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Name: Aaron Miller
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dreams tempered with wisdom

Posted by Aaron Miller on Monday, July 06, 2009 12:00:00 PM
Austin Hill reprinted the email he received from President Obama on the 4th of July this year. Within that letter is the following:

"And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed"

Right there is a fundamental misunderstanding, or (more likely) a willful misinterpretation, of America's founding.

The Founders did not dream of Utopia. They did not believe they were setting the groundwork for a "perfect Union". They certainly did not believe the Constitution was merely a set of guidelines from which America would begin, as Obama's actions clearly demonstrate he believes.

No, our Founders were Christians who believed in the Fall of Man and realists who acknowledged that humanity will always be flawed. They believed that all governments, including the one they began, have a natural tendency to drift toward either dictatorship or anarchy. Read The 5,000 Year Leap and you'll see this in their own words.

The U.S. Constitution was written in response to tyranny... which is to say that it was written in response to the natural and inevitable corruption of the human heart and our limited wisdom. It was also written with hope and faith in the inherent beauty of human beings. Its authors were plainly aware, as evidenced through their own words, that neither corruption and foolishness nor beauty and wisdom can ever be completely struck from individuals or from the social systems those individuals comprise.

Furthermore, America's Founders believed that what progress which could be made would be made apart from government, not through it. They expressly asserted that government must be limited to only protection of the most basic individual rights and the facilitation of states' rights. They perceived government as a necessary burden with which one should never be comfortable.

In his actions, Barack Obama proves to be the antithesis of America's founding principles. The longer he, his fellow liberals, big-government Republicans and other cowardly politicians remain in power, the farther we will drift from the Founders' true dream... a dream in which America is defined by its individuals and its culture, rather than by its government.
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marriage isn't a state issue

Posted by Aaron Miller on Friday, March 06, 2009 1:00:00 PM
The Constitution clearly designates marriage contracts as a power of the states. However, that does not mean, as is often stated, that the push for gay marriages will be kept out of federal courts, legislation, and initiatives.

Article IV, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states: "Full faith and credit shall be given in each state to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other state." When the Founders wrote this, they probably anticipated differences between states in how marriages are sealed and enacted, but I doubt they anticipated a movement to fundamentally redefine marriage in general. States which don't offer gay marriage licenses are already being forced to acknowledge the legitimacy of such licenses from others states. In other words, just because your state denies gays a right to marry or enter a civil union does not mean your state is not going along with the farce in one way or another.

America's Founders also did not anticipate that a federal income tax would become the federal government's primary source of income (the federal income tax and the IRS did not exist in this nation's first century of life). Therefore, the Founders did not foresee federal benefits being doled out on the basis of a marriage license. Yes, this issue has already taken form as well.

The suggestion that the definition of marriage, as being between a man and a woman, is a state issue is simple misdirection. Sometimes it's told as a lie and other times as willful ignorance, but it's always wrong. This is inescapably a federal issue.

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hope in people, not in government

Posted by Aaron Miller on Sunday, March 01, 2009 3:00:00 PM
I pointed out yesterday that history suggests American government can't return to its former self. Well, after watching Rush Limbaugh's excellent CPAC speech, I want to clarify that statement.

I am not saying conservatives should give up, that there is no hope for us. There is hope, but not hope in everything. Hope, like love, is something we spend a lifetime learning. It's not enough to merely say "I have hope". What do you hope for?  Not every hope is reasonable.

What I was saying yesterday is that our government is extremely unlikely to ever shrink, to give up power and dominion. It could, theoretically, but that would require the majority of politicians and judges to be not only reasonable but willing to face the wrath of millions of unreasonable voters. It would require extraordinary selflessness. Such heroism does occur, but it is never the norm... never so common that we can expect hundreds of government officials to simultaneously abandon the customary corruption of our present operations.

What is worthy of hope is change in the hearts of individual Americans. No matter what happens in government, we individuals can act according to our values. Governments come and go, but souls are forever. We will remain who we are, do what is right, and help our fellow Americans to flourish despite government.

Rush is absolutely correct that America as it was originally founded has helped individuals around the world to flourish in countless ways. But the ideological foundation of that government is that government does not define us. Government is not the centerpoint in our lives, and our founders knew that. Liberty is not a gift from politicians; it is a gift from God. No matter what politicians dictate to us, we will continue to live as Americans.
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silenced one at a time

Posted by Aaron Miller on Friday, February 20, 2009 11:00:00 AM
How does a democracy turn to fascism? How is the right to free speech removed without inciting rebellion?

By not going after everyone at once. By silencing citizens gradually, one group at a time, and making us weaker with each step.

If we won't stand up for strangers, we might not have the strength to protect our friends.

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