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1994-10-05
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Putting People First / September 18, 1994
=========================================
Washington Report
FROM THE TRENCHES
by Kathleen Marquardt
Chairman, Putting People First
...A weekly opinion column about the struggle against "animal rights" and
eco-extremists.
Copyright@1994 Putting People First
Permission to reproduce this column is freely granted on the condition that
credit is given to Putting People First.
Putting People First is a nonprofit organization of citizens who believe in
western civilization; that we need to return to common sense in man's
relationship with his fellow man; and that public policy should be based on
science and rationality, not emotionalism.
Putting People First
PO Box 1707
Helena, Montana 59624
(406) 442-5700
Fax (406) 449-0942
=====================================================================
Will We Keep Our Constitution "Matchless?"
Today many politicians and government functionaries are saying
the Constitution is outdated and needs to be rewritten for modern
times. I wonder how many of those calling for this have recently read
the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence?
I read them again last night and came to the conclusion that
these documents are extremely appropriate for our times and need no
alterations. What is needed is for our government to follow what
Alexis De Tocqueville called our "matchless Constitution." It is
still matchless, it is just the politicians that have become corrupted
and in need of replacement.
First, let us look at a few lines from the Declaraion of
Independence:
o "He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither
swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance."
The "he" meant King George, but put in "the President" and it is
totally appropriate today. Our government has established so many new
agencies to tax, regulate, and otherwise "eat out our substance."
o "He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws." Just
look at the Biodiversity Treaty and all the other treaties being
foisted on the American public without the knowledge or consent of "We
the People." By making us subject to United Nations and other
international controls, these agreements infringe on our sovereignty
and erode the Constitution.
o "For imposing Taxes on as without our Consent." (No need to
elaborate on this one.)
o "For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by
Jury." This is especially egregious right now. A friend of mine was
"tried and convicted" in the Washington Post months before he ever got
to a courtroom. "Officials" from EPA, IRS, and other agencies make
decisions about people's "guilt" and go after them with government
regulations and edicts. The accused never gets to court but often
loses his property, livelihood and even family in the process. People
who have "committed" environmental "crimes," or have the wrong
politics, or who can be labeled as cultists or other kinds of wackos,
are being murdered or sent to jail while real criminals serve no time.
o "For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws
and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments." The present
federal government has sworn to uphold the Constitution and then
repeatedly and with deliberation has trampled it. The Constitution
as written by our forefathers is as relevant today as it was over two
hundred years ago. This nation would be even greater than it was in
1776 if men had followed the Constitution rather than their greed and
lust for power.
Now let us go over just a few points in the Constitution itself:
The Bill of Rights is in shreds. *The First Amendment -
concerning freedom of religion and speech now seems to protect only
"politically correct" religions and speech. Those who would remind
government that the Constitution is based on western culture or
Judeo/Christianity are labeled the "religious right" even if they have
never set foot in a church. Those who would question the federal
government, those who would question public policy based on pseudo-
scientific data, are labelled as promoters of raping and pillaging the
earth and all its resources.
*The Second Amendment - the right to bear arms - now should be
read the right to disarm law-abiding citizens. Handgun Control Inc.,
the Attorney General, the President, and the Congress, have done much
to obliterate the Second Amendment in spite of protest from the
Constitutionally literate populace.
*The Fourth Amendment - the right to be secure from unreasonable
searches and seizures - is just fine if you redefine "unreasonable" or
insert the word "not" after "right." Too many American citizens have
had to endure unlawful searches and had their private papers,
belongings and other property seized by quasi-governmental officials
who would not even have the authority to act as they do if they were
legitimate.
*The Fifth Amendment disallows taking private property without
just compensation. We believers in the beauty and immutability of the
Constitution are still trying to find where it now says that "just
compensation" is applicable in very few cases and then it means "no
more than 1% of the value of the property taken."
*The Tenth Amendment reserves powers not Constitutionally
delegated to the federal government to the States or to the people.
Our President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court have seen fit to
totally ignore this last article comprising the Bill of Rights. These
parties have signed international treaties that supersede the
Constitution, they have written laws that take power from the states
without their consent, and, perhaps using ESP, they read things into
the Constitution that just are not there in black and white.
This assault on the Declaration of Independence and the
Constitution has been bi-partisan. Those who are wallowing at the
public trough care not that our forefathers first fought for our
freedoms and then toiled long and hard to draft a document that could
and should keep us free from tyranny, in any form, for the life of our
great country.
In the late 1700s almost every family had a copy of the
Constitution and read it frequently. According to Thomas Paine,
"Every member of the Government had a copy; and nothing was more
common when any debate arose on the principle of a bill, or on the
extent of any species of authority, than for the Members to take the
printed Constitution out of their pocket and read the chapter with
which such matter in debate was connected." When was the last time
(if ever) that you saw a member of Congress open the Constitution
(even on C-Span)?
Just as the religious christian reads the Bible regularly, the
conscientious Jew reads the Talmud, and the pious Muslim consults the
Koran, so must the patriotic American read the Constitution. And,
more importantly, we must require that our representatives abide by it
- not some warped and hallucinatory version they keep tucked in the
back of their memory.
Our present federal government - Republicans, Democrats, and
independents alike - would be wise to re read the Declaration of
Independence. Bye changing a few of the phrases from the 1770s to
present time, it would be difficult not to see the relevancy.
KATHLEEN MARQUARDT TO HOST NATIONAL CALL-IN RADIO TALK SHOW
Putting People First has announced plans to complement its North
American FAX network with a daily live call-in radio talk show called
Grassroots Radio. Hosted by Kathleen Marquardt, it will reach a wide
afternoon commuter audience, including many who never read our news
and comments about animal rights and Green extremism.
Distributed over Talk America Radio Network in Boston, Grassroots
Radio will be available for local station pickup from three
communications satellites. It will air live Monday thr