Reagan on Socialized Medicine

Ladies of America

For most Americans, we are familiar with the Statue of Liberty. Lady Liberty stands on Liberty Island in New York and has for years welcomed people to The Land of the Free, The United States of America. From her left foot she has broken the shackles that held her captive – a representation of how Americans were to be free of oppression and tyranny. As an indirect symbol of America and her birth and therefore her Republic government where all people were to be represented, I cannot help but wonder what poor Miss Liberty thinks of what America has become. Has someone snuck up behind her and reshackled her feet or have we let our vampirous politicians clamp down on her neck and drain her of her liberty blood. I am afraid that like our Founding Fathers, Lady Liberty would be sad to see what we have become.

America does have another lady in our lives, though. We don’t hear much about her but she is probably just as important. In our Republic we are great because we have the law on our side. Our government was designed to give the power to the people and have everyone represented. Yes, even better then [mob rule] Democracy as everyone purports (and America is not a Democracy). Representing this idea is Lady Justice.

Lady Justice is normally depicted with a sword in one hand, a scale in the other, and blindfolded. The scale is representative of Justice weighing both sides equally under law while the blindfold is to represent the law being carried out objectively and without favoritism or impartialism. (The sword I would presume would represent the ability to guard the law while justice is being weighed? Please comment if you know what the sword symbolizes).

I think it is amazing at how symbolic this single graphical depiction of justice is. It judges without fear or favor because it cannot tell who it is judging. Evidence is quite simply placed into the scale and she weighs them and decides what the outcome is in accordance with the law is. In essence, it is the scale that decides, not her.

Fast forward to 2009 and we now have President Obama saying that he wants a new Justice that holds the following qualities.

Obama said he valued the ‘quality of empathy’ and was hopeful of finding a new justice who would reflect on people’s ‘hopes and struggles’ in the process of arriving at legal decisions. (link)

I am sure that this does not alarm many people out there, but it does me. Essentially what this means is that when you step into a court room, you are stepping into room where they judge and rule upon how well you can emotionally move them, not how your situation applies to the laws on the book. In simple terms, you will not be convicted (or your defendant will not be found guilty) based on laws but rather flippiant emotions.

It is noteworthy to mention that the outside of the Supreme Court it reads, “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW” not “EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER EMOTION AND EMPATHY.”

Maybe Lady Justice should put down her scale and just sit there and see who moves her emotionally instead of weighing the law.

Without law, we have nothing folks.

Where Is Our Republic?

“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government…”

- United States Constitution Article 4 Section 4 Clause 1.

Our Founding Fathers agreed to a Republican form of Government for this young upstart nation vice a Democracy for many reasons, among which, as James Madison said “A pure democracy is unwieldy, dangerous in its passion, and subject to mob rule thereby lending itself to instability and violence. Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.”

In a Republic, the majority may never have complete control over the minority. The rights of the minority are protected by the checks and balances built into the Republics by-laws. One of the checks and balances our Constitution provides was in how or country was represented at the Federal level. The members of the House of Representatives were elected by the people of the respective districts, the Senators were appointed by the legislatures of each of the several States. One chamber was for the people and one chamber for the States and the President was elected by a majority vote of the electors of the several States. This ensured that the rights, needs and desires of the PEOPLE and the STATES were represented at the Federal level.

Since the Seventeenth Amendment was adopted to the Constitution, the voice of the States has been taken away. The Checks and balances put into place by our founding fathers have been removed and our form of governance has been whittled away to an unwieldy Democracy. The people vote for our President, the people vote for our Representatives and the people vote for the Senators. Fifty-one percent of the country now has complete control over the other 49 percent. Look back at the history of our nation, prior to the adopting of the 17th Amendment things were pretty smooth, the People and the States had to agree in order for legislation to pass both houses. Now the People have to agree with the People, which ever side has 51 percent will usually win. I am well aware of the Senate 60 vote filibuster issue, but I contend it is merely a matter of time before Harry Reid tries to change that. The House has already all but eliminated any input from the minority party, I don’t expect the Senate to be far behind.

In order to reacquire the promise of Article 4 Section 4 Clause 1 of the Constitution, this American believes the road starts with repealing the 17th Amendment.

Written by: DJ

The Right that Protects All Other Rights

Old article, but a good one. Obama may not come to our home and take our guns, but he can (and probably will) make it hard for you to get guns and also make it harder and more expensive to buy ammunition. Take if from the Founding Fathers, guns are the one right that protects all the other rights.