“But, I declare to you,” said J. Reuben Clark, “that it (the Constitution) is what Gladstone said it was, the greatest document ‘ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man,’ a document which, according to my belief, the Lord himself ‘suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles,’ established ‘by the hands of wise men whom the Lord raised up for this very purpose’; and…this land was redeemed by the shedding of blood.

“I say to you that the price of liberty is and always has been blood, human blood, and if our liberties are lost, we shall never regain them except at the price of blood. They must not be lost!

“The proudest boast of a citizen of ancient Rome was ‘I am a Roman.’ The proudest boast of any patriotic citizen of this free country of ours should be, ‘I am an American.’ God grant this boast may ever be ours.” (J. Reuben Clark served as U.S. Under Secretary of State and Ambassador to Mexico)

Although it has been happening for many years, in my lifetime I have never seen such an outright violation of Constitutional principles by our elected, so called, representatives than I have witnessed in recent weeks and months.

The founders of this great nation established the Constitution to protect the God-given rights of its citizens from encroachments and usurpations by their government.

The Constitution maintains that our rights are just that—God-given. Our rights are not granted to us by the government and therefore they cannot be stripped from us by that government which is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people.

Samuel Adams pointed out that the founders had done everything possible to make principles which we call Socialism unconstitutional. (M.V. Wells, “The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, Vol. 1, p.154). Socialism in the United States means power gravitating to Washington, and to prevent this, the founders adopted the idea of separation of powers.

The Federal Government was given only a few limited and specific powers and all other powers were retained on the local level by the States and the people. (Tenth Amendment)

James Madison spelled it out in the Federalist Papers, Number 45, when he said, “The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the Federal Government are FEW and DEFINED.

Those which are to remain in the State Governments are numerous and indefinite…The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.”

All the special interest groups from the big international banks and multinational corporations down to the farmer and rank-and-file labor union member found they could do things through the national government which were unlawful to do themselves. So a variety of schemes evolved.

The main thrust was to give the Federal Government power to take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots.” All special interest groups consider themselves “have nots”. The Federal Government gradually acquired its power by two devices, deliberate distortion of the Constitution and the naked seizure of power by usurpation.

Constitutionally, the Federal Government has no business selling us health care, taking over financial institutions, bailing out failing businesses or regulating our fat intake. Most of this it does in the guise of “promoting the general welfare.”

Who is to blame for this country’s march toward Socialism over the years? We are. We are all of us responsible. It is because we as citizens have been asking Washington to do it.

Why is Socialism so popular with the politicians? Socialism is defined as “The government ownership or control of the means of production (farms, factories, mines and natural resources) and the means of distribution (transportation, communication, banks, commercial agencies, etc.).

To achieve this, Socialism always imposes exorbitant taxes and plunges the nation into a huge national debt. U.S. taxes now provide hundreds of billions of dollars for distribution by the politicians. Why are they doing this? They are doing it to buy votes. Their being re-elected is more important to them than the welfare, safety and preservation of the nation. Perhaps we would do well to remember the words of the beautiful patriotic hymn, “America,” by S.F. Smith:

“My country, ‘tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim’s pride; from every mountainside Let freedom ring. Our fathers’ God, to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing; Long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light; Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King!”

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