The Coming Sedition Act?
By Robert Ringer
The gangster government now in control in our nation’s capitol is a grim and repugnant reminder that freedom, at best, is ephemeral. At worst, it’s a myth. In fact, true freedom – like true capitalism – has never existed anywhere on this planet. Rest assured that those with an insatiable lust for power will never allow either to occur.
The boldest experiment in doing away with dictatorial government was the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and perhaps the most important words in that document are:
… 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.
…
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
This was the way that the Colonialists chose to tell their English rulers: “Enough! We hereby declare ourselves to be free.” Unfortunately, from that point forward, the apparently uncontrollable urge of some of the revolutionists to govern their fellow Colonists led to the creation of another document – the Constitution – that, in turn, created that most dreaded of all human inventions: the nation-state.
Never mind that only a handful of men signed the Constitution. This was a new declaration, but not a declaration of independence. Rather, is was a declaration that proclaimed that all persons living within a certain geographical area were, in fact, not free … a declaration that proclaimed them to be bound by The United States Constitution.
Keep in mind that those who were bound by this new document were not asked if they agreed to it, let alone asked to sign it. They were simply told that they would have new rules to abide by – and new rulers to enforce those rules.
Don’t get me wrong. The Constitution is a brilliant document and, I believe, well-intended. With the exception of black slaves and Native Americans, it seems clear that most of the signers saw it as a document that would protect the rights and freedom of the inhabitants of the Colonies.
But human nature being what it is, a democracy or democratic republic is destined – through an “excess of democracy” – to move toward an all-powerful central government that tyrannizes its citizens. In their writing of the Constitution, the Founders worked hard to protect against such an eventuality, but no document can be a foolproof deterrent to tyranny.
That quickly became evident when, after the Constitution went into effect in the summer of 1788, it took only a decade for Congress, under John Adams, to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, which made it a crime for anyone to criticize the government “through writing or any other shape, form, or fashion.”
Specifically, criticizing the president, Congress, the military, or the flag was made illegal. This by a group of men who themselves had escaped bondage only twenty-two years earlier!
It was an audacious move by the Federalist-controlled Congress to silence the Republicans, particularly regarding their support of the French Revolution. It was, of course, in direct violation of the Bill of Rights, which clearly states, in the First Amendment, that “Congress shall make no law … abridging freedom of speech, or of the press.”
A little more than a hundred years after the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Congress, at the urging of Scoundrel in Chief Woodrow Wilson, acted again and passed the U.S. Sedition Act of 1918. Among other things, the act made it a crime to “willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States.”
Segue to 2010. Led by the ultra-statist Cass Sunstein, the Criminal Corps in Washington is heating up talk about infiltrating “conspiracy groups” (read, tea parties) in an effort to undermine them. A conspiracy group is, of course, any group of people that consists of individuals who disagree with the socialist policies of the current administration.
Power has a corrupting influence on those who achieve it, which is why many honorable individuals refuse to run for office. The very nature of a democratic republic makes it virtually impossible for a politician to adhere to the principles of true liberty and still manage to stay in office.
I believe that some people come to Washington with sincere intentions to roll back big government, eliminate federal handout programs, and abolish anti-freedom laws and regulations. But once in power, they become convinced of the need to buy votes, lest they find themselves out of the club and having to – gasp! – seek employment in the private sector.
Which means it’s up to you and me to do the job. We should not allow ourselves to become emotionally engrossed in oil spills, riots in Greece, and foiled terrorist plots. Instead, we should relentlessly focus on our loss of liberty. Any of these and a thousand-and-one other “crises” could be used as an excuse for BHO to invoke an Obomination Sedition Act that, in turn, could be used as excuse to “postpone” elections in 2010 or 2012 for “security reasons.”
Don’t allow yourself to become distracted. Stay focused on the real issue: our loss of freedom!
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ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. Ringer has appeared on numerous national talk shows and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron’s, and The New York Times. To sign up for his one-of-a-kind, pro-liberty e-letter, A Voice of Sanity in an Insane World, visit www.RobertRinger.com
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Copyright © 2012 Robert Ringer
ROBERT RINGER is a New York Times #1 bestselling author and host of the highly acclaimed Liberty Education Interview Series, which features interviews with top political, economic, and social leaders. He has appeared on Fox News, Fox Business, The Tonight Show, Today, The Dennis Miller Show, Good Morning America, The Lars Larson Show, ABC Nightline, and The Charlie Rose Show, and has been the subject of feature articles in such major publications as Time, People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Barron's, and The New York Times.
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Mr. Ringer,
I subscribe to your blog and enjoy reading your articles. For the most part I usually agree with many of your assertations. But on a couple of points, I have to disagree.
We are not a democracy, nor a “democratic republic.” To assume such sets the stage for an erroneous premise and skews the whole debate.
We are a constitutional representative republic. Democracies are ruled by majorities, and majorities have a tendency to evolve into mob mentalities.
Nowhere in the Declaration or Constitution are we defined as a democracy. And all too often, people in the Liberal MSM try to pass off this notion that we are a democracy, it only further exacerbates the disinformation to the Great Unwashed.
Your contribution to this notion of the United States being a democracy only adds to that misinformation.
Dear Robert,
If (as you say) honorable individuals refuse to run for office and the very nature of a democratic republic makes it virtually impossible for a politician to adhere to the principles of true liberty and still manage to stay in office, what do we do?
A few aricles back, I asked that same question and I don’t know if you responded to it or not. If you did, my apologies for not finding it. If you didn’t, I ask once again.
What the heck should we do as Americans who don’t want to see this country become “Greeceified” (any more than it already has)and how should we do it?
So that I may know that you have responded, is there a system you can put in place to notify your readers that you have replied?
Thank you again for your brilliant commentary and straightforward and honest writing. It is refreshing.
Hi Robert,
I was getting worried about you, hadn’t received any newsletters recently. Thought maybe you were either sick, or just so sick and disgusted with the lunatics in DC, you couldn’t even make yourself write about them…LOL!
But they want us to become emotionally engrossed in oil spills, riots in Greece, and foiled terrorist plots, sports, TV, movies, Hollywood, et al, ad nauseum…That is how they keep us distracted from watching them too closely! “Hey! Look over there!” While pointing AWAY from themselves!
Great article, as most of them are! Thanks!
I pass these on to my husband, son, brother, dad and a few friends. Hope you don’t mind. They enjoy them, too. Once in awhile when talking to my dad on the phone, if political topics come up, it’s not uncommon for him to make a reference to something you said. (My dad is 80 years old!)
Kathi Harris
Your warning to look for one crisis after another between now and November is one that should be taken very seriously. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I suscribe to the belief that just because you are paranoid does not mean they’re not out to get you. The recent incident on Wall Street where “something” caused a precipitous 1000-point drop could have been such a diversion. If it can happen accidentally, it can certainly be repeated deliberately. I just don’t trust any of these bozos, and your advice is right on.
Robert,
The Great Repression of 2009 Continues.
darshan, here is my suggestion for “what to do”: first, disabuse yourself of the ficticious identity “american” – that is a label that has been contrived to elicit knee-jerk (reflexive) response and has everything to do with making you malleable, controllable…you are you, a unique individual – be that, claim your identity and leave the manufactured ones on the rack; second, stop helping to maintain those particular illusions of american identity having to do with ‘the franchise’, ‘representation’, ‘democracy’, etc, i.e., stop voting – and spend that otherwise wasted time/energy teaching your fellows to do likewise. Yes, I know: you will not likely convince too many to quit illusion, but nevertheless, it is the only honest, correct, true thing to do…ask those you would awaken to accompany you on a thought experiment…ask them to simply imagine what would happen if “they threw an election and nobody showed up” (there was a movie titled “Suppose They Threw a War and Nobody Came”..)…ask them what they think would change or be different – would the power-seeking socio-pols just pack up and go home? we all know they would not. so what would that prove? It would simply prove that that voting is not proof of participatory gov, but that it is proof of participatory slavery. Stop participating in your own enslavement and encourage your fellows to stop, too. the slaves are the super majority, the ‘masters’ the miniscule minority – and their rule is wholly predicated upon the consent of the ruled. Stop consenting.
ConservativeCowboy, at the close of the constitutional convention, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what type of government the Constitution was bringing into existence. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” It was not kept. Furthermore, since the delegates to philly were not even authorized to constitutional cobble – they were tasked with amending the Articles, nothing more – “Constitutional Coup d’ etat” is the accurate description of what occurred. Constitutional reverance is another misbegotten spawn of crafted mythology; costitutionalism is a religion (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…).
Sometimes it has seemed as if you were taking positions with which I could not agree … this item renews my faith in your views.
Wasn’t it Ronald Regan who observed that the problem is not what kind of government but rather that “government” is the problem?
If you’re going to be “free” you cannot have government. Freedom is an absolute, when you start limiting it — even in the most minuscule way — it isn’t freedom any more.
Whether or not we will ever see real freedom in our lives is highly doubtful so the best we can hope for if we value it is a movement towards it, which is not what we seem to be seeing these days.
“The Coming Sedition Act” is already being surreptitiously built in a piece-meal and an ad hock fashion. The latest piece of this composite act has been proposed by Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman on March 10th 2010. It’s been named the “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010″. This act will strip individuals—even American citizens—of ALL of their rights. Individuals, including American citizens, can be indefinitely detained without any access to an attorney, habeas corpus, or ANY checks and balances whatsoever—none— zero! Only an act of congress can free somebody who has been detained on suspicion alone!
Stop and think! The government won’t need any hard evidence in order to detain us. These laws are worse than The Military Commissions Act. The infrastructure of tyranny is being built by the American government under the guise of national security and public safety. And here is the key conclusion that has to be made on this subject: It doesn’t matter if you think that it’s a conspiracy by the plutocracy to consolidate and centralize power over the masses or you just think that our government is a bumbling kakistocracy that is driving us down the road to serfdom. The important thing to remember is this: Laws are quietly being passed that will be used against Americans who resist the final push towards a dictatorship. Under the guise of fighting terrorism, the government is building the infrastructure for running slave state.
All these hitlerian laws that are being passed are going to be used by the government for the purpose of cracking down on dissent. John Adams turned against the Constitution by supporting the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798; correspondingly, John McCain and many others have turned against the Constitution by employing the very same congressional strategy.
People better start waking up, growing up, and manning up unless they want to live like slaves under men like Cass Sunstein. A few months ago I started a wake up call on YouTube that has reached 100,000 views. Now that’s not much, but at least it’s something. If I can do it, then almost anybody can. Even if you can just manage to wake up one person, then now is the time to do it. Even if you only plant the seeds of truth by warning people about what’s ahead. Then when things start to cascade into a massive crisis, then the seeds that you planted will grow in people’s minds.
If you can’t articulate a proper warning and plant the seeds, then encourage your friends and family to visit sites such as Mr. Ringer’s blog. If they don’t like reading, then have them google some of Gerald Celente’s videos. If they’re into conspiracy theories, then Alex Jones is your best bet. Some other good men that are worth listening to are Judge Andrew Napolitano, Ron Paul, Glenn Beck, Bob Chapman, Jim Rogers, and Peter Schiff.
The terrorist attacks were not foiled the were failed attempts. If they had been foiled the failure would have been because of U.S. actions. The terrorists were incompitant. If they had known what they were doing there would have been many casualities. We were lucky not smart. Lady luck is a fickle girl, we may not be so lucky next time.
And Quoting the Sharon Statement – from the Young Americans for Freedom:
IN THIS TIME of moral and political crises, it is the responsibility of the youth of America to affirm certain eternal truths.
WE, as young conservatives believe:
THAT foremost among the transcendent values is the individual’s use of his God-given free will, whence derives his right to be free from the restrictions of arbitrary force;
THAT liberty is indivisible, and that political freedom cannot long exist without economic freedom;
THAT the purpose of government is to protect those freedoms through the preservation of internal order, the provision of national defense, and the administration of justice;
THAT when government ventures beyond these rightful functions, it accumulates power, which tends to diminish order and liberty;
THAT the Constitution of the United States is the best arrangement yet devised for empowering government to fulfill its proper role, while restraining it from the concentration and abuse of power;
THAT the genius of the Constitution – the division of powers – is summed up in the clause that reserves primacy to the several states, or to the people in those spheres not specifically delegated to the Federal government;
THAT the market economy, allocating resources by the free play of supply and demand, is the single economic system compatible with the requirements of personal freedom and constitutional government, and that it is at the same time the most productive supplier of human needs;
THAT when government interferes with the work of the market economy, it tends to reduce the moral and physical strength of the nation, that when it takes from one to bestow on another, it diminishes the incentive of the first, the integrity of the second, and the moral autonomy of both;
THAT we will be free only so long as the national sovereignty of the United States is secure; that history shows periods of freedom are rare, and can exist only when free citizens concertedly defend their rights against all enemies…
THAT the forces of international Communism are, at present, the greatest single threat to these liberties;
THAT the United States should stress victory over, rather than coexistence with this menace; and
THAT American foreign policy must be judged by this criterion: does it serve the just interests of the United States?
One of the Best statements of Libertarian Conservatism that I have read and pledged to.
“… a declaration that proclaimed them to be bound by The United States Constitution.”
Uh, no. I agree with practically everything else you said, but the Constitution binds government to protect the rights of the people; it does not in and of itself bind the people to anyone. The fact that government routinely violates the Constitution of the United States by exercising authority not delegated to it (and thus becoming by definition an Occupation Government) does not change that fact.
Be careful you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater: There is no such thing as “anarchy” lasting more than a week or so: Anarchy invariably devolves almost immediately to government by thuggery; i.e., government by the most ruthless warlord wannabe in the neighborhood.
Our Constitution was and is a stroke of Divine genius. All of our major problems would evaporate overnight if government would strictly obey it. And don’t ever think government has found some way to “legally” do an end-run around it, even by conning the people into giving up their rights in exchange for protection or wealth or anything else: Government has no authority to do that. If government does that, it has no authority — it becomes an Occupation Government no one is bound to obey and everyone must resist to the point of abolishing it.
Illegal government must be abolished, and the Constitution provides the authority to do it.