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Its recent losses of special Congressional elections
in formerly safe districts indicate that the Republican Party may be in the
process of self-destruction. Deservedly so. The past eight years have
constituted a disaster the likes of which America has never before
suffered—a disaster for the practice of constitutional government and
the rule of law; for common Americans’ economic well-being; and for
America’s true “homeland security”, both abroad and
especially at home. And for all this the jackbooted leadership of the
Republican Party is primarily to blame, and ought to pay a heavy price at the
polls come November.
Changing
one of the Establishment’s horses—or jackasses—for another
in the middle of this septic stream, though, will alter nothing of substance
for the better. If the Democrats end up controlling both Congress and the
White House, the exorbitantly expensive socialistic policies they will enact
within the first two years of an Obama or a Clinton Administration, in the
context of a collapsing monetary and banking system among other crises, will engender
catastrophic effects. Whatever confidence naive Americans will have lent the
Democrats will evaporate in the white heat of economic and social meltdown
amidst national bankruptcy. So the Democratic Party, too, will likely
self-destruct.
And
if by some quirk of malicious Fate the Republicans manage to maintain their
grip on the White House while the Democrats (as right now appears certain)
retain control of Congress, leading to political gridlock in the midst of
economic and social turmoil, both parties will self-destruct simultaneously.
Well,
good riddance all around! But what will take their places in the political
firmament? Something will. The question is: Who will decide what that
something will be?
Some
people will argue that American patriots’ goal should be a new party,
if organized not around Ron Paul himself then around the political revolution
“from the bottom up” that his truncated candidacy for the
Republican nomination has demonstrated is as possible as it is desirable.
Others will propose building up and energizing one of the already organized
third parties, such as the Constitution Party. In ordinary times, these would
be good ideas, particularly if they could be combined into a single plan.
Today, however, they are old and tired remedies ill-suited to the
unprecedentedly perilous situation in which Americans find themselves.
Today,
the focus of patriots’ attention must be, not simply a party, but a
constitutionalist movement
that sweeps aside the distinctions, discriminations, and distractions
inherent in “party politics” to embrace instead every American of
good will who desires to save his country. This will require not simply a
movement for restoration of the Constitution as a generality, but for
restoration of constitutional government specifically through the institution
that includes potentially all Americans and that the Constitution itself
tells us is “necessary to the security of a free State”: namely,
“the Militia of the several States.” For once Americans have
constructed the groundwork for revitalizing the Militia, not only the
formation, reformation, or reinforcement of a viable constitutionalist
political vehicle, but also many other patriotic actions, will become
possible. And even if patriots cannot form a new political vehicle and elect
honest and intelligent candidates to office in time to fend off in the short
term the worst consequences of the mess the Republicans and Democrats have
bequeathed to this country, nevertheless large numbers of Americans will have
been mobilized, organized, and empowered with legal authority for the long
march of reasserting true popular self-government, and thus taking back their
homeland, State by State, through the Militia.
The
Militia, after all, are far more important than any political party. No political party
enjoys any explicit constitutional standing. To the contrary, most political
parties—certainly the Republican and Democratic Parties—have
proven themselves to be the avaricious “factions” that the
Founding Fathers execrated as enemies of a lasting free society. And even a
political party made up primarily of patriots might not be able to save this
country, because it would still lack the constitutional position and powers
to take the actions necessary under the extreme conditions that will soon
confront America.
The
Second Amendment declares that “[a] well regulated
Militia”—not any political party, let alone any particular
politician—is “necessary to the security of a free State”.
How many times does one need to be reminded by the supreme law of the land
that something is “NECESSARY” before he concludes that it needs
to be in operation, and if it is not in operation now then it needs to be put
into operation immediately, if not sooner?
Inasmuch
as “the Militia of the several States” consist of every
able-bodied citizen from sixteen to sixty—and whoever else among the
adult population volunteers for service—putting the Militia into
operation will require some contribution from just about everyone. So
patriots, first and foremost, must stop pouring the bulk of their efforts and
scarce resources into traditional short-term “fixes” that
invariably fizzle, and instead concentrate on what the Constitution tells
them, in no uncertain terms, is the long-term solution. If not, how can they possibly claim
to be constitutionalists?!
Anyone
with the least historical foresight can predict what is coming. All too
typically, when societies collapse into political, economic, and social
chaos, “a man on a white horse” emerges to “restore
order”—and then remains to impose it as he sees fit. Today, when
the storm clouds are just gathering and the Establishment’s political
machine still remains intact, he (or she) would probably emerge from one of
the “two” big political parties—and every one of the
“mainstream” candidates for President, with the instinct for
seizing abusive powers inbred in all political predators, is already
posturing as such a figure, in anticipation of the main chance. Yet, if
History is any guide, they are all destined to be disappointed. In some
not-so-distant tomorrow, when the crisis finally bursts forth in its full
fury—and all political parties and politicians are in disarray,
discredited, and despised because of the mess they have made of things—“the
man on the white horse” will likely emerge from the Armed Forces. After
all, from the Senate, to the Caesars, to the Praetorians is not a sequence of
political devolution unique to ancient Rome. Under modern conditions, though,
it will likely be accelerated. Even now talk is in the air about
“martial law” being imposed in the event of a collapse of the
monetary and banking systems or a major “terrorist” attack.
But
America’s Armed Forces—as vitally important as they are for their
proper purposes—should be, and should always want to be, the very last source of political
leadership. For, as Blackstone told the Founding Fathers and continues to
tell us, “martial law, which is built upon no settled principles, but
is entirely arbitrary in it’s decisions, is * * * in truth and reality
no law, but something indulged, rather than allowed as law * * * ; and
therefore it ought not to be permitted in time of peace, when the * * *
courts are open for all persons to receive justice according to the laws of
the land.” Commentaries
on the Laws of England, Volume I, at 412. The purpose of the
Armed Forces is to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and
domestic—not to attempt to lead it.
For
a crisis that threatens America’s survival as “a free
State,” the Constitution prescribes a different remedy altogether:
The
Armed Forces are not described by the Constitution as “necessary to the
security of a free State”—the Militia are.
The
Armed Forces are not composed of every able-bodied American from sixteen to
sixty, and thus the very embodiment of We the People—the Militia are.
The
Armed Forces are not organized on the basis of “the several
States,” in keeping with the first principle of federalism—the
Militia are.
The
Armed Forces are not delegated by the Constitution the explicit
responsibility “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress
Insurrections and repel Invasions”—the Militia are.
So
the Armed Forces—all the members of which have sworn to uphold and
defend the Constitution—should desire, perhaps more than any other
group, the restoration of the Militia to their rightful constitutional place,
prominence, and legal prerogatives.
In
the final analysis, any
“man on a white horse” is alien to the genius of American
constitutionalism, because the essence of constitutionalism is popular
self-government, not “the Leader Principle.” America has had more
than enough of “the Leader Principle” in the last eight years to
last eight lifetimes. But to avoid this danger staring them in the face,
patriots must start seriously planning and acting now, in order to take advantage of the
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the next three years will offer. Not just once
in my lifetime, or yours, but once in this country’s lifetime.
Quite
apropos in this situation is the analogy with which an old mathematics
instructor of mine reproved students who dawdled at the blackboard while they
chalked out faulty arguments in Euclidean geometry: “Life is like a
hunk of baloney; and time is like a knife. Every day you cut off a piece and
consume it. But no matter how thin you slice it, one day you will be out of
time and full of baloney!”
Every
“leading indicator” of political corruption, economic
instability, and social degeneracy tells us that this country’s time is
running out. But too many Americans, patriots included, are still just
sitting around, slicing into thinner and thinner pieces the same moldy
baloney of divisive party politics that has inflicted upon their country one
dose of indigestion after another—and now threatens to finish her off
with a terminal case of food poisoning.
We
know what the McCains, the Clintons, the Obamas, and everyone who advances
their anti-American agenda are full of. And it is nothing as wholesome or
tasty as baloney, either.
The question the answer to which will determine whether this country survives
in freedom and prosperity—or even survives at all as an independent
nation—thus remains: What are we full of? Baloney? Or the courage of
our convictions? Time will soon tell. And
what it tells will be tellingly told.
Edwin
Vieira
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