I received an email from a bogus email address. I started to respond before I looked at the address, but once I saw it I knew it wasn’t legit. Not sure why someone would do that if they took the time to write…perhaps they did not want to engage into an actual discussion on the matter…maybe it was just to vent. But since I took the time to think up a response, I figured I would go ahead and share. Gives me something to write about anyways. And it brings up a topic that I think is important. Here is what was sent to me:
You asked why Ron Paul would vote against an amendment to the constitution and how an amendment to the constitution could be unlawful. The answer is found in the first amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Burning the flag is a form of protest, ie peacable assembly and petiton of the Government for redress of grievances. And making an amendment to the constitution that would deprive someone of that right would be Congress making a law to do so. As for why Ron Paul would vote yes for no frivalous lawsuits, but no on only the gun companies getting such protection… seems obvious, it should not be exclusive to just the gun companies. Either everyone is protected, or no one is, no giving one type of company a special protection that isn’t extended to every other type of weapon… ie everything, since anything can be used as a weapon.
The first point was quite interesting. Completely flawed logic, but interesting nonetheless. By definition, a proposed amendment to the Constitution cannot be unlawful. The amendment process was put into place by the founders to change the Constitution. If passed by Congress and ratified by the states, it becomes part of the Constitution itself. In this respect, any amendment can be revoked if the will of the people deems it necessary. It is not the same as a general law passed by Congress. Although you could make a solid argument that a law of the same nature could be constitutional. I feel many libertarians misapply the term liberty in such cases. If you read the intent of the founders, things such as the first amendment was not meant to give unabashed freedom…there were reasonable constraints. We protect other symbols of our American ideals. To me the flag is a reasonable one to protect.
The second point of the email is one of the reasons why I feel Ron Paul has been an in-effective Congressman. Legislation is either exactly what he wants, or he votes no. This type of thinking actually aids our progressive foes. It goes back to understanding what you are fighting against (as I often state with foreign policy). Over the years progressives have made small gains and then consolidate, made more small gains and then once again consolidate. By maintaining the status quo during these consolidation phases they keep the country moving in the wrong direction. Conservatives should learn from these methods and be willing to take back our country in the same manner. While I agree that laws should apply to everyone equally as the email states, that would not prevent me from voting for legislation such as the legislation above to move a small step in the right direction. With so many different views along the political spectrum, it is impossible to get everyone to agree whole heartedly with anything. So we must be willing to take small strides in the right direction if we see an opportunity. If you are not willing to do so, you are maintaining the status quo…you are a support in the progressives’ plateau.
Something that comes to mind when I think of this idea is the fact that Mr. Paul voted against the Paul Ryan budget plan. While not perfect, it was a budget plan that would start moving us in the right direction. And it was conservative enough that it still could not pass the Senate. But what if in the next election Republicans do win enough seats in the Senate to get said legislation passed. And what if Ron Paul is President and he vetoes it because of the ideology he has displayed as a Congressman. Once again the progressives win. The reality is that unfortunately progressive values run pretty deep in this country right now and we do not have the general support to make the massive, immediate changes that we all want as conservatives. What we can do though is to start taking the small steps available to us to begin setting the foundation. I think it will take time, but it is possible to change the general mentality of Americans…to show that the conservative values and principles that our nation was built upon can still make us a better nation today.
