Michael Swickard
“We, the people, are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” – Abraham Lincoln
The most important duty we have as Americans is to ensure our Constitution is not perverted, since it is the rule book for our government. Alas, the power the government has over citizens has increased over the years outside of the method prescribed in the Constitution.
At all times each citizen must consent to be governed if we are to live in a free society. Without our consent there is no legitimate government. We must decide when we will and will not give our consent.
Our country began because of an unjust government. The Declaration of Independence said we would no longer consent to be governed by England. They did not consent to our withholding our consent, so there was the Revolutionary War. We won the chance to be free as long as we remain willing to fight for our freedom.
Over the years, we have found we cannot schedule the defense of our nation; we must defend it at the moment of attack. We must act in our defense when we are well and when we are sick. We must defend our freedoms when we are rested and when we are tired. We cannot put off defending our country; we must do it or lose our liberty and country.
Importantly, our nation is not the land, sea and sky. It is not the buildings, roads and houses. No, it is the hearts and minds of the people who make up this country. Our fight is for those hearts and minds. Each day the battle is on. We either defend our freedoms or we help the agents of evil destroy first our Constitution and then our very country.
It would be easier if we could meet on a battlefield, an army of Constitution defenders against those who seek to bind our citizens. Instead we must meet in battle often one citizen at a time confronting those in the government. That is our battle line. Our leaders are our leaders until we no longer consent for them to govern us.
Leading us to destruction
Lately it appears the leaders of both parties are leading us to destruction. They are ignoring the financial implications of spending vast sums of money far beyond the wealth of our country and citizens. And they are trying to spend even more wealth we do not have.
We have an economy that produces about $2.2 trillion a year in tax revenue while our government is spending about $3.5 trillion. Worse, the promises made by politicians to fully fund Medicare, Social Security and other “entitlements” adds up to more than $200 trillion. Consider: It would take all of our tax revenue for 100 years to pay for what has been promised to citizens today. Can our country actually fulfill those promises? No, it is not possible. Know this: It is not whether we will default on our promises, only when.
Further, the places where our country has borrowed money in the past are no longer lending, so we are printing bogus dollars to the tune of $2.4 trillion this last year. Can we continue being governed by people who are leading us to destruction? No. I never consented to spending the money of 100 years for the purpose of them getting more votes.
Often it is one citizen at a time against the allied forces of the government. That makes for a lonely battle. Sadly, other citizens often are too preoccupied to see that an attack upon one citizen by our government is an attack upon us all. That the lions are preoccupied while they eat other animals does not really protect us from being eaten in the long run.
This 4th of July, we must think past fireworks and a day off with hot dogs and beer. We must consider what our founders would think of this unsustainable financial perversion of debt. Would they have withheld their consent to be governed? Yes they would. The fight would have been on. Perhaps it is time to withhold our consent to this debt lunacy.
Swickard is co-host of the radio talk show News New Mexico, which airs from 6 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday on KSNM-AM 570 in Las Cruces and throughout the state through streaming. His e-mail address is michael@swickard.com.