WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS...

                             By  Atticus  Finch

Nervously standing in my office was a lad of thirteen, dressed uncomfortably, no doubt more formal than he had intended. Out of deference to his mother, he had combed his hair, put on a pair of pressed khaki pants and collared shirt for his interview with a lawyer.  His purpose was to discuss governmental affairs, qualifying him for a Citizenship in the Community merit badge.  After I dispensed with the obligatory small talk, I began an inquiry designed to elicit from the young man whether essential aspects of the makeup and purpose of our government were being taught in the public schools.

“Where do our rights as citizens of the United States of America originate?” I inquired.  The lad stammered blushed and then with a look of confidence answered: “Our rights come from our government.”  He was mistaken, but sadly, his answer revealed how most Americans think of their essential liberties.  Given a second opportunity, the Boy Scout gave a better answer.  “Our liberties originate from our Constitution and Bill of Rights!” he proclaimed. He seemed disappointed as I explained that he again failed to answer correctly.  Not wanting to risk further confusion, I asked him to read with me the words of the Declaration of Independence.

“We hold these truths to be self evident” wrote Thomas Jefferson, “that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  “Our rights then,” I explained, “originate from our Creator.”  Imagine that.  The government of the United States and our rights as citizens originate from God.  At least in 1776, this basic principle of government was self evident.  To the founders of our nation, the God, whom some Americans today want removed from all aspects of government, is the self evident originator of our rights as citizens. 


These natural rights are derived from the common understanding of civilized man and were so universally accepted, that Thomas Jefferson did not pause to offer any justification for their application to the citizens of this country. 


It is self evident that freedom is not confined within our borders anymore than the God who deigns them into existence can distinguish between, American and Spaniard; Britain and Frenchman; Chinese and Egyptian. History has shown that freedom can be trampled by tyrants and stolen away by totalitarian systems of government.  Still within the very essence of the human spirit indwells sparks of liberty, the respect for life and the desire to live in freedom. It is a fire within the soul of mankind - independent of government for its sustenance.

What then is the purpose of government?  Once again the answer can be found from the words of Thomas Jefferson:  “that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed…”  “Understand this,” I declared to the young Boy Scout, “our rights are ordained by God; Governments are created by men for the express purpose of protecting these God-given rights.”  The founders felt so strongly about the sanctity of this basic premise of natural law that violation of it became the justification for the Revolution that gave birth to the United States of America: “[T]hat whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it…”  Constant vigilance and eager participation in government is the responsibility of all citizens - for without which our birthright as free people is always at risk.

Our liberty, our respect for life, our entrepreneurial economy, our standard of living, our free association among fellow citizens, our respect for human rights, and our freedom to worship or ignore the God from whom these rights originate are not creations of some legislature or city council.  They cannot be established by reference to some administrative code or proclamation from some governmental functionary. These rights are burned into the very soul of man by the same finger that wrote the Ten Commandments, healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, defeated death with a glorious resurrection and touches even now the souls of men everywhere.  While many citizens misunderstand the basic tenets of our Republic, there is at least one government official who does not need a civics lesson.  “Americans are free people” proclaimed George W. Bush, “who know that freedom is the right of every person and the future of every nation.  The liberty we prize is not America’s gift to the world; it is God’s gift to humanity.”                                      

                                                                       

Self Evident Truths

Self Evident Truths

A blog written by Atticus Finch commenting on God and Government

MISTER ROBERTS


Volume 1                  Issue 27

You teach yourselves the law, but I train your minds. You come in here with a skull full of mush; you leave thinking like a lawyer.

Charles Kingsfield (Paper Chase) 

Professor William E. Martin was a law professor everyone feared.  He fashioned himself to be Campbell University School of Law’s version of Paper Chase’s legendary Professor Kingsfield.  Standing to recite in class and becoming the subject of Professor Martin’s ridicule was a right of passage in our small law school in Buies Creek, North Carolina.  He graduated top in his class at Wake Forest University and was not much older than many of our students. Professor Martin had curly reddish hair, when un-kept reminded us of Bozo the Clown, but it was never funny  to observe the sadistic joy he took in the intimidation of first year students.  Even though some thirty years have passed, we still tell Professor Martin stories.

However, by the time we graduated we knew that Professor Martin had turned our skulls full of mush into brains of lawyers.  You see lawyers look at the world differently from others.  We are cynical, sarcastic and purveyors of dark humor.  We are suspicious and crafty.  Most of all we want you to engage us in a game you think is checkers, when all the time we are playing chess.  It is the nature of our beast, but it is who we are-  Or more precisely what Professors like William Martin turned us into.

One thing Professor Martin taught me was to be suspicious of an opponent when that opponent is doing something I think is profoundly stupid.  “Most lawyers know what they are doing” he would instruct.  “And if you think your opponent is stupid, you best ask of yourself, ‘What did I miss?’”

“Chief Justice Roberts did what?!”  I screamed into my car radio as I heard the news report of the Obamacare decision.  Glenn Beck called him a “weasel”, Rush Limbaugh called it an “appalling disgraceful decision; other commentators and bloggers vilified the Chief Justice as another George Bush mistake.  As I pondered the decision I had to ask-“What am I missing?”

One of the lessons in Constitutional Law taught by Professor Martin centered upon the fact that the Supreme Court is not just a judicial body but a very political body.  “Remember the decision in Worchester vs. Georgia”, he would exclaim.  It was the decision that ruled the Cherokee Tribe was a sovereign nation.  To which President Andrew Jackson responded:  “John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it.” 

The fact is the Supreme Court has no authority except a power of moral persuasion.  Therefore, the first unspoken question in every decision relates to the ability of the Court to sustain itself as a relevant political player in national affairs.

“Remember United States vs Nixon?”  Professor Martin would remind us.  The Supreme Court ruled on whether President Nixon had to release his private tapes.  The decision was released the very week, the House Judiciary Committee voted on Articles of Impeachment.   “You see the Court likes to shoot at dead ducks.”  Professor Martin would muse.  The Supreme Court cannot allow itself to get too far ahead of the national sentiment.  It rarely leads but always follows the course of current affairs.

Our nation is in the midst of a divisive political time.  It is unsettled which way the nation will move in the coming election.  President Obama desperately wants to divert attention from the faltering economy and to run against some Republican boogeyman.

To strike down the key piece of Presidential legislation just months before the election would certainly inject the Court into the political whirlwind of a Presidential campaign.  A vote to invalidate Obamacare would make the Court a political piñata.  The Supreme Court would become just another partisan whipping boy by a President desperate to win a re-election by any political means at his disposal.

Enter the judicial genius of Chief Justice John Roberts.  


By siding with the liberal wing of the Court, he placed himself in the position to write the majority opinion.  In order for their position to prevail, the liberal justices had to acquiesce to his rationale.  He refuses to expand the Commerce Clause, the centerpiece of the President’s justification of individual mandates. 


Instead he awkwardly crafts the decision on the broad taxing power of the government, thereby limiting the impact of the decision.  Making Obamacare a "tax" has other implications which will cause the President a great deal of concern.  Budget bills are not subject to cloture rules in the Senate. Conceivably  Senate Republicans will now have an opportunity to overturn the legislation by a simple majority.  


"The filibuster cannot be used to block a budget resolution. That’s because the Budget Act sets out a specific amount of time for debate in the Senate -- 50 hours. If a specific amount of debate time is enshrined in the controlling statute, the filibuster is moot. So a simple majority -- not 60 votes -- is all that’s required to pass a budget resolution."  (http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/feb/13/jack-lew/white-house-chief-staff-jack-lew-says-budget-requi)


Additionally by ruling that States have the option not to expand eligibility without losing funding for their existing programs, the implementation of Obamacare now is dependent on the politics of individual States.  Conceivably States with Republican legislatures could opt out of Obamacare.


"Nothing in our opinion precludes Congress from offering funds under the ACA to expand the availability of health care and requiring that states accepting such funds comply with the conditions on their use...What Congress is not free to do is to penalize states that choose not to participate in that new program by taking away their existing Medicaid funding."  (John Roberts)

This decision removes the Court from the political debate and shifts the debate to the legislative wisdom of the Congress.  The presidential election now is about Obamacare.

“Members of this Court are vested with the authority to interpret the law; we possess neither the expertise nor the prerogative to make policy judgments. Those decisions are entrusted to our Nation’s elected leaders, who can be thrown out of office if the people disagree with them. It is not our job to protect the people from the consequences of their political choices.”  (Chief Justice John Roberts)

One other thing Professor Martin taught us.  “The genius of the Constitution,” he would explain, “is in the fact that it allows a peaceful revolution.  You see we no longer need to overthrow an oppressive despot by force of arms.  We have the opportunity to peacefully revolt on the first Tuesday after the First Monday in November, every other year.”

Somewhere Professor Martin is smiling. 






Appendix

(a similar analysis- silver linings?   http://www.patheos.com/blogs/philosophicalfragments/2012/06/28/five-possible-silver-linings-in-the-obamacare-decisio/)

another commentator agrees with Atticus

"[Chief Justice John] Roberts' concern was that the court do everything it could to avoid being seen, rightly or wrongly, as high-handedly overturning sweeping legislation passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the president. How to reconcile the two imperatives -- one philosophical and the other institutional? Assign yourself the task of writing the majority opinion. Find the ultimate finesse that manages to uphold the law, but only on the most narrow of grounds -- interpreting the individual mandate as merely a tax, something generally within the power of Congress. Result? The law stands, thus obviating any charge that a partisan court overturned duly passed legislation. And yet at the same time the Commerce Clause is reined in. By denying that it could justify the imposition of an individual mandate, Roberts draws the line against the inexorable decades-old expansion of congressional power under the Commerce Clause fig leaf. Law upheld, Supreme Court's reputation for neutrality maintained. Commerce Clause contained, constitutional principle of enumerated powers reaffirmed. That's not how I would have ruled. I think the 'mandate is merely a tax' argument is a dodge, and a flimsy one at that. ... Perhaps that's not how Roberts would have ruled had he been just an associate justice, and not the chief. But that's how he did rule. Obamacare is now essentially upheld. There's only one way it can be overturned. The same way it was passed -- elect a new president and a new Congress." --columnist Charles Krauthammer

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/07/05/chief-justice-roberts-you-fox  Another writer agrees with Atticus

Lincoln in Color

Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war...testing whether this nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated....can long endure.

We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field for the final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live, It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this.

But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate....we cannot consecrate....we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far and above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task before us.... that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion...that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom... and the government of the people... by the people.....and for the people.... shall not perish from the earth.

A. Lincoln 11-19-1863

Victory or Death

Vol. 1                                      Issue 26

The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out and meet it.   Thucydides


                  VICTORY OR DEATH

Cold winter winds came early in 1776. Snow weighed heavy on the oak trees lining the streets of Trenton, New Jersey.  Ice would soon cover the nearby Delaware River. Standing on the western banks, a solitary soldier pondered the smoke rising from the distant town. A new storm was coming.

In the warm summer of  1776, a new nation was conceived upon the unique proposition that all people were created equal and were ordained by God with certain unalienable rights. From this proposition emerged the American Nation whose citizens have transformed the world. Few understand that in early winter of 1776, the fate of the entire American experience rested upon the shoulders of the American soldier.

George Washington was an unlikely soldier. At age 44, he was a successful plantation owner. His military experience as a militia colonel was decades old. Facing the most powerful military in the world, he led a ragged army that had been chased from Harlem Heights in New York across the farmlands of New Jersey to the western banks of the the Delaware River in Pennsylvania. Beaten and battered, barely clothed and poorly armed, the Continental Army was but one pitched battle away from annihilation.

Yet in the face of it all, on the banks of the Delaware River, General Washington conceived of a bold plan.  Pulling paper from his pocket, he penned his assessment of the prospects of the coming battle.  He wrote simply: "Victory or Death".

Crusty fisherman from Marblehead Massachusetts commandeered flat bottom boats and ferried 2400 soldiers and 18 cannon across the icy Delaware River Christmas night 1776. Battling a fierce winter storm, Washington and his army of patriots marched four hours through the night to the outskirts of Trenton.  At 8 am they opened fire on the unsuspecting garrison of Hessian Mercenaries.  In an hour of intense hand to hand fighting, the Patriot Army prevailed, killing and capturing the entire garrison of nearly 1000 soldiers.

Days later, General Washington and his army crossed the Delaware for a second time and marched on the British in Princeton. Initially routed by the more disciplined Redcoat Army, the Continentals rallied when General Washington on horseback appeared waiving his sword.  Standing with them amid musket fire and cannon shot, he personally directed a furious counterattack which drove the British from the battlefield.

In ten days and in two battles, a solitary soldier changed history.  While many years and much hardship would be endured before Independence could be secured, the ten days in late December 1776 proved to be the turning point in the Revolution. These days transformed General Washington into a national hero and revealed to his soldiers and to the nation as a whole the depth of his character and the force of his resolve.

At a time when officers bickered over promotions and soldiers required bonuses to ensure re-enlistment, Washington worked for no pay, and from 1776 to 1781 remained at his post without taking leave.  At a time when Congressional leaders abandoned Philadelphia for the safety of Baltimore, Washington faced British muskets alongside his troops.

Successfully crossing the Delaware not only solidified Washington as the military leader of the country, he emerged as the political and moral leader as well.  He was seen as a leader whose actions need not be embellished by his rhetoric.


His strength of character fostered an ambition for the success of the citizens of the new nation over his own. He acquired status and power which exceeded any to which a person of grander ambition may have aspired by simply doing his duty to God and country. As observed by Fisher Ames, Washington was one of "that small number" of men "who were no less distinguished for the elevation of their virtues than the luster of their talents. . . who were born, and who acted through life as if they were born, not for themselves, but for their country and the whole human race."

From the despair of Valley Forge to the victory at Yorktown, the military genius of George Washington secured our Independence.  As moderator of the Constitutional Convention, George Washington used his political leadership to give birth to a government of the people, by the people and for the people.  As nation's first president, it was the personal integrity of George Washington that defined the role of the chief executive and fostered the peaceful transition of governmental power by votes placed in a ballot box rather than by force of arms.

As the political progeny of a great American, let us commemorate the 280th anniversary of his death by acknowledging that as "Citizens by birth, or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate [our] affections.  The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to [us], in [our] national capacity must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.  With slight shades of difference, [we]  have the same Religion, Manners, Habits, and Political Principles. [We] have in a common cause fought and triumphed together. The independence and liberty [we] possess are the work of joint councils, and joint efforts; of common dangers, sufferings and successes."

Let us dedicate ourselves anew to the proposition that a free government can only spring forth from a bedrock of religion and morality. Washington understood that public virtue could not be expected to exist in a land whose citizenry fostered a climate of private vice.  "Let us with caution indulge in the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."

February 22nd is not President's Day.  It is the birthday of George Washington, the father of our nation.  Let us rejoice that among all nations we have been blessed by presence of such greatness among us

ATTICUS

The Gipper....in Honor of the Birthday of the President

SELF EVIDENT TRUTHS 


Vol. 1                          Issue 25
      

THE ENDURING LEGACY OF FREEDOM*

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.      
                             Ronald Wilson Reagan

In 2002, the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education voted to name a new high school after the 40^th President of the United States. The Ronald Wilson Reagan High School will open in August of 2005 near Pfafftown, North Carolina.

At  the public hearing held to consider the naming of schools, a local historian gave the Board a much-needed lesson on the life and contributions of a local African American for whom another high school was named. As we considered the enormous contributions made by Simon Green Atkins, it became apparent that our collective apathy toward history has a way of dulling our senses toward true American heroes.  

In any assessment of history, one such hero is Ronald Wilson Reagan. His contributions to our country and our world require no lengthy explanation. He restored our nation to economic and political health, and successfully confronted the menace of communism abroad and public malaise at home. Still, honoring his accomplishments by naming a high school in Pfafftown, N.C., paled in comparison to honors already bestowed upon him by this nation and by countries around the world.

The naming was not without controversy.  In letters to the Winston-Salem Journal, some in the community complained that the school was named after President Reagan because of the party affiliation of the Board of Education. Others complained that President Reagan had little significant connection to our community. One irate citizen told me that Reagan was just a worn out actor turned politician, and not worthy of such a high honor.

The critics did not understand Ronald Reagan nor did they understand that the new high school was named for the children of Forsyth County. Ronald Reagan embodied what it means to be an American; why it is important to pledge allegiance to one nation under God and to stand at attention when the National Anthem is played; why we pause on Memorial Day and honor those who gave their lives defending our nation; why we pray for our neighbors and show compassion to our enemies; why we should have the courage to stand resolute against injustice and to believe that our nation really is that shining city on a hill, a beacon to all who love and cherish freedom.

Peggy Noonan authored a wonderful book on President Reagan entitled When Character was King. She concludes the book with an epilogue reciting a story of a little boy visiting the White House. She opines, “The little bodies of children are the repositories of the greatness of a future age. And they must be encouraged, must eat from the tales of those who’ve gone before, and brandished their swords, and slayed dragons.”

Behind each name on the facade of school buildings throughout Forsyth County is a story of an American hero. These men and women have neither brandished swords nor slain dragons, but I am sure that they were heroes nonetheless, whose life stories would serve as encouragement to children of another age.

Most will know of John F. Kennedy and Thomas Jefferson. Others may be able to say something of Richard J. Reynolds or John C. Whitaker. If they are observant, Marvin Ward or Julian Gibson may still walk in their midst. Still, the stories of Lafayette Cook or John Ashley may be hard to find.  Few in our community can distinguish John W. Moore from David Petree, or Prince Ibraham from Rowland Latham.  Only those who read the historical marker on Fourth Street can tell you that Robert B. Glenn is the only Forsyth County native to be elected governor of North Carolina

What story will the name Ronald Wilson Reagan evoke?  I believe it is the collective story of the American Dream, and I believe the words of President Reagan say it best: “The dreams of people may differ, but everyone wants their dream to come true.  Not everybody aspires to be a bank president or a nuclear scientist, but everybody wants to do something with one’s life that will give him or her pride and a sense of accomplishment. And America, above all places, gives us the freedom to do that, the freedom to reach out and make our dreams come true.”

Like few others Reagan understood both the cost and the responsibility for a nation graced with freedom. He understood that freedom is a gift from an Almighty God to all humanity. It is our birthright as a nation, a precious legacy passed from one generation to the next. All Americans should see our nation through the eyes of Ronald Reagan.

“I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.  And how stands the city on this winter night?"

"After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home."

A cruel illness silenced the Great Communicator long before he drew his last breath. Still his spirit remains. For the genius of Ronald Reagan was not embodied within his graceful style and gentle humor. He was a man of great ideas but these ideas were not his own. Personal freedom and individual responsibility, limited government and strong national defense have been the cornerstones of our Republic for over 200 years. He connected with people as he reflected like a mirror the very essence of our own American spirit. He appealed to our best dreams with encouragement and tempered our worst fears with optimism reminding us that our best days as Americans are but one horizon away.

As Ronald Wilson Reagan enters into the shining city of the Lord, may he be content with the knowledge that the sons and daughters of this great nation will keep the fires of freedom burning in our hearts and throughout this land. That this one nation conceived in liberty and blessed by Almighty God shall not perish from the earth. 

Well done thy good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the Lord.

*originally published on the occasion of the death of the President