December 19, 2012
By: Linda Case Gibbons
In a tiny island nation across the ocean from the New World there was a king who greatly enjoyed the benefits he garnered from the faraway land which he referred to as "The Colonies.” It was a land of plenty and the king enjoyed the fruits of this fine land.
But there came a time when this king became greatly distressed over the state of his country’s coffers."Alas,” said the king in 1763, "I have amassed a great many debts from this dastardly Seven Years’ War. I think it is time we have The Colonies pay their fair share.”
And his minions, court jesters with parchment papers and quill pens at the ready, listened to him, copied down his words and encouraged him in all his decisions, reporting his deeds far and wide to gain positive support from the king’s subjects.
In due course the Parliament of this island nation was persuaded, although at times with profound misgivings, to raise the revenue from The Colonies to pay off the sizeable debts this monarch had accumulated with impunity.
And it came to pass that there were taxes levied upon every manner of goods -- sugar, tea, paper, stamps. (Taxation of healthcare wasn’t on the table.)
And when these peoples saw how poorly they were treated, they cursed this faraway king and rebelled, gathering to dump tea into Boston Harbor which was to them undrinkable because of the taxes placed upon this fine beverage.
The king, as could be expected, was infuriated that these ingrates would question him in any way. He was not accustomed to having anyone say "no.”
"I am king,” he sputtered and proceeded to have his Parliament close the harbor of their most prosperous town and enact a series of punishments which let the colonists know who was boss, so to speak.
These "Coercive Acts” punished the colonial upstarts by having British soldiers quartered in their homes without the colonists’ leave, by restricting the colony’s government and rendering British officials immune to criminal prosecution within the colonies. These acts angered the colonists.
And even though he was king and thought he answered to no one, not even God, his Parliament voiced their trepidation that this was taking a step too far.
"I fear, Sire, that it would be a grave breach of judgment to tax and punish the colonies in this way.”
"Nonsense,” the king replied, "I am king. Tell your soldiers in The Colonies to confiscate weapons and gunpowder. Monitor their movements. They will soon fall into line.”
"But these are Englishmen, Sire. They are the rightful heirs of all an Englishman’s rights.”
"Poppycock,” said the king. "Tell the Earl of Emanuel to set the ball rolling and take the guns away from these rapscallions. Without weapons, we have it made.”
But the biggest surprise to the king was the colonists’ response to the laws levied upon them.
The king thought that the colonists would bow to his wishes as did the serfs of old, but unbeknownst to the king there had arisen a feeling of unity and a love for liberty among the colonists of Massachusetts and other colonies that harkened back to England and the Magna Carta and the common law upon which this new nation’s laws were proudly based.
When the redcoats embarked to carry out the king’s orders, they were foiled in their efforts by a colonist upon horseback, who galloped through the towns, alerting the countryside, warning the colonists of the king’s intentions.
His ride set in motion a chain of events, including the "shot heard round the world,” and from this a country would emerge which jealously guarded its hard-won rights, among which was the right to bear arms.
The king was flabbergasted. How dare these colonists seek to separate from his benevolent rule! He was king. If he said "Hand over your weapons,” they had best do so.
But it was too late. The colonists and those they chose to lead them to freedom from England knew well the value of a free people being able to defend themselves, their families and their country.
They knew firsthand the experience of living under tyrannical rule, and thus they were determined that these abuses would never be allowed to occur again.
Their most gifted leaders gathered together, then proceeded to write documents which declared their independence and created a Government of the People.
The king was furious. He used words to express his outrage and when that didn’t work, he used force. But it did not make a difference. He was a king and this new nation was to be governed by a President whose powers were complete enough to lead the fledgling nation, but were limited by the documents the people wrote.
This "President” would serve at the pleasure of the people. And the newly created "Constitution” would provide guidance and safeguards for governance of the country.
Should the Houses of Congress propose to amend this document, a process was outlined which was a careful one. Two-thirds majority vote was required in both Houses or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures. The President did not have any role in the constitutional amendment process.
Our forefathers were well aware that liberty is hard to win, because they had fought for it. And they knew that they would think long and hard before ever turning over any of their rights to the government.
It was their intention that the American citizens who came after them would feel the same, that they would know that rights once relinquished cannot easily be regained.
We are those Americans who have come after. So think carefully before you capitulate to the chaos and emotion of any present-day moment -- this week’s fiscal cliff, this week’s stimulation package, this week’s Obamacare, all of which our current President threatened "had to be done now,” "immediately,” without the benefit of reflection.
Unbridled emotion has always been the friend of this administration. Knowing this, do not allow your government to use any circumstance to persuade or threaten to take away your constitutionally guaranteed rights.
Instead, ask yourself if you can trust a government that gave you Benghazi, which allows a Secretary of State to call in sick to a Congressional hearing concerning Benghazi, and which blatantly hid, then lied about the content of the Obamacare law and its burdensome provisions.
Ask yourself why this President did not react strongly about the deaths at the hands of terrorists in Benghazi, in Fort Hood, and in Mexico with guns provided by his attorney general’s Fast and Furious program.
Or more to the point, ask yourself why this President has neglected, to this day, to speak about any of these events?
We are the Americans who came after and it is our mission to be vigilant like the Minute Men of old. We must question, remain aware of incipient tyranny and remain constantly watchful of our rights.
Because in the final analysis, the best gift we can give our children is to preserve this country with all of our rights intact. And we must resist buying into anything that takes away our freedom. It was too hard to win.
Hold the line, America.