Constitution Day Conflict

On September 17, 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention wrote the United States Constitution, and started the process to replace the Articles of Confederation which had previously governed the united former British colonies. That date is celebrated annually as Constitution Day, but what does that mean 239 years later?

Today, the Constitution is revered as a sacred document almost as if handed down from Heaven, but at the time, there was considerable controversy. The Federalists and Anti-Federalists waged a war of pamphlets and speeches,with the Federalists asserting the existing Articles were too restrictive, while the Anti-Federalists warned that this new Constitution would be a Trojan horse through which America would become an empire unto itself. I find myself in agreement with the latter.

To appease concerned parties, the Federalists assured everyone that protections and safeguards would be put in place, beginning with a Bill of Rights placing strict prohibitions on the federal government. Today, I would argue all but the third of those first ten amendments has been openly trampled.

As for the Constitution itself, the document enumerates specific powers and structure for the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. These limited powers have been stretched and twisted over subsequent years to the point none of the founders, even the staunch Federalists with a permissive view toward power, would recognize it.

This year, President Donald Trump offers an easy example of this transformation to his acts of war against Venezuela and Iran without Congressional declarations of war. Congress is absolutely required as the representatives of the states (Senate) and the people (House) by the Constitution to decide whether the United States were at war, and must declare it before engaging in acts of war. This procedural step was demanded as a restraint on the executive even by the Federalists. However, Trump's actions built on decades—centuries now—of precedents where excuses for skirting this constitutional mandate sidestepped the issue, and the courts have been silent or supportive throughout. Trump is not an aberration from, but a culmination of, an ongoing Constitutional crisis.

One could even argue this crisis began back in 1787. The Constitutional Convention was initially formed not to write a new document, but to revise the existing Articles of Confederation. The replacement of the Articles with the Constitution has even been framed as a bloodless coup for the benefit of those most closely connected to power. The Bill of Rights was added to quell concerns that granting government power was insufficient to restrain it, and that proved true from the very start.

I have said before that Randolph Bourne was right in saying, "War is the health of the State." Even Washington arguably exceeded his authority to fight natives and crush the Whiskey Rebellion. Adams trampled the First Amendment by jailing his detractors. Westward expansion led to routine treaty violations against native tribes for decades, including mass murder and land theft. Lincoln decided to wage war against seceding states without a declaration of war, claiming those states had no right to leave despite no prohibition against withdrawing from the Constitution anywhere in that document. Wilson signed the Federal Reserve into law, and began the replacement of Constitutional gold and silver with paper fiat, and then pushed for intervention in Europe's Great War and its catastrophic war guilt impositions. FDR outright made it illegal to own gold, worked to embroil the US in another war which exploded in the aftermath of the prior Great War, and instituted concentration camps for Japanese-Americans. Truman went to war in Korea without even a declaration from Congress. Eisenhower backed US involvement in the 1953 coup in Iran, which led directly to their 1979 revolution and the present war. Kennedy intervened in Vietnam, again without a declaration of war. George H.W. Bush fought the Gulf War, again without a declaration of war. The September 11th attacks were blowback for decades of US intervention abroad through coups, entangling alliances, and economic warfare, and afterward, we were plunged into a "War on terror" that largely brought more terror abroad.

This all only scratches the surface, and largely covers only on one aspect of how the Constitution has been twisted or ignored outright over the years. the FBI has been weaponized against political enemies since it was created. "General welfare" has justified bureaucratic bloat and regulatory power grabs, all sold to the public in the name of "safety," while in fact entrenching the corporate hegemony we see today. At least they passed an amendment to prohibit alcohol, but the "War on Drugs" is just naked power to punish vice. Social Security is simply a Ponzi scheme with mandatory participation. It just goes on and on, when anyone could just read that damn thing themselves and start asking questions.

At least the French numbertheir Republics, but the USA pretends to be one continuous lineage built on principles from one document. I am inclined to agree with those who say we are in at least our sixth Republic now. I reject all political systems as naked usurpation of power, but if an anarchist like me were to compromise, the first to second republics under the Articles or original Constitutional interpretation would be a massive leap toward my preferred society. At least the founders were honest about those they literally enslaved.

Anyway, happy Constitution day. The Constitution is dead. May the American empire fall before it murders more in my name without my consent. you can read a previous rant at Constitution Day Conundrum if you like.