“One must bear in mind that the expansion of federal activity is a form of eating for politicians.” Wm. F. Buckley, Jr.
The U.S. Constitution was signed on Sept. 17, 1787.
The United States Constitution, America’s most important document, stands as a testament to the tenacity of Americans throughout history to maintain their liberties, freedoms and inalienable rights. Constitution Week is celebrated annually during the week of Sept. 17-23 to commemorate its history, importance, and to bring attention to how it serves still today.
In May 2022 the Missouri and Louisiana attorney generals filed a federal lawsuit against the federal government alleging that statements of various citizens were suppressed in the name of combating “misinformation.” On July 4 of this year, the 247th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana signed an injunction blocking several Biden administration agencies from working with Big Tech to censor social media posts.
Various agencies of the Biden Administration were imitating George Orwell’s’ “Ministry of Truth,” from his dystopian book, “1984.” Orwell’s book described the government agency and how it re-wrote history by first destroying all evidence of the inconvenient event and replacing it with a totally new event that just happened to agree with the current party line. By erasing the record of what actually happened and replacing it with a fictional event the government was able to control the narrative.
The Biden administration agencies affected included the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During the same time frame the administration announced that it was establishing a so-called: Disinformation Governance Board. The purpose was to suppress what the administration believed was disinformation and misinformation by seeking the cooperating of Big Tech. The Disinformation Board was allegedly dissolved four months later after political backlash.
In late June this year, the U.S. Supreme Court also released another First Amendment freedom of speech case ruling. This ruling prohibits the state of Colorado from forcing a wedding cake designer and maker from being required to make a cake with a theme with which she disagrees.
In a 9-0 vote, the Court said, in a case against the U.S. Postal service, that employers must make allowances for workers’ religious practices.
These and other rulings demonstrate the power of the First Amendment to our Constitution.
All of these decisions of the Supreme Court were a blow against government overreach. This fits Buckley’s description of state and federal government politicians feeding their appetites for big government.
Other freedoms declared by the First Amendment include the freedom of the press. This gives the press, which includes newspapers, magazines, radio and TV news reporters, the freedom to report on the activities of the government. Sometimes this is embarrassing to those in power.
Another freedom contained in the First Amendment is the right of the people peaceably to assemble. This means that the citizens can come together peaceably for any purpose.
Yet another freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment gives the people the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. This gives the people the right to peacefully protest or demonstrate against any action of the government.
Many people, both in and out of government, would have us believe that we have a “living Constitution.” That is, we need to adjust the meaning of the constitution to better fit our modern society. The problem is that “words have meaning”. Unlike George Orwell’s fictional nation of Oceania, we cannot arbitrarily change the meaning of words to make them say something entirely different than intended when originally used to construct our legal documents. Orwell called that “newspeak.” Orwell not only changed the meaning of words; he eliminated many words. This was done to prevent people from being able to express ideas and feelings inconvenient to the government.
By controlling speech, Orwell’s fictional government, personified by “Big Brother”, could manipulate public discourse and opinion. Some thoughts could no longer be expressed.
By declaring the U.S. Constitution to be a “living” constitution, the courts and government can twist the words to mean anything they want them to mean. This constitutes an assault on the U.S. Constitution in an attempt to change it without having to use the constitutionally approved system.
Mike Lang, Chairman, Union County Republican Central Committee