Polite American or Patriotic American?

Are you polite? Most Americans are; polite is part of our culture and we usually go out of our way to avoid conflicts. Frogs in a pot of cool water are polite. Holocaust victims were polite. Year after year most Americans are still polite. Being a patriotic American usually idles along in the background. But how long must we put up with bullies who smile and claim to be working for us while really destroying our country from within? This subject is not new. I remember talking with friends about it in the early ‘70s, long before our bold officials thrust themselves so deeply into everyone’s lives.

 When polite Americans allow over-reaching federal officials of all types to control and regulate their actions without resisting, they become subjects; no longer free men or sovereign citizens.

 We often talk about our Constitution and Bill of Rights and how they’ve been ignored by federal officials. The real document to consider is the Declaration of Independence. The Constitution is the enabling document for the principles outlined in the Declaration.

 Have you read the Declaration lately? If so, you’ll probably remember some of the more famous phrases:

“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government…”

 The Declaration goes on to list the issues the colonies had with the King and his policies. With a few adjustments, perhaps we the people should publish a 2009 version of the Declaration of Independence declaring our intent to institute a new government for the united (sic) States of America.

 Given that the Constitution and Bill of Rights are largely ignored in Washington as “inconvenient and obstructionist,” today’s federal government is clearly “destructive of these ends” as described in the Declaration. Therefore, our forefathers have already declared, “it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government…” I haven’t yet located the “Application to Abolish and Replace Our Oppressive Government” form to download, but I’m sure it’s on a government website somewhere.

 At his recent address to the joint session of congress, President Obama outlined his plan for fixing our country’s problems. He made many expensive proposals and not a single item on the list of promises appears to be permitted under the Constitution.  There’s that pesky Constitution, getting in the way, again.  Over and over again through our history, officials have ignored both the Constitution and the laws of economics and tried to stimulate that which should not ever be so stimulated. These apparently are very difficult lessons for elected rulers to accept.

 Polite Americans may not fully understand the Declaration of Independence, but patriotic Americans do. Which one are you?

Comments

[John Charles Smith]

Me? I'm Patriotic.

Unfortunately, the last group of "Patriotic" Americans who decided that they were Fed up (pun intended) and actually exercised that right "to alter or abolish", had war declared on them.

Let the War Between the States serve as a lesson to all who oppose the almighty Federal Government.

I've also recently observed that for every "Patriotic" American, there are 5 "Polite" ones. I've noticed that more and more people in today's America actually prefer a massive nanny state. What other explanation is there for the way things are?