In Iron Pen
"Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties."
Abraham Lincoln
I find it vaguely interesting how in the aftermath of the election of President Trump, the solution for the left to regain credibility in the eyes of the voters is to move further in the direction of socialist ideology in increasing the power of government, pushing for increasing tax burdens, protesting a legitimate president, stifling the approval processes of President Trump's cabinet appointments, propagating falsehoods being dispensed by the liberal media, advocating for further complication of the tax code, pushing for more outdated and ineffective government programs, and shouting down anyone with a conservative opinion or revealing inklings of support for President Trump's policy agenda.
GW, amidst other institutions here at the nation's capital, has become one of the epicenters of this progressive hogwash.
But in all the banter, both the devolving left and even the spawning alt-right have created the conditions where the Constitution continues to disappear behind the "Which side can hit the hardest?!” or “Which side can victimize itself the most!” What foolishness.
It is as if that after all this time politicians and the media pundits who reside in the ivory towers of Washington still do not understand the reasoning behind the seismic shift in the political leanings of the electorate (I say this sarcastically), let alone why such an anti-establishmentarian like Donald Trump could defy all odds and win the White House and pave the way for the Republicans to control majorities in both Houses of Congress; for the time being anyway.
The Constitution, in and of itself, represents the cardinal ethics behind individual liberty and the supreme mandate that limits the authorities of the federal government in the way it governs its people. But it is this document that continues to collect dust while legislators struggle to retain whatever power was shattered by the Trump phenomenon.
Liberty no longer dominates the dialogue within Congress or the elected officials. Rather, it is just two sides butting heads with each other about seemingly "similar" progressive agendas, trading blows without any progress in returning "respect for the Constitution" at the forefront of American policy-making. In reality the much acclaimed “progressive movement” in its many faces over the years has seemed to breed nothing but systemic societal “regressivism” into virulent identity politics (the irony).
Never did the Framers think that the country they founded would devolve into statist utopianism (though they were skeptical of America’s ability to fully maintain the society of checked and balanced govenrance they had built), where politicians who can't even be trusted to govern themselves maintain the audacious stance that they are more able to rule the lives of their constituents than the constituents themselves. According to syndicated talk-show host and political analyst Mark Levin:
"We live in what I call a ‘post-Constitutional’ period. And you’re well familiar with Woodrow Wilson and the Progressive movement. We have to accept the fact that they won. They did win and this utopian statism and Constitutional Republicanism cannot coexist. And they don’t coexist. And the circle of liberty around every individual is shrinking and shrinking and shrinking… So if you believe in the Constitution, then you have to believe it’s time to reestablish it."
It is no wonder then why "autonomy of the individual" is rarely ever taught anymore within the inner circles of the education system, let alone GW, or debated on with any fervor within the House and Senate Galleries.
The consumption of power that has been centralized in Washington as well as general hubris are definitely the culprits in this trend, and it is a trend that the Framers feared would ultimately devolve the liberty they fought to establish as infallible in this country.
From nationalized healthcare policies, to rogue courts breaking ranks to establish common law through the word of mouth of some magistrate, to the creation of government agencies that can circumvent the legislature in the construction of policy, to massive regulation, to overburdening taxation, to suppression of individual liberty and to executive overreach, the American government has become the instrument of the very tyranny it was designed to defend American liberty against. As President Thomas Jefferson once stated:
"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that ‘all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.’ To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power no longer susceptible of any definition.”
It is astounding that such a philosophy behind the drafting of the U.S. Constitution could be considered "outdated," when liberty in and of itself should be considered timeless and above reproach.
What stands in between the people and their government is the Constitution of the United States and the liberty that it guarantees to everyone under its jurisdiction. This is a mentality that has been all but eradicated from within society. The progressives controlling education (such as GW), big business, federal and state governments have done well in reforming the perspectives of the populace into a state of absolute dependence on government entities that are themselves not subject to any kind of accountability.
The Constitution, standing in the way of government, is the perfect counterbalance in limiting the activism that goes on behind an unrestrained regulatory state. It is then no wonder why the progressives have been so adamant about delegitimizing it through colorful, socialist rhetoric; even longer than they have been aiming to now delegitimize the 45th President of the United States.
There is no greater ally to the American people than Liberty and the Constitution that enshrines it. The people of this nation know more than most the price that had to be paid for freedom to be established, which makes its disrespect by elected officials all the more treasonous. As 16th President of the United States Abraham Lincoln once stated:
"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution."
This kind of patriotism is the only thing that makes government subservient to the will of the people. That we as educated individuals emerge from the smoke and mirrors and hold government accountable. This is our right and our ultimate duty as American citizens. Regardless of whoever is in office, our freedom must remain the sovereign goal of the Constitutional Republic.
There indeed can be no substitutes or any other discretionary ventures into a political system other than one that enshrines liberty. Freedom is a God-given right to mankind, and it cannot be legislated by representative in Congress, nor mandated under the political clout of a president, nor can it be adjudicated by some fallible magistrate in a black robe. If God is indeed sovereign and sits on the throne of Heaven for now until eternity, then the freedom which he imparts to his creation will likewise reign with him for eternity. The Framers made a point in making freedom a God-given right, because they recognized the inescapable thirst for power that pervades humanity’s imbedded hubris.
To my recollection the iron gall ink that stains the Constitution has not dried up and withered, nor has its fire dwindled in the hearts of Freedom's Vanguard. For there is no greater responsibility given to We the People or specifically to us as students of GW in the heart of the nation’s capital than the mission to defend liberty and to protect the sovereignty of the individual that generations before us have sacrificed their lives defending. Here we live under the guiding principle that we all are created equal and equally authorized to create a more perfect union, whose cohesiveness can only be cemented through the sacredness and obedience to inalienable liberty.
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
It is “We the People” that govern the affairs of this nation. With an Iron Pen this duty was founded in our Constitution, and it is from the ink that still covers its pages which makes it our forever enduring Law of the Land that the patriots will be the first to the front-lines to stand against the devices of tyranny that would see our freedom stripped away by force.
Joey Vazquez is a columnist for the GW College Republicans' website. The opinions expressed on this blog are his own opinions and do not necessarily represent the official views of the GW College Republicans.
