Bill of Rights Day?!

Few people really understand that the US Constitution and Bill of Rights were written to apply to the Federal Government only and not the states. That means all those rights of free speech, religion, etc. were not written to govern the States because the States were sovereign- they were to govern themselves. This is most evidenced by the 9th amendment which states that those rights not given to the federal government are reserved for the states: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”.

The Supreme Court held in Barron v. Baltimore (1833) that the Bill of Rights was enforceable by the federal courts only against the federal government, and not against the states. Thus, the Ninth Amendment originally applied only to the federal government, which is a government of enumerated powers.(Wikipedia 9th)

Keep in mind that the Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the Constitution. So, it was not until the 14th amendment was added 92 years later that that all changed and the federal government began taking over.

Also note that the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights do not talk about equality, but the Declaration of Independence does; most notably in “All men are created Equal”. Many confuse these 2 documents and this concept. However, you should also note that the Declaration of Independence does include the concept of Sovereign States, as does the Constitution. So, if you use the Declaration of independence as the birth of the concept of sovereign states and the 14th amendment as the end of that concept, then it means that the great experiment of having limited federal government with sovereign states only lasted 92 years and we are now all subjected to an huge overbearing federal government that, thanks again to the republicans, is now on the verge of becoming a dictatorship.

Although Abraham Lincoln is rightly credited with freeing the slaves he essentially made all of us slaves to our federal government by creating the federal income tax and usurping states rights in most every other respect. The federal government has grown to dwarf our state, county, and city governments combined. And it now controls much of our lives. Many would say that we are no longer the United States of America (Plural) but the United State of America as our states, for the most part, are now centrally controlled by our federal government.

There are many reasons why states rights are important, ironically one of the most significant is diversity; such as diversity of thought. For example, when we have 50 states we have 50 opportunities to get something done right as contrasted against one central Federal government dictating one solution for all. When the federal government dictates one solution and gets it wrong it then becomes an enormous problem for everyone, like socialism. Whereas, 50 different states can try 50 variations on a solution each tailored for their own needs, demographics, geography, etc. And each state can then observe the other states and benefit from their successes and failures without it being a catastrophic mistake for the entire country.

Coincidentally, the day of ratification of the 14th amendment was 2 days after the Declaration of Independence July 6 versus July 4 (with 92 years in between) and that would also mean that next year is the sesquicentennial of the 14th amendment.

About National Lie Month:

National Lie Month was created to celebrate the tradition, institutionalization and long history of lying in America going all the way back to the Pilgrims and then some. And it could not be more in keeping with our long tradition of lying that we now have a president that personifies pathological lying and an enabling complicit Republican Senate that was hoping to pass a tax plan veiled in lies by Christmas.

National Lie Month is not like the other National awareness months in that it runs from Thanksgiving to Christmas rather than a regular full month; the 2 biggest lies ever foisted upon Americans. National Lie Month begins with Thanksgiving as just about every adult eventually realizes that the story of the Pilgrims they were taught in Public school is a complete misrepresentation of how the Native American Indians were treated.

National Lie Month is especially significant this year as lying has become an institution at our highest office.

Happy National Lie Month! Hope you enjoy the looming Thanks-taking Republican tax plan!

(Use this National Lie Month link to leave a comment. Use the link at my name ‘Scott Adams’ to read other amazing posts. Thanks!)