“The Congress shall have power… To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;…” 

–The Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 8

On the eve of the thirteenth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in New York, I just finished listening to the President’s address to the American people and all I can say is that we are doomed as a nation if we don’t wake up.

There are a lot of things I could take exception to, but let’s keep this on a high level and address the major philosophical problems with the President’s speech to the American people.

The biggest issue I have is the tone of the President telling me what he is going to do to perpetrate a war. Our Constitution is pretty specific about who has authority to declare war: Congress.

It was definitely not the founders’ intention to give war making powers to one person. Our President is not a King. He or she is not a dictator. The representatives of the people are in the Congress. The Congress should express the will of the people in taking the country to war.

Yes, I know, the President said he would “consult” Congress. However, that is not his role. It is the President’s role to execute the will of the people.

The President does not rule the people and get advice from Congress.

He is supposed to be working for the people.

We are free citizens, not royal subjects.

In our last declared war, World War II, even after the Japanese had obliterated Pearl Harbor and the Naval base was in ruins, the President went to Congress to make his request to declare war. He did not rally the military for a counter attack or tell the American people his unilateral plans for war.

President Roosevelt went to Congress for permission, not to tell the American people what he was going to do.

I have been re-reading the book 1984 by George Orwell. More than a work of fiction, when I read this book today it looks like the playbook for the establishment.

Here’s one passage about the purpose of war. Tell me if this perpetual state of war isn’t exactly what is happening today.

“The problem was how to keep the wheels of industry turning without increasing the real wealth of the world. Goods must be produced, but they must not be distributed. And in practice the only way of achieving this was by continuous warfare.

“The essential act of war is destruction, not necessarily of human lives, but of the products of human labour. War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent.”

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his farewell address warned the American citizens about the need to be vigilant against the rising military-industrial complex.

“In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

“We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.”

Our republic is in grave danger because our citizens are apathetic, lazy, and ignorant.

The fact that the masses of people are not immediately railing against the President’s speech is a testament to that assertion.

Where is our Congress in all of this? Why do they allow the President to rob them of their power? Why do they not immediately cut funding to all of these programs? Why do they not reign in the President? Why is my Congressman not immediately responding and demanding that the President not only “consult Congress, but submit to the rule of law?

Ander Crenshaw, where are you?

Reprinted from the Book:

My Two Cents:  On Politics, Religion, Sex, And All The Other
Things We’re Not Supposed To Talk About At Thanksgiving Dinner

(A Compendium Of Observations And Common Sense Solutions To The
Issues Threatening The Survival Of America)

 by Patrick A. Taylor
Copyright 2005-2014, by Patrick A. Taylor
All Rights Reserved

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