Former Republican Speech writer Peggy Noonan has a column in yesterday's Wall Street Journal entitled "The Divider vs. the Thinker" -- "While Obama readies an ugly campaign, Paul Ryan gives a serious account of what ails America." Really? What choice does Obama have? That is what you do when you don't have any legitimate successes.
Without the sub-heading I would have absolutely no idea who or what Ms Noonan was talking about, until I was 2/3rds of the way through the piece. Although, I must admit that the title intrigued me and in it she asked an important question:
"What was the glue?" (that binds us together?)
She then proceeded to set up a "straw man" argument which demonstrated that she has no concept of the Founder's original view of the Republic and how it should operate: "Federalism" in other words.
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Simply put, the glue that bound us together was an individual satisfaction -- earned by simultaneously conquering a seemingly endless frontier and the greatest military force on the Planet. The Founders simply continued and expanded their form of government the way it had always been done on the new "clean sheet of paper" called America by compact (sacred contract). The Constitutional story of America actually began in England in 1215 with the Magana Carta. The Mayflower Compact was America's first government by mutual agreement.
The final evolution of these contracts is the Constitution made possible a Declaration of War -- we refer to it as the Declaration of Independence -- form this evolved from an inadequate wartime plan of government: The Articles of Confederation which we seceded from, in1788 when the States ratified the Constitution.
The very word "Federal" meant according America's first dictionary -- a contract or compact.
The entire purpose of this arrangement was to make "Big Government" activism impossible by giving it as little power as was possible and by making it hugely cumbersome. It was to be just big enough to pay our debts, govern navigation and regulate (make regular not stifle) our external trade - by decentralizing and distributing power. The bulk of the power was to be retained by the Citizens through local governments and to their respective States. (Ninth & Tenth Amendments -- isn't that so?)
The Federal Government was created as the agent of the States (plural) not the other way around. To illustrate this fact, pull out a Dollar Bill (if you still have one after almost 3 years of Obamanomics?)
Turn it over. (Face down.)
Focus on the back of the Great Seal of the United States -- The mottos: "Annuit coeptis": "Providence favors our undertakings" & "Novus Ordo Seclorum": "A New Order of the Ages" should be self explanatory when coupled with the strength of the Eagle whose eye is on an olive branch from the front side - Peace through Strength.
Notice the unfinished Great Pyramid symbolizing strength, stability and duration -- MCDLXI representing the Declaration at its base -- thirteen appears twice -- the steps representing the original individual separate & sovereign states and a 13 star constellation above and all under the watchful eye of a Divine Being of your choice.
There was one fundamental rule -- Each State was to mind its own business, except as it related to the business of the whole.
My view is that the unfinished Great Pyramid (2560 B.C.) represents humanity's unfinished business with slavery.
On August 22nd, 1787, at the Constitutional Convention, New Englander, Roger Sherman pointed out what was then common knowledge:"it was expedient to have as few objections as possible to the proposed scheme of Government, he thought it best to leave the matter as we find it. He observed that the abolition of Slavery seemed to be going on in the U. S. & that the good sense of the several States would probably by degrees compleat it." -- In other words the General Government's responsibility on that issue ended at the water's edge under the Federal Navigation Act with the abolition of the Slave Trade -- the institution of Slavery was the responsibility of the individual States.
But, why is it a four side pyramid? As opposed to the usual three (which would form a stable plane)? This is their visual representation of their design of the Federal (General) Government: Three sides each representing the three interdependent branches -- Legislative -- Judicial -- Executive -- the Fourth side is "We the People". All four sides must be in proper alignment before the general government could act. (Read: Federalist #10 & 51) Think of it as a "Rubik's" Pyramid.
Government shall NOT legislate when it is misaligned:
The Federal Government may legislate when properly aligned.
The true Genius of the Founders was that they knew what was then politically possible but at the same time, they gave us a S-L-O-W stable deliberative basis for our General Government, in order to actually THINK through solutions to large problems involving its few areas of responsibility.
The Supreme Court and /or the States through Interposition were designed as final checks, to act in cases where a State or the General government called a triangle - red when it was actually yellow.
Now, turn the pyramid upside down (point down). Could the Framers have meant this pyramid to resemble a funnel? As a metaphor for their concept of the political distillation process -- each potential national leader starting out locally as a democratically elected official, moving up to the State legislature, perhaps become the state's chief executive. Or, he/ (she) could take another later path to national government and the democratic process begins anew by election to the House -- evolving to the more deliberative republican Senate -- if successful - to an even more select few evolving into the job as the Union's Chief Executive.
Ms. Noonan's observation: "the civil war fought to right a wrong the Founders didn't right." proves how woefully inadequately she understands the great gift of Federalism. This is the opposite of centralization and a radical undertaking at the time. It is "the shot heard ‘round the world."
It wasn't the Founder's job Ms. Noonan. It was our individual responsibility and we have failed miserably.
We were the first to recognize the injustice slavery and the only civilized nation to go to war over it. Why did we allow ourselves to be rushed and prodded into an unconstitutional civil war? We had our own versions of the successful British abolitionist "William Wilberforce(s)".
What stopped the flood of manumissions during and after The Revolution? For the answers read "The First Emancipation" by Arthur Ziversmit. It describes in detail what Roger Sherman and others pointed out at the Convention. It also gives you the reason for Gradual Emancipation's failure which had nothing to do with the Founders. They were all dead by then.
It is the great damage of that misunderstood war that we are still trying to overcome after all of these years. Ms. Noonan's question betrays our great failure.
"What was the glue?" Better than Fifty percent of Americans obviously did not know.
THAT is how & why we ended up with such an inexperienced Socialist as our disappointing first Black Commander in Chief.