My Second Letter To Protestors

If you're going to protest against "the system" it's important that you first understand how the system is supposed to work.   Don't assume you and everyone else already know.   Even some of our most brilliant commentators sometimes make mistakes or lose perspective.

Point 1:   Government in America is supposed to be of, by, and for the People.   That means that the People are the sovereigns, the owners, the principals.   The People manage their government by hiring representatives and delegating authority to them to administer certain specified functions for the owner's (i.e., the People's) benefit.   We hire them through a process called elections which allows all citizens who are eligible to vote and play a part in the selection process.   We hire and fire people who work for us.   We are their employers.   They have a responsibility to us.   They take an oath promising to honor those responsibilities and faithfully execute their authority with integrity, according to the instructions and within the parameters we give them.   Those instructions and parameters are laid out for them in our Constitution and in the body of law that supports it.   If they don't live up to our expectations we have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to fire them and hire others who we feel are more likely to do the job with the level of integrity and competence that the job requires.  

Point 2:   If we ignore our own responsibilities, by not keeping track of what our representatives actually do with their time and the authority we delegate to them, they can easily get the idea that they can do whatever they want to do, such as behave as if we gave them more authority than we actually gave them and/or manage things for their own personal benefit and gratification rather than for us and our posterity.   If that happens, we run the risk of losing control.   That can happen over time if the people that work for us think that no one is "minding the store." They might decide that it's in their own best interest to transfer their loyalty to others instead of remaining loyal to us and/or to the principles to which they promised to adhere.   In fact they might try to usurp our power, take it from us, in favor of themselves, or give their allegiance to others who might promise to reward them for their infidelity.   If that happens we could end up living under some kind of authoritarian rule instead of our own constitutional republic.   And that could result in the loss of our freedoms, our wealth, and our happiness.  

Point 3:   Every representative we hire is given a set of guidelines which they are instructed to follow.   In fact, before taking office each representative takes a sacred oath and pledges his or her word of honor to follow those guidelines in the administration of his or her duties.   Those guidelines are called the Constitution.   Associated with the Constitution are a set of rules, which we call laws.   So to follow the Constitution means to adhere to the laws, and also to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution and its principles for the advancement of freedom, honor, justice, mutual respect, democracy, success, peace, and the pursuit of happiness, not only for Americans, but for all peoples.

Point 4:   It's not only every elected official in America that pledges to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.   Others also take that oath, such as judges, attorneys, police officers, military personnel, as well as newly-naturalized citizens.   In recent years, the integrity of every public official in America has been tested.   Their record in office is available for review. Citizens have been tested too.   We all have either a public or a private record we can review. 

Point 5:   It would not be honorable, in my view, to take an oath without understanding what you are promising to do.   And how can you judge how well a public servant is doing their job if you don't even understand what their job is.     Their primary job is to keep their oath of office.  That's their sacred duty.  Honoring that duty is what stands between us and tyranny.  Certainly we should expect every elected official to understand the pledge they make before taking office.   The Constitution includes a bill of rights and their amendments in which all citizens are guaranteed certain rights and privileges.   Article 6, Clause 2 states that all treaties entered into by the United States also become the Supreme Law of the Land along with all the other articles of the Constitution.   Such treaties include, for example, various treaties and conventions such as the UN Charter, the First Geneva Convention, the Third Geneva Convention, the Fourth Geneva Convention, The United Nations Convention Against Torture, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and many other treaties as well.

Point 6:   We now have a record to go by, a body of evidence, if you will, as to how well each of our local, state, and national elected officials have performed in office.   We can see if our elected officials adhered to their responsibilities and if we adhered to ours.     Who can we trust to protect our Constitution, our way of life?   Who has overstepped their bounds or failed to act?   Who has kept their word? Who should remain in office and who should not?   I believe we need to ask and answer these questions if we hope to recapture our sovereignty or live in a true democratic republic.   And I believe we should not allow anyone to hold public office who doesn't keep their oath of office.    And only after making that determination should we look to see how competent they were in carrying out their legislative duties, such as, whether or not you liked what they tried to do through legislation.  If they didn't keep their oath of office, they shouldn't be allowed to stay in office no matter what else they did or tried to do.

Point 7:   I believe a review of points 1-6 above will clarify where we are, how we got here, and what we need to do if we are to reclaim our government, our freedoms, our self-respect, and the respect of the rest of humanity.   Our freedoms and life itself might very well hang in the balance.

Point 8:   I am offering you my own assistance if you feel inclined to accept it.   I describe what I am offering here and also in the other links you will find along the way.   If you follow the links as I suggest, and read with thought, care, and integrity, I think they just might help you get your country back.   It took me many years and thousands of hours to write it all down and all the while, I was learning, failing, trying again.