An Update on States Rights (i.e., The United States Constitution)

Those who have not read the United States Constitution and those who pretend it doesn't exist come down with the vapors at the thought of the word "states rights." The reason, of course, is that the textbooks used in our mandatory indoctrination factories (public schools) use the term only in the context of a last-ditch effort to protect slavery and later to justify segregation. They generally fail to include The Federalist Papers, the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, and the U.S. Constitution itself in explaining the concept of "states rights."

Now that creeping socialism has morphed into sprinting Marxism under President Barry Vladimir Hussein Soetero Obama, Czarina Pelosi, and Court Jester Reid some states are starting to remember that they have every right to tell the Kremlin on the Potomac to pound sand. The New York Times reports on the growing 10th Amendment movement across America. It seems the trigger for many is the Democrats' desire to make it a criminal offense to not purchase health insurance. Funny, but the Constitution does not seem to provide such authority to Congress.



Congress' powers are clearly outlined in Article I of the Constitution. And what of those things not mentioned in the Constitution? See the 10th Amendment:

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.

Got it? Members of Congress who introduce bills or vote for bills that fall outside the parameters of the Constitution are violating their oath of office. The government does not belong to them. The Constitution is still in effect and "We The People" have every right to demand that these arrogant tyrants remain within their lawful boundaries. During the town hall meetings in August, more than one Congressperson and many Statist pundits talked about legislators living in fear. My response? Good! We are citizens not subjects. When they seek to take away individual liberty and freedom from American citizens we should be loudly engaged. If they want to "turn down the temperature" they can start by recognizing their authority is limited by the Constitution. But, as long as they desire to rule over the people they cannot expect politeness and civility from their victims.



The 10th Amendment is the ultimate trump card for the states against an abusive and invasive federal leviathan. However, that powerful statement was unnecessary in the eyes of Founding Father James Madison, who wrote in Federalist No. 45:

"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. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce. ... The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives and liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State."

No constitutional amendment has changed that principle. It has been attacked by successive waves of legislators who do not wish to abide by the constraints of limited government. But, there it remains. As long as liberty's flame flickers in the hearts of Americans, it is never too late to reclaim the birthright bequeathed to us by the Founders and protected by successive generations of brave soldiers.



Hopefully, a new awareness of the precarious state of American liberty will lead to a revitalized and committed Republican party that will wrest the federal government from the clutches of the Statists who currently hold the keys. In the meantime, it is our duty to support courageous state legislators and governors who are willing to fight for their legitimate powers. If you want to learn more about the 10th Amendment in action, check out the Tenth Amendment Center and their on-going fight for the rights of the states and of the people.

"Rise Up America": A Tea Party Anthem By Roanoke's Jenice and Pete Pearl

During the organizational meeting for the Roanoke Tea Party group on August 15, Roanoke couple Jenice and Pete Pearl performed a very inspirational original song for the Patriots in attendance. Jenice has some serious pipes! The song is timely and relevant and could be the anthem for the Tea Party movement across the country. Enjoy!

The Sarah Palin Farewell Speech Big Media Missed: On Liberty and Self-Reliance

The media uproar after Sarah Palin's Sunday farewell address as Alaska's governor focused on two things: her "wacky behavior" and her attack on the media. In other words, the coverage had nothing to do with Palin. It was a group therapy session for the Big Media elites and Democrat partisans (I guess that is redundant).

What Big Media calls "instability" is acting like a regular person. That is one of Palin's characteristics that drives these blow-dried blowhards batty. She is always unedited. She doesn't test her words in front of focus groups. Most politicians sounds like they are reading from the same script. Palin connects with Flyover America because she is outraged and irritated by the same things that peeve regular folks.

As for her attacks on the press, Big Media needs to check the polls. Even most Democrats realize that the media is slanted in their direction. Their reporting is sloppy and their evaluation of public figures is hyper-partisan. The "experience" canard during the campaign was a great example. Big Media belittled Sarah Palin's preparatory experience to be vice-president while fawning like a gaggle of teenage girls over Barry Vladimir Hussein Soetero Obama who possessed zero executive experience and an undistinguished legislative record which included half a term in the U.S. Senate, most of which was spent running for President. Palin was a nobody from nowhere and he was the greatest leader to ever walk on planet Earth.

Big Media left out the best parts of Palin's farewell speech. She spoke of liberty and self-reliance. Nooooooooooo! Those concepts are so dangerous to the goals of Leftist-Liberal-Progressive-Socialists and Big Media that they are taboo for coverage. But, a lot of Americans still prefer liberty to totalitarianism, even if the freedom is curtailed "for our own good." These words were from a person who is grounded in the Founders, not Marx and Alinsky.

So much success, and Alaska there is much good in store further down the road, but to reach it we must value and live the optimistic pioneering spirit that made this state proud and free, and we can resist enslavement to big central government that crushes hope and opportunity. Be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn't come free and often, accepting it takes away everything that is free, melting into Washington's powerful "care-taking" arms will just suck incentive to work hard and chart our own course right out of us, and that not only contributes to an unstable economy and dizzying national debt, but it does make us less free.

I resisted the stimulus package. I resisted the stimulus package and we have championed earmark reform, slashing earmark requests by 85% to break the cycle of dependency on a stifling, unsustainable federal agenda, and other states should follow this for their and for America's stability. We don't have to feel that we must beg an allowance from Washington, except to beg the allowance to be self-determined. See, to be self-sufficient, Alaska must be allowed to develop - to drill and build and climb, to fulfill statehood's promise. At statehood we knew this. At statehood we knew this, that we are responsible for ourselves and our families and our future, and fifty years later, please let's not start believing that government is the answer. It can't make you happy or healthy or wealthy or wise. What can? It is the wisdom of the people and our families and our small businesses, and industrious individuals, and it is God's grace, helping those who help themselves, and then this allows that very generous voluntary hand up that we're known for, enthusiastically providing for those who need it.

Alaskans will remember that years ago, remember we sported the old bumper sticker that said, "Alaska. We Don't Give a Darn How They Do It Outside?" Do you remember that? I remember that, and remember it was because we would be different. We'd roll up our sleeves, and we would diligently sow and reap, and we can still do this to carve wealth out of the wilderness and make our living on the water, with strong hands and innovative minds, now with smarter technology. It is what our first people and our parents did. It worked, because they worked. We must be prudent and persistent and press for the people's right to responsibly develop God-given resources for the maximum benefit of the people.

Yeah, what a kook. Rugged individualism. Development of natural resources. Liberty from government control. State sovereignty (i.e., the U.S. Constitution s written). Government can't solve your problems. Prosperity comes from hard work. In other words, she spoke of all the things Big Media and Leftist Democrats despise. Here is the speech in its entirety.

Sarah Palin may not be the right candidate to defeat Amerika's favorite son Barry Vladimir Hussein Soetero Obama in 2012. However, she gets it. Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Tim Pawlenty or whoever else may have designs on the GOP nomination should read Palin's farewell speech and understand that Real America responds to those ideas. They don't want another stiff suit debating the manner in which our freedoms will be usurped. Real Americans want leaders with courage and conviction who will say "no" to evil and totalitarianism rather than negotiate the extent of freedom's loss. In other words, we need somebody who has a pair--even if that someone is a woman.

States May Flex Their 10th Amendment Muscles on ObamaCare

Finally. After a century of constant usurpations of state authority by the greedy three-headed monster known as the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government, it seems some states may be poised to stand up to the tyrants. In an interview with talk show host Mark Davis, Texas Governor Rick Perry threw down the gauntlet. Perry had earlier supported a pro-10th Amendment which failed in the Texas legislature. At some point, states need to tell the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court to pound sand when they attempt to rule as an autonomous national government rather than function as the limited government DEMANDED by the United States Constitution.

The Constitution says what it says and doesn't say what it doesn't say. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas have tried to point this out to their colleagues over the years. Arizona Congressman John Shadegg has introduced The Enumerated Powers Act (HR450 in the current Congress) for many years which would require that any bill introduced in Congress include a specific reference to where the Constitution allows for the legislation. Much of the on-going Tea Party movement is focused on the general notion that the federal government has exceeded its legitimate functions and has become a tyranny.

One step American Patriots can take against ObamaCare and much of the other nonsense emanating from the Beltway is to let their legislators know that they expect them to follow the Constitution. Tell them to support Shadegg's bill. Emphasize the Constitution's limit on the federal government when you email or call your legislator. Fill letters-to-the-editor and op-ed pages with commentaries about the Constitution. Challenge Leftists-Liberal-Socialist-Democrats to cite the Constitutional legitimacy of their Marxist ideas. The times they are a changin' for the the arrogant Leftists who thought 2008's election was a mandate for socialism. They were wrong and we need to keep the pressure on.