Ma'a Salama, United States - It Has Been a Pleasure (Part II)

A Fabulous Experiment Gone Awry
~Of Pledges and Oaths~

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

While in elementary school, we stood each morning and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, facing the American flag with hands over hearts, speaking words given to us without explanation as to their meaning or importance. We no longer performed this ritual upon entering junior high, without explanation as to why it was discontinued. Upon reaching high school, the pledge and its cadence had long since been relegated to File 13. We were required to take a civics class for graduation, but the subject of the Pledge and its meaning was never broached. In retrospect, I find that class overall to have been detrimentally lacking in dissemination of useful information to prepare us for the world beyond the walls of the school.

Many years passed before I took a good look those words, still able to recite them from memory nearly 30 years later, finally comprehending what I had been saying and why I should have uttered such a statement. It is unconscionable that our schoolteachers failed to convey to us, the next generation of American citizens, the substance of what we were swearing to, rather than simply teaching us to regurgitate an essentially meaningless oath while leaving us clueless as to its implications. Worse, many schoolchildren today never even learn the words, let alone their meaning. Perhaps... the teachers themselves have no clue, obviously unable to pass it along to their students...

I swear loyalty to my country, those 50 states united under and represented by this flag that I pay tribute to, bound together in pursuit of a common goal: The protection of each of its citizens, their lives, their liberties, and their pursuit of happiness.

Despite claims to the contrary, the Founding Fathers established not a democracy but a republic, a collection of sovereign states with proportionate representation:

Section 4 - Republican government
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

The US Constitution is a contract, a legal document signed by the representatives of States entering the Union (and, by association, the citizens of those states), each party with a specific duty to fulfill. The "mission statement," if you will, of the Federal Government, as outlined by the Constitution, is clear: To protect the States against violence and invasion and a means of providing that protection (taxation) so that we may live and prosper in safety, as a society and as individuals (See *General Welfare*, coming soon).

While united for this purpose (and very few others), each State maintained its sovereignty in nearly every other respect, in some ways a collection of "miniature nations." The Constitution is a relatively small document, establishing a limited federal government with the power to execute its duties while guaranteeing state sovereignty and protecting individual rights and liberties (See *Amendment X*, coming soon). Each man's voice may be heard and his well-being ensured. This underlies the creation of a republic rather than a true democracy, where individual rights cannot be adequately protected against the will of the majority.

We elect those of our peers whom we believe will represent us in our common interests and goals; to give voice to our needs, concerns, and beliefs; to stand before, beside, and behind us each as individuals and as a collective body; to protect our liberties and prevent usurpation of our rights.

Upon taking office, every member of government elected to represent his or her constituents is bound by oath (or affirmation) to support and defend the Constitution, to respect and defer to its authority as the SUPREME LAW OF THE LAND. This oath (or affirmation) is not sworn to the United States directly, to the governing body, to a political party, or to any individual but TO THE CONSTITUTION ITSELF. This document clearly defines a process by which to change it, as its structure and content are the foundation upon which all other laws are built, through a specific amendment process. Redefining/reinterpreting its content or "intent" by judicial fiat, creating rights where none exist (regarding social issues where federal government has no authority to inject itself, i.e., homosexual marriage, abortion, etc.), or claiming "living document" status as justification for extra-constitutional activity is blatant violation of that oath and direct subversion of the power endowed upon our representatives by the Constitution.

In reading the documents establishing our government, it becomes painfully obvious that this new adaptation of "general welfare" was never the intent of those who laid the foundation forming this nation.

"The Congress shall [...] provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States."

In this context, this is the protection of every individual citizen and his well-being, not particular groups of citizens separating and distinguishing themselves from the whole based on some differentiating characteristic, to ensure one's ability to exercise his or her rights to life, liberty, and property. There is no mandate to ensure equality of outcome, merely equality of opportunity.

Sadly, a generation ago, the clearly defined role of our federal government was cast aside, abandoned for a more "modern" interpretation. Providing for the common defense has cost us billions yet produced only questionable results. Promoting the general welfare has evolved into mandating equality of outcome regardless of effort or initiative on the part of the individual and ensuring that no one goes without, invariably at another's expense, through legislation and adjudication.
Without constitutional authority.
Without legal, moral, or ethical justification.
Without consent of the governed.

Black or white or sky-blue pink, gay or straight, conservative or liberal, man or woman or somewhere in between, gun- and Bible-clinging or not, every citizen to a man is of equal standing to the next with no preferential treatment. The security of the rights of the individual and of the individual states is the sole mandate imposed upon the federal government, found throughout the Constitution:

• Providing for the common defense - the United States as a whole;
• Protection of each state's rights, and those reserved to the people, by the Constitution and by those we elect to represent our interests, bound by their oath to protect and preserve that document, the supreme law of the land;
• Uniform taxation and proportionate representation, based upon population, with no preference for one state over another in commerce/revenue;
• Protection of an individual's writings and discoveries (i.e, copyright and patent law) and each person's right to be secure in their persons against unreasonable search and seizure, protection from bills of attainder/ex post facto laws and attainder of treason/corruption of blood, and due process of law guaranteed to each individual - TO A MAN.

My rights stop where another person's start. I have the right to speak and publish freely; however, I do not have the right to infringe upon other people's privacy or to slander or libel them. I have the right to worship (or not) as I choose; however, I do not have the right to compel another to participate, nor do I have the right to coerce them into not participating at all. I have the right to bear arms (or not) should I like; however, I do not have the right to force others to do the same, nor do I have the right to prevent them from doing so. So on and so on....

Indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

This final phrase is particularly compelling. The United States was formed to provide for the defense of the nation so as to protect and ensure liberty, justice, and freedom for the Founding Fathers and future generations. "Liberty and justice for ALL" means everyone, regardless of race, color, creed, age, sex, or political stripe. That ideal has been tossed aside and replaced with an ideologically more compassionate ambition based on guaranteeing "equal outcomes." Many individuals will never realize the principles of liberty and (legal) justice when the measuring stick by which we gauge the protection of those rights to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness is "social justice." Societal mores change over time, meaning some men will be more equal than others based on the standards of any particular day, subject to tacking and jibing in navigating the political winds of societal whims. As long as we practice social justice and demand equal outcomes rather than pursuing legal justice and common sense, we will remain divided.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."Abraham Lincoln