By Bob Kingsley
Finally, the US Supreme Court has been re-calibrated to accurately and properly reflect the values, traditions and true character of America. The United States “Court of Last Resort” has for too long been the tool of liberal ideologies conjuring credence in agendas not reflecting the will of the people, and has instead sought the friendly confines of sympathetic, left-leaning courts, circumventing the legislative process by judicial fiat.
Failure of our schools to teach civics has allowed ignorance to prevail and consequently, many don’t understand the most basic of ideals regarding issues of constitutionality, due process or the rule of law. This lack of understanding has fostered ill-conceived and bastardized concepts of how America actually works, created in part by the left-leaning media. The concept of individual states and federalist delegation of responsibilities, instead of overarching federal control and oversight, is a novel idea in governance, widely misunderstood and underappreciated in today’s mainstream zeitgeist. This very concept defines at least in part, American Exceptionalism, resulting in the creation of a form of governance that had never been tried before or since.
The Founders intended the states to possess more power than the federal government, overseeing and controlling federal power, which by constitutional definition was to be very narrow, well defined and limited. The 10th Amendment and the “Commerce Clause,” (Article 1, Section 8, clause 3) spell this out by defining the “enumerated powers” listed in the Constitution. Over the years, activist courts have exploited the meaning of interstate commerce, which has grossly and unfairly increased the expansion of federal powers as an erosive force against states rights.
Adding to this degeneration of state’s rights, the passage of the 17th amendment in 1913 further undermined state authority by making senatorial selection a popular vote. The original Constitution called for each state legislature to send senators elected from their own state ranks. By making the Senate selection a popularity contest, it erases the connection to the governance of their respective state legislatures, and lessens the consequences from their actions as Senators.
Widespread ignorance of these bedrock, American principles do not negate their importance and control of our society in any way. However, Thomas Jefferson did warn us, as far back as 1815, when he said, “An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic. Self-government is not possible unless the citizens are educated sufficiently to enable them to exercise oversight. It is therefore imperative that the nation see to it that a suitable education be provided for all its citizens…”
Even to the least informed amongst us, the embarrassing national debacle we saw during the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for the Honorable Brett Kavanaugh should give us pause. The deplorable actions and behaviors we all witnessed are the direct result of an uneducated and uninformed citizenry elevating these buffoons to power.
Jefferson, again, over 200 years ago:
“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories. And to render even them safe, their minds must be improved to a certain degree.”