Alan Keyes
Has the Constitution failed us?
Ballot-box plan to thwart 'scheme for oligarchic dominance'
By Alan Keyes
Has the Constitution failed us?
Or have "we the people" failed the Constitution?
An article I read recently quoted the leader of an American grassroots citizens' movement as saying:
"For more than five years, 'we the people' have been writing, calling, faxing Congress, the media, screaming in town halls, marching, rallying, demonstrating, petitioning, all to no avail.... Every branch of government looks at 'we the people,' whom they have taken an oath to serve, as 'pests,' interfering with their political agenda, cramping their self-serving, greedy agendas. We have no faith in the ballot box any longer, as many believe this sacred secret box has been compromised."
Anyone familiar with my speeches and writing over the past few years knows how deeply I share the frustration these words express. Frankly though, I also find it frustrating that people who lament the fact that people in government have abandoned the Constitution express themselves in a way that suggests that they have abandoned it themselves – for periodic elections are the vital heart of the republican form of government the Constitution establishes. Someone who has lost faith in the ballot box has in fact lost faith in the U.S. Constitution.
Of course, if it were factually the case that the ballot box has been compromised, we would have no choice but to conclude that the Constitution has failed – but what factual evidence justifies this conclusion? To be sure, elected officials in Congress haven't been representing the people who elected them. But the problem isn't fraudulent electoral outcomes in the constitutional elections (i.e., the biennial November elections). For example, in the 2010 elections, voters restored control of the U.S. House of Representatives to the GOP. The GOP's margin of victory came from so-called tea-party candidates, elected to represent grassroots demands for the restoration of limited government, beginning with limits on debt and spending.
Thus, the voters weren't thwarted at the ballot box. Their election mobilization succeeded. But it was thwarted during the congressional session because the GOP is controlled by elitist faction leaders who actually depend upon and support the expansion of U.S. government power and domination. So in the two years following the 2010 election, each time the smoke of mock legislative combat cleared, it was clear that the expansion of government continued unchecked, as it does to this day. So does the abrogation of vital provisions of the U.S. Constitution, such as the provision that revenue-raising measures must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, or that the president must faithfully execute laws made pursuant to the Constitution.
The problem, therefore, isn't that the biennial fall elections are hopelessly corrupted. The problem is that the so-called two-party system is a manipulative sham. The Democratic and Republican parties are not truly opposed to one another. They are controlled by wings of the same elitist clique. That clique is bent on replacing government of, by, and for the people with government strictly controlled by the elitist few. Such elitist oligarchies have been the rule for human governments throughout human history.
Thanks to the goodwill of America's prevalent founders, the U.S. Constitution became, for a time, the basis for the first and only real exception to that rule. When Obama or the elitist faction's pundits and academics pontificate about the end of American exceptionalism, this is the real import of their boast. I saw an article not long ago about an academic report that purported to confirm that the U.S. government has been transformed into an oligarchy that "does not represent the interests of the majority of the country's citizens, but is instead ruled by those of the rich and powerful."
If true, this defeats the whole purpose of the U.S. Constitution. Its purpose was to implement what Madison called a "scheme of representation" implemented through frequent, periodic elections by the people. Again we must ask, has the Constitution failed? Is that why we get results, especially in Congress, that no longer represent the people? I say, to the contrary, that it is we the people who have failed the Constitution. Instead of taking the lead in the electoral process, we have consented to become passive consumers of results produced by a party system dominated by factors (mainly money and media) that are substantially controlled by the elitist clique.
The sham party system plays to the strength of this burgeoning oligarchy. Using thoroughly manipulated conventions and primaries, where their money and media dominance usually gives them the whip hand, they have a preponderant influence on the selection of candidates in both parties. By controlling the choices available in the fall general elections, they control the choice of the people. So, whichever way that choice goes, the elitist faction's interests are served.
Electoral politics is like a war of maneuver. It depends on strategically gathering and positioning your forces before the day of battle (Election Day) so that, by the time that day arrives, the disposition of your forces discourages the opposition forces from showing up. The elitist clique uses the sham party system to create perceptions that achieve this discouraging effect.
There is, however, a way to thwart this scheme for oligarchic dominance. The key lies in direct, person-to-person mobilization of voters, by means that don't rely on the media-fabricated perceptions of candidates, issues, and events. Modern information technology now offers grassroots people the chance to construct highly visible attestations of electoral strength more salient than these media fabrications. Instead of phony polls and bulging coffers, grassroots folks can build a database of voters, all of them rallied around a cause that summarizes their most vital concerns; all of them pledged to vote for no candidates who refuse, unequivocally, to pledge that once elected they will act and vote as specified in the written pledge they have signed.
Built with scrupulous integrity (i.e., verified pledgers, pledging only once, whose voter status in their state or district is confirmed before Election Day), the number of voters thus mobilized is publicized for all to see. As the number increases, the political leverage it represents will increase. It will increase because, as Election Day nears, candidates in different states and congressional districts who have not taken the pledge will have to deal with the reality of a large bloc of votes that is theirs for the taking.
This is the strategic concept that informs the Pledge To Impeach voter mobilization effort. It calls for people to rally in defense of the Constitution by demonstrating the political will needed to elect a Congress that will impeach, try, and remove Obama, Biden, and all the civil officers of the U.S. government who are collaborating in their push to overturn the U.S. Constitution. Losing faith in the ballot box only helps the Constitution's enemies succeed. So stop putting your faith in what has repeatedly proven itself to be a sham party system. Join in building a highly visible bloc of voters determined to demonstrate the sovereign power over their government the Constitution leaves to the American people, for use whenever they have good reason and sense enough to use it.
May 20, 2014
Has the Constitution failed us?
Or have "we the people" failed the Constitution?
An article I read recently quoted the leader of an American grassroots citizens' movement as saying:
"For more than five years, 'we the people' have been writing, calling, faxing Congress, the media, screaming in town halls, marching, rallying, demonstrating, petitioning, all to no avail.... Every branch of government looks at 'we the people,' whom they have taken an oath to serve, as 'pests,' interfering with their political agenda, cramping their self-serving, greedy agendas. We have no faith in the ballot box any longer, as many believe this sacred secret box has been compromised."
Anyone familiar with my speeches and writing over the past few years knows how deeply I share the frustration these words express. Frankly though, I also find it frustrating that people who lament the fact that people in government have abandoned the Constitution express themselves in a way that suggests that they have abandoned it themselves – for periodic elections are the vital heart of the republican form of government the Constitution establishes. Someone who has lost faith in the ballot box has in fact lost faith in the U.S. Constitution.
Of course, if it were factually the case that the ballot box has been compromised, we would have no choice but to conclude that the Constitution has failed – but what factual evidence justifies this conclusion? To be sure, elected officials in Congress haven't been representing the people who elected them. But the problem isn't fraudulent electoral outcomes in the constitutional elections (i.e., the biennial November elections). For example, in the 2010 elections, voters restored control of the U.S. House of Representatives to the GOP. The GOP's margin of victory came from so-called tea-party candidates, elected to represent grassroots demands for the restoration of limited government, beginning with limits on debt and spending.
Thus, the voters weren't thwarted at the ballot box. Their election mobilization succeeded. But it was thwarted during the congressional session because the GOP is controlled by elitist faction leaders who actually depend upon and support the expansion of U.S. government power and domination. So in the two years following the 2010 election, each time the smoke of mock legislative combat cleared, it was clear that the expansion of government continued unchecked, as it does to this day. So does the abrogation of vital provisions of the U.S. Constitution, such as the provision that revenue-raising measures must originate in the U.S. House of Representatives, or that the president must faithfully execute laws made pursuant to the Constitution.
The problem, therefore, isn't that the biennial fall elections are hopelessly corrupted. The problem is that the so-called two-party system is a manipulative sham. The Democratic and Republican parties are not truly opposed to one another. They are controlled by wings of the same elitist clique. That clique is bent on replacing government of, by, and for the people with government strictly controlled by the elitist few. Such elitist oligarchies have been the rule for human governments throughout human history.
Thanks to the goodwill of America's prevalent founders, the U.S. Constitution became, for a time, the basis for the first and only real exception to that rule. When Obama or the elitist faction's pundits and academics pontificate about the end of American exceptionalism, this is the real import of their boast. I saw an article not long ago about an academic report that purported to confirm that the U.S. government has been transformed into an oligarchy that "does not represent the interests of the majority of the country's citizens, but is instead ruled by those of the rich and powerful."
If true, this defeats the whole purpose of the U.S. Constitution. Its purpose was to implement what Madison called a "scheme of representation" implemented through frequent, periodic elections by the people. Again we must ask, has the Constitution failed? Is that why we get results, especially in Congress, that no longer represent the people? I say, to the contrary, that it is we the people who have failed the Constitution. Instead of taking the lead in the electoral process, we have consented to become passive consumers of results produced by a party system dominated by factors (mainly money and media) that are substantially controlled by the elitist clique.
The sham party system plays to the strength of this burgeoning oligarchy. Using thoroughly manipulated conventions and primaries, where their money and media dominance usually gives them the whip hand, they have a preponderant influence on the selection of candidates in both parties. By controlling the choices available in the fall general elections, they control the choice of the people. So, whichever way that choice goes, the elitist faction's interests are served.
Electoral politics is like a war of maneuver. It depends on strategically gathering and positioning your forces before the day of battle (Election Day) so that, by the time that day arrives, the disposition of your forces discourages the opposition forces from showing up. The elitist clique uses the sham party system to create perceptions that achieve this discouraging effect.
There is, however, a way to thwart this scheme for oligarchic dominance. The key lies in direct, person-to-person mobilization of voters, by means that don't rely on the media-fabricated perceptions of candidates, issues, and events. Modern information technology now offers grassroots people the chance to construct highly visible attestations of electoral strength more salient than these media fabrications. Instead of phony polls and bulging coffers, grassroots folks can build a database of voters, all of them rallied around a cause that summarizes their most vital concerns; all of them pledged to vote for no candidates who refuse, unequivocally, to pledge that once elected they will act and vote as specified in the written pledge they have signed.
Built with scrupulous integrity (i.e., verified pledgers, pledging only once, whose voter status in their state or district is confirmed before Election Day), the number of voters thus mobilized is publicized for all to see. As the number increases, the political leverage it represents will increase. It will increase because, as Election Day nears, candidates in different states and congressional districts who have not taken the pledge will have to deal with the reality of a large bloc of votes that is theirs for the taking.
This is the strategic concept that informs the Pledge To Impeach voter mobilization effort. It calls for people to rally in defense of the Constitution by demonstrating the political will needed to elect a Congress that will impeach, try, and remove Obama, Biden, and all the civil officers of the U.S. government who are collaborating in their push to overturn the U.S. Constitution. Losing faith in the ballot box only helps the Constitution's enemies succeed. So stop putting your faith in what has repeatedly proven itself to be a sham party system. Join in building a highly visible bloc of voters determined to demonstrate the sovereign power over their government the Constitution leaves to the American people, for use whenever they have good reason and sense enough to use it.
To see more articles by Dr. Keyes, visit his blog at LoyalToLiberty.com and his commentary at WND.com and BarbWire.com.
© Alan KeyesThe views expressed by RenewAmerica columnists are their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of RenewAmerica or its affiliates.
(See RenewAmerica's publishing standards.)
