Should
I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I
should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act
of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which
I revere above all earthy kings.
Patrick Henry
AMERICA
IS AN ABERRATION. So failure, due to our
frailties, will often be our fate. Nevertheless,
destiny will always demand our best—and nothing else will do.
“It has been frequently remarked that it
seems to have been reserved to the people of this country, by their conduct and
example, to decide the important question, whether societies of men are really
capable or not of establishing good government from reflection and choice, or
whether they are forever destined to depend for their political constitutions on
accident and force. If there be any
truth in the remark, the crisis at which we are arrived may with propriety be
regarded as the era in which that decision is to be made; and a wrong election
of the part we shall act may, in this view, deserve to be considered as the
general misfortune of mankind.”
(Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 1)
I
God's warning about kings was cast aside.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered
themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold,
thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us
like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us
a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed
unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel,
Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they
have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over
them. According to all the works which
they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this
day, wherewith they have forsaken Me, and served others gods, so do they also unto
thee. Now therefore hearken unto their
voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the
king that shall reign over them. (I
Samuel 8:4-9, KJV & OJB)
The Declaration of Independence was an
echo of grievances made against monarchy millennia ago. There was no divine
right. Yet George III sat upon a throne.
George Washington was Commander in Chief
of the Continental Forces, the man on horseback determined that the United
States of America would be a republic.
After winning the war, he presided over the writing of the Constitution.
On September 17, 1787, as Benjamin
Franklin and James McHenry left on the final day of the Federal Convention,
they were approached by Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia.
“Well, Doctor, what have we got—a republic
or a monarchy?”
“A republic,” Franklin replied, “if you
can keep it.”
The contrast between the two was made
clear by James Madison. “A republic, by
which I mean a government in which the scheme of representation takes place....” (The Federalist Papers, No. 10) Thus, the words on the Great Seal—NOVUS ORDO
SECLORUM—a New Order of the Ages was about to begin.
“The historically unique combination of
great power and great limitation that distinguishes the American Presidency is
almost entirely a mirror reflection of the character of Washington.” (The
American Soul by Jacob Needleman, 111)
Upon taking the oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution,”
he added four words: “So help me God,” an acknowledgement of something beyond
self. (Article II, Section 1, Clause
8) For the oath is not about indulgence
but upholding a system. As Washington
said, “I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any point of my conduct
that may not hereafter be drawn into precedent.”
Despite the fact that the Almighty
demolished the claim of the divine right of kings, the gentleman from New York still
acts on a whim, as if all things are about him instead of institutions.___His
royal attributes form “a long train of abuses.”
(Declaration of Independence)___He paved over the Rose Garden designed
by Jacqueline Kennedy.___He destroyed the East Wing designed by Theodore
Roosevelt.___He wants to change the columns on the north portico by George
Washington, the man who laid the cornerstone.___ He renamed the Kennedy
Center.___He wants to change the colors of Air Force One chosen by JFK to match
those of his failed airline.___He changed the designation of the Next
Generation Air Dominance fighter to F-47 because he is No. 47.___He wants the
next class of warships to be named after himself.___On fiscal matters, he
treats Congress like a doormat. When
Nixon had used impoundment as an item veto instead of a management tool, the
process was modified by the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of
1974. But the
gentleman from New York has gone beyond impoundment and moved on to
cancellation—and usurped the power of the purse.
II
“...(T)he Executive Magistrate should be
the guardian of the people,” said Gouverneur Morris. (Presidents
Above Party by Ralph Ketcham, 117)
Since he was at the Federal Convention and helped create the office, his
word should carry some weight. So, why
does the gentleman from New York, the man who would be king, get the benefit of
the doubt? There is no mystery when the
truth is known. To pretend that there is
reveals a lack of courage.
What passes for decisionmaking is a
fashion show. Pettiness is dressed up
and pretends to be policy. The gentleman
from New York opposed the Affordable Care Act—Obamacare—and
is still trying to destroy it. He withdrew
from the Iran nuclear agreement, even though American, British, and Israeli
intelligence said it was working. Obama
got a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
So the gentleman from New York, who undermined diplomacy and began a war
to do what the agreement had already done, thinks he deserves one too. But his Obama obsession is not a new
fragrance, nor is his cloak going to make anyone forget Armani or Calvin Klein.
Ideology is a leading cause of
blindness. But hatred has many more in
need of seeing eye dogs. And hatred has
henchmen who wear a variety of disguises.
Supreme Court decisions that are
inconsistent with the Constitution—such as Shelby v. Holder, which
gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act; District of Columbia v. Heller,
which claimed the Second Amendment is about a personal right; the granting of immunity
to the gentleman from New York; and now Louisiana v. Callais, which
gutted Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act—can be understood when viewed from
another angle. Appeals to principles and procedure and process cannot hide what is
in plain sight. The radicals on the
Court no longer favor democracy because of demography. In 2045, the United States will become
“minority white.” That troubles them as
much as it does him. Thus, the Fourth
Amendment can be ignored when that supports changing the numbers. Massive deportations, even of natural born
and naturalized citizens, is fine as long as they do not look like the gentleman from New York.
III
Distraction is useful but only goes so
far. If truth does not matter, why do despots
try to extinguish it? Propaganda
degrades the public discourse and enables despotism. The truth helps us to see clearly. Falsehood confuses. Truth is the ally of freedom. As Joseph Pulitzer said, “Our Republic and
its press
will rise or fall together.”
In remarks entitled “The President and the
Press,” JFK touched upon responsibility—that of the Chief Magistrate and the
Fourth Estate.
“The very word 'secrecy' is repugnant in a
free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically
opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of
excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the
dangers which are cited to justify it.
Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed
society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring
the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an
announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to
expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.”
Subtlety, when used to attain the same
ends, “censorship and concealment,” is lost on those for whom language has
become a fashion statement instead of a means of communication. What was supposedly their tool is turned against
them. Daniel Patrick Moynihan spoke of
“semantic infiltration.” A name is given
to something so others will accept it without recognition of the significance,
such as the pairing “Fox” and “News” and then an Office of H_ _ _land Security
is introduced. Behold, a propaganda network
and a Gestapo-in-waiting. The terms or
phrases are repeated without a second thought rather than examined.
The press is susceptible to assertion and
repetition. The Imaginary Amendment of
the NRA and the GOP, which allows every Tom, Dick, and Harry to run around with
firearms, is accepted. The Second
Amendment of James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, and Henry
Knox is ignored. As former Chief Justice
Warren Burger said, “[The Second Amendment] has been the subject of one of the
greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word 'fraud,' on the American public by
special interest groups I have ever seen in my lifetime.” (The MacNeil-Lehrer Report, December 16,
1991) The one is about an alleged
personal right; the other concerns national security. (Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist Papers, No. 29) But for those who would dispute a change in
status due to the census, the Imaginary Amendment provides an excuse to
exercise an alleged personal right against this government
oppression—counting. Thus, the public is
ill served when such things are not questioned.
The self-styled “mainstream” press tends
to confuse forms with facts and take them to be reality. But to accept appearances is to hold a
handful of fog. Missed opportunities
overshadow duty. The Electoral College,
certification, and Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment are passed off as
swamp gas. The implications
or consequences of an illegitimate government—on elections, appointments,
pardons, and all other acts—are not considered.
The results in 2000 led to the appointments of John Roberts and Samuel
Alito. The results in 2016 led to the
appointments of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh—and Amy Coney Barrett, who was
assisted by the McConnell Amendments. With
Clarence Thomas already on the bench, the 6-3 majority was created by the
Florida shenanigans and the Russian Connection, respectively; and the pardons,
in the aftermath of the Battle of Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, were made
possible by the latter. But those things
are not mentioned. Yet some fault the
Constitution when that is the very thing being ignored. Thus, the self-styled
“mainstream” press fails to play its role, as President Kennedy noted in his
remarks.
“Without debate, without criticism, no
Administration and no country can succeed—and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to
shrink from controversy. And that is why
our press was protected by the First Amendment—the only business in America
specifically protected by the Constitution—not primarily to amuse and
entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and the sentimental, not to simply
'give the public what it wants'—but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state
our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to
lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion.”
IV
“So God created man in His own image, in
the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.” (Genesis 1:27, KJV) But the gentleman from New York wants to
remake us in his. Thus, he ignores God's
objection to monarchy.
And Samuel told all the words of the LORD
unto the people that asked of him a king.
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over
you: He will take your sons, and appoint
them for himself, for his
chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over
thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and
to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his
chariots. And he will take your
daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your
vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his
servants. And he will take the tenth of
your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his
servants. And he will take your
menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your
asses, and put them to his work. He will
take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of
your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in
that day. Nevertheless the people refused
to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may
be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us,
and fight our battles. (I Samuel
8:10-20, KJV)
When politicians forget the oath is the
most important part of the Constitution, and the press is a pool of
stenographers instead of journalists, that is the definition of a system
failure. Then the public must keep an
eye on both. For they do not confront
those whose actions stem from the attitude that, “The world belongs to us and
we are doing you a favor by allowing you to be here.”
American exceptionalism does not mean
without fault. We do make mistakes, as that
phrase itself indicates. But to embark
on a new course is to invite error.
The
American experiment is dangerous. The
struggle to find the right formula is a tale of heartbreak as well as
hazard. While success is desired, there
are no guarantees—except that failure is certain if we do not dare the
impossible.
Thought, word, and deed are
indivisible. Yet too often we are
oblivious to the obvious. America is an
idea as much as a country, and ideas placed upon a pedestal—“life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness”—become ideals.
(Declaration of Independence) But
much is required to move beyond the nebulous.
Thought, word, and deed must be aligned “in order to form a more perfect
Union”—and create fusion of our ideals and reality. (Preamble)
For contrary to what has prevailed throughout history, WE THE PEOPLE of
the United States strive to establish the strength of a republic—to “promote
the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our
posterity.” (Preamble)
(c)2026 Marvin D.
Jones. All rights reserved.
1951-2026
Happy Birthday
1)
James Madison's long definition of a
republic
...(W)e may define a republic to be, or at least may bestow that name on, a government
which derives all its powers directly or indirectly from the great body of the people, and
is administered by persons holding their offices during pleasure, for a limited period, or
during good behavior. It is ESSENTIAL to such a government that it be derived from the
great body of the society, not from an inconsiderable proportion, or a favored class of it;
otherwise a handful of tyrannical nobles, exercising their oppressions by a delegation of
their powers, might aspire to the rank of republicans, and claim for their government the
honorable title of republic. It is SUFFICIENT for such a government that the persons
administering it be appointed, either directly or indirectly, by the people; and that they
hold their appointments by either of the tenures just specified; otherwise every government
in the United States, as well as every other popular government that has been or can be
well organized or well executed, would be degraded from the republican character.
(The Federalist Papers, No. 39; CAPITAL emphasis Madison's; italics added)
2)
Naming bill
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/donald-trump-might-banned-naming-165906606.html
3)
Iran Nuclear Agreement
https://marvinjones.blogspot.com/2015/06/forty-seven-shades-of-nay.html
[Forty-seven Shades of Nay]
https://marvinjones.blogspot.com/2017/12/forty-seven-shades-freed.html
[Forty-seven Shades Freed]
https://youtu.be/bEkiQBSMBTA?si=yaQST-_5YQfPoDVe
[Lawrence O'Donnell's remarks on the same
begin at approximately 5:36]
4)
In regard to Supreme Court decisions
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2022/01/the-imperial-court.html
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2024/06/impunity.html
See Footnote 10 regarding the Second
Amendment.
5)
Census projection: 2045
www.brookings.edu/articles/the-us-will-become-minority-white-in-2045-census-projects/
6)
deport naturalized citizens who do not
look like him
www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/a-dark-chapter-returns-stripping-citizenship/ar-AA21KKBZ
7)
www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/american-newspaper-publishers-association-19610427
[JFK: "The President and the
Press"]
8) Daniel Patrick Moynihan: "semantic
infiltration"
https://youtu.be/AOSjYg6dseU
[01-11-2023]
https://youtu.be/dJ7fUVnTNMA
[05-18-2023]
9)
H_ _ _land
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2005/02/words.html
[Words]
10) Second Amendment of the Founders, not the NRA
https://marvinjones.blogspot.com/2013/08/much-is-required.html
[Much Is Required]
11) The Electoral College, certification, and Section 3 of the
Fourteenth Amendment
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2019/08/the-electoral-college-without-blinders.html
[The Electoral College Without Blinders]
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2025/02/grotesque-neglect-of-duty.html
[GROTESQUE NEGLECT OF DUTY]
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2026/02/against-all-enemies-foreign-and-domestic.html
['Against
All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic']
12)
implications/consequences: elections,
appointments, pardons, and all other acts
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-most-dangerouswith-lifetime-tenure.html
[The Most Dangerous...With
Lifetime Tenure]
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-mcconnell-amendments.html
[The McConnell Amendments]
https://marvindjones.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-schlesinger-moment.html
[The Schlesinger Moment*]
13) https://youtu.be/GwS5ASoSQos?si=Sh4cGKccL39au25k
[Why Do We Fall?]
