The Erosion of Rights: a Real and Present Danger That We Can Stop! (Part 1)

Over the last two days, I have been heading towards my topic tonight. Heart-energy predominated the founding of America as evidenced in the numerous documents, letters, resolutions, and declarations. Yes, Ego presented in various ways, but Heart guided in structuring not only the government but also the nature, the prevailing character that should mark the nation.
My concern has been the backing the current president and his “group” have received, and the most recent debacle — well, I don’t know the outcome of the G20 summit — has been the Voter Fraud Commission. Wait, isn’t it good to eliminate problems, to make America stronger, and to give more credibility and validity to our elections and therefore our government?
One of the big problems is there is no problem, none that won’t exist anyway. So what’s up with this? First of all, who voted to implement this commission, authorized it to request any sort of information? Then, how is this information going to be used? What energy is evidenced by this move? What are the deeper issues?
The establishment and implementation of this Commission was via executive order. I don’t know the legal trail of court decisions and/or legislation that has made these executive orders so prevalent and pervasive, but when I read those founding documents, such actions would have been censured, clearly so, as monarchical, freedom-threatening actions. You can call it what you will or explain how important it is, but We the People are the ones who give the authority. This point, by the way, applies to any president from any party.
To quote myself from this morning, “in the Declaration of Rights, Section 2, we find ‘That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people; that magistrates are their trustees and servants and at all times amenable to them’ (124). The fact that this was a major theme clearly communicated at the time is seen in the Declaration of Independence, penned about a month later. In reference to our freedom to live our rights, it says ‘That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and institute new Government’ (143). And the Constitution begins with ‘We the People.’ We do it.” We the People have not morphed into I the President. As far as I’m concerned, they have no authority; they are not potentates, monarchs, or even benevolent dictators. The president and any elected official is accountable and should answer to us “at all times.”
The spirit of arrogance of this current president reeks of Ego. He does not view himself as accountable to anyone. In fact, he is damn near being “destructive of these ends,” the ends of equality of all, “certain unalienable rights,” rights that cannot be changed, removed, or distorted by a president or the government in general. To demand that states turn over voter information of a sensitive nature threatens my right as a voter to a secret ballot. By the way, why doesn’t the commission just garner the information that’s available? What are they trying to do?
Some legal scholars have, since the beginning, debated whether we have an inherent right to vote. I sometimes believe that the bloated self-importance of such people interferes with their ability to think clearly. I know of some judicial precedence that applies here, but I will flat out say it’s stupid. If we have representatives who are accountable to us at all times, then how in the hell do we get them? If the founders in Heart-energy didn’t intend this as one of the most basic “unalienable rights,” why did Congress and the president, after freeing the slaves in the 13th Amendment and the end of the Civil War, feel the need to address voting rights in the 15th Amendment? The freedoms in America include the right to vote, which is so basic that newly freed slaves were assured this. This 45th president is playing with one of our most basic rights.
If this commission gains the sort of information they really want, what will it mean? How does it infringe on our right to vote and other rights? They want to aggregate data so they may characterize voting blocks and target them, exactly like marketers do. What bill of goods are they selling? The most dangerous sort: they want more control to implement their version of law and order, of some mythical America where rich white men make all the rules (the Founders, by the way didn’t make rules; they defined rights and freedom — like I said, mythical).
And I’m still not finished with this topic, but I am finished for tonight. What I have addressed tonight and will yet write of implies action must be taken. The most essential for this country right now is to impeach the 45th president, but that is not much of an action by us.
We need to care about, become informed, and demand accountability from our representatives at every level. Our current apathy and voting record based on how much wealth we might be able to accumulate is part of our rights being subtly, painlessly, and indiscernibly stripped away. Communication systems must be implemented, but I will deal with this at some point.
Think about this, because I have no doubt if 10,000 people read this, 9,999 could come up with better ideas than me, you brilliant people, you!
Oh, the most personal and effective action would be to discover Self and create Purpose. This would help us identify in a much broader sense with the Heart-energy powering the founding of America. Really. We would have passion to protect our rights to pursue that purpose, our very essence.
Blessings!
(All quotes from Miller, Joel J. and Parrish, Kristen, eds. The Patriot’s Reference. Nashville, TN: Nelson Books, 2014. Print.)