Bill of Rights birthday
We Americans revere our Constitution, but many founding states only agreed to adopt the document on the condition that it be quickly amended to restrict the power of the central government:
On December 15, 1791 the United States Bill of Rights was adopted. These 461 words were intended to be the foundation upon which the defense for what the Founding Fathers called our "unalienable" rights was anchored.
You see, they had just ended a long, bloody struggle to throw off the choking yoke of oppression -- an oppressive government which did not serve but rather ruled. They rightly feared that their nation's dearly-won freedoms would again be eroded away by an authoritarian central state.
They feared that the young nation might someday have to again cope with armed intimidation, property seizure, taxation without representation, bureaucratic callousness, autocratic decrees, and scant regard for the will or welfare of the people by a statist government comprised of an elite ruling class.
Were their fears justified?
The preamble
The Founders were so concerned about a central government becoming too powerful that they included a little-read Preamble to the Bill of Rights:
The conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added.
Rather than take up space here, follow the B2J Web link to review the Bill of Rights in its entirety.
The rights . . . and wrongs
Black and White for Florida, a political group committed to strict constitutional interpretation and the rule of law, begins its oath thusly:
We swear to the Citizens of Florida that when elected to office, we will not only vow to protect our U.S. and Florida Constitutions from enemies both foreign and domestic, but also read, study and understand these protections that our founders passed along to "We The People".
They have also included a list of rights that we have already lost or are losing to our authoritarian central planners. Use the controls provided to enlarge the document:
What Rights Have We LostFreedom must prevail
The great William Blackstone rightly observed, "In all tyrannical governments the supreme magistracy, or the right both of making and of enforcing the laws, is vested in one and the same man, or one and the same body of men; wherever these two powers are united together, there can be no public liberty."
So Happy Birthday, Bill of Rights. The words of our Bill of Rights were designed to be read and understood literally. The Amendments are not part of a wish list -- they are the law of the land. They are restrictions all elected and non-elected government officials must be forced to obey. It is our responsibility as American citizens to force their obeyance.
The liberties of our country, the freedoms instilled by our Constitution, are worth defending at any cost.
Hype and Chains.