Defending the Constitution
by Tammy Blair - April 30, 2011
Defending the Constitution |
F.A. Hayek wrote: "When the course of civilization takes an unexpected turn-when instead of the continuous progress which we have come to expect, we find ourselves threatened by evils associated with us by past ages of barbarism-we naturally blame anything but ourselves...We are ready to accept almost any explanation of th present crisis of our civilization except one: that the present state of the world may be the result of genuine error on our own part and that the pursuit of some of our most cherished ideals has apparently produced results utterly different from those which we expected."
In our case, we have to accept that the restraints put on government by our founders have utterly failed. For all practical purposes, the Constitution is dead. That fact has been the hardest for me to accept. So I can't defend COTUS. What I can defend, and will do so to my dying breath, is the principles that created such a document. It's the principles that are true but no longer actually considered, discussed and taught. And it was movement away from those principles that resulted in our current constitutional crisis.
So my defense is to return to ancient wisdom and truth. My questions about the framers of our republic are: What did they know and how did they know it? A study of Cicero, Aristotle and Locke is just a beginning. More recent history gives us von Mises, Hayek and Rothbard. There is so much to take in! But armed with the truth, and the ability to discuss it and write about it? I can't express how it feels to relate real truth to a friend or acquaintance and watch their eyes as the veil is lifted!
Sadly, many in America don't know or understand why the Founding Fathers did what they did. Those who know, honor their memory. Those who understand are awed. The framers were willing to sacrifice all for the idea that is America. They were willing to die for it. How many of us can say the same thing? I would guess that not many are really willing to go so far.
I thank God every day that enough people had some basic principles and recognized the dangers facing our nation. These people joined together to form the Tea Party and understood that they would have to go back. Did they really understand what we need to go back to? Sadly, even among the ranks there are too few that really grasp the principles that are being broken daily by our federal, state, county and municipal governments, as evidenced by the many who actually believe that the Republican party is our answer, or that a few more elections will fix our problems. This is misinformed at best, and delusional at worst. And oddly enough, there are quite a few who, while claiming to want restoration of the Constitution, don't themselves accept all of it.
What I'm saying is this: in order to defend the Constitution of the united States of America, we must fully understand how and why it is a road map to liberty. My method of defending it is to 1. Educate myself and 2. Educate as many as I can. I believe that it's true that "the truth will set you free". The truth has set people free before. It can do it again!
Tammy Blair
tylerteaparty.org