We must relight the enthusiasm of not only the faithful, but of droves of formerly apathetic or outright hostile voters to spearhead a movement to bring our out of control federal government to heel. We who have been actively engaged have always tried to be exemplars of freedom’s ideal and now that freedom as our forefathers and we have known it is under attack as never before in American history. I believe that we may well be missing God’s call if we fail to take the reins. We, the engaged, have spent a lifetime of study and inquiry to be equal to the event that we see around us now. Those of you who are just being born again, take sustenance from we ancients and lend your intelligence, strength and vigor to freedom’s cause.
Many Americans, have lost heart about the prospects for the republic. Many people are becoming resigned to socialism and tyranny. Some talk of revolution or worse. Others are crying out for leadership to stop the unbelievable irresponsibility coming from Washington, DC. No one seems to have an answer. Many fear that the country will either explode or we will slip over the edge of the precipice and fall into the abyss of command socialism, forever.
We who have studied the problem know that there is an answer … it is in the divinely inspired republic outlined in the Constitution of the United States of America. We, too, know that that august document was not written by chance, but by the most intellectual endeavors of some of the most brilliant students of government of all time. We, the recipients of that largess were given our marching orders when Ben Franklin said, “a republic, madam, if you can keep it.” We must make others aware of how the great document that has given a group of citizens the freest society of all time came about and is supposed to work, and then how it has been under continual attack since that September evening in 1787, 232 years ago.
Thinking about the effects of the 16th Amendment, the income tax, and the 17th Amendment, the direct election of Senators, I have reflected on some of the other attacks on the Republic. The 10th Amendment is routinely ignored and abrogated by the Congress. No one in my experience, excepting a inquiring few, have ever expressed any concern for the 9th Amendment, which arguably is the most important of all. Supreme Court decisions should be revisited, such as their ruling on the 14th Amendment that has had the effect of overruling Section 4, Article IV, which guarantees each State, “a republican form of government,” or their incomprehensibly wrongheaded rulings on the “interstate commerce clause.”
The only way to curb the crazy spending in DC is to withdraw the 16th Amendment. Remember that the forefathers specifically denied direct taxes to the Federal Government and that the country functioned perfectly well for 124 years without the income tax. What does the government do for you personally that is worth at least half of everything you earn? The power of democratic institutions and of state legislatures was stripped by the 17th Amendment under the guise of stopping corruption. What could be more democratic in a democratic republic than having the legislature pick from their number, their best, to represent the interests of the state in the federal senate? What could be less democratic or more corrupt than having a rich carpet-bagger buy the Senate seat from a state? What would be the cost for the legislature to appoint him or her? Would there be a real reason to get serious about your local legislator if that power resided in the Legislature? What would it be like if the federal government was constrained from destroying our savings by manipulating the money?
Not even considering the federal bureaucracy, the Congress and the Supreme Court continually promote what the founders, when writing the Constitution, feared most, a massive, dictatorial central government. It is apparent that the only remaining constitutional part of the republic that can stop the madness from DC is the most important, albeit forgotten part, the States. The heartland states of America, the “reds”, outnumber the “progressive” blue states that support the massive federal behemoth about 4 to 1. A Constitutional Convention to address the problem, called by the States as envisioned in Article V of the Constitution, with proper leadership, could surely be arranged and with proper management the above reforms could re-instate our republic.
To that end, my friends (actually several hundred of us nationally), we should be dedicating ourselves to “saving the republic.” We can do this by writing, blogging on “www.orderofephors.com”, reading, talking, and telephoning everyone we know on every subject possible to refute the misinformation coming from DC and we should be pushing for the Constitutional Convention.
It is not certain that we will get anywhere with our quest, but we have to try.
I urge you to promote this effort in every way at your disposal. If we take the lead with the politicos, I believe that the cause and we will jump immediately to the fore of the political scene. As can be discussed, we have several forums from which consideration of the movement is guaranteed notice. I know that many states are formally threatening to defy federal fiat by re-asserting their 10th Amendment rights. The time is right, and the States and their Legislatures are becoming aware, but must be made to understand that the problem is greater than just violation of the 10th Amendment; the very existence of the Republic is at stake.
Please join our “Order of the Ephors.” I believe that you will be surprised at the quality of the people participating and I know that you too can contribute much.
Now is the time. The forces of darkness approach. There is much to do. If not us, who? If not now, when?
C. Lee Barron