Form

Before we begin, a few quick definitions are in order; so that we will start at the same implicit level of understanding.

Form: The shape and structure of something; the essential nature of a thing; the component of a thing that determines its kind.

Reform: To put or change into an improved form or condition; to amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses; to put an end to an evil by enforcing or introducing a better method or course of action; to induce or cause to abandon evil ways.

Transform: To change in composition or structure; to change in character or condition-- convert.

The "Form" in our discussion is our national governing philosophy and practice. The United States was created to be a constitutional republic, with a federal government body that acts only within the scope of specifically limited and enumerated powers. This is the fact, and is not subject to opinion. I will remind you of it periodically throughout this piece.

It is obvious that any enterprise where people are involved is subject to imperfections, abuses, and mistakes. Our national Form is no exception to this. Even in the early days of our republic, human beings were tinkering with the levers of governmental control in order to shape the national direction. Never before, though, has our national Form been faced with the virtually existential threat it is under today.

We see an example of this in President Obama's own words. In a discussion where he was lamenting how the Warren Court fell short of economic and social "justice," he said: "It didn't break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution... that generally the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. It says what the states can't do to you-- says what the federal government can't do to you, but doesn't say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf."

[ Our Form: The United States was created to be a constitutional republic, with a federal government body that acts only within the scope of specifically limited and enumerated powers. ]

The feelings he expressed regarding the Constitution's shortfalls provide the basis for Mr. Obama's quest to bring, in his own words, "fundamental change," "transformation," and "reform" to America. Does he miss the obvious point that the Bill of Rights is all about the individual? Does he not understand that the Founders meant to make it that way? Hardly. In fact, that is the whole point of the left's war on the Constitution. All that individual rights stuff does not float the statist's boat. Hence, "fundamental change" is necessary.

Michelle Obama clearly agrees with her husband: "Help us fight this fight to change, - transform - this country in a fundamental way. This chance won't come around again."

Sounds as if she was channeling the same sort of speeches the world has heard many times.

~~ "It is absolutely essential that the oppressed participate in the revolutionary process with an increasingly critical awareness of their role as subjects of the transformation." --Paulo Freire ~~

Typically, the leftists speak of fundamental change and transformation in the macro-- e.g., Michelle's above quote. Conversely, they speak of reform in the micro-- e.g., "health care reform."

I find that distinction particularly alarming. Should not the fundamental changing and transformation be applied only to the individual and specific "broken" policies and procedures, rather than to the very fabric and Form of the Republic? The truth is, fundamentally transforming our nation's Form is at once the holy grail to the statists, and pure anathema to the Conservatives. Therein lies the great battle.

[ Our Form: The United States was created to be a constitutional republic, with a federal government body that acts only within the scope of specifically limited and enumerated powers. ]

Now that the leftists are in power, "change" is flowing from every artery in the governmental body. They mean to bring their fundamental transformation to America. Before they can do it, though, they must strip away the remaining vestiges of the "old way"-- much like reducing the sculpture back to clay to be remolded into another, completely different form. At times, it is breathtaking to consider the scope of it. Almost as if the children have taken over the day care center.

~~ "Every genuine boy is a rebel and an anarch. If he were allowed to develop according to his own instincts, his own inclinations, society would undergo such a radical transformation as to make the adult revolutionary cower and cringe." --John Andrew Holmes ~~

Not that changes should not be considered. In fact, Conservatives want broken things to be fixed, every bit as much as anyone else. Programs and policies of the government must always be monitored to see where changes should and must be made. In so doing, though, we have to exercise a solid amount of realism and pragmatism. We Conservatives understand that lurking behind the shiny cloak of "change" is often something else... something insidious.

~~ "Every reform, however necessary, will by weak minds be carried to an excess which will itself need reforming." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge ~~

"Excess" in our nation's case would appear to have come a long time ago. The federal government has been increasing in size and scope for decades, and we now seem to be reaching some sort of pinnacle. With Cap and Trade legislation and "universal health care," the final strands of federalism, and indeed liberty itself, will finally snap.

[ Our Form: The United States was created to be a constitutional republic, with a federal government body that acts only within the scope of specifically limited and enumerated powers. ]

Fortunately, a new and legitimately grassroots movement seems to be afoot. Sober minds are now calling for a halt-- or even a slowing so that people can catch their breath and take account of what is happening. "Regular" Americans, most of them for the first time in their lives, are taking to the streets to try to slow the unprecedented growth of the government leviathan.

Remember, though, what we consider "excess," the leftists consider progress. From the very birth of their sacred "progressive movement" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, they have sought to reduce the United States to its clay basis in order to remake it to their Utopian specifications. They are very clever in their tactics and their language. They use words like "reform" very effectively-- often casting the Conservatives as villains for standing in the way of necessary change.

[ Our Form: The United States was created to be a constitutional republic, with a federal government body that acts only within the scope of specifically limited and enumerated powers. ]

We must stop falling into that trap. We must remind ourselves and our countrymen that reform is a serious business that we do believe in, but that we must operate with great care.

~~ "Every abuse ought to be reformed, unless the reform is more dangerous than the abuse itself." --Voltaire ~~

In the final analysis, of course, it all comes down to worldview. We take it as an article of faith that our First Principles are the sacred blueprint we must return to. The left does not subscribe to the idea of individual rights trumping the "collective," and so seeks the usurpation of those founding principles.

The main tool they have used to bring about their desired transformation is their ostensibly good intentions. Virtually all of the successes they have enjoyed in breaking our constitutional code have come from what they paint as the emotional high ground. Manipulation of the electorate through perversions of altruistic concepts like "compassion" and "empathy" have brought the leftists a long, long way. In recent decades, they have learned their lessons well-- primarily from their master strategist, Saul Alinsky.

Using the emotions of the masses to create social upheaval is, of course, not new. The world has seen this countless times. What is different now for the United States is that the "transformers" have taken almost all of the controls of the federal government and are currently running it like a steam roller over constitutional and societal precedence.

[ Our Form: The United States was created to be a constitutional republic, with a federal government body that acts only within the scope of specifically limited and enumerated powers. ]

At key times, such as the November 08 elections, they have convinced a majority of the electorate that they can deliver Utopia. Again, this is hardly new, but now that they have pulled off this ultimate sleight of hand, they are running with it as never before.

Our best hope lies in the wisdom of the American voters. If they continue to awaken from their apathetic slumber, as they now seem to be, then we have a chance to at least slow the obscenely burgeoning federal beast. We must use every intellectual and rhetorical tool at our disposal, though, for the statists will continue in their blatant demagoguery to the bitter end.

We will fight that with truth and common sense, reminding ourselves and the voters of timeless axioms such as this one from a former Speaker of the House:

~~ "One of the greatest delusions in the world is the hope that the evils in this world are to be cured by legislation." --Thomas Brackett Reed ~~

Keep thinking and keep talking. We're going to prevail... we have to prevail-- for the sake of our precious Constitutional Republic and for our very freedom and individuality.

-