Free Republic

Some tasks are occasionally necessary, though unpleasant. (Oops. My mind just drifted to that plastic bag you must carry with you when walking your dog.) Hunting down that roach your wife is just absolutely certain she saw scampering across the bedcovers would be one; talking to Harry Reid might be another. I’ll leave the roach to you. That’s what the Yellow Pages are for. Unfortunately the Yellow Pages are going to be of no help if you find yourself trying to make sense out of, or talk sense into, Harry Reid. Now Harry likes to throw around a lot of...

A few days ago CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin, speaking about the Republican House bill defunding Obamacare, commented, “Certainly not the way the Founding Fathers maybe drew this thing up.” It’s certainly a surprise to hear an anchor on CNN, an organization biased in favor of progressives, appealing to the authority of the Constitution. For a century the progressives have been telling us that the Constitution is an outmoded document from a different age, and needs to be “modernized” to meet the challenges of a new world. Listen to Woodrow Wilson in his 1913 book The New Freedom. “I am ....

In our grubby, unhelpful political lexicon, certain words exist solely to end conversations. The most prominent such word is “racist.� Less popular, but by no means less potent, are “democracy� and “rights.� When welded together as “democratic rights,� the pair becomes all-powerful — strong enough to send grown men spinning for the exits and to render eloquent speakers mute.For a good example of this principle in motion, witness the orthodox reaction to anyone who calls for the repeal of the 17th Amendment. (Direct election of senators, if you’re wondering.) Removing this ugly violation from the Constitution it so corrupts...

Why do Liberals and Progressives want you Disarmed? Following the shooting of Treyvon Martin earlier this year, liberals and progressives renewed their calls for more restrictions on firearms and repeal of Florida’s stand your ground law. Some called for the out right ban of handguns. Once again their justification is so-called public safety because they claim the police are entrusted with duty of protecting you. As I wrote in “The Police are Under No Legal Obligation to Protect You”, this assertion is patently false because courts throughout these United States have consistently held that police have no legal duty to...

THE ROOTS OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERTY By: J. David Gowdy Copyright © 1997: Institute for American Liberty Our second President, John Adams stated: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."  Why would Adams declare that our Constitution is made only for a moral people and a religious people? What does morality have to do with its articles? While it establishes freedom of religion, why would it be wholly inadequate to the government of a non-religious people? The Constitution itself gives us little clue; it simply...

All retroactive laws are unconstitutional. Supposedly, we are protected against such heavy-handed political impositions. Our social compact with government, the United States Constitution, forbids such actions by government. That is, if We the People are willing to enforce the issue. First, we should ask our Representatives and Senators if they intend to honor their oath of office. You know, the one where they swear to uphold, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. . . . Then, ask your Member of Congress to read Article I, Section 9, paragraph 3 of the Constitution, which states: "No Bill of...

There are but two modes by which men are connected in society, the one which operates on individuals, this always has been, and ought still to be called, national government; the other which binds States and governments together (not corporations, for there is no considerable nation on earth, despotic, monarchical, or republican, that does not contain many subordinate corporations with various constitutions) this last has heretofore been denominated a league or confederacy. The term federalists is therefore improperly applied to themselves, by the friends and supporters of the proposed constitution. This abuse of language does not help the cause; every...

I'm beginning to detect a theme running throughout the Democrat Party's proposals. Actually, the theme is about as subtle as a icepick in Sicily, so I'm quite surprised that I haven't noticed it before. OK, I HAVE noticed it before, I just haven't noticed it EVERYWHERE two or more liberal proposals are gathered in Pelosi's name. So anywho, as I was saying: After much stoic reflection, I've determined that Democrats believe that the key to creating the liberal heaven-on-earth is in getting us all to die. Yep. Dead as hell; that's what they want. And I don't just mean the...

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire - August 8, 2007) - Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a leading law firm, is using the collection of founding documents compiled on ConSource, the first comprehensive online collection of Constitution-related source materials, to research and present the District of Columbia's position that the District's handgun ban withstands Constitutional scrutiny. These documents will play an important role in the petition for certiorari presented to the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to overturn the March 9 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit holding that the District's law violates the Second Amendment. "This case has...

The infant periods of most nations are buried in silence, or veiled in fable, and perhaps the world has lost little it should regret. But the origins of the American Republic contain lessons of which posterity ought not to be deprived.—James MadisonThe Articles of Confederation proved barely adequate during the imperative of war and a failure after independence was achieved. A few years after the Paris Peace Treaty, our military had been reduced to near extinction, depression and inflation sapped hope, insurrection sprang from civil injustice, a confused government tottered perilously close to collapse, and European powers hovered like vultures,...

I. The Tenth Amendment and Enumerated Powers The Tenth Amendment states: "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." By its terms the amendment tells us nothing about which powers are delegated to the federal government, which are prohibited to the states, or which are reserved to the states or to the people. To determine that, we have to look to the centerpiece of the Constitution, the doctrine of enumerated powers. That doctrine is discussed at length in the Federalist...

Ten Books every F.R. member should read to articulately promote/defend and expeditiously achieve the goals stated @ About Free RepublicScoring could be based on: Ten Books Every Student Should Read in College A book was awarded ten points for receiving a No. 1 rating, 9 points for receiving a No. 2 rating, and so on. The ten books with the highest aggregate ratings made the list. We have also compiled an Honorable Mention list. Sample list: NET BibleFederalist Papers AND The Antifederalist Papers (as an integrated whole)In Search of Tocqueville's Democracy in AmericaFarrand's Records Home Page: US Congressional DocumentsTaking Back...

James Madison Drinks, and Writes an ArticlePhilip Freneau had set the deadline for the December 22nd edition of the National Gazette, and James Madison found himself racing the hourglass. Freneau published the newspaper, dedicated to the positions of Thomas Jefferson’s faction within the Congress and the council around His Excellency, while working for the red-haired Secretary of State as a translator. Mr. Jefferson saw neither difficulty nor conflict with this arrangement. Freneau had labeled the men of Alexander Hamilton’s faction as Monarchists, Tories, and Anti-Republicans, claiming their role was to reverse the results of 1776. The Secretary of the Treasury...

Civics 101 -- Getting it right... Mark Alexander (archive) August 29, 2003 | Print | Send Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore's defiance of a federal court's mandate to remove a Ten Commandments display from the rotunda at the Alabama judicial building has been debated vigorously in recent weeks, mostly out of context. Much of the public debate about this case has taken a wide detour around the substantive constitutional question, instead focusing on the Ten Commandments: Are they the foundation of Western law? Should they be displayed in state and local public places? Are such displays promotions of religion or...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Gerry Poulos, Chairman, Ohio Conservative Coalition; Ph: (740) 439-3857; E-mail: gwpoulos@msn.com; Website: www.ohiocc.net The Ohio Conservative Coalition is proud to announce the introduction of the Founding of America Bill January 2nd, 2002 Cambridge Ohio - The Ohio Conservative Coalition calls for praise of Ohio House Diana M. Fessler of the 43rd District for the introduction today of the Founding of America Bill. This legislation, originally proposed by the Ohio Conservative Coalition, would require Ohio's public high schools to teach students the primary founding documents of the United States, including the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution (with ...

This is great prep for an argument with a liberal. Feel free to highlight your favorite sections: Chapter XV: Unlimited Power Of Majority, And Its Consequences—Part II Tyranny Of The Majority How the principle of the sovereignty of the people is to be understood—Impossibility of conceiving a mixed government—The sovereign power must centre somewhere—Precautions to be taken to control its action—These precautions have not been taken in the United States—Consequences. I hold it to be an impious and an execrable [execrable: extremely bad or unpleasant] maxim that, politically speaking, a people has a right to do whatsoever it pleases, and...

INDIANAPOLIS — A rare leather-bound book that played an influential role in America's early history could bring a windfall for a soldier training for his second tour in Iraq. Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was a high school junior when he paid $7 for a 1788 first edition of volume one of "The Federalist" — a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Harlan, a 35-year-old from Granger, Ind., said he always thought his find might be worth about $500, not the thousands it could fetch when it's sold online Tuesday by Heritage Auction...

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. I know I've been talking a lot about guns, gun control, and the 2nd Amendment (2A) a lot lately. I can't help it. Our basic rights, recognized and enshrined in our Constitution, are under attack and I feel compelled to respond. I've been reading a lot from the Federalist Papers recently. I've also been reading the debates that took place during the adoption of that amendment so that I could understand what those...

Like the Tea Party, Liberty Day began in the 90's before politicians like Obama was on the radar screen. This is one more event we can celebrate as we oppose big government. When is Liberty Day celebrated? Liberty Day is celebrated annually on March 16th, the birthday of James Madison, who: • Helped write the Virginia Plan, the basis of discussion for the creation of the U.S. Constitution; • Kept detailed notes on those debates in the Constitutional Convention of 1787; • Wrote many of the articles in support of that new Constitution, which became known as the "Federalist Papers"...

Right to Keep and Bear Arms "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms. History shows that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by so doing." -- Adolph Hitler, Hitler's Secret Conversations 403 (Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens trans., 1961) What the Framers said about our Second Amendment Rights to Keep and Bear Arms"I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials." — George Mason, in Debates in Virginia Convention on...

"Second Term Begins With a Sweeping Agenda for Equality," ran the eight-column banner in which The Washington Post captured the essence of Obama's second inaugural. There he declared: "What binds this nation together ... what makes us exceptional -- what makes us American -- is our allegiance to an idea, articulated in a declaration made more than two centuries ago." Obama then quoted our Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit...

Michael E. Newton’s new book Angry Mobs and Founding Fathers is a must read for anyone interested in America’s founding and should be part of every patriot’s library. His book is clear, concise, well documented, and chock-full of quotes from the founding fathers. Newton takes the reader back to Colonial America when angry mobs were protesting British tyranny. He brilliantly juxtaposes the debate over separating from Great Britain and how the founders skillfully navigated America through the stormy waters that resulted from the Declaration of Independence. After defeating the English, he expertly guides you through the articles of confederation and...

A small publishing company is under fire after putting warning labels on copies of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and other historical documents. A small publishing company is under fire after putting warning labels on copies of the U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence and other historical documents. Wilder Publications warns readers of its reprints of the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, Common Sense, the Articles of Confederation, and the Federalist Papers, among others, that “This book is a product of its time and does not reflect the same values as it would if it were written today.” The disclaimer...

"A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one." -Alexander Hamilton

TONGUE-IN-CHEEK WARNING ABOUT CLINTON OVAL-OFFICE FELLATION ACTUALIZEDSPELLS TROUBLE AHEAD FOR HILLARY by Mia T, 12.12.06 PERIMENOPAUSAL, NEO-FEMINIST CLAPTRAP by Mia T, September 30, 1998   fter reading the latest version of Dowd's perimenopausal, neo-feminist claptrap, "Maladroit du Seigneur," I quickly checked the relevant sections of both The Constitution and The Federalist Papers and concluded that being a lousy lover isn't grounds for impeaching a president (although it is still an open question as to whether global knowledge of same isn't). Interestingly though, the bimbo eruptions themselves may provide such grounds. Federalist No. 76, in which Hamilton describes the president as...

Mr. HENRY. Mr. Chairman, the necessity of a bill of rights appears to me to be greater in this government than ever it was in any government before. ... Let us consider the sentiments which have been entertained by the people of America on this subject. At the revolution, it must be admitted that it was their sense to set down those great rights which ought, in all countries, to be held inviolable and sacred. Virginia did so, we all remember. She made a compact to reserve, expressly, certain rights. When fortified with full, adequate, and abundant representation, was she...

As the partisan Legislative branch seeks to invade the inner offices of the Executive, a review of the separation of powers issue is timely: “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, selfappointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny. Were the federal Constitution, therefore, really chargeable with the accumulation of power, or with a mixture of powers, having a dangerous tendency to such an accumulation, no further arguments would be necessary to inspire a universal reprobation of the system. I...

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Two hundred years ago today, Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton squared off in a sunrise duel on a wooded ledge in Weehawken, N.J., above the Hudson River. Burr was vice president when he leveled his fatal shot at Hamilton, the former Treasury secretary, who died the next day in what is now the West Village of Manhattan. New Yorkers turned out en masse for Hamilton's funeral, while Burr (rightly or wrongly) was branded an assassin and fled south in anticipation of indictments in New York and New Jersey. To the horror of Hamilton's admirers, the vice president, now...

We now see people clamoring for their right of health care, their right of same-sex marriage, their right to reveal information that will damage national security and so on. None of these rights are listed in our first ten amendments, yet the claims continue unheeded. Such claims were forecasted by several of the founding fathers; Alexander Hamilton penned his thoughts on the dangers of a Bill of Rights in Federalist 84. What follows here is a small section of the essay. Prior to this section he sets a foundation for his argument that is worthy of serious study. “I go...

"THE PUBLIUS ENIGMA: Newly Revealed Evidence Establishes That President James Madison’s Administration Required Citizen Parentage To Qualify Native-Born Persons For U.S. Citizenship. I was recently forwarded an incredibly amazing article from the October 10, 1811 edition of The Alexandria Herald newspaper. RXSID of Free Republic sent it with a brief note, stating, “Check out this case.” The Herald article is entitled, The Case of James McClure. The author is…PUBLIUS. Publius was the pseudonym used by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, for their anonymous authorship of The Federalist Papers. By 1811, Hamilton was dead and Jay retired. My research...

John Jay, the co-writer of the Federalist Papers and the first chief justice of the United States (1789-95), wrote in a 1786 letter to Thomas Jefferson that he was worried that under our evolving founding document that became the Constitution, Congress would have exorbitant power. “These three great departments of sovereignty,” he told Jefferson, “should be forever separated and so distributed to serve as checks on each other.”

Introduction In this essay I will attempt to show that the powers granted to the Federal Judiciary were excessive, that the creation of an all-powerful, unaccountable Supreme Court was a grave error that made the expansion of Federal power inevitable, and virtually limitless. I will then provide a brief investigation into the original meaning of the Commerce Clause. Last, I will argue that the harm created through Commerce Clause jurisprudence appears irreversible, having been upheld and applied by Justice Scalia and the liberal wing of the Court as recently as 2005. If Justice Scalia not only unwilling to overturn past...

September 27 marks the anniversary of the publication of the first of the Antifederalist Papers in 1789. The Antifederalists were opponents of ratifying the US Constitution. They feared that it would create an overbearing central government, while the Constitution's proponents promised that this would not happen. As the losers in that debate, they are largely overlooked today. But that does not mean they were wrong or that we are not indebted to them. In many ways, the group has been misnamed. Federalism refers to the system of decentralized government. This group defended states rights — the very essence of...

The people can never wilfully betray their own interests; but they may possibly be betrayed by the representatives of the people; and the danger will be evidently greater where the whole legislative trust is lodged in the hands of one body of men, than where the concurrence of separate and dissimilar bodies is required in every public act. short context: It adds no small weight to all these considerations, to recollect that history informs us of no long-lived republic which had not a senate. Sparta, Rome, and Carthage are, in fact, the only states to whom that character can be...

The only legitimate purpose of government is to secure the rights that you already have as a free-willed creation of God. For over 200 years, we have forgotten what the Founders wrote about the purpose of government in the Declaration of Independence. Its purpose is not to control us and keep our elected officials in power, although that is exactly what it has become in practice. The purpose of government should always be to secure our rights! Government is not to be an agent of control over our lives. Instead, government is to be a defender of our rights- a...

All Americans, whether pro-life or pro-choice, ought to be dissatisfied with the manner in which abortion has become the law of the land. They should reject the Supreme Court’s usurpation of the authority of the Congress to make laws or to amend the Constitution, which is precisely what the Court did in Roe v. Wade by "discovering" in the Constitution "new" rights. Roe v. Wade is in effect a piece of judicial legislation, a clear violation of the principle of the separation of powers. Those who are pro-choice may now be satisfied with the Court’s decision, because it agrees with...

If you only read one of the Federalist Papers, this is it. This is the one you want to read and carefully study. This is the one that relates to today’s political wars more than any other of the Federalists. From the beginning Mr. Madison starts with a strong statement. Follow along and find where his warnings match today’s political efforts. Line breaks have been added for easier reading and a few sections have been emphasized. But this Federalist is important to study, especially now. Ping your friends! < The Federalist No. 10 The Utility of the Union as a...

Tom Wiens spoke to the Douglas County GOP this week. It was a full crowd and he was warmly received. Over the years he has represented Douglas County at the state capital. A comparison of the GOP’s 3 candidates is now in order. For a change of pace, let’s use an older measuring instrument, our Founding Fathers. After the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, it had to be sold to each of the 13 Colonies to become the “Law of the Land.” Several of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention volunteered to make this sales pitch to the colonies....

Melancton Smith Tackles the Issues of Size and ClassOn 21 June 1788, New Hampshire ratified the Constitution. This would have been a red letter day for Madison and Hamilton had the primitive state of communications made it possible for the two men to know they had won – up to a point. Melancton Smith, however, would have been dismayed. Nine states had ratified, and the Constitution was now in effect for those states. Four states remained outside the Constitution, and two of them were the biggest and most important. Virginia was only days away from a ratification vote, and the...

Melancton Smith Checks InMelancton Smith of New York had a resume in the Revolution that was beyond reproach. A Poughkeepsie businessman, he had served in the militia and organized his own unit in Dutchess County. As county sheriff he became the bane of the local Loyalists. He moved to New York City, founded the local emancipationist society, served in the Confederation Congress, and was chosen to attend the New York ratifying convention at Poughkeepsie, where he argued against the Constitution along the lines of Federal Farmer, but then voted for it on the condition of the future attachment of a...

Hamilton Addresses the Compensation of JudgesIn this very short essay, Hamilton looks at the rules for compensation of jurists and the conditions for their removal from office. Federalist #79The Judiciary (Part 2 of 6) Alexander Hamilton, 18 June 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 Next to permanency in office, nothing can contribute more to the independence of the judges than a fixed provision for their support. 3 The remark made in relation to the President is equally applicable here. 4 In the general course of human nature, a power of a man’s subsistence...

Hamilton Begins His Series on the JudiciaryThroughout the months of the debate, Brutus had criticized the Constitution for the design of the Judiciary branch in essay after essay. Hamilton had held his fire, but now, ten weeks after his last essay, he begins a six-part series defending the Convention’s plan. Federalist #78The Judiciary (Part 1 of 6) Alexander Hamilton, 14 June 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 We proceed now to an examination of the Judiciary department of the proposed government. *** 3 In unfolding the defects of the existing Confederation, the utility...

Patrick Henry Questions the Need for the ConstitutionAlthough Patrick Henry made some 24 speeches over the twenty day period of Virginia’s ratifying convention, his first two are considered the best summaries of the anti-Federalist arguments. This speech addresses his concerns as to whether the new Constitution is even necessary. Second Speech to the Virginia Ratifying Convention Patrick Henry, 7 June 1788 1 I have thought, and still think, that a full investigation of the actual situation of America ought to precede any decision of this great and important question. 2 That government is no more than a choice among evils...

Patrick Henry Goes on the AttackPatrick Henry belongs to the same group as Thomas Paine and Samuel Adams, revolutionaries who lit the flame that George Washington kept from being extinguished. Like Adams, Henry had failed in business, but while Adams became a wizard at the art of political propaganda, Henry turned instead to the law, standing for home rule and economic self-determination, advocating in favor of the ancient British tradition of being taxed by one’s own legislators. He further argued that colonial legislatures could not assign that right to Parliament. Because Parliament had long exercised a general right to tax...

Brutus Dissects the SenateBrutus finishes his issues with the Judiciary Branch and takes a close look at the Senate. Brutus #16 10 April 1788 1 When great and extraordinary powers are vested in any man or body of men, which in their exercise may operate to the oppression of the people, it is of high importance that powerful checks should be formed to prevent the abuse of it. *** 2 Perhaps no restraints are more forcible than such as arise from responsibility to some superior power. 3 Hence it is that the true policy of a republican government is to...

Hamilton Finishes His Survey of the Executive BranchHamilton addresses the subject of appointments by the President and concurrence by the Senate. Federalist #77The Executive (Part 11 of 11) Alexander Hamilton, 4 April 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 It has been mentioned as one of the advantages to be expected from the cooperation of the Senate in the business of appointments that it would contribute to the stability of the administration. 3 The consent of that body would be necessary to displace as well as to appoint. 4 A change of the Chief...

Hamilton Explores the Power of AppointmentHamilton tackles the powers of the President to appoint officials and the role of the Senate in advice and consent. Federalist #76The Executive (Part 10 of 11) Alexander Hamilton, 1 April 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 The President is “to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution. But the Congress may...

Hamilton Explores the President and the Power to Make TreatiesWhile Hamilton turned to Jay to explore the Senate’s role in making treaties, he himself addresses the President’s responsibilities in this regard. Federalist #75The Executive (Part 9 of 11) Alexander Hamilton, 26 March 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 The President is to have power, “by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur.” *** 3 Though this provision has been assailed on different grounds with no small degree of vehemence, I...

Hamilton Addresses the Military and PardonsIn this very short essay, Hamilton takes a look at the President’s control of the military and parses the degrees of pardoning power the President will possess. Federalist #74The Executive (Part 8 of 11) Alexander Hamilton, 25 March 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 The President of the United States is to be “commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States when called into the actual service of the United States.” 3 The propriety of this provision is...

Hamilton Addresses the Presidential VetoIn examining the attributes of the Presidency, Hamilton looks at the separation of powers of the Legislative and Executive branches and the use of the Executive’s veto power. Federalist #73The Executive (Part 7 of 11) Alexander Hamilton, 21 March 1788 1 To the People of the State of New York: *** 2 The third ingredient towards constituting the vigor of the Executive authority is an adequate provision for its support. 3 It is evident that without proper attention to this article, the separation of the Executive from the Legislative department would be merely nominal and nugatory....