Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

“Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.

This is known as “bad luck.”

Robert A. Heinlein

I have, of late, often mentioned “American Constitutionalism.” Fortunately, it is not a difficult concept.  Above all, it refers to the Constitution (the Constitution is here and the Bill Of Rights is here), historically unique, and the supreme law of the land from which all law flows.  But let us, gentle readers, think of it as the recognition of the supremacy of that law, the acceptance of its necessity and blessings, and the willingness, in good faith, to fully support it, without exception or reservation.

credit: paulspoop.blogspot.com

But, but, this or that is unjust, and this or that is unfair, and this or that is…  the Founders foresaw those objections, and provided the “democratic”—as in rule by the people—mechanisms to correct actual flaws.  It is not easy, because they didn’t want the Constitution to be changed for “light and transient reasons,” but it can be done, and the most recent Amendment, the 27th, was ratified in 1992.

How well they understood human nature.  We need certainty, continuity. We need to know when we get up in the morning we can go about the business of living, working and providing for our families without unanticipated, capricious changes in regulation and law. We need to know that our liberties, regardless of which party occupies the White House and Congress, are secure.  We need to know that each election will not bring with it wholesale changes in the fundamental freedoms necessary for us to thrive and for America to exist.

Because of the foresight of the Founders, “an extremely small minority,” we have built the most free and advanced society in history.  It is no coincidence that at precisely the right time, so many truly great men, renaissance men, were present in an obscure colonial backwater.  Women too were involved, but in the background, as was appropriate in their time. Nevertheless, their influence is felt even today, and particularly by those taking the time to read honest history.

We are not perfect, no human society can be, but even our poor enjoy a standard of living unprecedented in history, and envied around the world.  The fact that millions would do anything to live in America, even though their dreams are exploited by America’s domestic enemies, is all the proof any rational person needs.  All of this is true because of American Constitutionalism.

Professional police officers understand that their survival, the survival of our republican democracy, depends on willing, individual adherence to the rule of law.  Most people will willingly obey most laws most of the time because they know societal stability begins and ends with each of us, with our dedication to American Constitutionalism, with our willingness to obey the law, beginning with local ordinances, state statutes, federal code and the Constitution.

Some of this is self interest based in the social contract. Accepting American constitutionalism provides great benefits.  Among them are the presumption of innocence, the right to know any charges levied, the right to confront one’s accusers and examine witnesses, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, property rights in one’s job, land and home, all the freedoms of the Bill of Rights, and above all, the freedom to vote, to choose our representatives, the freedom that reminds all we hire they’re our hired hands, our employees, not our masters.  Americans have no political masters.

But this is true only if all Americans willingly embrace American Constitutionalism, only if our political parties are willing to accept the results of elections, and if they lose, are content to regroup, prepare, and convince their fellow Americans they are the better choice, the better people to represent Americans in the preservation of liberty and prosperity.  Under this system, demonstrating hatred for and insulting large portions of the public is not a wise idea, and actively damages the willing acceptance of our system.  Self-branding an entire political party “the resistance,” and seeking to prevent the election of a presidential candidate by weaponizing the institutions in which all Americans must have confidence destroys that willing acceptance.   Conducting a coup, soft or otherwise, to undo the results of an election and encouraging a large portion of the population to terrorize and attack the rest is seditious self-destruction.

To fail to learn from history is to be forced to relive it, and not the happy parts.  As Heinlein so wisely observed, it is the true brilliance and efforts of the best among us—never the self-imagined elite—that raise man up from poverty, misery and war, and never more so than in America. We are the shining city on the hill, the beacon for all mankind.  America has been great and can be great again.  If it is not, the world suffers.  If our democratic experiment in self-governance fails, humanity will once again regress into “bad luck” from which few may recover.

Heinlein is also right in noting misery is man’s natural lot. Peace, which is not merely the absence of a shooting war, is not man’s natural, default state of being.  It is precisely the unprecedented prosperity and security American Constitutionalism provides that gives Democrats, socialists, Marxists, anarchists, radical feminists, social justice warriors, BLMers, and every other component of the Left the freedom to work to overthrow the very system that sustains them.  Societies where life is a daily struggle to feed, clothe and provide shelter for one’s family have little time for “resistance,” particularly when the government one is resisting not only has the power, but is delighted, to imprison, torture and murder its perceived political opponents.

I had hoped to eventually be able to seldom mention the Kavanaugh Affair, but as more and more are recognizing, it was a turning point.  It unmistakably demonstrated the Democrat Party is no longer a participant in American Constitutionalism, even as many of its adherents have not been for a very long time.  To abandon the presumption of innocence, the necessity of evidence to prove any charge, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt is bad enough, but to assert that truth and fact are infinitely flexible concepts subject to temporary political necessity is lunacy.  To assert that accusation itself is sufficient to destroy the reputation of any man, and justifies the never-ending terrorizing of his family, is profoundly un-American barbarism.

Oh, but it wasn’t a criminal trial, it was a ‘job interview,’ so none of that applies!  Despicable. The Kavanaugh Affair was a political matter, to be sure, but the fundamental principles the Left conveniently denies are foundations of American Constitutionalism.  The Constitution not only serves as a restraint on government, which legitimately holds and exercises power solely on a temporary basis and with the consent of the American people, but as a reflection of the unalienable principles of peaceful existence, of all that is necessary for our constitutional republic to thrive and survive.

credit: akacatholic

If our lives outside the courtroom are to be ruled by innuendo, rumor, and whim, we will come to understand the real meaning of injustice, and our society cannot function.  We have protections in criminal matters not only because they are necessary—which some doubt—but because they are a logical extension of the principles by which we must conduct personal and business relationships.  Were this not true, the most lunatic accusation would be more than enough to destroy careers, eject one from college, cast one out of all human associations, and reduce our society to eternal tribal conflict.

Without these essential, daily principles, the lies and rumors I’ve suffered throughout my adventurous life would have ended my careers long ago. I would have been cast out of society and forced to live outside the supports upon which we depend.  My careers in police work and education, voluntarily joined, pasted targets on my back, to be sure, which is why adherence to these principles was so important to me.

I was twice accused, once in each career, of a sort of vague “sexual harassment,” very much for want of any accurate term or offense. Accusations involving women were made, so it must have somehow been sexual. Under Democrat principles, that would have been the end of me, and whatever good I accomplished, and am accomplishing, for the public.  Fortunately, the principles held, and competent investigations that acknowledged the presumption of innocence, the necessity of relevant evidence, the right to know the charges, and accepted that there is only one “truth,” completely exonerated me.  Not only was I found not guilty, but proved innocent, just as Brett Kavanaugh was to all fair-minded people of good will.  So vague and obviously politically motivated were the charges—for Kavanaugh and me–the outcome was a foregone conclusion, but only if the principles that underlie American Constitutionalism held.

I was also exonerated because there is not, there cannot be, “her truth,” “his truth,” or “a higher truth.”  “Fake but accurate” doesn’t work if we wish to preserve America.  There can only be the truth, supported by relevant evidence and provable, confirmable fact.  Christine Blasey Ford and her supporters can believe any “truth” they chose, but without fact, evidence, indeed, even the ability to place a supposed incident in a particular half-decade, we do not destroy the career of an innocent man. Unless, of course, we no longer recognize the principles that inform the Constitution and make our constitutional republic viable.

Like Lindsey Graham, I hope to God Democrats never regain substantial political power.  They would use it not within the boundaries of American Constitutionalism; they’ve amply, and without their usual lies and concealment, demonstrated their intentions: to fundamentally transform America into a socialist “shithole” to quote President Trump.

If we cannot trust our system, if our representatives think themselves our masters, if they live to fundamentally transform the most productive and benign political system Man has ever known, if we cannot trust our government to protect our basic principles and freedoms, if we become convinced our votes mean nothing and the self-imagined elite that seek to rule us hate us, and live to humiliate and harm us, we will band together with like-minded people to provide our own stability and security.  This is human nature, and human nature can be very dark indeed, which inevitably leads to “bad luck.”