Read Liberty and Tyranny Online
Authors: Mark R. Levin
Liberty and Tyranny (22 page)
Eliminate the federal Department of Education, since education is primarily a state and local function.
6. IMMIGRATION
Eliminate chain migration, which grants control over immigration policy to aliens and foreign governments, and which the Statist defends to expand his electoral and administrative state constituency.
Secure the nation’s borders and discourage those who violate them—illegal alien and citizen lawbreaker alike—by enforcing the immigration laws.
End multiculturalism, diversity, and bilingualism in public institutions, which beget poverty, animosity, and ethnic balkanization; promote assimilation and unity of citizenship, allegiance to American culture, and English as the official national language.
7. ENTITLEMENTS
Social Security is going bankrupt. Medicare is going bankrupt. Medicaid is going bankrupt. These programs and others have accumulated more than $50 trillion in IOUs due and payable by subsequent generations. Educate the young people about the intergenerational trap the Statist has laid for them—which will steal their liberty, labor, opportunities, and wealth—and build a future electoral force for whom the elixir of entitlements is understood as poisonous snake oil. These programs were created in politics and will have to be addressed in politics. Only in this way can they be contained, limited, and reformed.
Fight all efforts to nationalize the health-care system. National health care is the mother of all entitlement programs, for through it the Statist controls not only the material wealth of the individual but his physical well-being. Remind the people that politicians and bureaucrats, about whom they are already cynical, will ultimately have the final say over their choice of doctors, hospitals, and treatments—meaning the system will be politicized and bureaucratized. Remind them that this human experiment has been tried and has failed in places like Britain and Canada, where patients have been subjected to arbitrary treatment decisions, long waiting periods for lifesaving surgeries, antiquated medical technologies, the denial of high-cost pharmaceuticals available elsewhere, and the inefficient rationing of health care generally. And remind them that despite past utopian promises, the Statist rarely delivers.
8. FOREIGN POLICY AND SECURITY
Ensure that all foreign policy decisions are made for the purpose of preserving and improving American society.
Reject all treaties, entanglements, institutions, and enterprises that have as their purpose the supplantation of America’s best interests, including its physical, cultural, economic, and military sovereignty, to an amorphous “global” interest.
Ensure that America remains the world’s superpower. Ensure that at all times America’s military forces are prepared for war to dissuade attacks, encourage peace, and, if necessary, win any war.
9. FAITH
Oppose all efforts to denude the nation of its founding justification—that is, God-given unalienable, natural rights that the government can neither confer on the individual nor deny to him. The Statist seeks the authority to do both, which explains his contempt for, or misuse of, faith. Moreover, faith provides the moral order that ties one generation to the next, and without which the civil society cannot survive.
10. THE CONSTITUTION
Demand that all public servants, elected or appointed, at all times uphold the Constitution and justify their public acts under the Constitution.
Oppose all efforts to “constitutionalize” the statist agenda.
Eliminate limits on and rationing of political free speech through unconstitutional “campaign finance” laws, which benefit incumbent politicians, the media, unions, and other Statist-related groups. Any American citizen or group of American citizens should be free to contribute to candidates as they wish, as long as the source, amount, and recipient of the contributions are made known.
Defeat all efforts to unconstitutionally regulate the content of political speech on broadcast outlets, such as radio. The Statist now seeks to consolidate the power he has accumulated by silencing noncompliant voices through a variety of schemes that would regulate broadcast content.
President Reagan said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
6
We Conservatives need to get busy.
1: O
N
L
IBERTY AND
T
YRANNY
1
Adam Smith,
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
(New York: Collier, 1937).
2
Russell Kirk constructed “Ten Principles of Conservatism,” consisting of his own thoughts and borrowing from others. It is well worth reading. Russell Kirk, “Ten Conservative Principles” (adapted from Russell Kirk,
The Politics of Prudence
[Chicago: ISI Books, 1993]), Russell Kirk Center, http://permanentthings.com/kirk/ten-principles.html.
3
Leo Strauss,
The City and Man
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 6.
4
Alexis de Tocqueville,
Democracy in America
(New York: Penguin, 2003).
5
U.S. Constitution, Preamble.
6
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay,
The Federalist Papers
(New York: Penguin, 1987), 319–20.
7
Michael J. Gerson,
Heroic Conservatism: Why Republicans Need to Embrace America’s Ideals (And Why They Deserve to Fail if They Don’t
(New York: HarperCollins, 2007), 16.
8
William Kristol and David Brooks, “What Ails Conservatism,”
Wall Street Journal
, Sept. 15, 1997, A22.
2: O
N
P
RUDENCE AND
P
ROGRESS
1
Edmund Burke,
Reflections on the Revolution in France
, ed. Frank M. Turner (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003), 19.
2
Peter James Stanlis,
Edmund Burke: The Enlightenment and Revolution
(Edison, N.J.: Transaction, 1991), 213, citing Edmund Burke, “A Letter to a Noble Lord,”
Works
, vol. 5 (Boston: Little, Brown, 1904), 186.
3
Ibid.
4
Burke,
Reflections on the Revolution in France
, 81.
5
Mark Zaretsky, “Senator Cites Kennedy Brothers For Their Inspiration,”
New Haven Register
, May 26, 2008.
6
Raymond Aron,
The Opium of the Intellectuals
(New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction, 2007), 240–41.
7
Wilfred M. McClay, “The Idea of Change in American Politics: Meaningful Concept or Empty Promise?” Heritage Foundation, Oct. 30, 2008, http://www.heritage.org/research/thought/fp21.cfm.
8
Eric Hoffer,
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements
(New York: Perennial, 2002), 33 (omitting footnote in original).
9
Alexander Bolton, “GOP Preps for Talk Radio Confrontation,”
The Hill
, June 27, 2007, http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/goppreps-for-talk-radio-confrontation-2007-06-27.html.
10
Senate Bill 215, “Internet Freedom Preservation Act,” sponsored by Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. (to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to establish numerous “neutrality” mandates for broadband service providers). Introduced Jan. 9, 2007. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-215.
11
C. S. Lewis,
God in the Dock: Essays on Theology and Ethics
, ed. Walter Hooper (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1994), 292.
3: O
N
F
AITH AND THE
F
OUNDING
1
Anthony Flew,
There Is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind
(New York: HarperCollins, 2007).
2
Edmund Burke,
Selected Writings and Speeches
(Washington, D.C.: Gateway, 1997).
3
Edmund Burke, “Speech on Impeachment of Warren Hastings,” May 28, 1794, http://www.notable-quotes.com/b/burke_edmund.html.
4
Alexis de Tocqueville,
Democracy in America
, 4th ed., vol. 2 (New York: Langley, 1841), 23.
5
Sharon Otterman, “Islam: Governing Under Sharia,” backgrounder, Council on Foreign Relations, March 14, 2005, http://www.cfr.org/publication/8034/#2.
6
Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing
, 330 U.S. 1, 16 (1947).
7
Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing
, 18.
8
Gerald T. Dunne,
Hugo Black and the Judicial Revolution
(New
York: Simon and Schuster, 1977), 269, quoting Hugo Black, Jr.,
My Father
(New York: Random House, 1975), 104.
9
Wallace v. Jaffree
, 472 U.S. 38, 107 (1985) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting).
10
Thomas G. West, “The Theology of the United States,” Claremont Institute, Dec. 1, 2006, http://www.claremont.org/publica tions/pubid.30/pub_detail.asp.
11
George Washington, “Farewell Address to the People of the United States,” in
The World’s Famous Orations
, ed. William Jennings Bryan, vol. 8 (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1906), 100.
12
Barry Goldwater, “Goldwater’s 1964 Acceptance Speech,” Washingtonpost.com, Dec. 7, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/daily/may98/goldwaterspeech.htm.
4: O
N THE
C
ONSTITUTION
1
James Madison, “Letter to Henry Lee, June 25, 1824,” in
The Quotable Founding Fathers: A Treasury of 2,500 Wise and Witty Quotations from the Men and Women who Created America
, ed. Buckner F. Melton, Jr. (Dulles, Va.: Brassey’s, 2004), 48.
2
See, e.g., Howard Lee McBain,
The Living Constitution
(New York: Macmillan, 1927).
3
Thomas Jefferson, “Letter to Wilson Cary Nicholas, September 7, 803,”
Thomas Jefferson: Writings: Autobiography/Notes on the State of Virginia/Public and Private Papers/Addresses/Letters
, ed. Merrill D. Peterson (New York: Library of America, 1984), 1140.
4
The Ninth Amendment provides, “The enumeration in the Con
stitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The Tenth Amendment states: “The powers not delegated to the United States, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
5
Deborah L. Rhode, “A Tribute to Justice Thurgood Marshall: Letting the Law Catch Up,”
Stanford Law Review
44 (1992), 1259.
6
Tim Wells, “A Conversation with Peter B. Edelman,”
Washington Lawyer
, April 2008, http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/april_2008/legends.cfm.
7
Stephen Breyer,
Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution
(New York: Knopf, 2005).
8
Clint Bolick,
David’s Hammer: The Case for an Activist Judiciary
(Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 2007).
9
Address of Franklin D. Roosevelt as governor of New York, March 2, 1930, http://www.lexrex.com/enlightened/writings/fdr_ address.htm.
10
Ibid.
11
Franklin D. Roosevelt, “State of the Union Message to Congress, January 11, 1944,” http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/011144.html.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid. (emphasis added).
14
Robin L. West,
Re-Imagining Justice: Progressive Interpretations of Formal Equality, Rights, and the Rule of Law
(Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2003).
15
Ibid.
16
Bruce Ackerman, “Ackerman on Renewing the Promise of Na
tional Citizenship,” March 15, 2005, American Constitution Society for Law and Policy blog, http://www.acsblog.org/equalityand-liberty-ackerman-on-renewing-the-promise-of-nationalcitizenship.html.
17
U.S. Constitution, Fourteenth Amendment (emphasis added).
18
Michael W. McConnell, “Originalism and the Desegregation Decisions,”
Virginia Law Review
81 (May 1995), 947.
19
John Hinderaker, “What Liberals Want: A Progressive Conference on the Constitution Sheds Light on the Real Stakes Involved with the Judiciary,”
Weekly Standard
, April 19, 2005.
20
Cass R. Sunstein,
The Second Bill of Rights: FDR’s Unfinished Revolution and Why We Need It More Than Ever
(New York: Basic Books, 2004), 20–21.
21
Ralph Keyes,
The Quote Verifier: Who Said What, Where, and When
(New York: St. Martin’s, 2006), 82.
22
“Interview with the Godfather: William F. Buckley, Jr., On Drugs, Universities, and the Future,”
Yale Free Press
, March 2001, http://www.yale.edu/yfp/archives/01_3_buckley.html.
23
Mark R. Levin,
Men in Black: How the Supreme Court Is Destroying America
(Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2005), 18–22.
24
Frédéric Bastiat,
The Law
(Whitefish, Mont.: Kessinger, 2004), 6.
5: O
N
F
EDERALISM
1
Rhode Island did not send a delegation.
2
U.S. Constitution, Tenth Amendment.
3
New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann
, 285 U.S. 262, 311 (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting).
4
See chapter 2, “On Prudence and Progress.”
5
A lawsuit filed by Landmark Legal Foundation forced then-Oregon governor Barbara Roberts, who declared the measure “dead on arrival,” to implement the voter-approved JOBS-Plus program. See
Burke v. Roberts
, Case No. 92C-11310-1 (Marion County [Oregon] Circuit Court, Sept. 23, 1993). See also Jeffrey Tryens, “Aligning Government Priorities with Societal Hopes and Expectations,” testimony before U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, ubcommittee on Government Management, Information and Technology, Oct. 31, 1997,
Oregon’s Progress Board Strategic Planning Model
, http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/OPB/jttestim.shtml. See also Howard Rolston, John K. Maniha, and Nancye Campbell, “Job Retention and Advancement in Welfare Reform,” CCF Brief No. 18, Brookings Institution, March 2002, http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2002/03welfare_campbell.aspx.