Throughout the month
of September, the National Archives will be commemorating the 220th
anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution with a
series of panel discussions, appearances by actors dressed up as the
Founders and a birthday cake. Federal law also mandates that on
Constitution Day, September 17, all high schools, colleges and
universities across the country that receive federal funds host
educational events about the Constitution.
However, the
Constitution is so much more than an aging relic. Formally adopted
on September 17, 1787, it has long served as the bulwark of American
freedom and as an example for struggling nations worldwide. Yet
since 9/11, the rights enshrined in the Constitution, particularly
those in the Bill of Rights, have come under constant attack.
Indeed, the
protections and limitations on government power that were once so
greatly prized by America’s Founders seem to be rapidly
disappearing. Governmental tentacles now invade every facet of our
lives, with agents of the government listening in on our telephone
calls and reading our emails. The president continues to expand his
powers by centralizing power in his own office, claiming the right
to torture terrorist suspects and deciding who will have the right
to a lawyer and receive a hearing before a judge. And technology,
which has developed at a rapid pace, offers those in power more
invasive and awesome tools than ever before.
As government
invariably, perhaps inevitably, oversteps its authority, Americans
are faced with the pressing need to maintain the Constitution’s
checks against governmental power and abuse. After all, it was not
idle rhetoric that prompted the framers of the Constitution to begin
with the words “We the people.”
Throughout the
extraordinary document that is the Constitution and Bill of Rights,
there is an implicit assumption that we, the people, will preserve
our democratic rights by acting responsibly in our enjoyment of
them. The framers of the Constitution knew very well that whenever
and wherever democratic governments had failed, it was because the
people had abdicated their responsibility as guardians of freedom.
Moreover, they knew that whenever in history the people denied this
responsibility, an authoritarian regime would arise to deny the
people the right to govern themselves.
Such was the case in
Nazi Germany. Despite Adolf Hitler’s assertion that it is lucky “for
rulers that men cannot think,” he came to power not because the
German people failed to think but because they failed to think
clearly and act responsibly. The people were aware of Hitler’s goals
when they voted to approve him as Der Füehrer. Nazi literature,
including statements of the Nazi plans for the future, had papered
the country for a decade before Hitler assumed power. And Hitler’s
blueprint for totalitarianism, Mein Kampf, had sold more than
200,000 copies between 1925 and 1932. However, the German people
were poisoned by the enveloping climate of ideas that they came to
accept as important. At a certain point, the trivial became
important, and obedience to the state in pursuit of security over
freedom became predominant.
Fast forward 70
years, and you will witness an eerily similar scene unfolding in
America. While many Americans sit with their eyes glued to the
television set or a computer screen, the trivial has come to
predominate over the knowledge of our basic rights and freedoms.
Indeed, most Americans are clueless about what is in the
Constitution, trusting instead in the government to keep them safe
at any cost. Hence, if this great experiment in democracy fails, we
will have only ourselves to blame—not the politicians, the media or
threats to our security.
CBS newscaster Edward
R. Murrow recognized the critical role Americans play in the success
or failure of our nation. Amidst the Red Scare of the 1950s, when
people were afraid to speak out against the paranoia being
propagated through the media and the government, Murrow boldly spoke
up. On March 9, 1954, on his CBS television show See It Now, Murrow
said the following—a statement very apropos for today:
We cannot defend
freedom abroad by deserting it at home. The actions of the junior
senator from Wisconsin have caused alarm and dismay amongst our
allies abroad and given considerable comfort to our enemies, and
whose fault is that? Not really his. He didn’t create the situation
of fear; he merely exploited it, and rather successfully. Cassius
was right: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in
ourselves.”
Thus, if we are to
maintain our freedoms, we must do more than talk. We must act—and
act responsibly, keeping in mind that the duties of citizenship
extend beyond the act of voting. Indeed, as citizens, we must be
willing to stand and fight to protect our freedoms. This is true
patriotism in action.
Loving your country,
then, does not mean being satisfied with the status quo or the way
government is being administered. Indeed, sometimes love of country
will entail carrying a picket sign or going to jail, if necessary,
to preserve liberty. And it will mean speaking up for those with
whom you might disagree.
As history teaches,
it is the vigilance of “we the people” that is necessary to maintain
our freedoms. Thus, it is up to us to ensure that we remain free.
Indeed, as the delegates to the Constitutional Convention trudged
out of Independence Hall on September 17, 1787, an anxious woman in
the crowd waiting at the entrance inquired of Benjamin Franklin,
“Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”
“A republic,”
Franklin replied, “if you can keep it.”
Constitutional attorney and
author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford
Institute. He can be contacted at
johnw@rutherford.org.
Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at
www.rutherford.org.
