CONSTITUTIONAL CONVERSATIONS
Full Speed Ahead Into the Ice Field
by
M. E. Boyd, Esq., “Miss Constitution”
My goodness, Miss Constitution thought that we had learned something from the tragedy of the Titanic in 1912 but evidently not. In looking at pictures of the Captain of the Titanic there can be no greater representative of the Edwardian Age other than King Edward VII himself. There is no way that this person is capable of reckless and negligent navigation through the frigid waters of the ice zone in the North Atlantic Ocean. Over 2,000 people were on board with life boats for a third of that number. 1502 people perished. The great ship had previously been damaged in a major collision and patched up and sent out to sea without sufficient sea trials. It was hastily cleared to sail by the Board of Trade and in its eagerness to get to New York and make money for its owner, the Captain ordered full speed ahead through dangerous waters at night while he went to dinner. A little over two hours later the ship went down. Once again we learn one cannot always tell about someone from outward appearances.
Miss Constitution contends that no matter what one’s political views, most Americans feel as though we are living in a culture that is going full speed ahead into dangerous waters without sufficient lifeboats and with a sure and pre-ordained outcome. The only sane people who like what is happening are those who feel they are protected in some fashion from the outcome. These are the people who have paid someone to secure a lifeboat for them others do not have access to or feel they are insulated from the consequences of our reckless course. For the rest of us, what can we, the mere passengers, do?
Let us create in our imaginations what our choices would be if we were on the Titanic and we knew it was going too fast and sensed what was going to happen. Singly, we could do nothing. If we were in first class and a prominent person we could approach the Captain and suggest we slow down by asking some gentle questions. His response would likely be not to even look up from his meal as he reminded you ever so politely that all is well. “Thank you, sir, sorry to have troubled you.” If we were certain we were going to collide with an iceberg we could perhaps try and summon other officers and persuade the helmsman to slow down or stop – a type of mutiny. If we could persuade no one we would perhaps try to get the entire passenger list to force the issue and overwhelm the helmsman and manually slow the ship down or stop it altogether, assuming we could find an experienced mariner among us. It is such a difficult task that there has grown a fatalism among many – “nothing we can do” – the forces are too great; the conflict between American citizens too toxic; the accuracy of information too flimsy; the distortions of fact too grotesque; and so few among us, now, with the caliber of character required for the moment.
Miss Constitution hears from both sides of this life and death struggle. A good friend admonishes Miss Constitution to stay positive and trust that even at full speed the Ship of State can be navigated through the icebergs. Pointing out sure dangers only heightens the public’s anxiety she is told. Others let her know that the political defeat of former President Trump automatically brought the country back around to a safe speed as he represented a type of evil that has now been vanquished. In canceling everything about this bad Orange-Man, the Ship of State can easily glide to a safe port of call. Miss Constitution is not convinced of either of these arguments. We are traveling at night in frigid waters without adequate lookouts at a crushing rate of speed. We can’t sugar-coat it. A White House meeting with several historians, called by Jon Meacham, an advisor to the President, has convinced the President that he has a chance to be seen as having a bigger impact than FDR and Lyndon Johnson combined. The message from these historian/activists is hurry – cram everything you can into massive pieces of unreadable legislation and jam it through, without regular order, before you lose either the Senate or the House or both and the public finds out what is in them. Change the language so that traditional words have new meanings no one understands. Call everything a “reform” whether it actually is or not. Place such a financial burden on the country that future lawmakers are prevented from functioning. Have so many cultural, financial, and national security issues thrown out at the same time that the public is overwhelmed trying to figure it all out and most just throw up their hands and call their families to say goodbye. Above all, do not let the public think for one second that they have any power to slow this ship down, much less bring it to a halt, so that critical intellectual assessments can be made by the reasonable. Keep the passengers warring among themselves and they will be unable to function as one and storm the bridge or find the needle in the haystack that is the person or persons with the courage, character, and the skill to help. Excellent plan. Go Big – Go Fast – Transform without Regard for the Consequences – the uncritical might consider you an impactful President.
So first, Miss Constitution wants to remind her fellow citizens (passengers) that a large part of this is not your fault. It is not your fault that we do not teach Civics, Western Civilization, Philosophy, Economics, and accurate History anymore and you would have to be self-motivated to find out about these things. Much of what you are being told as true is simply not. It does, however, create docile passengers. The truth is that the Constitution gives the passengers, not the Captain, ultimate power.
A few of many facts you should know. We went off the gold standard in 1971 so our money has no intrinsic value and can be printed in ever larger more dangerous quantities. President Clinton created structural conflicts of interest in banking by signing the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999. In 2000 President Clinton let China into the World Trade Organization without restriction. The American middle class lost most of its manufacturing and we handed world economic power to a Marxist/Atheist country. We gave up our wealth so that 400 million Chinese could exit poverty. They are now the largest exporter in the world. Most Americans have no idea how our economic system works; how it is tied to the Rule of Law and Religion; and how it created our once-great middle and lower-middle classes that are the heart of our culture. Companies that at one time were loyal to America are not any longer as their money is not dependent on America. So, the gamble that China would appreciate what we did and begin to “play fair”, and become more democratic, failed.We gambled and we failed. It is not your fault. We have not taught you how Capitalism works as a Social Justice instrument.
Another fact you should know. A small group of Americans became enamored with Marxism after the fall of Russia in 1917. It was a relatively small group that could not break America’s loyalty to its Constitution and to a God-centered country. But that number grew steadily with the Great Depression and we began to dismantle our Constitutional Republic. Stalin was an ally of America in WWII and Franklin Delano Roosevelt thought his personality strong enough to “handle” him. He couldn’t. We allowed China to become a Communist country after the war. Academic America embraced Marxist/Atheist ideologies and has poisoned several generations of Americans, including many in the Black community. Lyndon Johnson put the final nail in the coffin in creating a giant welfare state never intended by our Constitution that few could resist.We gambled that our system could sustain a massive internal attack and senseless foreign policy decisions and we failed. It is not your fault.
And so, here we are. We are on the Titanic. It is going way too fast in iceberg-laden waters and we must bring it to a halt or slow it down to survive. We don’t need to know any more details about how we got here or how we were betrayed by any number of American leaders, we just need to make a quick decision about what to do right now. It is Flight 93 on 9/11/2001. The Americans on board did not know the whole story they just acted. Miss Constitution recommends we follow their example. Put God first – not Man. Put Duty first – not Fear. Put Liberty first – not Government. What do we have to lose but a watery grave?
