazy reasoning, frightened Americans allowed tyranny to grow unchecked at a blistering rate. The freedoms we enjoyed a scant 15 years ago are now a dim memory. Today we meekly submit to laws permitting sneak and peak searches, no knock warrants, and high tech invasions of our persons that would turn any Red commissar green with envy.
Does anyone remember that just 15 years ago Americans were free to travel in their own country without showing identity papers? Does anyone seriously think these intrusions will stop growing on their own?
Sadly they are all transgressions that anyone reading the Constitution can plainly see are forbidden. Yet somehow in the sludge of the elite mind they are justified: destroying our freedom is necessary to protect "freedom". Battered daily with messages of panic and despair, the land of the free and home of the brave has been transformed something different altogether.
Every one of these abuses arises from a fundamental contempt for free people and the rule of law that protects us. They are only a sample from a shamefully long list.
Consider: we have a President who, for whatever reason, defies demonstrating his Constitutional qualification to hold his office. Whether or not he is qualified is practically irrelevant compared to the damage his intransigence has done to our Constitution and rule of law. By tolerating his obstinacy, Americans forever waive their right to demand evidence that a future president be American born. Let your imagination run with the possibilities.
Think it's farfetched?
Consider: the most fearsome power of the Federal government is to make war. The Constitution assigns specific responsibilities to Congress and the Executive to declare and execute war. It is a thorny and arduous process. It's supposed to be. It's intended as a barrier against gratuitous death.
Yet the last constitutionally declared war ended in 1945. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been killed or maimed and millions slaughtered across the globe at the whim of a single man, defying or, at best finessing, the Constitutional obligation of Congress to declare war.
Protestors may howl about this president or that war. However, no one gives a thought to the brazen assault that undeclared, unconstitutional wars represent to the American people and our Republic. After 65 years of blind submission to this tyranny, why would the thought occur to anyone?
Does anybody seriously think there will ever be another constitutionally declared war? That protection's gone the way of the Whigs.
As bad as destroying our financial lives is, once Americans accepted sacrificing our young in this manner, it was only a matter of time before our emboldened "leaders" came for the rest of the loot.
Here is a documentary film showing the price today's brave young Americans and our Afghan "beneficiaries" are paying for no more reason than our President found himself impaled on his own talking points. As a result, another generation gets to pursue the deadly chimera of "hearts and minds" for no greater purpose than to pull the President's foot from his mouth.
Worse, while such horrors proceed in his name, the greatest pain this man experiences holding office is losing his privacy! Would we expect less compassion from George III?
The rise of the Tea Party is a grass-roots recognition that our liberty is too precious to leave to a dull priesthood of politicians and pundits. The finest Constitution on earth is just a piece of paper if the people it protects aren't prepared to enforce it. The mass rising of the populace embodied in the Tea Parties is an unprecedented threat to our budding dictators. It's no surprise their empire struck back with every lame insult its muddled minds could muster.
In their own way, the transparent calumnies hurled at Americans demanding the government obey our laws are comforting. If that's the best the elites have, perhaps many of the other walls they've built around us are equally flimsy.
Still, we are on the threshold of losing our Republic. As with other life threatening situations, admitting the problem is the first step: America, we have a tyranny! However, judging by the panicked response of the elites, we still have the means to thwart it. Demanding the government and its officials abide by the Constitution they are sworn to uphold and defend is our best hope.
Enforcing the demands is uncomfortable. They tyrant has many minions, conscious and otherwise. It's important to recognize that even those who proclaim themselves our friends can be as dangerous as our adversaries. Whether it's the Panjandrum of Fairness and Balance or the eye of the Peacock that alters all, those who ridicule the just concerns of the public are themselves the forces of darkness and ignorance.
Their conduct reveals their allegiance.
February 19, 2011
Thus Ever Are Tyrants
By Jim Mahoney
Contempt for the people and their just laws are the hallmarks of tyranny. When the tyrant looks out upon the masses he bestrides, he doesn't see people; he sees objects to be manipulated, mulcted and molested. The sacred trust binding the people and their government means nothing to the tyrant. At best, it's merely an obstacle to his objective.
Because he has no kinship with the people, he feels as free to poach and plunder them as any other criminal. Having the power of the state at his disposal there is no limit to his predation.
A free people, recognizing that the tyrant reflects the corrupt state of all men, wisely hem in their governments with rules. Wherever possible they diffuse power away from individuals. Separation of powers, like the rest of our Constitution, reflects a wise suspicion of fallen human nature.
Only people who acknowledge man's inherent corruption as an immutable truth will ever be free. Only people humble enough to recognize their own failings will ever accept restraint. Consequently, these are the only people who will ever voluntarily submit themselves to the rule of law. They are also the only people fit to lead a free society.
A tyrant, on the other hand, is as sure of his own perfection as he is certain that no limits apply to him. No law will ever contain him. If a people are to remain free, their only hope is to keep him away from power.
Perhaps this is why, when Ben Franklin emerged from the constitutional convention in 1787, he famously told the woman that the delegates gave birth to a "republic, if you can keep it." Understanding human nature as well as he did, his wisdom may have given him a glimpse into the future. Sadly, for much of the following two centuries, Americans failed miserably to meet to his challenge.
Today, America's elite culture is a squalid sludge of contempt. It is the perfect media for breeding tyrants. As with other forms of rot, our tyranny grew and developed unnoticed. The sudden rise of the Tea Party is akin to a man awakening to realize he has been feeding the termites threatening to collapse his home.
Stampeded by a series of shocking events, followed by a flurry of dubious laws justified by hazy reasoning, frightened Americans allowed tyranny to grow unchecked at a blistering rate. The freedoms we enjoyed a scant 15 years ago are now a dim memory. Today we meekly submit to laws permitting sneak and peak searches, no knock warrants, and high tech invasions of our persons that would turn any Red commissar green with envy.
Does anyone remember that just 15 years ago Americans were free to travel in their own country without showing identity papers? Does anyone seriously think these intrusions will stop growing on their own?
Sadly they are all transgressions that anyone reading the Constitution can plainly see are forbidden. Yet somehow in the sludge of the elite mind they are justified: destroying our freedom is necessary to protect "freedom". Battered daily with messages of panic and despair, the land of the free and home of the brave has been transformed something different altogether.
Every one of these abuses arises from a fundamental contempt for free people and the rule of law that protects us. They are only a sample from a shamefully long list.
Consider: we have a President who, for whatever reason, defies demonstrating his Constitutional qualification to hold his office. Whether or not he is qualified is practically irrelevant compared to the damage his intransigence has done to our Constitution and rule of law. By tolerating his obstinacy, Americans forever waive their right to demand evidence that a future president be American born. Let your imagination run with the possibilities.
Think it's farfetched?
Consider: the most fearsome power of the Federal government is to make war. The Constitution assigns specific responsibilities to Congress and the Executive to declare and execute war. It is a thorny and arduous process. It's supposed to be. It's intended as a barrier against gratuitous death.
Yet the last constitutionally declared war ended in 1945. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been killed or maimed and millions slaughtered across the globe at the whim of a single man, defying or, at best finessing, the Constitutional obligation of Congress to declare war.
Protestors may howl about this president or that war. However, no one gives a thought to the brazen assault that undeclared, unconstitutional wars represent to the American people and our Republic. After 65 years of blind submission to this tyranny, why would the thought occur to anyone?
Does anybody seriously think there will ever be another constitutionally declared war? That protection's gone the way of the Whigs.
As bad as destroying our financial lives is, once Americans accepted sacrificing our young in this manner, it was only a matter of time before our emboldened "leaders" came for the rest of the loot.
Here is a documentary film showing the price today's brave young Americans and our Afghan "beneficiaries" are paying for no more reason than our President found himself impaled on his own talking points. As a result, another generation gets to pursue the deadly chimera of "hearts and minds" for no greater purpose than to pull the President's foot from his mouth.
Worse, while such horrors proceed in his name, the greatest pain this man experiences holding office is losing his privacy! Would we expect less compassion from George III?
The rise of the Tea Party is a grass-roots recognition that our liberty is too precious to leave to a dull priesthood of politicians and pundits. The finest Constitution on earth is just a piece of paper if the people it protects aren't prepared to enforce it. The mass rising of the populace embodied in the Tea Parties is an unprecedented threat to our budding dictators. It's no surprise their empire struck back with every lame insult its muddled minds could muster.
In their own way, the transparent calumnies hurled at Americans demanding the government obey our laws are comforting. If that's the best the elites have, perhaps many of the other walls they've built around us are equally flimsy.
Still, we are on the threshold of losing our Republic. As with other life threatening situations, admitting the problem is the first step: America, we have a tyranny! However, judging by the panicked response of the elites, we still have the means to thwart it. Demanding the government and its officials abide by the Constitution they are sworn to uphold and defend is our best hope.
Enforcing the demands is uncomfortable. They tyrant has many minions, conscious and otherwise. It's important to recognize that even those who proclaim themselves our friends can be as dangerous as our adversaries. Whether it's the Panjandrum of Fairness and Balance or the eye of the Peacock that alters all, those who ridicule the just concerns of the public are themselves the forces of darkness and ignorance.
Their conduct reveals their allegiance.
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