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By its nature, the Bill of Rights is (and was always intended to
be) the highest law of the land, superseding every other regulation,
law, statue, ordinance, decree, or amendment presently (or ever) put
in force.
The Bill of Rights is "true for all men and all times" -- meaning
that it's as valid and necessary today as when it was written. If you
have any doubt about that, simply glance at the headlines in any
newspaper.
While the main body of the Constitution -- as well as most of the
subsequent amendments -- function as a charter for the strong central
government that the Federalist Party insisted on in the closing years
of the 18th century, the price that the Federalists willingly paid
(a price demanded by Anti-Federalist Party) was not just an arbitrary
laundry list of things that the government would generously allow
people to do. It was a series of absolute prohibitions -- stringent
limits -- imposed on what government would be allowed to do, written
in easily understood language, meant to protect certain rights that
each of us possesses simply by virtue of having been born a human
being.
Thus the Bill of Rights is the property of the American people,
our property, collectively and individually, not the government's.
Given its nature and the intentions of those who wrote and ratified
it, it may not be interpreted away, amended, or repealed, wholly or in
part, without negating the entire Constitution from which government
derives its authority. In short, should the political heirs of the
Federalist Party renege (as they have with increasing frequency and
brutality) on any part of their 209-year-old bargain with us, the
political heirs of the Anti-Federalist Party, then the whole deal is
off.
No Bill of Rights, no Constitution.
No Constitution, no government.
As the highest law of the land, then, the Bill of Rights must be
enforced. Any public official, appointed or elected, at any level
of government -- and guilty of any violation of an individual's rights
under the first ten Amendments, must be arrested, tried, convicted,
and punished. That's what happens to us when we break the law, after
all.
The highest -- the only -- priority of public officials must be to
enforce the Bill of Rights. They're all required to take a solemn
oath to that effect, and that's the only criterion by which they
should be judged, either as political candidates or encumbents seeking
reelection.
This same "Bill of Rights Enforcement" policy would shut down all
government activities -- and nullify all laws and regulations -- not
specifically authorized under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the
Constitution. Estimates vary regarding how much government would be
left. One thing for certain: there wouldn't be a trace of socialism
remaining.
Anyone who encounters (or professes to encounter) any difficulty
understanding the meaning or intention of any portion of the Bill of
Rights should ask himself the following question about America's
Founders:
Imagine that you've just fought the most powerful and ruthless
government on the planet for thirteen long, miserable years and
finally (more or less to your surprise) won your independence. The
last thing in the world you want is to create another government like
the one you've just defeated, or to fall again -- or ever to let your
children or grandchildren fall again -- under the iron boot-heel of
tyranny.
Now: what do you want the Bill of Rights to mean?
Would you write a Second Amendment (for example) reserving the
right to own and carry weapons to state governments -- rather than to
individuals?
I've just declared my personal web site, the "Webley Page" to be
the first "Bill of Rights Enforcement" site on the world wide web,
complete with a graphic (meant to be used like the blue internet free
speech ribbon) and a version of this article explaining what it's all
about.
Why not make your personal or business pages another Bill of
Rights Enforcement site? The distinctive graphic of a parchment
scroll -- representing the first ten amendments to the Constitution --
emerging from a broken Eurosocialist "verboten" sign, indicates that
you believe in, live by, and promote the principles I've expressed
here.
My home on the web, The Webley Page: www.webleyweb.com/lneil/
My e-zine The Libertarian Enterprise: www.webleyweb.com/tle/
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