Constitution Day
How will you be celebrating Constitution Day, September 17? Had our Founders thought appropriate, they could have set aside the ratification date of the US Constitution to commemorate our country's beginning. Why did men who signed both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence chose July 4th as our nation's birthday?
The Declaration of Independence set forth the idea that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It declares that government's only legitimate purpose is to secure these rights. Revolutionary was the notion that these rights supersede all others and that government is subservient to man. The Declaration of Independence is a document of universal inspiration.
The US Constitution, by contrast, is a document of necessity. John Adams pointed out that if men were angels then government would not be necessary. The Constitution was written so as to limit government -- to limit man's power over other men. To that end, the Constitution and Bill of Rights contain a total of twenty-three usages of 'not' and 'nor' applied to the Congress in an attempt to secure the freedoms and dignity of man.
Today, however, we find Congress and the Courts viewing the Constitution as a document that empowers, not restrains government. The Feds want to pick our pockets (income tax), allow our property seized (Kelo decision), and dictate our lifestyle and healthcare choices (prohibit gay marriage and medicinal marijuana). It feigns to provide for our retirement and later-life health care, while running huge deficits, inflating our money supply, and devaluing our savings. It supports the contradiction that young adults 18-20 are too immature to consume alcohol yet mature enough to defend this government in foreign wars. Ironically, those who seek to tell others how to behave and how to dispose of their property, in essence -- those who wish to rule over others, may find more reason to celebrate Constitution Day than freedom lovers.
Every Fourth of July should be celebrated with a rereading of the Declaration. As time goes by, will the Constitution be read as a document that further grants more power to government or will it fulfill the Founders intent and return to being the document that protects our God-given right of freedom as individuals?
With Congressional confirmation of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts hinging on whether he subscribes to an "expansive view of the Constitution able to embrace evolving notions of social progress", the outlook hangs in the balance. I doubt our Founders would consider today's welfare state, advancing socialism, political correctness, gun control laws, excessive government regulation, and an interventionist militarism to be "social progress".
David Adams
Vice Chair
Libertarian Party of Kentucky
The Declaration of Independence set forth the idea that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It declares that government's only legitimate purpose is to secure these rights. Revolutionary was the notion that these rights supersede all others and that government is subservient to man. The Declaration of Independence is a document of universal inspiration.
The US Constitution, by contrast, is a document of necessity. John Adams pointed out that if men were angels then government would not be necessary. The Constitution was written so as to limit government -- to limit man's power over other men. To that end, the Constitution and Bill of Rights contain a total of twenty-three usages of 'not' and 'nor' applied to the Congress in an attempt to secure the freedoms and dignity of man.
Today, however, we find Congress and the Courts viewing the Constitution as a document that empowers, not restrains government. The Feds want to pick our pockets (income tax), allow our property seized (Kelo decision), and dictate our lifestyle and healthcare choices (prohibit gay marriage and medicinal marijuana). It feigns to provide for our retirement and later-life health care, while running huge deficits, inflating our money supply, and devaluing our savings. It supports the contradiction that young adults 18-20 are too immature to consume alcohol yet mature enough to defend this government in foreign wars. Ironically, those who seek to tell others how to behave and how to dispose of their property, in essence -- those who wish to rule over others, may find more reason to celebrate Constitution Day than freedom lovers.
Every Fourth of July should be celebrated with a rereading of the Declaration. As time goes by, will the Constitution be read as a document that further grants more power to government or will it fulfill the Founders intent and return to being the document that protects our God-given right of freedom as individuals?
With Congressional confirmation of Supreme Court nominee John Roberts hinging on whether he subscribes to an "expansive view of the Constitution able to embrace evolving notions of social progress", the outlook hangs in the balance. I doubt our Founders would consider today's welfare state, advancing socialism, political correctness, gun control laws, excessive government regulation, and an interventionist militarism to be "social progress".
David Adams
Vice Chair
Libertarian Party of Kentucky
posted by George Conrad Dick at 7:11 AM
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