Posted tagged ‘The Constitution’

Antonin Scalia: Understanding The Constitution

October 25, 2016

The constitution of the United States of American with a vintage flag

The ideological and political battle for Justice Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court can be summed up in this statement.

“What should the broad concepts in the Constitution mean today? vs. What did these concepts mean when they were adopted?”

The first allows the power of government to grow with it’s only constraint being what leaders can get away with politically.

The second constrains the growth of government to its powers listed in the Constitution.

Here are some videos that capture Justice Scalia wisdom concerning this topic.

Justice Scalia’s Opening Remarks At A 2011 Senate Judiciary Hearing.

Excerpt: “I ask students: what do you think is the reason that America is such a free country? What is it in our constitution that makes us what we are? They answer, freedom of speech, freedom of the press…….those marvelous provisions in the bill of rights. I tell them if you think a bill of rights is what sets us apart, you’re crazy.”

“Every banana republic in the world has a bill of rights…..the bill of rights of the former Soviet Union was better than ours…..These are what our founders would call a parchment guarantee. And the reason is because the real Constitution of the Soviet Union…..the real structure….didn’t prevent the centralization of power in one person or in one party. When that (centralization) happens, the game is over. The bill of rights is just what our framers would call a parchment guarantee.”

“The real key to the distinctiveness of America is the structure of our government……People today say there is a dysfunction of government because there’s disagreement and gridlock. The framers would have said, “yes, that’s exactly the way we set it up. We wanted this to be power contradicting power”. Americans should learn to love the separation of power, the gridlock. Which the framers believed would be the main protection of minorities.

Justice Scalia Comments About “Diversity” On The Supreme Court.

Excerpt: “….I agree that (on the Supreme Court) you should have different people who reach different results. But one would think that after 200 years there would be some consensus on what we think we’re doing when we interpret the constitution. These are wildly divergent views.”

“Are we taking these broad concepts such as equal protection and due process and asking, “what should these concepts mean today?” That’s one view. On the other hand are we saying “what did these concepts mean when they were adopted”…..The difficulty in figuring that out, the historical problem of doing that, isn’t perfect, that it’s going to solve every problem, but it solves an awful lot of problems. Especially the most controversial ones.”

“It’s not my burden to prove that the historical approach is perfect. It is just my burden to prove that it’s better than anything else and the  anything else is the other approach, that it’s up to the judges to say what these things mean today. This is an immense amount of power in judges hands.

Piers Morgan Interviews Justice Scalia In 2013.

Piers Morgan always tries to be an intellectual bully to everyone he interviews, especially those he disagrees with. There is no doubt he disagrees with Scalia’s world view, but he knows he can’t “intellectually” bully him. He tries to hit Scalia with verbal jabs but they are skillfully parried away by Justice Scalia.

This is the best interview Piers Morgan has ever done.

Part I

 

Part II

 

Related ArticleWalter E. Williams: The Constitution, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleHow Big Should Government Be?  at austrianaddict.com.

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Walter E. Williams: Common Sense

August 3, 2015

Walter E. Williams is one of the best at explaining concepts, abstract or other wise, to people who aren’t on his level of knowledge about economics and liberty. Being able to communicate clearly is his great talent. Here is a video I saw at libertypenblog.blogspot.com. It is Dr. Williams at his best.

Excerpts from the video.

“If you tax something your going to get less of it, and if you subsidize it your going to get more of it. What we’ve been doing is subsidizing slovenly behaviour.”

“I often tell people that I am very very happy that I got virtually all of my education before it became fashionable for white people to like black people. So what that meant is that when I got a ‘C, it was an honest to God ‘C’. When I got an ‘A’, it was an honest to God ‘A’. They weren’t practicing Affirmative action and they didn’t give a damn about my self-esteem.

“Americans have lost their love for the American Constitution, and I believe they’re either ignorant or they have contempt for the United States Constitution. Ignorance is curable, but contempt is not.

This short video above is from the video titled Walter E. Williams: Suffer No Fools (click to watch) from the Free To Choose Network.

Related ArticleWalter E. Williams: The Constitution, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleThe Great Walter E. Williams: The State Against Liberty, at austrianaddict.com.

Related Article Walter E. Williams, Voluntary Exchange, or Seduction vs. Rape, at austrianaddict.com.

Walter E. Williams: The Constitution

June 18, 2015

Thomas Jefferson summed up not only the purpose of the constitution, but also what he thought of Government in this quote; “The two enemies of the people are criminals and Government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.

In this short video Walter E. Williams talks about our constitution.

Here is an excerpt from the video.“…the language of the Bill of Rights says, “congress shall not infringe, congress shall not disparage, congress shall not prohibit,” I mean all this distrust for congress. Because the founders knew that Government was the enemy of mankind… I point out that when we die, and if at our next destination, we see anything like the Bill of Rights, we know that we are in hell! Because a Bill of Rights in heaven would be an insult to God.”

Hat Tip – libertypenblog.blogspot.com.

Related ArticleWalter E. Williams Explains The Long, Tragic, Ugly Story Of Government, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleThe Great Walter E. Williams: The State Against Liberty, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

Abuses Of Power By Individuals In Government

April 23, 2015

 

“GOVERNMENT IS NOT REASON, IT IS NOT ELOQUENCE, IT IS FORCE, LIKE FIRE IT IS A DANGEROUS SERVANT, AND A FEARFUL MASTER.” George Washington

This quote is from George Washington, who was uniquely qualified to state the truth about what Government truly is at its core. He fought for the British in the French and Indian War. He signed the Declaration of Independence which spelled out abuses of power that the founders were declaring their independence from. He was the commander of the Colonial army during the Revolutionary War. He was at the Constitutional Convention that set up our Constitutional Republic which the founders thought would give individuals, freedom from government force. He was the first President of the United States, a position he could have held for life. But he walked away from power after two terms, setting a precedent followed by all Presidents, until FDR thought he was more important than “the indispensable man”.

The wisdom of our founders in general, and George Washington in particular, when it came to understanding what government was and what it could and would become unless individuals remained “eternally vigilant”, can’t be questioned. There life experiences gave them a deeper understanding about this subject than any individual could glean from reading and studying their writings. As great as their writing skills were, they probably couldn’t completely communicate in writing their total understanding on the subject of government force.

“FEW MEN HAVE VIRTUE TO WITHSTAND THE HIGHEST BIDDER.” – George Washington.

This is another quote from George Washington which reveals a keen insight into the nature of man. This insight goes hand in hand with his knowledge of what Government truly is. Few if any man can be trusted with the reigns of power. And many times the highest bidder is not an outsider, but the person himself.

“THE TWO ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE ARE CRIMINALS AND GOVERNMENT, SO LET US TIE THE SECOND DOWN WITH THE CHAINS OF THE CONSTITUTION SO THE SECOND WILL NOT BECOME THE LEGALIZED VERSION OF THE FIRST.” – Thomas Jefferson.

Our founders not only understood that virtuous men would be tempted by the highest bidder, they knew that the worst could and would get to the top. This is why they wanted a limit on the power of government so that there would be a limit on the damage government “criminals” could do to individuals while in a position of power.

“ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTYAttributed to Thomas Jefferson.

We are responsible for our present state of big abusive Government. We haven’t been eternally vigilant in keeping the chains of the constitution firmly tied around its neck. Trying to get the chain back around the neck of government is going to take a lot of time and effort. Are we willing to do this now, or are most of us still to comfortable and ignorant to act. The longer we put this off the more costly it will be.

 

 WISCONSIN D.A. USES LAW TO PUNISH OPPONENTS

YOU MUST READ this article titled, Wisconsin’s Shame: “I Thought It Was A Home Invasion”, at nationalreview.com. It is about the abuse of power by Milwaukee County district attorney John Chisholm. He used what are called John Doe investigations, in a clear abuse of power, to harass people who were supporters of Governor Scott Walker. Chisholm was on the side of the unions and government employees. His wife was a teachers union shop steward and wasn’t happy about the union reforms passed under Walker. Chisholm felt it “was his duty to stop them”. He illegally used the power of Government to fight political fights. Here is an excerpt from the article.

“For dozens of conservatives, the years since Scott Walker’s first election as governor of Wisconsin transformed the state – known for pro-football championships, good cheese, and a population with a reputation for being unfailingly polite – into a place where conservatives have faced early morning raids, multi-year secretive criminal investigations, slanderous and selective leaks to sympathetic media, and intrusive electronic snooping. Yes, Wisconsin, the cradle of the progressive movement and home of the “Wisconsin idea” – the marriage of state governments and state universities to govern through technocratic reform – was giving birth to a new progressive idea, the use of law enforcement as a political instrument, as a weapon to attempt to undo election results, shame opponents and ruin lives.

IRS TARGETS OPPONENTS OF BIG GOVERNMENT

This is what the IRS targeting to tea party and liberty minded groups was all about. Using the force of Government to intimidate political opposition into ceding ground. Going through the legal process when falsely charged, or going through the process of complying with government regulations, is too high of a price for most people. The entrenched government status quo will use all their power, legally or illegally, to win. And we reach a point where the process itself becomes a punishment for getting involved.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

Power is being abused at every level of government. We have shown many videos on this sight showing this abuse. Watch the video from this article, Caught On Tape: Cop Grabs, Smashes, Phone Of Women Recording Him, at zerohedge.com. You are allowed to film the police when they are on the job with this stipulation, you can’t interfere with their work. Some cops try to intimidate people from recording their activity by stating , “you are interfering with our work”, but they can’t take away your phone or delete your recording. I know it doesn’t say anything about smashing the phone, but isn’t that a violent attempt to delete the recording, or is it the destruction of property, or both.

This short video from Learn Liberty, gives us a humorous insight into how a persons thought process changes when he gets a chance to wield power.

CONCLUSION

In one of my recent articles titles, As The Number Of Laws Increase, Individual Freedom Decreases, we talk about how the increase in the amount of laws gives Government officials the ability to prosecute literally anyone for violating some obscure law. The process of defending yourself is your punishment, but the government official usually pays no cost for abusing his power. We have to roll back big abusive government because, as I’ve written previously, Individual Liberty Is The Least Contentious Way Of Settling Differences.

 

Related ArticleThe Break Down Of The Rule Of Law, at austrianaddict.com.

Related ArticleThe Result Of The Break Down Of The Rule Of Law, at austrianaddict.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Great Walter E. Williams : The State Against Liberty

June 26, 2013

This is a great video of an excerpt from a speech Dr. Williams gave in March 23, 1991. It was over twenty years ago and sounds like it was given yesterday. The reason for this is that the battle in society has been and always will  be the same. It is summed up in the quote by F. A. Hayek at the top of this web site, which reads, “The coordination of man’s activities through central planning or through voluntary cooperation are roads going in very different directions, the first to serfdom and poverty, the second to freedom and plenty”. Dr Williams gives a great defense of liberty.

Here are a couple of excerpts from the video.

“Large amounts of liberty is the rare occurrence in history, and oppression in varying degrees is the norm….even in the United States, as Thomas Jefferson predicted, he said that “the natural progress of things is for Government to gain ground and for liberty to yield. “

“The average American is inattentive, apathetic, or sometimes or most often a party to the assault on liberties by the state.”

Click here to watch the whole speech titled, Walter E. Williams on Libertarians and Liberty.

Related article, Tyrants and Human Nature, by Walter E. Williams.