CROSSVILLE —
When our Founding Fathers gathered to build a federal government, they decided to found this government on a Constitution based on and complimentary to the constitutions of each individual state of the time. After the original draft of the 1787 Federal Constitution, it was decided that this Constitution should protect each individual person in America from a central government and thus the Bill of Rights was added. The states adamantly opposed the Federal Constitution unless the Bill of Rights protected state’s rights and individual rights, otherwise the federal Constitution would not be ratified.
The result was that each state and not the federal government would now protect the rights of the citizenry. So adamant were the states on this matter that Rhode Island wanted an amendment which would “guarantee to each State its sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every power, jurisdiction and right, which is not by this constitution expressly delegated to the United States.” Before South Carolina would ratify the federal Constitution its delegates stated, “This Convention doth also declare that no Section or paragraph of the said Constitution warrant a Construction that states do not retain every power not expressly relinquished by them and vested in the General Government of the Union.” Thus the interpretation of the other nine amendments was insured by the addition of the Tenth Amendment, which guaranteed states rights, to the Bill of Rights which was then added to the federal Constitution in its entirety.
The First Amendment was written solely to prohibit the United States government from interfering with states rights when it began with the words, “Congress shall make no law…”
Further proof of that the sole intent was protection of citizen’s rights was that at ratification several states continued to have state religions into the nineteenth century. The federal Supreme Court allowed this because it recognized that the states were bound by their respective constitutions first and foremost.
Founding Father and Chief Justice John Marshall further defined the power of the Bill of Rights when he wrote in the 1833 case of Barron versus Baltimore, “In almost every convention by which the Constitution was adopted, amendments to guard against the abuse of power were recommended. These amendments demanded security against the apprehended encroachments of the general government…not against those of local governments…. These amendments contain no expression indicating an intention to apply them to the State governments. This court cannot so apply them.”
Basically, Justice Marshall concluded that the First amendment protected states from the federal government. Unfortunately, after the War Between the States the First Amendment began to morph into a whole new meaning. The Lincoln administration began the process whereby state’s rights were interpreted in favor of a more powerful central government and until this day the First Amendment, as well as the entire Bill of Rights, continues to be interpreted with a federal bias. Although socialism is a minority belief system of the elites, it is insidious and unrelenting. John Adams was probably the first American elitist who firmly believed the ordinary citizen to be incapable of ruling himself and therefore must be cared for by an elitist hierarchy. Liberty lost can never be regained.
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Stumptalk is published weekly in the Crossville Chronicle. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the Chronicle publisher, editor or staff. To contact Stumptalk, email coordinator Phil Billington at stumptalk@charter.net.
Opinion
STUMPTALK: Liberty lost can never be regained
- Opinion
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LION AND THE LAMB: More than meets the eye
It was a quiet Saturday afternoon, and my wife Sheral suggested I join her on a shopping trip. In Crossville Sheral went inside a store and I stayed outside looking at the bargain specials. My mind was in neutral, so I almost missed the little boy’s question. He was about seven or eight, evidently had just seen his first Amish family, and they had seemed very strange to him.
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WE THE PEOPLE: No time to govern
Bob Dole’s tribute to George McGovern at the time of his death last year was both beautiful and touching. Speaking of the friendship they shared and the work they did together during their time in the Senate and later in retirement, Dole said McGovern “was one of the finest public servants I ever had the privilege to know.” He went on to say that they knew what they had in common was far more important than their different political philosophies.
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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