Fisking The President's Graduation Address

Monday, May 6, 2013

Fisking The President's Graduation Address

The Toledo Blade: President Obama Commencement Address

A Real Clear Politics headline reads, Obama To Grads: Reject Voices That Warn About Government Tyranny. Here, I respond to part of his address, line by line (fisking):

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems.

ME: Not as long as you follow The Constitution, sir.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices.

ME: Tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The founders deliberately tried to limit the power of the branches of government. Inefficiency was built-in. Gumming up the works is a GoodThing^TM! We should never reject those voices. We must be vigilant of our government. Trust but verify. The Constitution can't uphold and defend itself. We the People have to demand it!

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted.

ME: As long as it remains self-rule, that is. But we are now ruled by massive bureaucracies and usurpers who have assumed far more authority than The Constitution allows.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We have never been a people who place all our faith in government to solve our problems. We shouldn't want to. But we don't think the government is the source of all our problems, either.

ME: It's rapidly getting that way. You don't seem at all constrained by The Constitution. You seem to operate on the premise that it's easier to get forgiveness than permission.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Because we understand that this democracy is ours.

ME: This is not a democracy. This is a representative republic. You work for us. You represent us.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: And as citizens, we understand that it's not about what America can do for us, it's about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government. And class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process.

ME: Finally something I can agree with, Mr. President.

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The Only Question You Need

"Which article of the Constitution gives government the authority to do that?"

If more and more people start asking this question, I think most of our worst political problems, in all branches and all levels of government would go away by themselves, almost overnight. When a reporter asked Nancy Pelosi that question about the healthcare bill, her deer-in-the-headlights response was, "Are you serious?" Well, we are serious, and politicians should be afraid to step out of their offices without a credible answer to that question. It is the only "litmus test" that we need.

It really takes so little effort, that it is at least worth a try. The beauty of it is, this really should appeal to honest people from anywhere on the political spectrum.

Uphold and Defend

Big government and bad policy, usurpation of authority not granted in the US Constitution is human nature. Republicans and Democrats are both guilty. We the People must realize that this is not a partisan issue, and demand that all of our politicians follow the Constitution.

The US Constitution is still the official specification for the United States of America.
It guarantees equal justice for all, and protects your life, liberty and prosperity.
Any regime that distorts or disregards its original intent is untrustworthy and dangerous.

Presidential Quotes

The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits. ~ Thomas Jefferson

With respect to the words general welfare, I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators. ~ James Madison

I think we can say that the Constitution reflected an enormous blind spot in this culture that carries on to this day and that the Framers had that same blind spot. I don't think the two views are contradictory to say that it was a remarkable political document, that paved the way for where we are now, and to say it also reflected the fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day. ~ Barack Obama

Every word [of the Constitution] decides a question between power and liberty. ~ James Madison

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. ~ George Washington

Do You Still Have All of the Liberty That You Were Born With?

Think back to when you were growing up. What things could you do then that you can no longer do now? What things did you have the liberty to decide for yourself that is now a mandate? How many federal, state and local laws were passed since you were born? How many new bureaucracies and agencies have been created since you were born? How many new regulations have they imposed? How many tax increases have you seen in your lifetime? How many new government programs have replaced your ability to do it yourself? (more...)

Kakistocracy Report

Monday, May 6, 2013