The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Containing His Articles, Observations, Thoughts, Meanderings,
and some would say Wisdom (and some would say not).

Oligarchy in America

Over the past several years, I have Chirped about how our Democratic-Republic has morphed into an Oligarchy. This morphing has been a subtle and progressive occurrence in our government. I, therefore, thought it necessary to consolidate these Chirps to illuminate how this morphing has resulted in an Oligarchy in America. Here within this article are these consolidate Chirps on how this morphing has resulted in an Oligarchy in America.

09/18/20 Bribery

The rise of Federal government authority over State and Local governments Rights has been accomplished in large part by the bribery of State and Local governments by the Federal government. This bribery is in the form of the Federal government providing grants or loans to or the direction on how to spend federal funds to State and Local governments. This bribery is also an infringement of State and Local governments' rights as I have Chirped on, “09/16/20 Popular Sovereignty and States Rights”.

For the Federal government to provide this funding means that they are collecting excess taxes from all Americans that are not needed to support the duties and responsibilities of the Federal government. If the State and Local governments are responsible for spending these tax monies, then it is the duty and responsibility of the State and Local Governments and not the Federal government's duties and responsibilities. This concept is known as ‘Federalism’, or the separation of duties and responsibilities between the Federal, State, and Local government. And Federalism is enshrined in the United States Constitution. By directing how State and Local governments spend these monies, they have blurred the lines of Federalism. They have also placed the State and Local governments under the direction of Federal bureaucrats unresponsive to the will of the people as expressed by elections within the State or Local governments. Federal bureaucrats that are only responsive to the will of Congress and the President of the United States, and bureaucrats that are sometimes only responsive to their own desires and predilections.

There is also the issue of shifting the tax burden from the taxpayers of one state to support State and Local government spending in another State. This is a form of ‘Taxation without Representation’, as the taxpayers of a State whose tax payments are being spent in another State or Local government do not get to vote for the politicians of the State or Local government who are spending their taxes. Many claim that this representation is indirect by the voting of Congressional members who represent the taxpayer’s interests of their State when allocating their tax monies to another State or Local government. This rational reminded me of our history in pre-Revolutionary America when the colonists were claiming that Parliament was taxing them without their being represented in Parliament. Parliament responded that they were being represented by the members of Parliament from the counties from which they immigrated. Therefore, they had an indirect representation in Parliament. However, this reasoning was not acceptable to the colonists, as a representation without being able to vote for the members of Parliament is illusionary, as the member of Parliament felt no need to be responsive to these non-voters. This lack of representation in Parliament was one of the driving reasons for the American Revolution, and the current reasoning of indirect Congressional members representation should also not be acceptable.

As to those who would respond that the Federal monies are needed by State and Local governments to provide essential services for their constituents, I would respond that if the Federal government stopped spending and collecting taxes on non-enumerated powers and non-essential services, there would be more money in the taxpayers’ pocket. More money that the State and Local governments could tax to provide these essential services to their citizens. There would also be more control by the citizens on how these tax monies are spent within their State and Local governments. This is how Federalism is supposed to work.

As a result of this Federal bribery of the State and Local Governments, the people are more subservient to Federal politicians and Federal bureaucrats, and not to the will of the people as expressed through the elections of State and Local government officials. This is not a democracy but an oligarchy.

03/14/21 A Fait Accompli

The United States House of Representatives was formulated to be the people’s house. A people’s house where the people elect representatives who would take testimony, investigate, deliberate, negotiate, and draft then pass legislation in the best interest of all Americans. Sadly, this is not how the current House of Representatives works, and it has not worked that way in the last several years.

All of this can be attributed to one person – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Rather than allowing the representatives to do the work of the people, she gathers around herself a few cohorts that craft legislation in private. She then presents this legislation as a Fait Accompli to be voted up or down by the House of Representatives. The legislative amendment process is severely limited, especially for Republicans, and time constricted. As she has almost complete control of the Democrat legislators, which are in the majority, this Fait Accompli is always voted up with few amendments.

Sadly, this process is beginning to occur in the Senate under Democrat Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. While the Senate process is not quite the same as the House process, the result is the same. With the possible elimination or modifications to the Filibuster rule in the Senate, the Senate process will be similar to the House process.

This is also not a representative democracy, as the elected representative have no part in the crafting of legislation. In both the House and the Senate, the razor-thin majority of the Democrats is being utilized to pass legislation that has major repercussions to both governance and society across America. This is the tyranny of the slim majority over an exceptionally large minority. And with Democratic President Biden agreeing with the results that there is no check on the Democrats passing progressive legislation that they see fit for America. This is the ‘fundamental transformation’ of American that the Progressives/Leftists have strived for, and it is also a fundamental transformation of the ideals of the Constitution.

The limited and enumeration powers of the Federal government, the checks and balances between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of the Federal government, the protection of minority rights, and our First and Second Amendment rights are being dispensed with, and the rule by a select few is being implemented by the Democrats and Progressives/Leftists. Consequently, the Democrats are exercising rulership rather than leadership, as I have written in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders". There is no more preserving and protecting the Constitution of the United States, but a circumvention or ignoring of the Constitution. The Democrats are trying to transform our Constitution into a democratic form rather than the republican form for which it was intended, as I have written in my Article, “A Republican Constitution or a Democratic Constitution”.

If this continues, we will no longer be a Democratic-Republic but become an Oligarchy. An oligarchy that is only responsive to the will of the oligarchs and not to the will of the people and to the protection of our "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights". Consequently, “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people” shall perish in America.

06/30/21 Power vs. Liberty

In my Book It of “06/01/20 Freedom and Liberty”, I recommend the book The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition by Bernard Bailyn. After rereading this book, I thought it should be highlighted in this Chirp. The back flap of this book states:

“The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, awarded both the Pulitzer and the Bancroft prizes, has become a classic of American historical literature. Hailed at its first appearance as “the most brilliant study of the meaning of the Revolution to appear in a generation,” it was enlarged in a second edition to include the nationwide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, hence exploring not only the Founders’ initial hopes and aspirations but also their struggle to implement their ideas in constructing the national government.

Now, in a new preface, Bernard Bailyn reconsiders salient features of the book and isolates the Founders’ profound concern with power. In pamphlets, letters, newspapers, and sermons they returned again and again to the problem of the uses and misuses of power―the great benefits of power when gained and used by popular consent and the political and social devastation when acquired by those who seize it by force or other means and use it for their personal benefit.

This fiftieth anniversary edition will be welcomed by readers familiar with Bailyn’s book, and it will introduce a new generation to a work that remains required reading for anyone seeking to understand the nation’s historical roots.”

In this book, the author relates that our Founding Fathers were primarily concerned that power tends to grow at the expense of liberty. That in human nature power is strong, and liberty is weak, so, therefore, liberty must be eternally vigilant to protect against the encroachments of power. By ‘Power’, the Founding Fathers meant Dominion of Government, i.e., the dominance of the people through legal authority. The Founding Fathers also knew that Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy often degenerate into Tyranny, Oligarchy, and Mob Rule, and they wished to protect the people from this degeneration. This book probes the anxieties and fears our Founding Fathers had about power by examining the pamphlets and books that they wrote and read prior to the Declaration of Independence.

Whenever I read American history, I keep one eye firmly on the historical events and the other eye on our current events to determine if there are similar circumstances in America. Our present situation is analogous to that of the Colonists prior to The Declaration of Independence. At that time, the Colonial Tories believed in the powers and rulership of government, while the Colonial Patriots believed in the limitations and leadership of the government. The Colonial Tories believed in a government of a King, Nobility, and the Common people that checked each other’s powers to preserve liberty, while the Colonial Patriots believed that this system had been corrupted at the expense of Liberty and the Common people and that it needed to be reformed or replaced.

With the rise of Federal Government powers in the 20th and 21st century, and the actions of Progressives/Leftists of Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, Equity and Equality, and Greater Good versus the Common Good, as well as with the support of the Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, and Social Media in condoning this increased Federal government power we are again entering into the anxieties and fears of Power versus Liberty. Many of the fears of the Anti-Federalism contingent during the ratification of the Constitution have come to fruition with this rise in Federal Powers, despite the objections to these fears by the Constitution ratification supporters of “Federalism in the United States”. As a result, our present government is morphing into the Tyranny of Congress and the Presidency, an Oligarchy of appointed officials and the bureaucracies that support them, and a Mob Rule of the majority that does not recognize or countenance the Liberties and Freedoms (i.e., our Natural Rights) of all the people.

As I have written in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders", all of this increase of Federal Powers was achieved by Democrats and their Progressives/Leftists agenda. And all of this was obtained and maintained by the ruling of the American people. Consequently, the Democrats wish to be rulers and not leaders. America was not formulated to be ruled but to be led by the will of the people. Therefore, to support the Democrat political agenda and social engineering goals is to be ruled and not led, and to be ruled is antithetical to the ideals of the United States Constitution.

Let us hope that we can redirect our government and people through persuasion and the ballot box back into our founding ideals and ideas of Limited and Enumerated Government for the protection of Natural Rights, “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All, Representative-Democracy, and Government “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. If not, we may be faced with the same problem that the American colonists had with the British government, and we may need to take the same actions as the colonists took to preserve their Liberties. Or, as one of our Founding Fathers said:

“I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical.”
- Thomas Jefferson

07/21/21 The Party of Power

Our Founding Fathers were primarily concerned that power tends to grow at the expense of Liberty. That in human nature power is strong, and Liberty is weak, so, therefore, Liberty must be eternally vigilant to protect against the encroachments of power. By ‘Power’, the Founding Fathers meant Dominion of Government, i.e., the dominance of the people through legal authority. The Founding Fathers also knew that Monarchy, Aristocracy, and Democracy often degenerate into Tyranny, Oligarchy, and Mob Rule, and they wished to protect the people from this degeneration. They, therefore, tried to assure through the Constitution a Democratic-Republic and the Limited and Enumerate Powers of the Federal Government, so that Liberty would be maintained and that we have leaders rather than rulers through free and fair elections.

With the rise of Federal Government powers in the 20th and 21st century, and the actions of Progressives/Leftists of Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, Equity and Equality, and Greater Good versus the Common Good, as well as with the support of the Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, and Social Media in condoning this increased Federal government power we are again entering into the anxieties and fears of Power versus Liberty. Many of the fears of the Anti-Federalism during the ratification of the Constitution have come to fruition with this rise in Federal Powers, despite the objections to these fears by the Constitution ratification supporters of “Federalism in the United States”. As a result, our present government is morphing into the Tyranny of Congress and the Presidency, an Oligarchy of appointed officials and the bureaucracies that support them, and a Mob Rule of the majority that does not recognize or countenance the Liberties and Freedoms (i.e., our Natural Rights) of all the people.

As I have written in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders", all of this increase of Federal Powers was achieved by Democrats and their Progressives/Leftists agenda. And all of this was obtained and maintained by the misleading and/or ruling of the American people. Consequently, the Democrats wish to be rulers and not leaders. America was not formulated to be ruled but to be led by the will of the people while protecting their Liberties. Therefore, to support the Democrat political agenda and socialistic goals is to be ruled and not led, and to be ruled is antithetical to the ideas of the United States Constitution.

With the administration of President Biden and the (slim) majority of the Democrat Party in Congress, we have seen them try to rapidly expand Federal Powers and to retain and increase their control of Congress, so that they can more easily pass their political agendas and socialistic goals. And these political agendas and socialistic goals all lead to more Federal Powers and the rulership of the Democrat Party over America.

The attempts of the Democrat Congress to pass the 2021H.R. 1 and S. 1 and different variations of this legislation that would federalize elections contrary to Article. I. Section. 4. of the Constitution that states: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.”, is an attempt to consolidate their powers as I have Chirped on, “03/06/21 Election Integrity – Part Deux”. This legislation would make it easier for them to cheat in elections in the urban areas of America, in which the Democratic Party controls the elections, which de facto makes elections unfree and unfair.

The Democrat Parties' past efforts to legalize illegal immigrants and give them the right to vote is also another attempt by them to obtain and retain power, as they believe that most of these votes would be for Democrat candidates. The Democrat Parties current open borders policy, which has allowed hundreds of thousands and eventually millions of illegal immigrants to enter America, and their subsequent efforts to transport these illegal immigrants to different parts of the country, is also an attempt by them to obtain and retain power if these new illegal immigrants eventually have the right to vote.

Therefore, the Democrat Party is the Party of Power rather than the Party of Leadership in America.

01/11/22 Our Democracy

As I have written in my Chirp on, "05/08/20 Social Justice", when you place an adjective in front of the word “Justice,” you no longer have true Justice- you have favoritism (i.e., “Adjective Justice”). The same holds true for truth, as in ‘My Truth’ or ‘Your Truth’ rarely reveals ‘The Truth’. We now are placing adjectives in front of other words such as ‘Democratic’ in front of ‘Socialism’, and ‘Our’ in front of ‘Democracy’. Socialism is not democratic as it must be imposed by despotism, while ‘Our Democracy’ is not real democracy. In a new article by Rob Natelson, “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”, he explains:

“But you shouldn’t confuse Our Democracy with real democracy. The initial modifier serves to debase the noun—much as “sub-human” means less than human or “social justice” rationalizes acts of individual injustice.”

This article clarifies the true meaning of ‘Our Democracy’ and how it is, in reality, undemocratic. He closes this article with:

“Our Democracy” really looks like “Their Oligarchy.” Or like some of those other “democracies” the left has erected over the years: The Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea comes readily to mind, as does the former (East) German Democratic Republic.

This is yet another example of lofty words concealing dastardly deeds, as I have written in my Chirp on “01/10/22 Lofty Words and Dastardly Deeds”. I would highly recommend that you read his article to clear the "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors" that the perpetrators of the phrase ‘Our Democracy’ wish you to uncritically believe their meaning of this term.

02/27/22 They Are Not Worried

A recent article by Victor Davis Hanson, Why is the Left Suddenly Worried About the End of Democracy? explains the bunkum about ‘the end of our democracy’ being uttered by so many Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists. He explains that it is not the end of our democracy that they are worried about, but the end of their power that concerns them. After reading this article you will understand what they really mean by the end of our democracy, and perhaps chuckle at this nonsense. Another article by Rob Natelson, “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”, also looks at the motivations of those that utter about ‘the end of our democracy’ and the dire consequences of believing this nonsense.

05/11/22 Progressivism and Leftism Is Becoming Totalitarianism

With the recent uproar over the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk, the Disinformation Governance Board, and the draft opinion of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, it has become even more apparent that Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders have a wide and deep totalitarian steak embedded within their psyche. While Leftism has always been totalitarian, Progressivism has drifted toward totalitarianism as they have seen their political power reduced. The election of George Bush to President in 2000 started this drift, while the election of Donald Trump as President in 2016 accelerated and solidified this drift.

They wish to control the free flow of information and impose their policies by government fiat or court rulings. They have often attempted to justify their actions as preserving “our democracy”. But as I have written in my Chirp on "01/11/22 Our Democracy", their meaning of this term is “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”. And Oligarchs often resort to despotism to enforce their rule and often slide into tyranny if their despotism does not succeed.

As I have written in my Chirp on, "02/22/22 Free Speech is Essential", Freedom of Speech is essential to preserve our Liberties and Freedoms, for free speech staves off the encroachments of would-be despots, dictators, and tyrants. Their attempts to control speech, under any guise, are antithetical to our "American Ideals and Ideas". Any speech protected under our 1st Amendment right is allowable and should in no way be restricted, even on "Social Media" and in "Modern Big Business". We should also remember that:

"If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."
- George Washington

Judges are not meant to legislate the law but only to adjudicate the law. The courts are not intended to legislate, execute, craft, or decide policy. They are meant to provide citizens an avenue for recourse to reconcile wrongs for which they have causes of action. They are meant to determine the constitutionality of laws passed by the Legislators and signed by the President. Judicial independence consists of the intellectual honesty and dedication to [the] enforcement of the rule of law regardless of popular sentiment and the ability to render a decision in the absence of political pressures and personal interests.

Today, Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders have resorted to intimidations and threats against Justices and Jurist to sway their opinions and decisions, thus constraining them of their Judicial independence. Peaceful demonstrations in public places are an exercise of your Constitutional Rights. Mob actions of intimidation and threats are not peaceful but terroristic. It is an exercise of raw power, and we should remember the words of caution about power:

“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
— George Orwell, 1984

As Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that they are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, they are, of course, always correct. Therefore, they believe that their policies are what is best for all Americans. Consequently, they have no compunctions in exercising power, as they are fervently convinced that they know better than the American people what is best for America. We should all remember the wisdom of the great economist Thomas Sowell, who once stated:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best?"
- Thomas Sowell

And Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that they should decide what is best for America. Decisions that often resort to despotism to enforce their rule and that may slip into tyranny.

07/13/22 The Progressive Road to Serfdom

The road to serfdom in America is being constructed and driven by Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists. It is being done gradually and subtly by utilizing "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors", and "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness". Emotional appeals and sloganeering have replaced "Dialog and Debate" as the basis for changing our society. As a result, "Divisiveness in America" abounds, and we no longer have "A Civil Society". An article by Mark Hendrickson, “The Progressive Road to Serfdom”, examines this road as:

“First, a tip of the hat to the late Austrian Nobel Prize-winning economist Friedrich Hayek for his 1944 book “The Road to Serfdom.” (pdf) The imagery of that title is clear and penetrating. Hayek was warning of generic tyranny, not a literal return to the old English system of serfdom. There are many roads to tyranny, and American progressives are charging pell-mell in that direction. This article will trace the arc of progressivism from meliorism to perfectionism to utopianism to tyranny.”

He ends up by explaining that:

“Ultimately, to achieve their utopian goals, progressives need to have the power to smash their opponents. Dissent from the utopian agenda can’t be tolerated. People can’t be left free to pursue individual happiness. Progressives must obtain total political control over all the people. The only way for progressives to achieve utopia is to first achieve tyranny.”

Today, the most common slogan being utilized by Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists to drive this road is ‘Our Democracy’, and emotional appeals are often accomplished by placing an adjective in front of the word “Justice”. When you utilize an adjective in front of justice, you no longer have true Justice- you have favoritism (i.e., “Adjective Justice”). The same holds true for truth, as in ‘My Truth’ or ‘Your Truth’ rarely reveals ‘The Truth’. We now are placing adjectives in front of other words, such as ‘Democratic’ in front of ‘Socialism’ or ‘Our’ in front of ‘Democracy’. Socialism is not democratic as it must be imposed by despotism, while ‘Our Democracy’ is not real democracy. In a new article by Rob Natelson, “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”, he explains:

This article clarifies the true meaning of ‘Our Democracy’ and how it is, in reality, undemocratic. He closes this article with:

This is yet another example of lofty words concealing dastardly deeds, as I have written in my Chirp on “01/10/22 Lofty Words and Dastardly Deeds”. I would highly recommend that you read both of these articles to understand The Progressive Road to Serfdom.

09/28/22 An Elective Despotism

Because Thomas Jefferson thought it would be only a matter of time before the American system of government degenerated into an “elective despotism”, he warned that citizens should act now in order to make sure that “the wolf [was kept] out of the fold”, or as he stated:

“An elective despotism was not the government we fought for, but one which should not only be founded on true free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among general bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being effectually checked and restrained by the others.”
- Thomas Jefferson

The Founding Fathers took care to limit the powers of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of government and to hedge them with checks and balances to prevent the servants of the sovereign people from becoming their masters. Therefore it is always the time to “act now” to preserve the "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All" bequeathed upon us by our Founding Fathers.

Today, in America, half of us believe we live under the old Constitution with original guarantees of Liberty and Freedom, while the other half believe in a “living constitution” that is adaptable by the will of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial to achieve their political goals and agendas. Thus, Living Constitutionalists would have us live in an elective despotism led by an oligarchy of like-minded persons, while the Constitutional Conservatives would have us live in a Democratic Republic reflecting the will of the people tempered by constitutional bounds.

This stroll to an elective despotism started in the first part of the 20th century, became a trot in the middle half of the 20th century, and is now in a full gallop in the latter half of the 20th century and at the start of the 21st century. This elective despotism has arisen by Congress delegating powers to the Executive Branch that were wielded by bureaucrats and agency experts who were under the influence of an oligarchy of Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists and supported by Ivy League and other elite College and University trained judges who believe in a living constitution. Thus, we have instituted an elective despotism in today’s America.

This elective despotism has also seeped down to State governments, with California being the most prominent example. In California, they believe it is permissible for the government to determine what automobiles you may purchase, what heating and air conditioning are allowed, how much water and electricity may be consumed, and a host of other regulations on what consumers are not allowed to purchase, consume or utilize. California State regulations upon businesses also impact the operations of a business and affect the availability and costs of the products and services that businesses provide to consumers and other businesses. All these restrictions are done in the name of consumer protection, reduced environmental impacts, natural resource conservation, and a host of other societal reasons. There is no denying that government restrictions and regulations are needed for the protection of the health and safety of all the residents of California, and some regulations may be required to protect societal interests. The question is the extensiveness of these protections, for if these restrictions and regulations are too broad and/or too intrusive upon the lives of the people of California, then they become intrusive and an infringement on the Liberties, Freedoms, and the “pursuit of happiness” of Californians. It is also an unfortunate fact that these California regulatory approaches are being adopted by other States. It should also be kept in mind that all regulations and restrictions affect the availability and costs of the products and services in a State.

An Imprimis article by Myron Magnet, “Clarence Thomas and the Lost Constitution”, examines this issue in regard to the judicial philosophy of Clarence Thomas. As Mr. Magnet stated in his article:

“To the Old Constitutionalists, this government of decrees issued by bureaucrats and judges is not democratic self-government but something more like tyranny—hard or soft, depending on whether or not you are caught in the unelected rulers’ clutches. To the Living Constitutionalists, on the other hand, government by agency experts and Ivy League-trained judges—making rules for a progressive society (to use their language) and guided by enlightened principles of social justice that favor the “disadvantaged” and other victim groups—constitutes real democracy. So today we have the Freedom Party versus the Fairness Party, with unelected bureaucrats and judges saying what fairness is.”

* * * * *

Clarence Thomas is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Born in Pinpoint, Georgia, he is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross and Yale Law School. Prior to his nomination to the Supreme Court in 1991, he served as an assistant attorney general of Missouri, an attorney with the Monsanto Company, a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator John Danforth, assistant secretary for civil rights at the U.S. Department of Education, chairman of the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission, and a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2007, he published My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir. An excellent intellectual biography of Justice Thomas is “Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell” by Jason L. Riley.

11/22/22 A Republic of Party Affiliation

A friend of mine commented that the recent 2022 mid-term elections were an affirmation of party over policy and that the fear of change overrode the concern about the issues in this election. To his comments, I responded that self-interest was a contributing factor, as I will next Chirp on "11/25/22 A Recipe for Election Tragedy".

But there is much truth in what he had to say, as it seems that reflexive voting for a party candidate has taken the place of thoughtful consideration of a candidate’s policy positions and political agenda. The recent example of the election of John Fetterman as Senator from Pennsylvania is an example of this. Much early voting, before Mr. Fetterman’s physical condition and policy stances became known, was based on party affiliation. His candidacy was based on hiding his physical condition and subterfuge on his policy positions. As a result, much of the early voting was party based rather than his fitness and his stances on the issues. When the full extent of physical condition and policies became known, it was not possible for the early voters to change their minds and cast their ballots differently. In a close election, such as this one, this may have affected the ultimate outcome of the election. The same could be said of the election of Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential election. Joe Biden’s mental acuity was never evidenced, and he was portrayed as a moderating influence on the leftist wing of his party and as a uniter of Americans, all of which was a subterfuge.

This is yet another problem with early voting, as well as the lack of debates, as I have examined in my Chirp on "10/18/22 To Debate, or Not to Debate, That is the Question", and the other issues of voting that I have written about in my Article "Voting in America". The other problem is that a Republic of Party begets a Republic of Oligarchy, which is not a Democracy, as I have Chirped on, "01/11/22 Our Democracy". As such, our Democratic Republic is dissolving into a Political Party Oligarchy based on party affiliation, with such party affiliation based on underlying factors not related to the best interests of all Americans but the interests of those Americans affiliated with a party.

11/26/22 Democracy Into Tyranny

Plato was a great ancient Athenian philosopher that philosophized on the nature and histories of government, examining how they rose and fell and how they governed in between. Some of Plato's most famous doctrines are contained in his books the Republic as well as in the Laws and the Statesman. Our Founding Fathers were well aware of Plato and other great philosophers and their thoughts on Government, Liberty, and Freedom. They incorporated their ideas in The Declaration of Independence as ‘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 of Happiness.--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 of 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’, and The Constitution of the United States ‘in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity’ that could stand the test of time.

The great Founding Father John Adams summarized Plato’s treatment of how political structures change and deteriorate: Monarchy mutates into aristocracy, aristocracy into oligarchy, oligarchy into democracy, and democracy into tyranny. (Some of Plato’s reasons why democracies degenerate into tyrannies were licentiousness, disregard for the rule of law, and rendering “Strangers [i.e., foreigners] equal to citizens.”) He also believed that any national constitution should not be purely democratic but should feature monarchical and aristocratic elements as well. It should include a chief executive with some monarchical powers, a Senate to serve as an aristocratic branch and a democratic House of Representatives. The other lesson was that the monarchical, aristocratic, and democratic branches should be balanced against each other.

In some cases, these governments fell from a democracy into a tyranny very quickly and usually through a civil war. In other cases, they devolved slowly from a democracy into an oligarchy, then tyranny. In almost all cases, it was the growth of government size and power and the rise of bureaucracies that led them from a democracy into a tyranny. Our Founding Fathers were very aware of this and attempted to limit the growth and power of government to ensure the Liberty and Freedom of Americans. This was accomplished by our Founding Fathers by dividing government duties and responsibilities between Federal, State, and local governments, and by further dividing the exercise of power at each level of government between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches of Government.

Alas, modern America has forgotten history and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers as we have allowed an explosive growth of government. From the growth of Federal government powers at the expense of State and local powers of government, and the comingling of powers between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches of Government, for almost the last century, we have forgotten history and the wisdom of our Founding Fathers.

As such, we are endangering our Republic as we are devolving slowly from a Democratic-Republic into an oligarchy, with the possibility of tyranny in the near future.

12/27/22 Congress as an Oligarchy

Oligarchy—a political system governed by a few people—has become the norm in Congress for both political parties. The Senate and the House leaders have established a reward system of powerful committee chairpersons or ranking members being allocated to those who support their leadership. This upper level of the oligarchy controls all that occurs in Congress. The upper levels of this oligarchy craft all legislation with minimal input from the lower levels, and strict conformity on voting by the lower level ranks of this oligarchy is required. Much Congressional legislation is crafted by this upper level, and much of this crafting is done in secret. The only bipartisanship that occurs within Congress is the bipartisanship of the upper levels of each party’s oligarchy cooperating with each other to ram legislation through Congress. It is rare for important legislation to have amendments introduced and debated on the Senate or House floor, and even rarer for this important legislation to be crafted in open committee hearings. There appear to be no middle levels to this oligarchy, as a middle level could pose a challenge to the power of the upper level. It is reminiscent of the Backbenchers of a Parliament who are expected to remain silent and vote for whatever the political leadership proposes, and in this Congress is operating as the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union operated.

All of this is antithetical to a Democrat-Republic form of government where the voice of the people through their elective Representatives and Senators is given equal weight. In doing this, they are muting the voices of the American people who elected Representatives and Senators to challenge the status quo and chart a different course for America. They have also accrued power unto themselves to do as they see fit, regardless of the voice of the American people. This is one of the reasons that Congress is held in such low esteem by the American public, as the American people do not feel that their voices are being heard in Congress. It also has the repercussion of the American people being uninformed about the legislation so passed and the alternative solutions and possible unintended consequences of the legislation so passed. An ill-informed electorate is thus unable to make intelligent choices as to whom they should vote for in an election, and it is easier to create a Herd Mentality in the electorate for the election or reelection of members of Congress that support this oligarchy.

Congress needs a management structure to operate, but this structure should not be an oligarchy. Power needs to be shared amongst all the representatives of the American people to ensure that all the voices of the American people are heard. Until this occurs, we have constricted our Democrat-Republic form of government to the few and most powerful leaders of Congress. It is time to get back to what our Founding Fathers envisioned for the role of Congress—as a voice for all the American people that can be heard and acted upon.

12/28/22 The Oligarchy Strikes Back

In my previous Chirp, I lamented the rise of an oligarchy in Congress. A perfect example of the operation of this Oligarchy is the last-minute passage of the 4,155-page, $1.7 trillion dollar 2022 omnibus spending bill. This bill, without Congressional crafting other than by the Oligarchy, is a monstrosity of spending that does not reflect the priorities of the American public, but it does illuminate the priorities of the Oligarchy. The impacts of this spending, both the intended and unintended consequences, were of little concern and no debate in Congress. It was a shameful act by the Oligarchy to impose their will upon the lower-level ranks of this Oligarchy and the American public in the passage of this bill.

This is not the way that our Founding Fathers meant Congress to operate—as a voice for all the American people that can be heard and acted upon. In addition to the massive spending in this bill, there was little concern for the taxpayers who would have to pay for this spending. Taxes will go up, deficits will increase, and debts will be incurred, and we can expect that increased inflation and a possible recession will be the result of this spending. What is not mentioned is the moral depravity of burdening future generations with paying off these debts (after all, how many of us borrow money to raise our families and then expect our children to pay off these debts when they grow up?). To claim that we will outgrow these debts by the future expansion of the economy is a baseless claim, given how over the last several decades, we have not paid off these debts but increased them.

This oligarchical management of Congress needs to end, and power returned to all the Congressional representatives of the people. A power that should be utilized to rein in spending and taxing, as well as to pay off our debts by the people who have incurred them. If this Oligarchy is not ended, then we can expect important future legislation to be rammed through Congress by this Oligarchy and future massive spending, taxes, and debts to occur that could result in economic calamity for America.

12/29/22 They Like the Oligarchy

In my previous two Chirps, I lamented the rise of an oligarchy in Congress and the utilization of this oligarchy to ram important legislation through Congress. The question that many ask is why they perpetuate this oligarchy? The answer is—They Like It! It allows them to do things that many of the American people would object to by hiding these things within massive legislation that the lower-level members of the oligarchy and the American people cannot easily ferret out. By the time these things are discovered, the legislation has already passed, and it is very difficult for Congress to undo what they have done.

The things that they do often accrue power to themselves and the government at the expense of our “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”. After all, as it has been truthfully said, “The Bigger the Government, the Smaller the Citizen”. This oligarchy always passes legislation that increases the size and/or powers of government at the expense of the citizen. A size and power of the government that our Founding Fathers wished to rein in by limiting the government to enumerated powers. Enumerated powers that, over the last century, we have expanded by “Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning”, “Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors”, “Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness”, and “The Perversion of the English Language”. This has been done with the tacit cooperation of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches of government to expand their powers.

Little thought by this oligarchy has been given to the consequences of increased governmental powers and the impacts on our society of a big government. It is assumed that big government will operate for the benefit of Americans without examining the negative impacts on society of a big government. Almost never does this oligarchy consider the full range of impacts of any changes and additions of governmental powers. This lack of consideration can be classified into the tasks, processes, and systems within the governance of society. My next Chirp, “12/30/22 Tasks, Processes, and Systems”, examines what Congress and the American people should consider in all proposed legislation. Without this consideration, it is not possible to determine the consequences (both intended and unintended) of proposed legislation and its impacts on society.

12/31/22 In the Name of God, Go!

In Oliver Cromwell’s speech to the Rump Parliament of April 20, 1653, he had some choice words about the current state of Parliament:

“Ye are a factious crew, and enemies of all good government…Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there not one vice you do not possess?...Ye have no more religion than my horse. Gold is your God…Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation. You [who] were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed are yourselves become the greatest grievance…Go, get you out! Make haste! Ye venal slaves, be gone!...In the name of God, go!”

In the past several Chirps have dealt with the oligarchy that now exists within Congress and the negative impacts upon our society by the institution of this oligarchy. Not only is this oligarchy antithetical to what our Founding Fathers envisioned for the role of Congress—as a voice for all the American people that can be heard and acted upon—but it has been detrimental to our society. It is, therefore, time to put an end this oligarchy.

However, ending this oligarchy is easier said than done. This oligarchy is an entrenched power that will not easily relinquish power. This oligarchy has not only corrupted the role of Congress, but it has corrupted the members of Congress. A corruption that permeates not only the upper levels of the oligarchy but also the lower levels of the oligarchy who support the upper levels of this oligarchy.

The easiest means to end this oligarchy is for the lower levels of the oligarchy to no longer elect the upper levels of the oligarchy. This is unlikely to happen as the lower levels of the oligarchy are often jockeying to become the upper levels of the oligarchy. Another means is for the voters of the upper levels of the oligarchy to not reelect these upper-level oligarchs to Congress. This is also unlikely to happen, as the upper-level oligarchs deliver the pork to their electorate in exchange for their votes. The best means to end this oligarchy is for the American electorate to become aware of the importance of Religion, Morality, Character, and Virtue in electing our leaders, as I have Chirped on “12/18/22 Legislating Virtue”, and vote for virtuous candidates who will end this oligarchy. Alas, the state of civic education in America is so poor that most Americans do not understand the importance of Religion, Morality, Character, and Virtue, which are essential for our “American Ideals and Ideas” and our “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All” to persevere.

History has shown that when an oligarchy becomes entrenched, it is almost impossible to dislodge. Usually, this dislodging is a result of the collapse of a society or a dislodging by a dictatorial or tyrannical leadership. This is best exemplified by the collapse of the Greek City-States and the Roman Republic, although it has happened to many other societies throughout history.

Let us hope that the American people become aware of this Congressional Oligarchy and understand the dangers of a Congressional Oligarchy. Let us also hope that they will be resilient enough to insist on the end of this oligarchy without a societal collapse or a replacement of the oligarchy by dictatorial or tyrannical leadership. I would also say to the oligarchy in Congress, ‘In the Name of God, Go!’ before ye do more harm to America.

01/03/23 Elections and Other Government Corruption Instituted

As Rob Natelson writes in his article, “Congress’s new attack on democracy & the Constitution”, the latest Omnibus spending bill of 2022 is an assault upon our Constitution:

“Lying deep within Congress’s inflated and inflationary 4,155-page spending package is an attack on both democracy and the Constitution. Congress calls this nasty piece of work the “Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act of 2022.”

The mainstream media would have you believe this measure merely updates an archaic law and forestalls another Jan. 6-style Capitol riot. They are misleading you.

In fact, this measure cripples state lawmakers’ ability to address defective presidential elections. It also tries to re-write the Constitution. The “Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act” will foster confusion, injustice, lawsuits, and corruption—or all four.”

This is not the only assault upon our Constitution contained within this bill. This bill contains numerous measures that infringe upon the Liberties and Freedoms of Americans, most especially on our Bill of Rights amendments. It also allocates spending on pork barrel programs, as well as earmark spending on financial grants that are not within the federal government's enumerated powers under the Constitution. As such, this is an accrual of federal powers and spending not granted by the Constitution.

So, it has been for all the Omnibus Spending Bills that have passed Congress in the last several decades. This procedure is a means for the Federal Government to accomplish spending and policy initiatives that would not pass under the light of the day of normal Congressional legislative procedures. As U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Louis D. Brandeis stated, “Sunshine is the greatest disinfectant” this procedure gives no opportunity for critics to challenge and disinfect these items, as they are packed into a very large bill that is then rushed to a passage and cannot be disinfected by opponents due to volume and time constraints. This is all done under the threat of a government shutdown if the Omnibus Spending Bills are not passed. This is another example of politicians stoking fear to accomplish what they could not achieve under the light of day. To this, I would say if Congress cannot operate under normal legislative procedures to meet its duties and responsibilities, then a government shutdown may be for the best to force them to do their job properly.

These assaults on our Constitution under the Omnibus Spending Bills are a threat to our Liberties and Freedoms, and so it is necessary to end Omnibus spending bills to retain our Constitutional Rights and restrict Congress to the enumerated powers of the Constitution. This, along with the Oligarchy the Congress has instituted, as I have Article on “Congressional Oligarchy”, is another reason that Congress must be reformed or replaced, as I have written in my Chirp on “01/02/23 Tyranny and A Little Rebellion”.

As I have written in my aforementioned Article on the Congressional Oligarchy, in Oliver Cromwell’s speech to the Rump Parliament of April 20, 1653, he had some choice words about the current state of Parliament:

If Cromwell were here today to speak the same words to our Congress, which has become everything he said about the rump Parliament and worse, as every word he spoke also rings true about the Congress of the United States. I, therefore, say to Congress that if they do not end their Oligarchy and the Omnibus Spending Bills, then “In the name of God, go!” and end your plague upon America.

01/05/23 The Messiness of Democracy

Democracy can be messy at times, and it should be messy at times! Democracy allows for the Natural Rights of freedom of thought and speech, religious freedoms, press freedoms, for people to peaceably assemble, and for the people to petition their government, which are all messy. Without Democracy, we become a people that are ruled rather than led. A rule that is instituted by either authoritarianism, autarchy, despotism, dictatorialness, monarchy, oligarchy, totalitarianism, or tyranny.

The finest example of this messiness is in the current election for the Speaker of the House of Representatives. While the Republicans have nominal control of the House (222 to 212, with 1 vacant seat), they are not in control of their own caucus. A group of dissentient House Republicans, unsatisfied with the proposed leadership, have blocked the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy to be Speaker of the House. Their dissent is that in these troubled times, the American people require strong, effective leadership to counter the Democrat Party Leaders, the Biden Administration, and Progressives/Leftists from advancing their agenda.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy has long been an accommodator and broker of deals with the Democrats to marginally advance the Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders agenda. He has also been skilled in playing the game of political jockeying to obtain power and control over the Republican caucus. The dissentient House Republicans believe that it is time to vigorously fight back against Democrat Party Leaders and the Biden Administration to right the course of America. These dissentient House Republicans do not believe that Kevin McCarthy is the proper person to lead this fight, as he is the ultimate representation of the oligarchic structure of Congress, as I have written in my Chirps that I coalesced into my article “Congressional Oligarchy”.

The arguments in favor of Kevin McCarthy are all about process and power in the House of Representatives. If someone has the power to control the process, then they have control over the activities of the House. They get to decide what and what not, when if whenever, who and who not, and other decisions as to the processes in the House. These decisions are rarely democratic (as could be seen by Speaker Pelosi’s autocratic rule), and they often are parochial and self-centered, and sometimes egocentric. We elect our Congresspersons to lead and not to follow, and all our Congresspersons should be leaders in Congress and not followers. As such, they should all be involved in the process and decision-making of what occurs in the House. This is not currently how the House works, as the Congressional Oligarchy controls the functioning of the House processes.

The dissentient House Republicans’ fight, therefore, is a fight against the Congressional Oligarchy. This is a fight that needs to be won if we are to replace this Oligarchy with Democracy. This is and will be a messy fight. Do not let the messiness distract you nor sap your will to engage in this fight, as the goal is to reinstitute democracy in the House of Representatives. A goal that is worthy of a messy fight! They are fighting for the will of the electorate to be democratically represented in the functioning of Congress rather than the will of the oligarchy to rule in Congress.

01/07/23 The Beginning of the End of the Oligarchy

With the election of Rep. Kevin McCarthy as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the beginning of the end to the Congressional Oligarchy has started. But it is only the beginning of the end, and more work remains to be done to ensure that the Congressional Oligarchy does not regain control. The changes wrought by the Republican dissidents need to be expanded and propagated throughout the functioning of the House of Representatives to ensure that Democracy, rather than Oligarchy, is the normal process within the House.

Those that bemoaned the ‘fractiousness’, the ‘unruliness’, the ‘discord’, the ‘disunity’, the ‘debacle’, and the other adjectives that were utilized to describe this dissidence and rebelliousness were the supporters of the Oligarchy and, as such, they were bemoaning Democracy. They are those that wish to be rulers rather than leaders in the House of Representatives, as I have explained in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders". We should all be wary of these Congresspersons, as they may not have fully accepted the end of the Congressional Oligarchy, and they may seek to reinstitute it. Such reinstitution should not be allowed to happen, even in the smallest part, as in Congress, the small often grows into the large, especially when power is involved.

Therefore, let us continue down this path to more Democracy in the House of Representatives, and let us next elect a Senate that will also end their Oligarchy, which would then reinstitute the Democratic process throughout Congress. Such a reinstitution of the Democratic process throughout Congress is necessary if we are to retain our "American Ideals and Ideas", which are essential to the preservation of our Liberties and Freedoms.

04/10/23 Colonial Tories in Modern America

During the American Revolution, John Adams, one of the leading proponents of the Declaration of Independence, a founder of the Constitution, and the second President of the United States commented about our divisions. When asked how many of the colonists supported the American Revolution, he stated that about one-third supported it, one-third opposed it, and one-third had no opinion on it.

To paraphrase the historian Carl Becker, the American Revolution was both a war ultimately for Independence but also about the nature of the American nation which would emerge after the war. There were, in fact, at least three distinct phases relating to what we can, in general, call the American Revolution. The first of these was in the debate over American liberties prior to the war itself. The second involved the issue of Independence and the war to win our Independence. Finally, there was the question of establishing an American nation afterward, which really was not decided ultimately until the later Civil War.

Colonial Tories were colonists in the Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War. They were often referred to as Loyalists, Royalists, or King's Men at the time, and they were opposed by the Patriots who supported the revolution, and they were often called "persons inimical to the liberties of America." While there were many motives for their loyalism, I believe that their psychological makeup was one of the beliefs in the divine right of a King and the mostly righteousness of government, the importance of an enlightened aristocracy to rule over the general populace, deference to authority by the general populace for an orderly society, and the necessity for the preservation of wealth and property for the benefit of all (but mostly for the few). Many Loyalists were expelled or fled to Canada and England after the war was won by the Patriots but enough remained afterward to influence the establishment of the American nation.

Today, we see this Tory psychology in Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders. The importance of the individual and their "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights" has been sublimated to the means necessary to achieve their ideas of an ideal society, which are to be determined by, instituted, and ruled by themselves and their bureaucrats in an Oligarchy to preserve “Our Democracy”[i]. Our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All" and "Justice and The Rule of Law in America" are to be constrained within their ideas of an ideal society. Thus, we have seen the erosion of our "American Ideals and Ideas" and the rise of "Despotism in America".

Through "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors", "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness", and “The Perversion of the English Language”, they have tried to confuse Americans into believing that their ideas of an ideal society are the American way. They also believe that their ideas of an ideal society should be accepted by and complied with by all Americans and that any dissent should be considered as Unamerican and should not be permitted.

Consequently, we must resist this Tory psychology, or as in the words of President Abraham Lincoln at another time in American history when we faced an existential question, "We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth." We must also remember in the words of President Abraham Lincoln that in this resistance, "We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." and to preserve the Constitution and our Natural, Constitutional, and Civil Rights in this resistance.

_________________________

[i] In an article by Rob Natelson, “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”, he explains “But you shouldn’t confuse Our Democracy with real democracy. The initial modifier serves to debase the noun—much as “sub-human” means less than human or “social justice” rationalizes acts of individual injustice.” This article clarifies the true meaning of ‘Our Democracy’ and how it is, in reality, undemocratic. He closes this article with, “Our Democracy” really looks like “Their Oligarchy.” Or like some of those other “democracies” the left has erected over the years: The Democratic People’s Republic of (North) Korea comes readily to mind, as does the former (East) German Democratic Republic.

05/02/23 Natural Law and Natural Rights vs. The Law of the Jungle

“Natural Law and Natural Right” tradition is a complex and many-sided body of moral and political thought. It is unified, however, by an agreement as to the natural (as distinguished from conventional or man-made) character of principles of right and wrong and of justice and injustice. Conversely, "The Law of the Jungle" (also called jungle law) is an expression that has come to describe a scenario where "anything goes". The Oxford English Dictionary defines the Law of the Jungle as "the code of survival in jungle life, now usually with reference to the superiority of brute force or self-interest in the struggle for survival". The phrase was introduced in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 work The Jungle Book, where it described the behavior of wolves in a pack.

Anyone who has read my Chirps and Articles knows that I am committed to Natural Law and Natural Rights as a basis for our society. So committed that I have written an Article, “Natural, Human, and Civil Rights", on this topic. I believe that without this commitment, it is possible for a society to glide down the slippery slope to “The Law of the Jungle, with intermediate steps of authoritarianism, autarchy, despotism, dictatorialness, monarchy, oligarchy, ochlocracy, totalitarianism, or tyranny. Natural Law and Natural Rights would never allow for these intermediate steps, as all these steps are contrary to Natural Law and Natural Rights. However, Natural Law and Natural Rights are not definitive and subject to philosophical, theological, and legal interpretation and debate.

The question is, then, what is Natural Law and Natural Right? The Witherspoon Institute’s online center for Natural Law, Natural Rights, and American Constitutionalism contains many of the answers to this question. This resource is conceived as an archive for and a commentary and study guide to the seminal documents of the natural law and natural rights tradition, especially as that tradition relates to American constitutionalism and political thought.

I would, therefore, recommend this site to anyone interested in learning about Natural Law and Natural Rights.

05/10/23 Dezinformatsia

Dezinformatsia: Active Measures in Soviet Strategy (and a later edition published as Dezinformatsia: The Strategy of Soviet Disinformation) is a non-fiction book about disinformation and information warfare used by the KGB during the Soviet Union period, as part of their active measures tactics. The book was co-authored by Richard H. Shultz, professor of international politics at Tufts University, and Roy Godson, professor emeritus of government at Georgetown University.

Shultz and Godson discuss Soviet disinformation tactics including injection of Communist propaganda through covert groups within the U.S.S.R. tasked with disrupting activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the U.S. The book explains disinformation methods, including forgery as a covert operation, agents of influence, and using social influence to turn targets into useful idiots. They focus on disinformation activities of Soviet intelligence from 1960 to 1980. Shultz and Godson discuss case studies as examples of Soviet disinformation, including a French journalist covertly financed by Russian agents in order to publish biased material against Western interests, and the front organization activities of the World Peace Council. They back up their analyses with two Soviet intelligence defectors.

Foreign Affairs called the book a "useful survey" of how Soviet intelligence used disinformation "to further its strategic aims such as discrediting America and weakening NATO". The Journal of Conflict Studies described it as "a useful introduction to a field of knowledge" of importance to security experts, the United States Intelligence Community, and diplomats. Society called Dezinformatsia "a highly readable and insightful book". Political Science Quarterly gave the work a negative review, criticizing the book's writing style and methodological rigor.

It is an unfortunate fact that Dezinformatsia has become the tactic of the Democrat Party in the last few election cycles. The Steele dossier fabrications in the 2016 Presidential election, and the covering up of the Hunter Biden laptop scandal in the 2020 Presidential election, are perfect examples of Dezinformatsia. In both cases, not only was the Democrat Party responsible for this Dezinformatsia, but they enlisted the Intelligence and Law enforcement agencies of the government in this Dezinformatsia, as well as the cooperation of the "Mainstream Media", "Mainstream Cultural Media", "Social Media", and "Big Tech" in the dissemination of this Dezinformatsia.

One shutters to think what may be forthcoming in the 2024 Presidential election, especially as the Biden Administration has shown a propensity for covering up, distorting, or lying about their actions by the utilization of "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors", "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness", and “The Perversion of the English Language”, as well as the weaponization of government as I have Chirped on, "08/06/22 The Weaponization of Government". The fabricating of false allegations and charges of Hate Speech against their political opponents is another form of Dezinformatsia that they employ.

Dezinformatsia, coupled with election fraud (as I have written two articles on American voting, "Voting in America" and "Voting Responsibilities", and in my Chirps on "02/17/21 Election Integrity", "03/06/21 Election Integrity - Part Deux"), completely skewers elections to favor the Democrat Party. Dezinformatsia and election fraud is an existential threat to democracy, as it is done to ensure that their oligarchy is maintained, as I have examined in my chirp on "07/13/22 The Progressive Road to Serfdom".

If this situation of Dezinformatsia and election fraud is not eliminated and its perpetrators removed from elected and appointed office, then we can expect its continuance and the end of Democracy in America.

07/11/23 Rules for Conservatives

In an article by Rob Natelson, “Here’s Why It Seems Trump is Always in Trouble”, he reflects on the ‘Rules for Conservatives’ he has learned in his public career. He prefaces these rules by stating:

“For several decades, America has had a definable ruling class—essentially a large oligarchy. It consists of federal bureaucracies, a few career federal politicians from “safe” districts, the managers of certain large businesses, major universities and foundations, and the dominant media. Its members enjoy privileged access to the levers of federal power. So they campaign unceasingly, and often at taxpayer expense, to increase federal power.

The natural adversaries of the ruling class are those who want to seek to revive the Constitution’s limits on federal authority and re-empower individuals, families, religious congregations, local and state governments, small businesses, and private associations.”

Here are some of the rules he has learned:

#1: If you are pro-freedom and pro-Constitution, the standards you must meet are far higher than those applied to others. Just because Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden can get away with something, doesn’t mean you can. If you cannot accept this, then politics is not for you.

#2: In the typical media environment, media bias is worth about 10 percent of the vote for ruling-class candidates. You must factor this bias into your plans, just as you consider other aspects of the local political climate.

#3: Most people do not understand how the media manipulates their attitudes. People often have vague negative feelings toward certain candidates without really knowing why. You must find ways to communicate directly with voters, and do so in a disarming manner. (Ronald Reagan was a master of this skill.)

#4: A conservative candidate must give people specific reasons to vote for him and not for his opponent. This includes criticizing an opponent, but doing so in a way the media cannot portray as “mean-spirited.”

#5: Never trust a journalist. The political graveyards are littered with the bones of politicians who said inadvisable things to a reporter they thought they could trust. Even if the reporter wishes you well, his editors or other superiors may not.

#6: Don’t talk too much; know when to shut up. Prioritize what you want to say and—no matter what you are asked—focus on only your top two or three points.

#7: When you do speak, tell the truth. It’s not only ethical, it helps you keep your story straight. Privileged candidates often can get away with lies, but pro-freedom candidates usually cannot.

#8: Assume that any email or witnessed conversation may end up on the front page of the newspaper. Nixon taped private conversations, and the tapes were used to destroy him.

#9: Avoid impulsive decisions, and build a defensive foundation supporting each major decision. I was very good at this. The media would take statements by my opponents on faith, but they always wanted proof from me. I always had that proof available. (DeSantis is very good at this, too.)

#10: Enlist the best talent you can. Mediocrities may mean well, but they can sink you by making mistakes at the very worst time.

#11: Review your principles often.

#12: Once you are in office, concentrate on changes that are both (1) effective and (2) not easily reversed. The only permanent way to weaken the forces of centralization is to defund them.

The entire article is a worthwhile read as he explains how he has learned these rules.

10/04/23 I Am Not in Favor of Democracy

If democracy means the violation of the Natural Rights of a person, then I am not in favor of democracy. If democracy means ignoring or circumventing the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, then I am not in favor of democracy. If democracy means the imposition of Progressive Ideology and Ideas on America, then I am not in favor of democracy.

Unfortunately, Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that the meaning of democracy is that they can implement their policy goals and political agendas without remaining within the boundaries of Natural, Human, and Civil Rights. Through "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors", "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness", and “The Perversion of the English Language”, they have bamboozled the American people into believing that they are within these boundaries. To my fellow Americans, I would say do not be hoodwinked by them, as they are not within these boundaries!

Even if they obtain a broad majority of support for their policy goals and political agendas, it is not democracy if it violates the boundaries of Natural, Constitutional, and Civil Rights, for the majority may never violate the rights of the minority in a democracy. It is not democracy but majoritarianism if they violate these boundaries and majoritarianism, which can only be enforced by despotism.

Therefore, when Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders speak of “our democracy”, as I have examined in Chirp on "01/11/22 Our Democracy", they are not speaking of a real democracy. They are speaking of their majoritarian oligarchy, as Rob Natelson has explained in his article “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”. Do not let them gaslight you into believing their pronouncements, but do resist their efforts as I have Chirped on “09/30/23 Resistance Movements in Modern America”.

02/18/24 The Greatest Danger to Democracy

As I have written about in my Chirp on “02/16/24 A Slight of Hand”, the Biden Administration poses a threat to democracy in how they operate authoritatively and in secrecy:

“The greatest danger to democracy is not from outside sources but from insiders who operate authoritatively and secretly. Such has been the modus operandi throughout the Biden Administration, which makes them a great danger to our democracy, as I have Chirp on "11/08/23 Threats to Democracy".”.

But in a larger sense, the greatest danger to our democracy is an apathetic electorate not interested in our "American Ideals and Ideas", "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All", and "Justice and The Rule of Law in America", but only concerned with getting their piece of the pie. We also have the problem of "The Three D's (Demonize, Denigrate, Disparage) of Modern Political Debate" utilized to engender fear of the opponent, and "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors", "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness", and “The Perversion of the English Language” to justify political agendas and policy goals that are threats to democracy. Adding into the mix of "The Biggest Falsehoods in America" only makes for more confusion in the minds of the electorate.

Much of this is made possible by improper or incomplete civics instructions in modern public education, as well as the "Mainstream Media", "Mainstream Cultural Media", "Social Media", "Big Tech", "Modern Big Business", and "Modern Education" support for policy positions that are counter to our "American Ideals and Ideas". There is also a dearth of knowledge amongst the American public on "Capitalism and Free Markets", as well as much mistaken knowledge on "Socialism". This leads to confusion and improper economic understanding as to the repercussions on governance based on this lack of or incorrect knowledge. Much of this misunderstanding has been brought forth by Progressivism, as I have explained in my collected Chirps on "Progressivism and Progressives", and is being led by Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists in modern America. Despite their cries of saving “Our Democracy”, they operate in a manner that is antithetical to democracy, as I have Chirp on "01/11/22 Our Democracy" and as Rob Natelson has written in his article “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”.

Consequently, the greatest danger to democracy is an electorate that is unaware or unconcerned about how the government operates or the means that they utilize to obtain their political agendas and policy goals. Alas, there seems little hope that the American electorate can be awakened to this danger, considering the political and social forces that would prefer to keep them in darkness of this greatest danger to democracy.

03/18/24 Election Interference in Israel

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for new elections in Israel, claiming that the prime minister has "lost his way." Not only is this election interference in trying to overturn a democratic election in a foreign country but the reasons he has given for the new elections is hubris on his part that the Israeli people should only elect a person who agrees with his viewpoint on the issue of the Israel-Hamas war.

As Senate Minority Leader McConnell rightly pointed out in a clear admonition about getting involved in foreign elections. "Israel is not a colony of America whose leaders serve at the pleasure of the party in power in Washington. Only Israel’s citizens should have a say in who runs their government. This is the very definition of democracy and sovereignty," he offered. "Either we respect their decisions, or we disrespect their democracy."

For Senator Schumer, who expresses so much concern about “Our Democracy”, he shows little concern for other countries' democracy. This should be of no surprise to anyone who has observed how Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists operate in a manner that is antithetical to democracy, as I have Chirp on "01/11/22 Our Democracy" and as Rob Natelson has written in his article “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”.

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