The Revolution Summary

The Revolution

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"Yes, we did produce a near-perfect

republic. But will they keep it?"

- Thomas Jefferson

Failure of the Two-Party System

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Recent elections have included only false choices.
Both parties accept and promise:
- A Foreign Policy of Empire and Intervention
- Increased growth of the Federal Government
- Redistribution of Wealth
- Devaluation of the Constitution
Do you wonder why political debate always devolves to ridiculous and trivial issues?
- There are no significant differences on the issues of substance!

The Founding Fathers on Foreign Policy

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- "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none." - Thomas Jefferson

- "Our republic goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher of the freedom and Independence of all, but the champion and vindicator only of her own" - John Quincy Adams

- " The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connections as possible." - George Washington

Isolation vs. Non-Interventionism

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Isolationism
- Refusal to have open trade with other nations
- Belligerent disregard for international consensus.
- Refusal to engage diplomatically.
Sound Familiar?

Non-Interventionism
- Refusal to fight other peoples' wars.
- US military presence in 130 countries is not necessary, is unsustainable and is in fact detrimental to National Security.

George W. Bush on Foreign Policy

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- "Let us have an American foreign policy that reflects American character. The modesty of true strength. The humility of real greatness."

- "The role of the United States is not to go around the world and say, "This is the way it's got to be."

- "I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called 'nation building.'"

- "If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us. If we're a humble nation, but strong, they'll welcome us."

All from his 200 Presidential Campaign

The Cost of Empire

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Enormous financial burden is bankrupting our nation.
Intervention inevitably causes unintended consequences and rarely accomplishes its goal.
Over-usage of our volunteer military results in weakened National Defense and less volunteers.
Increasingly powerful Federal Government disregards the Constitution and threatens our liberties.
Growing global resentment allows our enemies to falsely identify us to their oppressed populations as the enemy of freedom and enables them to recruit agents of destruction.

Failures of Military Adventurism

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Democrats
- Korea, Vietnam, Somalia, 10 years of bombing between Iraq I & II
Republicans
- Lebanon, Iraq I, Iraq II
Most of these took more time and cost significantly more lives and treasure then anticipated.
None of them achieved their original goals.
Why do we think future conflicts will be different?
Yet we're promised more by both parties.
- Democrats - Darfur and other armed "humanitarian" missions
- Republicans - Conflict with Russia over its former satellites.

The Danger of Empire

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- A powerful national government may encroach considerably upon the liberty of individuals as well as of the different States (by following an imperial policy), if only every citizen recognizes such measures as means for making his nation greater." - Adolf Hitler

Citizens criticizing a republic's foreign policy, even in times of war, are neither unpatriotic nor traitorous. Times of crisis are when the Constitution needs us most.

Thomas Jefferson on the Constitution

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"Though written constitutions may be violated in moments of passion or delusion, they yet furnish a text to which those who are watchful may again rally and recall the people"
"On every question of construction (interpretation), carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifest in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the test, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed."
"In questions of power, then, let no more be said of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."

Modern Abuses of the Constitution

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The Executive Order
- Used to circumvent the constitutional legislative process.
- From dozens per term in the 19th century to thousands per term today!
The Presidential Signing Statement
- A note on a law that says how the president interprets a provision (counter to congressional intent) or stating that he will refuse to enforce it altogether.
By using these abuses of power, "the president becomes a government unto himself."
Law Professor Jonathan Turley

Is the Constitution a "Living" Document?

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NO! A thousand times, no! If the government arbitrarily changes or reinterprets the Constitution, it has unilaterally changed its contract with the people.
But don't changing times require an evolving system?
- The constitution itself allows for changes approved by the people through the amendment process.
The courts must not be allowed to reinterpret the Constitution.
Those who argue for a "Living" Constitution actually offer a Dead Constitution for it offers no limits to government.
- "Our peculiar security is the possession of a written constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction." - Thomas Jefferson

Betrayals of The Constitution

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Congress is supposed to declare war - not the president, definitely not the U.N.
The Drat - a totalitarian assertion that the State owns your children.
- I oppose registration for the draft... because I believe the security of freedom can best be achieved by security through freedom." - Ronald Regan
- "Where is it written in the Constitution that you may take children from their parents and compel them to fight the battles of any war in which the folly of government may engage?" - Daniel Webster

More Betrayals of the Constitution

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Courts legislating a one-size-fits-all social policy from the bench.
The Federal Government flouting or buying off States' Rights.
- "The national government must lay claim to the right to force its principles on the whole nation without consideration to previous federated state boundaries." - Adolf Hitler

The Founders on Economics

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"I am for government rigorously frugal and simple. Were we directed from Washington when to sow, when to reap, we should soon have no bread." - Thomas Jefferson
"If the American people ever allow the banks to control the issue of their money, fist by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them (around the banks), will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." - Thomas Jefferson
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better then the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen." - Samuel Adams

The Devaluation of the Dollar

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The Constitution is clear about the monetary powers of the federal government.
- Congress must maintain the value of the dollar by making only gold and silver legal tender and must not "emit bills of credit."
In 1933, $20 could be redeemed for one once of gold.. No it can be redeemed for nothing.
This gives the government the ability to print money out of thin air whenever it sees fit, causing massive inflation.
The new cash is given to banks who distribute it first to the well-connected who get to use it at current prices. Buy the time the cash makes its way to you, prices have risen and somehow you actually have less actual wealth than you started with.

The Current Economic Crisis

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Not caused by deregulation but by misguided regulation. Yet more unintended consequences of the government intervention.
- The Fed makes artificially cheap credit.
- Government encourages (and sometimes forces) banks to extend that credit to poor-credit borrowers.
- All that new money the fed printed went straight into the housing bubble.
- Housing prices went up 4.5% in 7 years while all of the traditional market forces were trying to pull it down.
- POP!!! But the crooks point the finger at the Free Market.

Legal Plunder

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Economic Freedom - "Everyone has the right to his or her life and property, and no one has the right to deprive anyone of these things." Ron Paul
The State enriches one group at the expense of another - a thief is a thief no matter what he intends to do with your property.
And it's not the poor that win out. Once the State has the right to take your property, those with influence will find a way to manipulate it to their advantage.
The poor will get poorer, the middle class will become poor and the rich will get richer.

Government Spending

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Democrats - Tax & Spend
Republicans - Borrow & Spend
There has been no actual cuts in spending since the end of WWII despite countless promises to the contrary.

The oft-cited Clintonian/Congressional Republican balanced budget of the late 90's is a sham. It only came about because of the dot-com bubble caused revenue to grow faster than they could increase spending.

The Founders on Civil Liberty

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"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty." - John Adams
"They who are willing to sacrifice an essential liberty for a little temporary security will lose both and deserve neither." - Benjamin Franklin
The Laws of man may bind him in chains or may put him to death, but they never cam make him wise, virtuous, or happy." - John Quincy Adams

Destruction of Liberty

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Warrantless wiretapping of American Citizens - not authorized by any law - is happening now.
The Patriot Act allows search and seizure of American citizens and their property without a warrant issued by an independent court upon a finding of probable cause.
History demonstrates that these powers will exist indefinitely and be abused for political purposes.
-If you trust President Bush not to abuse them, how about President Obama, or every president over the next fifty years?

The Essential Questions

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Would you rather be free and accept some danger of being the victim of a terrorist attack, or safe but definitely live as a slave to the State?
Would you rather be poor but have the dignity of work and human freedom, or be poor and exist off the scraps the political elite deign to provide you?
Would you rather invest your resources in the future of your family, neighborhood and community, or have the comfort of false pride as your government robs you of those resources to pay for the global empire?

Ron Paul on the Revolution

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"I have heard it said that mankind does not want freedom, that people are happy to be slaves as long as they are entertained and well fed... I don't believe it for a second."
"Ours is not a fated existence, for nowhere is our destiny etched in stone. In the final analysis, the last line of defense in support of freedom and the Constitution consists of the people themselves. If the people want to be free, if the want to life themselves out form underneath a state apparatus that threatens their liberties, squanders their resources on needless wars, destroys the value of their dollar, and spews forth endless propaganda about how indispensable it is and how lost we would be without it, there is no force that can stop them. If freedom is what we want, it is ours for the taking."

Are You Ready for the Revolution?

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Find and read a copy of The Revolution: A Manifesto by Ron Paul
- Many other issues are covered in it (health care, immigration, the environment, etc.) and Paul provides real solutions.

Go to www.CampaignForLiberty.com to learn the latest.
Vote for Liberty-minded Candidates be they Republicans, Democrats, Independents or Third Party.
Tell your family, friends and neighbors about the Revolution!

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

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“The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite.”- Thomas Jefferson

This presentation is inspired by the writings of Ron Paul. Not all direct quotations of Dr. Paul have been annotaded as such. Charts were taken from PerotCharts.com. This Blog was created by Jeanine, which is a reproduction of the video "REVOLUTION A MANIFESTO IN 10 MINUTES" which was created by Chance Litton. www.ChanceLitton.com