The Devil We Know

Almost a half-century ago, Ronald Reagan, who was then a candidate for President, released a video presentation entitled, “To Restore America.” While Jimmy Carter ultimately won in ‘76, Reagan returned four years later and was elected President.

In the campaign video, Reagan says:

We created government as our servant, beholden to us and possessing no powers except those voluntarily granted to it by us. Now a self-anointed elite in our nation’s capital would have us believe we are incapable of guiding our own destiny. They practice government by mystery, telling us it’s too complex for our understanding. Believing this, they assume we might panic if we were to be told the truth about our problems.

Why should we become frightened? No people who have ever lived on this earth have fought harder, paid a higher price for freedom, or done more to advance the dignity of man than the living Americans — the Americans living in this land today. There isn’t any problem we can’t solve if government will give us the facts. Tell us what needs to be done. Then, get out of the way and let us have at it.

Some would argue vehemently that our situation is so unique and our circumstances are so different (or dire) that such words are inapplicable and related concepts meaningless. However, it is in THIS situation and in THESE circumstances that those words are MOST applicable and appropriate.

Much has been made of Dick Cheney and other “establishment” Republicans throwing their support behind Kamala Harris (or more accurately away from Trump). It would be a shock to the body politic to hear a “modern” Presidential candidate utter the very accurate words of Ronald Reagan. The meaning and import of those words apply today.

Let us first establish that Donald Trump is no Cincinnatus. Of both Trump and Harris (and of Biden before his abrupt departure), it can be said without qualification or equivocation: There are no Washingtons or Lincolns — or others of their ilk, on the ticket for either of the legacy political parties.

There are few saints or martyrs among us; we are selfish sinners all. We should not look for or anticipate Philosopher Kings to rule over us benevolently. [See Plato.] The immutable traits of our bestial species, include susceptibility to the corrupting influence of unrestrained power. Those, who grapple eagerly for the reins of government, crave vicarious power, and they covet the position prestige and profit to be derived therefrom. As power trends toward absolute, so does the certainty for corruption, and with corruption come abuse oppression and tyranny.

From Federalist №51:

It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices [i.e. Constitutional restraints] should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.

The legacy parties — Democrat and Republican — present themselves as opposing forces in a perpetual battle of inherent good versus evil incarnate. However, it is increasingly difficult to distinguish one party from the other — to determine which party acts in the pursuit of good versus the advancement of evil. Government is at best a necessary evil; therefore, any who wish to expand government unabatedly necessarily seek to advance evil. “Establishment” Democrats and Republicans are less opposing forces as they are opposite sides of the same coin. Regardless of which party comes out on top in a given election, it is America and her people, who are the certain losers.

The political classes from both parties are predominated by devout statists, who for decades have been complicit in expanding the reach, scope, and power of the federal government well beyond the prudent and necessary confines of the Constitution. They have an unfounded, misplaced, and exceedingly dangerous faith in the ability of the federal government to fix all societal ills. Far from being a panacea or cure-all, government creates and/or exacerbates many perceived ills, failings, and shortcomings.

Nevertheless, these conspiratorial forces have been successful. They have been successful in convincing the populous that this nation is a “democracy,” in which an electoral majority is entitled to ride roughshod over a numerical minority of nearly equal size and power. In reality, the word “democracy” appears nowhere in the Constitution in any form or derivation. The omission was conscious and deliberate. It was not inadvertent or happenstance. The stark differences between a “democracy” and a “constitutional republic” cannot be explained away as mere semantics.

Coconspirators have caused the body politic to embrace what is in essence “Mob Rule.” Even among “conservatives,” there is little respect for (much less pursuit of) limited government. In the face of an omnipotent state and unrestrained government, there can be no inalienable rights, individual liberties, or personal freedoms. We are to be afforded only fluid and temporary privileges at the price of conformity and compliance — at the cost of surrendering liberties and freedoms. The exorbitant price is a cost much to high to pay.

The legitimate powers of the federal government consist only of those limited and specifically enumerated powers, as contained within the text of the Constitution and as further restricted in deference to individual liberties and personal freedoms through the Bill of Rights. Each time this nation is referred to as a “democracy” those words are in derogation of the Constitution. Each time political minions and government technocrats act beyond the clear mandates of the Constitution, their actions are illegitimate. Unconstitutional laws are illegitimate laws. Illegitimate laws are unjust laws, and unjust laws are undeserving of the respect and deference of the people.

Many have expressed fear that Trump would be a rogue executive; however, the apocalyptical fears that were commonly expressed prior to and during Trump’s first term did not come to fruition. The irony is that Trump is feared specifically because the legacy parties have created an unbounded [and unconstitutional] bureaucratic state headed by an Imperial President. They want unbridled power, but they want to hold the reins themselves. The power itself is the danger. It cannot be made safe merely by placing the reins in the hands of a more favored (but no less flawed) individual (or party).

I remain confident that existing Constitutional limitations and restrictions are more than adequate to contain and withstand a single rogue executive, as the “establishment” contends that Trump is or would be. I am considerably less confident that the venerable instrument can survive a full frontal assault by hordes of statists (within both legacy parties) and a host of would-be socialists (as have come to predominate a leftward-lurching Democratic party).

[See blatant and concerted attacks on the First Amendment in favor of censorship (e.g. John Kerry RE Climate Change) and on the antimajoritarian provisions of the Constitution (e.g. Tim Walz RE Electoral College).]