[From the Frederick News-Post's "As I see it" column A-9 this date]
The real national debate - from a local perspective
I started "We Surround Them Frederick" on March 3 by clicking "join" on Meetup.com. I never imagined it would grow in size and influence like it has. Perhaps this suggests the status quo is no longer holding, and people are growing more and more dissatisfied with their options, whether Democrat or Republican.
Why do I believe this? The truth is, the current system of governance perpetually leaves one half of a country ticked off and feeling oppressed. This raises the question: Is this really what the founders intended when they signed the Declaration of Independence? Now some, who have never taken the time to read the writings of Jefferson , Madison and the others, may wonder what the heck I'm talking about and therein lies the problem.
We talk as though we all believe in the Constitution and adhere to it, yet did they really create a country where one faction gets to "rule" over another? Did they really intend Congress to manipulate three clauses in Article 1 Section 8 and rack up a projected future $99 trillion debt?
[yes, this is a correct calculated figure for our real long-term liability]
So when I read the comments in The FNP following the article on the Sept. 11 Tea Party, I was a bit taken aback by the vitriol and ask again: Is this really what the founders intended?
Those who advocate for an original intent position for the Declaration and Constitution are criticized as "crybabies," "crazy loons" or, my favorite, I am accused of belonging to a site (wesurroundthem.com) that I'd never even heard of before the commenter mentioned it in his post. This is very revealing of where we are in our public discourse.
So, at the Sept. 11 Tea Party I never mentioned the word Democrat, or liberal, or Republican or right-winger. Instead, I pointed at Congress, with Rep. Roscoe Bartlett sitting off to my right, and properly identified Congress as the real problem. They're the ones in cooperation with big corporations who have saddled us with a debt we can never pay. Some of you might think that's fine; not me. So, on March 3, 2009, I clicked the button and the immortal phrase from "Field of Dreams" became a reality: "If you build it, they will come."
Perhaps a more productive exercise would be to help advance the ultimate argument we're confronting as a country. Simply put, are we still governed by the fundamental principles described in the Declaration and Constitution -- or are we not? If not, then there are consequences. One untenable consequence: to have one ideology oppress the other, which is fundamentally wrong. I see only bad outcomes with this course.
So, if the chasm is just too large, cooler heads should prevail and our country's leaders should gather in good faith to openly discuss 1776 and 1787 afresh. For just as there are Hamilton's legions today advocating a larger central government, there are also Jefferson 's legions wanting to eviscerate the size and reach of the federal government. I suggest that before lines get too dramatically drawn, cooler heads should prevail just as they did back in 1787.
Until this happens, I personally will continue to advocate Madison's position so well articulated in Federalist 45, to wit, "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite.
"The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State."
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Mark E. Kreslins is the founder of We Surround Them Frederick , and is the co-host of the radio program "The Forgotten Men," which airs on 930 WFMD on Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m. He resides in Frederick .
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