“History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as
farce.” I never thought I would quote
Karl Marx, but after reading The Other Founders by Saul Cornell, one can’t
escape the parallels between the so-called Anti-Federalist of the 18th
and 19th century and today’s Tea Party. Both were/are deemed by their political
enemies as anarchist, haters, and enemies of government. In the
end, the Anti-Federalist and the Tea Party were prophetic. The general government, that includes all three
branches, would collude and consolidate its power at the expense of liberty,
property, and self-government.
For as long as I can remember, conservatives have
grumbled about liberal bias in the mainstream media. Come to find out, this was true during our
founding. Newspapers of that era
overwhelming wanted a strong central government. Editors ridiculed Anti-Federalist and did
their best to marginalize them. There
were very few outlets that would print their dissent. A majority of post offices refused to deliver
their missives.
Even the rural/urban dichotomy existed back
then. People who lived in towns canceled
their newspaper subscriptions if they printed Anti-Federalist essays. It came to a point when opposition newspapers
and organizations had to be created to counter this monopoly. Does that sound familiar? Earlier this week, a guest on NPR’s Diane Rehm
show, lamented conservatives creating their own media. You have to laugh at the similarities.
It didn’t take long for the Federalist to overreach
and violate the constraining tenets of the Constitution and accompanying Bill of Rights, which the Anti-Federalist
insisted be added to protect the citizens and their states from an abusive
central government. Even James Madison,
one of their most ardent critics, conceded the Anti-Federalist was right. Thomas Jefferson concurred. Saul Cornell wrote:
By 1792, Jefferson reevaluated his initial assessment
of Anti-Federalist arguments. Writing to
Washington, he confided, “The Antifederal champions are now strengthened in
argument by the fulfillment of their predictions.” By contrast, “the republican
federalists, who espoused the same government for its intrinsic merits, are
disarmed of their weapons.” Jefferson
had come to believe that Anti-Federalist “prophecy” had now “become true
history.”
And has it ever.
The states have been denuded.
Property rights are under constant assault. Liberty is what a government bureaucrat
dictates. Here is another excerpt from
The Other Founders:
Gallatin reiterated the Anti-Federalist fear that
only strict adherence to the text of the Constitution could protect popular
liberty: “It must be remembered that the only security of citizens against
unconstitutional measures consists in a strict adherence to the Constitution.” Ultimately, Gallatin observed, “their
liberties were only protected by a parchment – by words – and that they may be
destroyed whenever it shall be admitted that the strict and common sense of
words may be construed away.” Gallatin
embraced the constitutional plain style that informed so much Anti-Federalist
writing during ratification. The
Federalist sought to subvert the Constitution through a process of
construction. The only means of
preventing this was to interpret the Constitution in strict terms. In doubtful circumstances the language of the
text was to be construed so as to limit the power, not increase it. Constitutional texts were drafted as limits
on government, the line beyond which government could not go. They were not intended to provide pretexts
for extending the power of government.
Liberals/progressives/socialist has constructed a
plantation on the ruins of our Constitution.
They construed us into federal government slaves.
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