Elitist Politicians Don't Listen to American Citizens

Elitist Politicians Don't Listen to American Citizens

By Craig M. Szwed 

As many of you probably do from time to time, I sporadically write to government officials, to comment on or protest the ongoing unconstitutional infringements that attack and subvert our Rights. Most of the messages that I send eventually get some kind of response from the officials, or their aides, BUT, their usual responses are almost always practiced babble, that has become increasingly nauseating to me. On the other hand, I have found that there are some RARE officials who care about our Constitution, our Rights,
and about responding with meaningful dialogs that address concerns of the constitutionally-minded citizen.

I have written to government officials, for many decades, but, with increasing frequency, most official responses, in the past few years, have taken on an increasingly mindless tenor that refuses to acknowledge the subtance, logical points, or conclusions in what was written to them. The officials' apparent lack of desire, or inability to process and address the citizens' arguments, shows that officials often fail to value what citizens and voters have to say. Official responses have often backhandedly said that writier opinions are noted but are not of consequence to the official (because officials seem far more concerned with political fears and political hay than with facts). It is highly probably that many or most CT Carry members and readers have had similarly frustrating, unsympathetic, irrational responses from officials to whom this readership has written. While many government officials say that, although they are very busy doing what is best for their constituents, and that they receive, read, and/or appreciate, our input and comments, yet the boiler-plate platitudes, or dismissive responses, sent back to voters, usually fail to recognize or address our concerns. Officials who fail to respond logically to our concerns demonstrate clearly that they have no intent of doing anything other than proceeding with their predetermined agenda on the given issue. Their failure to make appropriate responses to our attempts to open constitutional dialogs with them shows that they apparently have zero intention of ever supporting or defending our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Numerous times, especially within this past year, when I have urged and insisted to elitist politicians that they support and defend the Constitution, they too often have lamely claimed that they do so, but that it is open for interpretation and negotiation, and dependent on opinion and current political convenience. The elitist position has been to ignore the literal Constitution, and go with the "broad construction" view of Hamilton that allowed for "as necessary" decisions with less focus on Principle than convenience. Obviously, all the "broad" decisions in American history have led inevitably to a VERY large central/federal government that picks and chooses what it wants to do; lording its power over the individual and states. That elitist, "broad view" has even allowed the Federal govenment and its elitist followers to bully those citizens who have favored the more "strict construction" view of Jefferson, the position of abiding by the literal language of the Constitution and keeping the central/federal government small. Elitist-federalist are quick to cite the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution with which they swiftly strive to refocus public attention on whatever conveniently supports the agenda that the elitists wish to pursue, instead of on the Principles of the Constitution. Numerous times I've pointed out to the "broad"-minded elitist politicians when and where they have spoken and voted against our Constitution and our constitutional Rights, yet they have lamely said that political and public conveniences, as well as the fears of the ignorant and the weak among us, are more important than the Principles on which our nation was founded.

The dismissive posturings of "politically correct" and elitist politicians insult the language of our Constitution, and insult honest, law-abiding, Constitution-honoring citizens. The further elitist attitude, that they can have access to public or private armed protection, at their own discretion, but that the average citizen should not be afforded the same protection, flies in the face of our Bill of Rights and in the face of decades of Supreme Court decisions that affirm the Right to Keep and Bear Arms for personal protection, as did the Dred Scott Decision, way back in 1857!! As Chief Justice Taney noted, then, the Court decided against Scott, because, IF Scott and other slaves were to be afforded their Rights, they then would have been recognized as citizens, and therefore, able "... to keep and carry arms wherever they went." (As cited in the above reference link.) With the ever-increasing "broad construction" approach to government in the U.S., whereby government at all levels subjects lawful citizens to vastly multiplying waves of laws (especially anti-firearms laws), the accumulated, modern infringements which obstruct and confound our Second Amendment Rights (starting with the Federal Firearms Act of 1934) are increasingly and rapidly pushing us ever closer to a return to slavery, with little or no effect on the inappropriate use of firearms by criminals or the insane. While modern slavery may not be to individual slave-owners, yet, there is a huge push to engender slave-like subjugation of U.S. citizens to the whims of our increasingly powerful, overbearing, "broad construction", strongly centralized government. This author believes that the sense of power that has accumulated to the strong centralization of our U.S. government feeds the arrogance of our officials, and that they deceive themselves and their constituencies about their responsibilities, giving themselves permission to glibly ignore or dismiss voter concerns, as well as dismissing our Constitution's literal language and Principles, in favor of their own personal, "broad construction", and socialistic agendas.

Despite the number of "good officials" who do work to support and defend our Constitution and our Rights, it often seems, to this author, as it must to other defenders of our Constitution, that MANY officials in current levels of government fail to openly and realistically engage in reasonable discussions with those of us who do support and defend our Constitution. Therefore, all citizens and officials who abide by our literal Constitution must refocus our efforts and work vigorously to overcome the damages done by the anti-rights attitudes, attacks, and resistance to reason that are perpetrated and perpetuated by those who fail to support and defend our literal Constitution. Look at the damage that has been done by their "broad" view and socialistic policies, to us and our Constitution, over the years! We must work boldly and robustly with all government officials who openly support and defend our Constitution, in the hopes that, by our unity of spirit and purpose, we may yet be able to reestablish constitutional government and regain our full individual Rights in our persons, our States, and our Nation. 

All of us, who believe in the support and defense of our State and Federal Constitutions, MUST NOT allow our Rights to be further infringed. Even as this article is being written, encroachments against U.S. citizens continue in CA, MN, CT, NY, and MANY other places around our country. Each and every one of us needs to get busy outside of our comfort zone and do all that we can to oppose the further suppression of our constitutional Rights. This is NOT a drill. This is NOT a game. This IS the "REAL THING", upon which our Constitution, our Rights, and our future all hinge.

It does not matter whether we are personally interested in only one facet, or many facets, of the firearms rights argument, be it collecting or shooting, handguns or long guns, single shots or full autos, or whether we are only interested in the intellectual principle of an allegedly free people being able to select weapons of their own choice with which to protect themselves, their families, their state or nation. Without unity of purpose and unity of action in support and defense of our literal, "strict construction", Constitution and Bill of Rights we shall lose all our Rights, as we have seen them squashed and eroded for decades.

Our literal U.S. Constitution, especially our Bill of Rights, stands wholly and plainly in the way of tyranny, IF, and only if, we subscribe to and abide by the literal language therein. We must remember that constitutional Freedom is an affront to those who fear to stand as individuals, as much as it is an affront to those who covet the power to make themselves tyrants over us all. The latter, especially, have few, if any, qualms about saying or doing anything they want in order to subjugate the rest of us to their agenda.

In order to preserve our freedom and reestablish a more literal constitutional government, those of us who subscribe to the support and defense of our U.S. Constitution MUST PULL TOGETHER in concert, or else the anti-rights, anti-firearms elements of our society will surely pick us all off gun-niche by gun-niche, person by person. Even at this present time the anti-Rights crowd is already making serious moves to undermine free speech in MN (as has been reported in numerous venues). IF we, pro-Rights people, do not work together vigorously, while we are still 'allowed' to have firearms, just imagine what the anti-Rights extremists will do as soon as they have been able to outlaw or confiscate all our firearms! Let us therefore unite our pro-Rights efforts and contributions to stave off the attacks against us.