The Problem Is Not The Problem

[Cartoon by Eldon Dedini, for The New Yorker]

By: TLB Contributor: David Ziniga.

As an engineer by profession, my stock in trade can be boiled down to the application of basic principles to solve problems. However, it is quite common for my clients to be confused about what their problems really are, so the first task is to get a clear picture of what I see as the problems before I can get any idea of the solutions.

This is definitely not the case with the problems that ail our country today.

The following excerpts from the January 2014 edition of Imprimis* are from a speech delivered by Dr. Charles Kesler, a distinguished professor of government who, among other things, is editor of the Signet Classic edition of The Federalist Papers.

Speaking on the subject “The Tea Party, Conservatism, and the Constitution”, Dr. Kesler’s remarks will illustrate what radio talk show hosts, commentators, conservative think tank writers, Tea Party bloggers, and most educated and literate people seem to know is the problem. What is lacking is a grasp of the solution.

[on the Tea Party’s lack of a strategy to achieve its ends:] “Clearly the Tea Party’s form of conservatism points back to the Constitution as the basis for restoring American government. But how practically to move in that direction?”

[on the Supreme Court’s decision on the so-called ‘Affordable Care Act’:] “When the Court punted on the main question and allowed Obamacare to become law, it suggested to Tea Party leaders in and out of government that the old constitutional mechanisms of judicial review and separation of powers did not seem capable of defending the Constitution against this fundamental challenge, and that the only recourse would be a direct appeal to the American people- to the ultimate source of authority for any constitution.”

[on the Tea Party conservatives and establishment Republicans:] “…these two groups need each other- not only in the sense that they need each other to get to a majority in the House of Representatives, but also, at least for the time being, in the sense that each supplies the other’s defects.”

[on the lack of teeth for the Tea Party:] “The Tea Party could do itself and the country a great service by working out what a return to constitutional government might really mean, and thus the strategy and tactics appropriate to that.”

[on his summary of the problem:] “After a century of Progressive mining and sapping of the Constitution, the great document we count on to defend us now needs our defense, and the form of government issuing from the Constitution is itself in need of restoration and renewal.”

Dr. Kesler’s speech then devolves into suggestions of ways in which the problem can be addressed by political means: “What is needed is less populism and more political thinking on its part, or on the part of its trusted advisors. Political thinking and constitutional thinking are not opposed, of course, any more than putting together a political majority and defending the Constitution are opposed.” 

He then concludes as the others all do…without a solution: “If conservative officeholders don’t start to correct these structural deformations in our government, and if the Tea Party doesn’t turn its formidable patriotism and energy to enlightening the American people about how we are losing control of our own destiny, then no matter how many good policies we enact, or how low we set tax rates, the body politic will continue to sicken, and self-government will slip through our fingers.”

Imprimis goes out to over 2.8 million readers monthly, so at least that many are well aware of the problem. What they don’t get from Dr. Kesler, or from the Tea Party, or from the majority of the body politic, is a solution.

The solution is enforcing the sound, sturdy Constitution. The only ones with the lawful power to do that is We The People.

It’s all still there, and still the law of the land. Every one of our elected servants swears to uphold and defend it, but then promptly walk away from it after the swearing-in ceremony.

“So help me God” is what they say, invoking Divine displeasure if the oath taker fails in their duty in this regard. Holding them individually and personally accountable to their oaths before God and men is the way we will return to being AmericaAgain! — one nation under God.

*Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College

Copyright 2014 AmericaAgainNow.com

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Oscar J. Zuniga, Jr., PE is the Founding Trustee of AmericaAgain!, a perpetual charitable trust and membership organization to: 1) enforce our Constitution using the AmericaAgain! Indictment Engine™ to criminally indict members of Congress; 2) using that means, force through reform laws to recover our lost liberty; and 3) restore the Citizen Militia as stipulated in the Constitution. AmericaAgain! seeks a capital partner so that we can recruit the prosecutorial R&D team to deliver on the vision. By God’s grace, we know that our capital partner is somewhere in America today. If you are that person, read the AmericaAgain! Declaration and our frequently asked questions here, then e-mail the founder at [email protected]. 

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