Gross Media Ignorance

Gross Media Ignorance
by Walter E. Williams

There's little that's intelligent or informed about Time magazine editor Richard Stengel's article " One Document, Under Siege" (June 23, 2011). It contains many grossly ignorant statements about our Constitution. If I believed in conspiracies, I'd say Stengel's article is part of a leftist agenda to undermine respect for the founding values of our nation.

Stengel says: "The framers were not gods and were not infallible. Yes, they gave us, and the world, a blueprint for the protection of democratic freedoms -- freedom of speech, assembly, religion -- but they also gave us the idea that a black person was three-fifths of a human being, that women were not allowed to vote and that South Dakota should have the same number of Senators as California, which is kind of crazy. And I'm not even going to mention the Electoral College."

My column last week addressed the compromise whereby each slave was counted as three-fifths of a person for the purposes of determining representation in the House of Representatives and Electoral College. Had slaves been counted as whole people, slaveholding states would have had much greater political power. I agree the framers were not gods and were not infallible, but they had far greater wisdom and principle than today's politicians.

The framers held democracy and majority rule in deep contempt. As a matter of fact, the term democracy appears in none of our founding documents. James Madison argued that "measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force of an interested and overbearing majority." John Adams said: "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Stengel's majoritarian vision sees it as anti-democratic that South Dakota and California both have two senators, but the framers wanted to reduce the chances that highly populated states would run roughshod over thinly populated states. They established the Electoral College to serve the same purpose in determining the presidency.

The framers recognized that most human abuses were the result of government. As Thomas Paine said, "government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil." Because of their distrust, the framers sought to keep the federal government limited in its power. Their distrust of Congress is seen in the language used throughout our Constitution. The Bill of Rights says Congress shall not abridge, shall not infringe, shall not deny and other shall-nots, such as disparage, violate and deny. If the founders did not believe Congress would abuse our God-given, or natural, rights, they would not have provided those protections. I've always argued that if we depart this world and see anything resembling the Bill of Rights at our next destination, we'll know we're in hell. A bill of rights in heaven would be an affront to God.

Other founder distrust for government is found in the Constitution's separation of powers, checks and balances, and several anti-majoritarian provisions, such as the Electoral College, two-thirds vote to override a veto and the requirement that three-quarters of state legislatures ratify changes to the Constitution.

Stengel says, "If the Constitution was intended to limit the federal government, it sure doesn't say so." That statement is beyond ignorance. The 10th Amendment reads: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Stengel apparently has not read The Federalist No. 45, in which James Madison, the acknowledged father of the Constitution, said: "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite."

Stengel's article is five pages online, and I've only commented on the first. There's also little in the remaining pages that reflects understanding and respect for our nation's most important document.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/walter-williams/gross-media-ignorance.html

Re: Tea Party!

The real scandal is that the President makes ONLY $400,000.
----------------------------

I hear that man. Hell, REagan made half that and freed more than half
of Europe and gave us an immeasurable peace dividend.

The beny's are pretty hip though

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Re: Maybe he can make up for some of the others like Michael Moore and Janeane Garafolo

KInda liked Garafolo when she was a comedien in Boston, and on West
Wing

On Jul 4, 5:48 pm, dick thompson <rhomp2...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> http://www.bizzyblog.com/2011/07/04/positivity-gary-sinise-a-true-ame...

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Re: The Real Meaning of the Fourth of July

I think thats the whole point of the treatise.

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

Not jobs power or white marble offices; not birth right, philosohpy or
ideology.

THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.

The great experiment. The jazz.

On Jul 4, 1:05 pm, THE ANNOINTED ONE <markmka...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Gee MJ,
>
> This little treatise completely ignores the explanation and conditions
> for all men to be equal ie:
>
> 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 to these ends, it
> is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
> new government, laying its foundation on such principles and
> organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely
> to effect their safety and happiness.
>
> On Jul 4, 10:15 am, MJ <micha...@america.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > "The Declaration of Independence upended that age-old notion of rights. All men -- not just Americans -- have been endowed by God and nature, not government, with fundamental and unalienable rights. Governments are called into existence by the people -- and exist at their pleasure -- for one purpose: to protect the exercise of these inherent rights."The Real Meaning of the Fourth of JulybyJacob G. Hornberger, July 4, 2008
> > Contrary to popular myth, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were not great Americans. Instead, they were great Englishmen. In fact, they were as much English citizens as Americans today are American citizens. It s easy to forget that the revolutionaries in 1776 were people who took up arms against their own government.
> > So how is it that these men are considered patriots? Well, the truth is that their government didn t consider them patriots at all. Their government considered them to be bad guys -- traitors, all of whom deserved to be hanged for treason.
> > Most of us consider the signers of the Declaration of Independence to be patriots because of their courage in taking a stand against the wrongdoing and tyranny of their own government, even risking their lives in the process.
> > Yet not even the patriotism and courage of these English citizens constitutes the foremost significance of the Fourth of July, any more than the military victory over their government s forces at Yorktown does.
> > Instead, the real significance of the Fourth of July lies in the expression of what is undoubtedly the most revolutionary political declaration in history: that man s rights are inherent, God-given, and natural and, thus, do not come from government.
> > Throughout history, people have believed that their rights come from government. Such being the case, people haven t objected whenever government officials infringed upon their rights. Since rights were considered to be government-bestowed privileges, the thinking went, why shouldn t government officials have the power to regulate or suspend such privileges at will?
> > The Declaration of Independence upended that age-old notion of rights. All men -- not just Americans -- have been endowed by God and nature, not government, with fundamental and unalienable rights. Governments are called into existence by the people -- and exist at their pleasure -- for one purpose: to protect the exercise of these inherent rights.
> > What happens if a government that people have established becomes a destroyer, rather than a protector, of their rights? The Declaration provides the answer: It is the right of the people to alter or even abolish their government and establish new government whose purpose is the protection, not the destruction, of people s rights and freedoms.
> > The Constitution and the Bill of Rights must be construed in light of that revolutionary statement of rights in the Declaration of Independence. The American people used the Constitution to bring the federal government into existence but also, simultaneously, they used that document to limit the government s powers to those expressly enumerated in the Constitution. With the Constitution, people limited the powers of their own government in a formal, structured way, with the aim of protecting their rights and freedoms from being infringed upon by that same government.
> > Why did Americans deem it desirable and necessary to limit the powers of the federal government? Because they feared the possibility that their new government would become like their former government against which they had had to take up arms. While they recognized the necessity for government -- as a means to protect their rights -- they also recognized that the federal government was the greatest threat to their rights. By severely limiting the powers of the federal government to those enumerated within the Constitution, the Framers intended to encase the federal government within a straitjacket.
> > Even that was not sufficient for the American people, however. As a condition for approving the Constitution, they demanded passage of the Bill of Rights, which emphasized two deeply held beliefs: (1) that the federal government, not some foreign entity, constitutes the greatest threat to the rights and liberties of the American people; and (2) that the enumeration of specific rights and liberties, both substantive and procedural, would better ensure their protection from federal infringement.
> > On the Fourth of July we celebrate the patriotism and courage of those English revolutionaries who were willing to pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor in defense of the most revolutionary declaration of rights in history -- that man s rights come from God and nature, not from government.http://www.fff.org/comment/com0807b.asp- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

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Re: There is No First Amendment Without a Second Amendment.

[the second amendment is] an individual right, unconnected with
service in a milita. - US Supreme Court, June 8, 2008.

That much is settled

On Jul 5, 8:19 am, Sharon Fuentes <oneforentr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Mark was it that or so that we could call up a militia?  Do you know which
> of the Federalist papers dicuss this issue?  It seems some 20+yrs ago in
> poli-sci we discussed this in context of a Federalist paper.  But old  age
> stress and a lot crap has diluted my memory.
>
> Thanks
> S
> On Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 12:50 PM, THE ANNOINTED ONE <markmka...@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
>
> > Remember.... the Second amendment is in place not so we can repel
> > invaders whether home or national border... it is there so we can
> > protect ourselves from our own government.
>
> > On Jul 3, 8:33 pm, Travis <baconl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > **
> > >     <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/stungunsandmace/>
> > There
> > > is No First Amendment Without a Second
> > > Amendment.<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/there-is-no-first-a...>
> > > *Steve <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/author/stungunsandmace/>*
> > |
> > > July 3, 2011 at 4:27 am | Tags: Alan
> > > Caruba<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=alan-caruba>,
> > > Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and
> > > Explosives<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=bureau-of-alcohol-tobacco...>,
> > > Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear
> > > Arms<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=citizens-committee-for-th...>,
> > > Michael Bloomberg<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=michael-bloomberg>,
> > > Obama administration<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=obama-administration>,
> > > Second Amendment
> > > Foundation<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=second-amendment-foundation>,
> > > Second Amendment to the United States
> > > Constitution<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=second-amendment-to-the-u...>,
> > > United States <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?tag=united-states>
> > |
> > > Categories: Constitution <
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=29050>,
> > > crime <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=34945349>, Idiot Law
> > > Makers <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=57323845>, Second
> > > Amendment <http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=102988>, Tea
> > > Party<http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/?cat=34918731>| URL:
> >http://wp.me/pKuKY-7VU
>
> > >  <http://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/gunflash.gif>
>
> > > Like AMEX, Don 't Leave Home Without It.
>
> > > *A very timely reminder of just how and where we came from. And the
> > > Consequences of ever giving up your second amendment right. Happy 4th Of
> > > July, It's up to us to have many more.  ~Steve~*
>
> > > *Reposted From Tea Party Nation.*
>
> > >http://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blog/show?id=3355873%3ABlogPos...
>
> > > Posted by Alan Caruba<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/profile/AlanCaruba>on
> > > July 2, 2011 at 5:00pm
>
> > > Send Message <http://l/> View Alan Caruba's
> > > blog<http://www.teapartynation.com/profiles/blog/list?user=wo5vy0y6lr5s>
>
> > > By Alan Caruba
>
> > > When we celebrate the Fourth of July<
> >http://www.history.com/topics/july-4th>,
> > > let's keep in mind that the first
> > > Americans<http://www.history.com/topics/states>won their independence
> > > from England with the force of arms. It was, in fact,
> > > a British effort in 1775 to confiscate military arms they believed were
> > > stored in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts that sparked the war.
>
> > > The Founding Fathers were so aware of the need for an armed citizenry
> > that,
> > > after ensuring freedom of religion, speech, press and the right to
> > > peacefully assemble in the First Amendment, the Second guaranteed their
> > > right to bear arms.
>
> > > Wherever authoritarian regimes were established in the last century, they
> > > took away this right and then proceeded to kill those deemed enemies of
> > the
> > > state.
>
> > > At this point in American history, the Obama
> > > administration<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/obama-administration
> > >constitutes
> > > a threat to the Constitution in general and the Second
> > > Amendment<
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Co..
> > .>in
> > > particular.
> > > *More than 80,000,000 Americans are gun owners.*
>
> > > Two of the organizations that have been fighting to protect these rights
> > are
> > > the Second Amendment
> > > Foundation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_Foundation
> > >(SAF)
> > > and the Citizens
> > > Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear
> > > Arms<
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_Committee_for_the_Right_to_Keep..
> > .>(CCRKBA),
> > > both led by Alan M. Gottlieb. Three quarters of the SAF budget is
> > > devoted to defending rights pertaining to the ownership of guns and to
> > carry
> > > them for self-defense.
>
> > > In March, the Huffington Post had an article titled "Obama Looking for
> > Ways
> > > Around Congress on Gun
> > > Policy"<
> >http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/15/obama-gun-laws-congress_n_83..
> > .>by
> > > Sam Stein. "Faced with a Congress hostile to even slight restrictions
> > > of
> > > Second Amendment rights, the Obama administration is exploring potential
> > > changes to gun laws that can be secured strictly through executive
> > action,
> > > administration officials, say."
>
> > > *Since then we have learned of a U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and
> > > Firearms<http://www.atf.gov/>program, Fast and Furious, that actually
> > > facilitated the sale and transfer
> > > of guns to Mexico. How demented is that?*
>
> > > In May in my home state of New Jersey the SAF won a decision against
> > > officials for the deprivation of civil rights under the color of law when
> > > they had ruled that an applicant for a concealed carry permit had not
> > > demonstrated a "justifiable need" for it. In point of fact, the
> > applicant,
> > > Philip Muller, had been kidnapped by members of a motorcycle gang who
> > > threatened to kill him. They had, however, grabbed the wrong man.
>
> > > Despite support by local and state police, action on his application was
> > > delayed for six months. Morris County Superior Court Judge David Ironson
> > > issued a directive that a permit should be granted. The case is still
> > > on-going with other plaintiffs that include a part-time sheriff's deputy,
> > an
> > > applicant who carries large amounts of cash in his private business, and
> > a
> > > civilian employee of the FBI with legitimate concerns of an attack from a
> > > radical Islamic group.
>
> > > Currently nearly thirty such cases have either been brought or joined by
> > SAF
> > > to stop abuses of this most fundamental right of American citizens
> > ranging
> > > from bans on interstate handgun sales, New York Mayor Michael
> > > Bloomberg<http://www.biography.com/articles/Michael-Bloomberg-16466704
> > >'s
> > > imposition of a $340 fee for a permit to keep a handgun in one's home,
> > and a
> > > Chicago ban on gun ranges open to the public. These cases cost between
> > > $60,000 and $80,000 each!
>
> > > *The greatest single threat to gun ownership right now is a United
> > Nations
> > > "Small Arms Treaty" falsely identified as an "international arms control
> > > treaty" allegedly to fight terrorism."*
>
> > > "In reality," says Gottlieb, it is "a massive, global gun control scheme.
> > > It's a sham. It's a fraud." If the U.S., under the Obama administration
> > and
> > > with the consent of the Senate, were to sign on to this treaty, it would
> > > nullify the Second Amendment.
>
> > > Suffice to say that the Obama administration wants to have the power to
> > > increase federal fees on guns and ammunition, to ban guns that are
> > imported,
> > > to extend the waiting periods for permits, to ban the use of guns on all
> > > government property, and even to make it illegal if you own a gun and
> > smoke!
>
> > > Americans do not have to "justify" gun ownership. It is guaranteed by the
> > > Second Amendment. The reality is that enemies of this fundamental rights
> > > continue to wage an assault on it.
>
> > > For information about SAF visithttp://www.saf.org/andCCRKBA athttp://
> >www.ccrkba.org/.
>
> > > © Alan Caruba, 2011
>
> > > Add a comment to this
> > > post<
> >http://fellowshipofminds.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/there-is-no-first-a...>
>
> > >   [image: WordPress]
>
> > > WordPress.com <http://wordpress.com/> | Thanks for flying with
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