Tue, 25 Jun 2024 13:33:10 -0400WeeblyMon, 27 Apr 2020 04:00:00 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/quarantines-and-the-constitution​Government power to impose quarantine has a long history.  The term comes from Italian “cuaranti giorni” or forty days – the length of time the Republic of Venice required ships coming from the Far East to stay at anchor when there were any sailors on board who were or who could be ill, before coming in to dock.  This practice was instituted after the days of the Black Death plague – that gee, also originally came from China, as do so many epidemic illnesses – in the 1300’s and into the 1400’s. 
 
One of the first duties of government is to protect the lives of the citizens and inhabitants under their authority; therefore, the authority to declare quarantine does belong to civil governance.  Under our Constitutional, federal, system of dual sovereignty, the authority to restrict the movement of citizens belongs to the states and the towns, not the federal government.  However, the states ceded all authority and control over those seeking to enter the country to the federal government (Article 1, Section 8), so the federal government has the authority to close the borders to entry, and restrict travel out to other countries.  President Trump is acting properly in dealing with international travel and entry into the country, while leaving the governors and mayors in charge of state and local restrictions.
 
But this all begs several questions:  what ARE the powers of quarantine, to whom are those powers directed, and for what purpose?  The powers of quarantine are to separate those who are ill (or who may be ill but are not yet visibly ill) from those who are not infected, for the purpose of stopping the spread of contagion.  Traditionally, it is only those who are SICK – and those who have been in contact with the sick – who are isolated.  The rest of the people are NOT restricted in their movements, unless and until they show symptoms.  This ccp-virus episode is different because of the reported long lag time between infection and open display of symptoms, the possibility of being infectious before any visible symptoms, and the high level of danger to the elderly and to those with other health conditions including various forms of immuno-compromise.
 
Keep in mind when this all started there was very little real information with which to work; we had terrifying videos of people keeling over on the streets of Wuhan, and smuggled videos of piled body bags and emergency hospitals and people being welded in to their apartments to die.  At that time, with what was known then, President Trump’s actions to shut down air travel from China, and then from Europe, along with testing (very rudimentary at the time), were appropriate and Constitutional actions to protect the lives of Americans.  Federal guidelines have been recommendations rather than mandates, as is appropriate in a federal system.
 
It is the governors and mayors, who have gone far overboard in restricting the actions of healthy individuals.  Again, when non-essential shut-downs were first announced, the public purpose was to “flatten the curve” to ensure that our hospital systems were not overwhelmed by sick people pouring in, and people dying simply because we were out of equipment.  This makes sense, and is therefore a legitimate operation of local power to call for quarantine.  As we have learned more, though, the proper response – which is to slowly LIFT restrictions, starting with those least likely to be harmed – has, to an appalling extent, not been followed. 
 
Instead, the dictator and tyrant wannabees in a number of state capitals and cities and towns have put increasingly Draconian restrictions in place; refuse to listen to medical science, reason, or ANY facet of public interest.  Instead, they are treating the healthy, law-abiding citizens of their states as being under house arrest!  THIS is the area that deserves citizen vigilance, legal action, and public protest.  (For public protest, however, there also needs to be a careful watch put out for agents provocateurs, whose purpose is to frame normal people as dangerous thugs.)
 
Some of the bizarre items and dictatorial actions are:

• Faulty virus tests tainted with the actual virus
• False reporting of every death as being due to ccp-virus
•  Anti-HCQ propaganda; strident, gleeful, almost hysterical anti-drug propaganda
• Threats against doctors who prescribe HCQ
• Drone surveillance – with drones made in China!
• Distancing squares on store floors and restrictions on the number of people allowed into even huge-footprint stores
• Disallowance of travel to one’s own in-state vacation home, while allowing out-of-state persons to come in to their vacation homes
• Restrictions against motorboats but not against canoes
• Filling skate parks with sand
• Forbidding purchase of seeds, or paint
• Release of violent prisoners into the public; endangering the lives of the law-abiding
• Cessation of enforcement of criminal law
• Arresting people for the non-crime of non-distancing with live-in family members
• Calls for mail-in voting (a huge source of vote fraud)
• Calls for mandatory vaccines,
• Calls for mandatory official papers, or armbands, proving health status
• Proposed tracking of ALL persons by cell phone location for ccp-virus “warnings”
• Social media pulling down calls for protests (but not calls for violent antifa-style actions)

 
All these are strong indications of political machinations seeking political goals and therefore are not only illegal, but also illicit, unAmerican, and unConstitutional.  The leftists (democrats AND republicans) have over-played their hands and are exposing themselves for the dictators they are, and people are waking up.  One example is the Michigan governor losing the support of the democrats in the MI state house, the legis-vermin there are acting to rescind her emergency powers, and there are public petitions to hold a recall election to remove her from office.
 
Attorney General Barr’s threatened lawsuits against governors and mayors are an appropriate plan of action.  The Constitution guarantees every state a republic form of government – that means that dictators are NOT permitted.  But we, the people, also need to let these tyrants know that they have over-stepped and that this will NOT be permitted.  Burn up the phone lines, the fax lines, the email in-boxes with protests; the government works for US and WE are sovereign.  They are not our masters.  Protest in person and in groups – being aware, again, of the infiltrators who want to provide an excuse to taint our reasonable demands as extreme and violent. 
 
 
 
]]>Sat, 28 Mar 2020 00:55:27 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/government-power-and-stay-home-ordersI am hearing a lot of nonsense about "the government can't tell us to stay home."

We have been privileged to live in a time without major epidemics (since the 1950's or so). In humanity's past, epidemics and pandemics were a regular occurrence.

It is the duty of civil governance to protect (secure; hold inviolate) the rights of the people (ref: Declaration of Independence - go look it up). The first right is the right to your life. Quarantines are a logical and reasonable power of government in time of epidemic.

Do we need to like it? No. Do we need to watch to make sure the governors are not going overboard? Yes. (Such as Pennsylvania, prohibiting even emergency dental work - a ridiculous over-reach.)

However, it IS the duty of the state to protect all residents. Sometimes that means telling us to stay in our homes as much as possible, for the protection of our most vulnerable.

Chill, guys. Don't buy in to the "fear porn" the #FakeNews media is pushing (including the "it's martial law!" fear porn).

Don't buy in to the "this is oppression!" nonsense, either. The possibility of people dying from lack of ICU beds is real. This is NOT the flu. People with a severe case are not better and out of the ICU in three days - they are there for three weeks.

Do the math yourself. It's not hard. You can easily prove that with only an arithmetic progression (10 cases, new each day) if 3% get badly sick and there are 10 ICU beds, with a 3-day stay the ICU is never full; there is one bed free. However, with a 21-day stay, as of Day FIVE, the ICU is full and people are left to die because there is no treatment available for them. That gets worse for the next three weeks, until at the maximum for the ten beds available in the ICU, 53 are left to die. Daily. Add in exponential progression, and the number left to die is huge. We need to STOP that - by staying home. "Flattening the curve" is REAL and it is NECESSARY.]]>Thu, 01 Mar 2018 02:42:39 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/parklandEvil exists.  It has existed since mankind's origins.
 
Evil acted in Parkland, Florida, and left behind death, mayhem, and horribly devastated lives.  We grieve with the families affected, and pray they can rebuild their lives around the void that will always be there.
 
We must all be vigilant against evil, at all times, and report to appropriate authorities anything indicative of planned mayhem.
 
But when the authorities fail, are we obligated to make ourselves helpless?  Are we to leave ourselves and our children to be sacrificed to a flawed ideology of utopian "if only?"  In this incident there were so many failures on the part of the "appropriate authorities" and these must be addressed. 

• The FBI failed, twice, to act on credible reports of someone planning mass murder.  The second report, on January 5th, warned specifically that Cruz was "going to explode."  The tipster provided links to Instagram accounts showing photos of animals killed, along with knives and guns.
• Broward County failed, after an astounding thirty-nine times of being called to the house for various "domestic disturbances," to get this family help.  They filed reports instead, their duty done.
• The Parkland school system failed.  Their internal systems prohibited reporting to police of problems in the school. 
• Florida's Dept of Children and Families ignored red flags in Cruz's history.
• Worst of all, FOUR officers from the Broward County Sheriff's Office hid (with their own guns) behind cars OUTSIDE the school while Cruz was on his killing spree.  They did not enter the school until police officers from Coral Springs arrived and shamed them into acting.  But by then the carnage was over. Those officers will not face harsh punishment; several Supreme Court decisions have noted that police have NO requirement to protect the public.  They are required to investigate and try to find perpetrators after the fact.

 
Unknown in this specific instance - but a factor in far too many incidents - is SSRI drugs in young adults.  Several studies have shown they have NO affect on depression in those under age 24, but DOUBLE the risk of violent criminal acts in that age group - and increase the risk of suicide between 2.5 and 5 times. 
 
ALL of these are areas for appropriate action. 

• FBI:  needs to face its failures and take these reports seriously. 
• Police:  when repeatedly called for domestic incidents, and the family is already involved with the DCF, there should be cross-reporting and coordination at the very least.
• Schools:  should be MANDATED to report violent incidents or the threat of violence to police and to the DCF if families are already involved with that agency. 
• No officers should be hired to protect schools if they are NOT willing actually to ACT.
• SSRI drugs should be made ILLEGAL for prescribing to anyone under age 25.

 
But there is another set of steps to be taken.  Schools, as a target, must be "hardened."  ANY willing staff (teachers, administrators, custodial) should be trained in the defensive/protective use of firearms, and urged to keep themselves armed in the schools.  Any one staff member, armed, in Parkland, could have prevented many deaths.   A "gun-free" zone openly screams to a killer "COME WREAK HAVOC HERE! NO ONE CAN STOP YOU!"  
]]>Mon, 25 Jan 2016 15:57:54 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/guest-blog-post-by-rc-on-sarah-palins-endorsement-of-donald-trumpI have come to form an opinion as to why Sarah Palin shattered the stream of conventional common sense thinking about not only being a conservative but why it’s important to support conservative candidates. While I do believe Mrs. Palin has sold out for her 30 pieces of silver, I also have concluded it is because she harbors hatred. Hatred of the GOP Establishment, hatred of the media, and hatred of what is happening to our nation. While I do share that hatred, it is NOT the starting point of the actions I physically take to combat the evil that is modern liberalism.

When a person, in my humble opinion, acts on the hatred, they do things that don’t serve the cause and will subject themselves to the very evil they hate. Case in point, Sarah Palin has endorsed a man who IS a liberal merely because he is the loudest in the room about the demise of this nation. “The Donald” does NOT shout his barbaric yawp over the microphones and in front of the TV cameras because he actually wants real reformative conservative change but because it suits his needs. It suits his ambitions. It suits his egotistical craving for notoriety and power. It suits his poll numbers. It suits his lust. By selling out, Mrs. Palin gave in to her hatred and endorsed that for future book sales, maybe a possible appointment in a Trump Administration, and out of malice with a heart filled with bitterness and strife.

I’m a conservative by choice. While I always advocate critical thinking skills in the body politic, I am also a passionate man of deep feelings. I act from a stand point of love of this nation and her people. LESS GOVERNMENT means more freedom. I want more people to be as free as possible in our Constitutional republic because I love people. Same can be said of less taxes which means more money in your pocket, my friends and fellow Americans whom I love. Go down the conservative list from there: life, family values, free market capitalism, a strong national defense, state’s rights, individual liberty, Constitutional law, and American excellence. Each of those cherished conservative values, beliefs and fought for principles is all about love of my fellow man. Not hatred. Therein lies the angst we conservatives have because it takes critical thoughts to achieve critical feelings and the left doesn’t understand this and/or does understand it and USES feelings to paint we conservatives as “haters” when it is they who act from hatred. NOT US!!!! That’s why I buckled the other day because of all people, I surely thought Sarah Palin understood this and she really broke my heart, which hasn’t mended as yet, because she gave in, LIKE A LIBERAL, to her hatred as evidenced by endorsing a man who has no historical record whatsoever of conservatism.

As I was told last night by a man whom has also inspired me, a State Rep who sits on the Republican State Committee with me who I won’t highlight on this post out of respect, but in spite of Mrs. Palin’s hatred and the quite frankly bone-headed acting out of her hatred, I must stay the course and will forever remain an activist in politics.

Please, join me in the fight to reignite the promise of America.
 
]]>Tue, 19 Jan 2016 16:03:15 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/supreme-court-executive-orders-and-immigrationThe Supreme Court has apparently agreed to hear a case about Obama's executive orders NOT to deport illegal aliens.
 
This one is so simple it requires advanced degrees in both Law and English to misunderstand.
 
The duty of the President is to enforce lawfully passed, Constitutionally authorized, acts of Congress.  The Constitution gives to Congress the specific and SOLE authorization to makes laws regarding immigration and naturalization.  Therefore the President MUST enforce those laws, else be guilty of dereliction of duty.  [See note at end for exception.]
 
Dereliction of duty is a crime and misdemeanor ("high" being the status of the office rather than a descriptor of the type of crime or misdemeanor) which requires impeachment and, if guilty, punishment up to removal from office.
 
Executive orders are allowed only to permit a President to carry out his Constitutional duties.  It is not a method of circumventing the legislative branch or any other aspect of the Constitution.  Any executive order side-stepping proper Constitutional methods of governance is a usurpation of powers not granted, and are actionable by impeachment of such a President.
 
Note:  The only time this would not apply would be if Congress should pass (and a then-sitting President should sign) a law regarding immigration that violates the Constitution in some other fashion.  To use a silly example, say Congress passed a law stating that all immigrants from Poland be awarded free kielbasa for life.  Congress has no authority to conscript the goods of others (and is prohibited from doing so by various sections of the Constitution) therefore the Constitutional duty of the President would require such a law not to be enforced.
]]>Tue, 19 Jan 2016 15:58:22 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/lexington-ma-now-wants-to-finish-the-job-they-stopped-the-british-from-doing-in-1775The liberal hypocrites of Lexington will have a big celebration in April, commemorating the Battle of Lexington Green where the town militia stood united in purpose to STOP the British regulars from seizing the powder stores (=DISARMING the populace).  


One resident has submitted to the Selectmen a proposal to disarm the local populace:  a total ban of "assault weapons" and "large capacity magazines" in Lexington. Said law to be based on one from Highland Park IL (because "gun-free" Chicago has no problem with illegal firearm violence, no sirree -- can the sarcasm drip any faster?). So Lexington wants now to be in the forefront of the move to disarm the populace - finishing the British job of 2+ centuries ago.  So why don't they spend April holding public rallies petitioning to rejoin the UK and holding signs asking Queen Elizabeth to forgive them and let them come home?


Details available here: Ammoland article


I cannot even start going in to the number of levels on which this is wrong; I would be here typing all night.


One thing is certain:  if this goes through in Lexington, this proposal will come to YOUR town or city next. Flood the Lexington Selectmens office with phone calls and faxes!]]>Fri, 01 Jan 2016 21:34:50 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/new-years-day-2016The theme for this year will be the ideals and principles stated so clearly in the Declaration of Independence, and how the Constitution is an attempt to make of those ideals a working system of governance for the people.

This is something that had never and HAS never been done before – or since.  Countries are founded by conquest; conquest of land, vanquishing of a foe or foes.  Countries are founded by expansion; we have more people we’ll just scoot over and include this bit.  Countries are founded by secession or revolution; usually in anger but sometimes (as in New Zealand, Australia, and Canada) by mutual agreement. 

The United States did have to rebel and then fight a war – but unlike other countries we started from IDEALS.  These ideals grew out of the religious principles that originally brought Englishmen to this land, that they be able worship according to conscience and religious ideals.

Ideals are odd things.  We see them up ahead and above us.  We want to achieve them.  Yet reaching them is ALWAYS beyond our ability.  However, by striving we get much farther than ever we could by an admission that “this is too far; let’s not try.” 

And still as a country we are roundly castigated in any area where we fail to meet those ideals.  Those are supposedly “proof” that we didn’t really mean them (and therefore are the most vile and despicable of people), or that we are hypocrites, or that they are a cover for hateful and racist acts behind a veneer of self-righteous pseudo-sanctity.   Always, to cure these “abject failures of our evil system” all that is “needed” is to overthrow that system and substitute a system off someone else’s shelf and all will be well; we will achieve these Utopian goals and butterflies and unicorns will grace our cities.

What ideals are in the Declaration of Independence? 

• That all humans are created equal in rights; equal in inherent worth; to be treated equally under the Rule of Law; equally worthy of the respect of every other human for our shared origin as creations of God.  (You are an atheist? –That’s fine; the writers of the Declaration were not.  Put on your big kid pants and deal with that historical fact.)
  
• That all humans were endowed by God with Rights.  Those rights are inherent in us, and because they are inherent in us those rights pre-date, transcend, and supersede ALL government.
  
• That the true and correct purpose of government is to secure (defend, protect, guard from danger, make certain, hold inviolate, put beyond hazard) those rights.
  
• That the people may (perhaps must?) change any government  which becomes destructive of the very rights it is its job is to protect.
  

In future posts during 2016 – perhaps a new section of this web site – we will explore those ideals and principles further. 

In liberty, wishing you always to have ideals of your own to strive towards:  Happy New Year!

]]>Sat, 12 Sep 2015 02:42:29 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/11-september-2015-14-years9/11; another anniversary of that horrific day 14 years ago.  Moving tributes interspersed with platitudes and self-serving tripe masquerading as solemnity.

People that day - normal Americans - acted with incredible bravery.  Some of us remember; some of us hope that strength is in us.  

As a nation, we have buried our heads in the sand.  As a people, we refuse even to NAME the source of the attack, for fear  of being thought mean or intolerant.  

Mean?
Intolerant?
Racist?
Hate-filled?

NO.  To see and to speak TRUTH is not any of those.  Yes, yes, yes - let's say it out loud not all muslims are terrorists yadda yadda no kidding dumbo.  But since the days of the Barbary pirates it is fanatical muslims who ARE at war with US and all of western civilization.  They have declared it; they have acted on it, time and again.  

We cannot possibly combat an enemy we refuse even to NAME.  The name is radical islam.  It is NOT a religion (and for damned sure it is not a "religion of peace" - what tripe); it is an ideological governance system based on intolerance, racism, and hatred, clothed in the trappings of a religion.  

And don't give me crap about "well Christians had the Crusades so they're just as bad" because such statements demonstrate that YOU are an ignorant fool.  

Show me - TODAY - where Christians commonly BEHEAD those who disagree with them.  Where they RAPE 6-year-olds multiple times a day in the name of their god.  Where they STONE homosexuals to death - or hang them publicly.  Where women are treated worse than dirt.  Where shoplifters have their hands CUT OFF publicly.  

Nowhere; neither Christians nor Jews nor Hindus nor Buddhists nor any of the other major world religions have adherents who REGULARLY and PUBLICLY carry out such vicious acts.  Except radical islam.

Not only is this common among radical islam - it gets even WORSE.  Just in this past week they hog-tied other muslims (different sub-group, therefore sub-human, I guess), hung them from chains, and then ROASTED them ALIVE - with cameras running.

Did you know that 80% (yes, eighty percent) of rapes in Sweden last year were by islamic immigrants/refugees - almost all against Swedish nationals?  In Norway it was worse - 100% - ALL - rapes for the year were by muslims, against Norwegians.  Because their intolerant, hate-filled ideology permits this; infidel women are for using and discarding.  Europe, by permitting all the refugees (that other muslim countries WILL NOT ACCEPT) streaming in now, has signed its own suicide note.  All that's left is the timing.  

THIS IS THE ENEMY WE FACE. 

LOOK at who they are.  FACE IT.  Because if you will NOT face it, not admit it, turn your head and call ME intolerant - they WILL come after you.  And me.  And your children, friends, sisters, brothers, wives, husbands.  

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer


May God have mercy on us all, and give us the courage to stand against evil in ALL its forms.  It does NOT start with people; its source is far deeper, stronger, and more deadly than any person or group of persons. But its manifestation is in the acts of people who willingly do its work. Why?  Being deceived, perhaps.  Wanting power, perhaps.  The why is not so compelling to me as the manifestation - which we must stand against, always, with all we have.

Ephesians 6:  11 - 17 (NASB; from Biblehub):
11Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]. 13Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, 15and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; 16in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil [one]. 17And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
]]>Thu, 20 Nov 2014 13:47:26 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/we-must-understand-the-constitutionExecutive amnesty will pass!  they cry in anguish... 

THIS IS WHY WE MUST UNDERSTAND THE CONSTITUTION!  

The executive branch HAS NO AUTHORITY IN THIS AREA!  It can sign executive orders until the pens fall apart - and IF we understand the Constitution, NONE OF IT will have ANY effect!  We would simply laugh at the tyrant wannabe who thinks the pen is mightier than the Constitution.

I also heard on the radio yesterday someone from the NRA bemoaning the danger of the UN small arms treaty.  The same principle is at work here!  The second amendment SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS the federal government from having any say in the firearms owned by citizens -- and Article VI clearly states that only treaties made in areas where the Constitution grants authority to the federal government, and in NO OTHER AREAS, are considered law!  They can yak all they want -- if we know the Constitution it is a usurpation of powers not granted, therefore NULL and VOID - of no effect or substance!]]>Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:57:46 GMThttp://constitutiondecoded.com/constitution-blog/veterans-dayarmistice-dayremembrance-dayToday, November 11th, is known by all three of those names.  Veterans’ Day in honor of our US veterans; Armistice Day commemorating the end of World War I (the “War to End All Wars” as it was SO-inaccurately termed); Remembrance Day as a Veterans’ Day equivalent in the Commonwealth nations.

Please take time to day to remember, and to be thankful for, ALL our veterans.  Particularly today’s vets, but remember all our other wars. 

    Revolutionary War

    First and Second Barbary War – against the Barbary       Pirates – also the inauguration of the US Marines

    War of 1812 (in between the two above)

    Mexican-American War (does not include The Alamo;     that was part of the fracas surrounding the rebellion       of Texas against Mexico and its annexation as part of     the US)

    Civil War (“War of Northern Aggression” for those           from the South)

    Spanish-American War and the related Philippine-           American War

    Boxer Rebellion

    World War I

    World War II – this was the last legally                             Congressionally-declared, war; after this naming 

    wars versus “police actions” versus “troop                       deployments” gets dicey…

    Korean War

    Vietnam War

    Desert Storm

    “War on Terror” under various names and in various       places – with rules of engagement no one should           ever have to fight under.

Remember also those who fought on the home front:  the wives (and husbands) who held the family together, never knowing if their spouse would ever return, or in what condition.  The children who grew up with only stories of a parent.  The parents who put gold stars in their windows for their lost ones.  Everyone who stood, or knelt, or sat, or lay prostrate, before a headstone or memorial, public or private… who traced names with fingers, and cried – or held the tears in. 

All of this was a price paid, willingly, for YOUR freedom, YOUR life, YOUR liberty.  Thank them all, with every fiber of your being, that you are not the subject of a king, theocrat, tyrant, or madman.  And thank also the One who has given us the gift of a noble heart, that we have these heroes for whom to be thankful.

I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend. –Faramir, warrior of Gondor (JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers)

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