The gift was ten years late.
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| The Pedestal of Lady of Liberty |
What were President Cleveland's powerful words that have been predominately left on the dust heap of history?
We will not forget that liberty here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected.
America is the home for liberty. Alexis de Tocqueville wrote Democracy in America in 1835 and had some of the most awe-inspiring statements about America that modern day American politicians can't even come close to saying. What is more sad is that Tocqueville was a French citizen and his words can't be matched now-a-days. If so, it is with a small group of virtuous politicians. In reference to America being the home for liberty, Tocqueville said the following:
Americans believe their freedom to be the best instrument and surest safeguard of their welfare . . .that their chief business is to secure for themselves a government which will allow them to acquire the things they covet and which will not debar them from the peaceful enjoyment of those possessions which they have already acquired.
Tocqueville further said, "At the present time, the liberty of association has become the necessary guarantee against the tyranny of the majority." What Tocqueville was proclaiming in his great work was that America was a home for liberty where the individual had soverigenty and rights as opposed to a tyrannical democratic majority. His book had the title of democracy but Tocqueville was excited that this young country had a type of Democracy that extolled individual liberty and protected it. In fact, the US was not a Democracy but a Constitutional Republic. What is more, Tocqueville said, "...the Federal Constitution...disavowed beforehand the habitual use of compulsion in enforcing the decision of the majority." He continues, "The great end of justice is to substitute the notion of right for that of violence and to place a legal barrier between the government and the use of physical force." Some of our Founding Fathers agreed with Tocqueville. Benjamin Franklin said, "Where liberty dwells, there is my country." You guessed it, it was America that Franklin abode. He also said, "Freedom is not a gift bestowed upon us by other men, but a right that belongs to us by the laws of God and nature."
Lady Liberty was a gift bestowed by other men but her meaning is rooted deep into the intertwining of America's fabric. Benjamin Franklin said in reference to America's purpose:
"God grant that not only the love of liberty but a thorough knowledge of the rights of man may pervade all the nations of the earth, so that a philosopher may set his foot anywhere on its surface and say: This is my country."
The love of liberty was the purpose. America was the home of liberty.
Now, what about the altar? What was President Cleveland talking about when he said, "nor shall her chosen altar be neglected." That sounds religious. I know you Progressives are just mad has heck seeing that word. There is something sacred about the word altar. I think Thomas Jefferson described it best when he wrote to Benjamin Rush, another Founding Father. He said, "...for I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." So, there is a link between God and the altar that President Cleveland was talking about. America was and supposedly still is a Christian nation. I am a Libertarian and I do agree upon historical fact of our founding that America is a Christian nation. On the contrary, I am not obligated to believe that morality and personal choice needs to be legislated by the Government. However, this means that there is something sacred to America's love of liberty. There is something sacred to America's original intent to fighting the War for Independence, to writing the Constitution, and to form a Government independent of foreign rule. Liberty is sacred and tyranny is evil.
The question is now posed to our current generation. Have we neglected Lady Liberty's chosen altar? I can go down the line of the tyrannical moves by our government over the last 20 years. Yet, we are currently under the Obama administration and I will focus on that. Apart from his various unconstitutional moves, (ie. using Executive Powers improperly) under Obama, two bills have passed with his signature that have neglected the altar.
First, the NDAA bill sadly passed, which declares the American homeland as another "front" to the "War on Terror." Furthermore, it allows Americans to be indefinitely detained. All Americans are now "terror suspects." We even now have drones flying around in the sky to spy on Americans. I discussed the NDAA more in a previous entry regarding liberty and security here.
Second, the already infamous, Obamacare or what I liked to call, Marxistcare was passed. It was then solidified by faulty reasoning by the Supreme Court. I'm sure our good comrades from past to present, like Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and our Red buddy, Hugo Chavez are honored by this achievement. Oh, and let's not forget the greedy Progressives that are making millions off this new Communist system of healthcare, like Obama's campaign strategist and crony, David Axelrod. Check out this article that lays it all out.
Lady Liberty was not only assaulted, she was beaten to a bloody pulp with Obamacare. Liberty was supposed to be protected by the sacred Constitution. Obamacare is unconstitutional. The government can't force an individual to enter into private contract or to purchase anything for just existing. The government can't force the individual to enter commerce. Fortunately, the Supreme Court did strike down the argument for the Commerce Clause. But this is where the whole bill needed to be struck down. The mandate was rendered unconstitutional but Roberts, the surprise swing vote, erroneously reasoned that it was a tax. He and some of the other Progressive justices rewrote the Bill. Obama and his cronies argued that it was not a tax. The government's attorneys argued that it wasn't a tax. Even more outrageously, the lawyers argued alongside the non-tax argument that it was a tax at some instances. This was because the IRS was going to enforce it.
Now, I know the political maneuvering by the Republicans is to say that it is a tax. This is fine because it technically is now and this is a massive tax on Americans. Hence, it is a wrong move by a incumbent president nearing the end of his first term and up for re-election. But, putting politics aside, this was a loss for liberty not a gain.
Lady Liberty is crying. Our country has moved from being the home of liberty to the facilitator of tyranny. The individual can now be compelled, coerced, and forced by the violent arm of the government to do whatever said Government wants. Any unconstitutional acts of Congress that assess penalties accompanied along with a mandate can now be rationalized as a "tax." It can be rationalized because the IRS will enforce and that there is ignorant Supreme Court precedence to support it. Our healthcare system is now on the road to other failed systems throughout Europe and even our above neighbor, Canada. Canada's supreme court declared in Chaoulli v. Quebec that their government mandated and centralized control over the healthcare system was violating human rights. Source
Below is a video of the political progressive hack economist, Kruegman, asking some Canadian students whether their healthcare system was terrible. He first asked them to raise their hands if they are Canadian. He then asked how many of them believed their system was terrible. All hands remained. Please watch.
First, the NDAA bill sadly passed, which declares the American homeland as another "front" to the "War on Terror." Furthermore, it allows Americans to be indefinitely detained. All Americans are now "terror suspects." We even now have drones flying around in the sky to spy on Americans. I discussed the NDAA more in a previous entry regarding liberty and security here.
Second, the already infamous, Obamacare or what I liked to call, Marxistcare was passed. It was then solidified by faulty reasoning by the Supreme Court. I'm sure our good comrades from past to present, like Karl Marx, Lenin, Mao, Castro, and our Red buddy, Hugo Chavez are honored by this achievement. Oh, and let's not forget the greedy Progressives that are making millions off this new Communist system of healthcare, like Obama's campaign strategist and crony, David Axelrod. Check out this article that lays it all out.
Lady Liberty was not only assaulted, she was beaten to a bloody pulp with Obamacare. Liberty was supposed to be protected by the sacred Constitution. Obamacare is unconstitutional. The government can't force an individual to enter into private contract or to purchase anything for just existing. The government can't force the individual to enter commerce. Fortunately, the Supreme Court did strike down the argument for the Commerce Clause. But this is where the whole bill needed to be struck down. The mandate was rendered unconstitutional but Roberts, the surprise swing vote, erroneously reasoned that it was a tax. He and some of the other Progressive justices rewrote the Bill. Obama and his cronies argued that it was not a tax. The government's attorneys argued that it wasn't a tax. Even more outrageously, the lawyers argued alongside the non-tax argument that it was a tax at some instances. This was because the IRS was going to enforce it.
Now, I know the political maneuvering by the Republicans is to say that it is a tax. This is fine because it technically is now and this is a massive tax on Americans. Hence, it is a wrong move by a incumbent president nearing the end of his first term and up for re-election. But, putting politics aside, this was a loss for liberty not a gain.
Lady Liberty is crying. Our country has moved from being the home of liberty to the facilitator of tyranny. The individual can now be compelled, coerced, and forced by the violent arm of the government to do whatever said Government wants. Any unconstitutional acts of Congress that assess penalties accompanied along with a mandate can now be rationalized as a "tax." It can be rationalized because the IRS will enforce and that there is ignorant Supreme Court precedence to support it. Our healthcare system is now on the road to other failed systems throughout Europe and even our above neighbor, Canada. Canada's supreme court declared in Chaoulli v. Quebec that their government mandated and centralized control over the healthcare system was violating human rights. Source
Below is a video of the political progressive hack economist, Kruegman, asking some Canadian students whether their healthcare system was terrible. He first asked them to raise their hands if they are Canadian. He then asked how many of them believed their system was terrible. All hands remained. Please watch.
Individual liberty and its protection by the Constitution has become irrelevant. The Constitution is perceived by many and sadly, many in our Government as nothing more than a paper document. Our liberty is then nothing more than a word written on paper. Lady Liberty is nothing more than a statue. The sacred altar that she rests on is just kooky old, American religious talk. Liberty is something that just crazy Right-wing racists talk about. What is more, the FBI now considers you a terrorist if you have a love or strong desire for individual liberty. Government tyranny is the most reasonable and compassionate. Individual liberty and creating success and wealth is selfish and greedy.
Will you be a son and daughter of liberty to continue carrying on that torch in Lady Liberty's hand? We must fight to preserve individual liberty. We must debate, warn, write, vote, and just get involved to effect our political system for good. To bring back leaders like Grover Cleveland and our Founding Fathers who spoke and believed that America was the home for liberty and that we must not neglect the sacred altar. Lady Liberty is crying as were many liberty-minded Americans when Marxistcare was upheld. However, girls don't cry, they get even. Lady Liberty still carries the torch and so can you. I know I will.
