Trump---the Fake Rebel

Trump is (& has been) up to something; WHAT is not clear.  His actions can't just be chalked up to "he's a rebel politician".  Being petty, petulant, paranoid, ignorant, unprofessional, reckless, & immature (the way Trump is) never would serve a rebel well.  Something else is going on.

I certainly don't know, but maybe it's one or more of the following:

1.  he's using his office to further enrich himself; or,

2.  it's all a ploy to get Pence in as President; or,

3.  Trump is angling to repay the Bankers who bailed him out years ago; or,

4.  he really is an ignorant, petty, empty suit; or,

5.  he's mentally ill, or becoming senile; or,

6.  some combination of the above.

Most of the people of the world must be laughing themselves silly because of us having such a buffoon as our "leader".  Or, perhaps they're crying because he's so ignorant and dangerous.  Donald Trump has to be the most incompetent, ignorant, rude, and downright dangerous President this country ever has had.

The fact that he got elected really is a testament to how desperate Americans were for a change in the status quo.  His Fascist idiocy never would have been supported under normal circumstances.  The Corporatist Coup in this Land (ongoing with every Administration since 1981) is now complete.

Jefferson and Madison (both of whom were Elites) warned us way back at the beginning of our Gov't that this very thing was likely to happen...unless we remained vigilant.  We didn't remain so.  Our Founders are turning in their graves.  The Republic of the USA now exists totally in name only.

Not only my opinion.  Be Well

Here's How They Do It -OR- The Biggest Flaw in the Constitution

"They" are the Neoliberals who over decades and by sheer, disorganized, dumb luck have brought about a coup in our Government.  For years I wondered how so many unconstitutional laws could come into being in this Land with barely a peep of protest from anyone.  I think perhaps finally I've figured it out.  Over the years, now and again, I heard this-or-that politician mention the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution; but I never paid much attention to it until recently.

"The Congress shall have Power ... To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."
~ Article I, Section 8, Clause 18, United States Constitution

The Powers mentioned in that clause, "...the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers...", are those delegated by We the People to our Federal Government.  They are the Enumerated Powers that we have given to the Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch.  The Government has only those Powers.  Unfortunately, going all the way back to our Founding Fathers, some have claimed that Article I Section 8 Clause 18 gives other, implied Powers to the Government.  Hamilton and Jefferson debated that very point.

Alexander Hamilton was the Founder who proposed that our Gov't should be that of a Monarchy; he wanted a King as our leader.  Luckily, that idea quickly was scrapped.  Nonetheless, Hamilton kept fighting for a central government bordering on dictatorial.  He wanted a central bank, and he claimed that Article I Section 8 Clause 18 gave the Gov't implied Powers.  Hamilton argued that the sovereign duties of a government implied the right to use means adequate to its ends, regardless of specific Enumerated Powers.  Jefferson opposed him at every turn until Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr in a duel, July, 1804.  Nevertheless, the seed had been planted.  Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall and others promoted the idea that the Government had implied powers.  At times, the "necessary and proper" clause was referred to as the "elastic clause".

The idea eventually lost favor in the late 1800s up until the 1930s.  With the Roosevelt Administration, the "elastic clause" was back in favor... and as the Fed Gov't expanded, the idea became more and more the flavor of the day.  As that happened, "Legislative Absolutism" took hold more and more.  In 1901, Supreme Court Justice Harlan coined that term, warning of a time when unconstitutional laws would be passed as a matter of course.

Any examination of the "necessary and proper" clause with a view toward common sense tells us that no additional Powers are implied by it.  Furthermore, it makes ZERO sense that so-called "implied" powers would be able to result in a law which would essentially nullify any specific written clause in the Supreme Law of the Land.  Finally, the use of "implied" powers apparently is virtually without limits.  It's whatever an indoctrinated, propagandized public will tolerate.

EXAMPLE---  The so-called PATRIOT Act essentially nullifies the Fourth Amendment.  Gathering of bulk data is permitted... without the people being intruded upon having to be suspects of any kind.  In addition, FBI Agents can write their own Search Warrants... the Fourth Amendment makes it clear that judges must issue those.  Finally, other portions of the Act violate the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.  [So do portions of the National Defense Authorization Act, the NDAA.]

All the "necessary and proper" clause is saying is this:  Congress can pass Laws in order to implement the specific Enumerated Powers that were delegated to them by We the People.  Nowhere does it say or imply that Laws contravening the Constitution may also be passed.  Only an attorney with no common sense would infer such a thing from that clause.  Both Hamilton and Marshall were attorneys.  [My admittedly limited experience with attorneys tells me that very few of them have any common sense whatsoever.  They appear to live in a very esoteric world; as with everything, I'm sure there are exceptions.]

My conclusion is that certain people in our political history wanted a way around the constraints of the Constitution.  It appears they desired a central government so strong that it bordered on dictatorial.  To achieve that objective, they inferred from primarily the "necessary and proper" clause, but also from the "commerce" and "general welfare" clauses, so-called implied powers.  I see that as pure BS.  I sincerely doubt that it was the intention of almost all our Founders to give the Government unknown, virtually unlimited Powers that could, in fact, contravene the listed or Enumerated Powers delegated by We the People.  That makes no sense... and more importantly, it makes the Constitution worthless.  The primary purpose of the Constitution is to restrain/constrain government; that's not possible if we accept the concept of "implied powers"... which can be almost anything.

Not just my opinion.  Be Well
p.s.  Special thanks to my good friend in Sacramento, Bob, for triggering the theme of this piece.

A Nonresponsive Government

Please view the Petitions for Redress of Grievances at http://www.givemeliberty.org/ (left side of page); they were signed by over 1,700 concerned citizens and formally presented to various branches of the Fed Govt over a period of a few years. No one from the Government has responded to any of them. Other Petitions have been submitted by various people (including this writer) with no responses. [I did receive ONE response from a member of Congress, but it was not relevant--- the response completely avoided all legitimate questions.]

Right now in Plainfield, NH, Ed and Elaine Brown virtually are under siege by U.S. Marshalls. In a tax trial during which they were not allowed to submit relevant Supreme Court case rulings or revealing portions of USC Title 26, Subtitle A, Chapter 1 (the Income Tax), they were convicted of tax evasion. They are in their home and have vowed resistance to being arrested.

What most people don't know, because the Corporate Media edit it out (if they cover the case at all), is that the Browns began writing the IRS in 1994---asking legitimate questions about the Tax Code---and continued for two years...BEFORE they began not paying taxes in 1996. They also cited relevant Supreme Court cases in their letters to the IRS, asking more questions about the Tax Code vis-a-vis the Court rulings. Their questions were never answered. The government was nonresponsive. For twelve years the government virtually ignored the Browns---ten of those years they did not pay taxes.

In 1774, our Founders established a precedent for withholding monies from a government that does not answer legitimate Petitions. Nonresponsive governments display arrogance, and should not receive any monies due---this according to our Founders. Furthermore, Jefferson himself stated that if a government ignores pleadings from the People regarding injustices, it is the duty of the People "to alter or abolish that government".

The Petitions at givemeliberty.org deal with Constitutional torts committed by our government in the areas of: the tax clauses, the war clauses, the Fourth Amendment, the money clauses, and other areas such as immigration. These Petitions are meticulous in their formats and legitimacy. By ignoring them, the Fed Govt displays not only hubris, but disdain for We the People as well. Meanwhile, the Constitution is being abrogated...again.

Many people are fed up with this situation. It is time to boycott the Fed Govt and its lap dogs, the Corporate Media and the large multi-national corporations, whenever possible. EXAMPLE: ABC, NBC, & CBS already are concerned that---according to their own studies---they have lost 2.5 million TV viewers over a period of a year or so. Let's make that five million...or more. Commercial network TV is 90% drivel anyway. EXAMPLE: Boycott Exxon-Mobil, the largest oil company in the world---and the one with the most obscene profits. EXAMPLE: Bombard Congress with emails, phone calls, or letters demanding the repeal of the REAL ID Act, which goes into effect in May, 2008. [See: http://www.downsizeDC.org/ ...scroll down, almost to the bottom.] Electronic tagging should be for animals, not humans. Besides, the Fed Govt has no Constitutional authority to have anything at all to do with citizen ID.