| One
of the most popular shows on television is Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,
with Regis Philbin. For the fun of
it, lets play Who Wants To
Be A Millionaire?
For
the future of our children and grandchildren, which form of government is
guaranteed in the United States
Constitution?
A)
Oligarchy, B) Democracy, C) Republican, or D) Monarchy?
Take
your time. Is that your final answer? If you said "C" you win!
Article
4 Section 4 of the United States Constitution reads" The United
States shall guarantee to every State in this
Union a Republican Form of
Government": Although the Constitution guarantees a
"republican" form of
government, many believe
that we were established as a "democracy". What's the
difference? A "democracy" is rule
by the majority. A
"republican" form of government is "rule by law". So
what does this mean?
One
example would be the Clinton impeachment and trial in the Senate. Many
Senators believed that after President
Clinton was found guilty
of the charges brought before the House, that the "rule of law"
required that Clinton be
removed from office.
Senator Byrd (D. WV) even stated that the crimes committed by President
Clinton rose to the
level of impeachment and
that he should be removed from office. However, he went on to say that
"polls" showed
that the people did not
want this President removed, therefore he would not vote for removal. This
was a clear
example of the "rule
by the majority", or the rule by polling, overriding "the rule
of law"! A major breakdown in the
Constitution.
In
my last column I referred to the term "democratic
socialism". Some have asked what I meant by this term.
Basically
this is where the majority of the people learn to "legally" vote
themselves money from the national coffers.
In the presidential
debates it often gets to be a matter of which candidate can promise you
more. Candidate 'X' says
he will give you more
money for education. Candidate 'Y' says he will not only give you more
money for education
but will also give you
free prescription drugs. Not to be outdone, candidate 'X' revises his
platform and says he will
give you all of that and
he will give you a free college education, he will take care of you when
you retire, he will
take care of your housing,
he will increase your wages, he will pay your heating bills, promises,
promises, promises!
How
can they do this and get away with it? Easy! Instead of living by the
Constitution, "the rule of law", many
politicians have learned
to go to the voters and "buy" their votes with promises of
"goodies" from the federal
government. When the
thirteen colonies were still a part of England, Professor Alexander Tyler
wrote about the fall
of Athens over a thousand
years ago. He said "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of
government. It can
only exist until the
voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public
treasure. From that moment
on the majority always
votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public
treasury, with the result
that a democracy always
collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship."
Today
instead of living by Patrick Henry's words of "Give me liberty, or
give me death" many now just say, "Give
me"! Instead of
following John Kennedy when he said, "Ask not what your country can
do for you, but what you
can do for your
country" many now say, "the country owes me"! Our ancestors
gave us a "republican" form of
government. A government
that would be ruled by law, the Constitution. Today we choose every time
we vote,
whether we will defend
this "rule of law" or continue down the path of "rule by
promises"! This choice is worth
more than a million
dollars. It is worth the freedom our children and grandchildren will have
or not have. This is our choice!
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