Author: Paul Engel
Like many of you, I am a product of the public schools. Like many of you I thought the Constitution was for lawyers and judges. One day I read the Constitution, and was surprised to find I didn't need a law degree to understand it. Then I read the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and even the Anti-Federalist Papers. As I learned more and more about our founding fathers and documents I saw how little we know about how our country was designed to work and how many people just didn't care. I started The Constitution Study to help those who also want read and study our Constitution.
Constitution Study Live Q&A – October 28, 2021
You bring the questions, I’ll bring the answers!
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288 – Permanent Apportionment Gaslighting
When you hear a lie so often that you think it’s the truth, we say you’ve been “gaslighted”. That is just as true for government as any other part of your life. From early in the 20th century, Congress has been telling the American people the lie that they limited the number of members in the House of Representatives by law. That law is invalid and void. Yet the American people sit back and allow their employees in Congress to violate the law, and do so with blatant disregard for the supreme law of the land and their oath or affirmation to support it. We act like the people in the Hans Christian Anderson tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. We nod our heads and go along with what we’ve been told our entire lives, that the House of Representatives legally has 435 members. I’m here to play the role of the small boy in the story and cry out “The Emperor has no clothes.” Specifically, that the House of Representatives has denied you the proper representation you are entitled to in Congress, and it’s about time we do something about it.
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287 – Privacy vs Government Interest
Most Americans believe they have a right to privacy. Many Americans want governments to protect them from “bad actors”. What happens when our right to privacy collides with our desire for government to protect us? A recent Supreme Court case out of California involves the question of how far government can go to protect us. Specifically, is it necessary for governments to collect data about citizens in order to find criminals? As William Pitt (the Younger) said “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.” While this case deals with California law, we should be asking bigger question. Does “government interest” trump our rights and the Constitutions of our states and the United States?
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286 – Is Transgenderism Contagious?
A recent case out of the Court of Appeals of the State of California brings up some interesting questions. First, does someone have the legal right to tell you how to refer to them? Second, does a mental disorder give someone the legal authority to infringe on the rights of others. The opinion in this case shows the irrationality of both the transgender activists and the judicial branch. Which leads me to a question, is the mental confusion we call transgenderism contagious?
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285 – Promoting Freedom or Just Another Form of Tyranny?
Many people have pointed to Florida as an example of a state protecting the rights and liberty of its citizens. They point to the state’s responses to COVID and Big-Tech as examples of not just upholding the rights of those in the Sunshine State, but specifically the leadership of Governor Ron DeSantis. Meanwhile, an objective look at some recent legislation and executive actions shows that when it comes to rights and liberty, not all in Florida is sunshine.
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284 – The Death of Freedom in America
But freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well thought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free.
Ronald Reagan’s words have come true. We now live in a country where we have to explain to the rising generations what it was like to live in America where people were free. While this day has been coming for decades, recent events show us the level of rot and decay when it comes to your rights and liberty. No longer must those of us who cherish our freedom and liberty concern ourselves solely with the acts of government. Today, businesses, society, and even our neighbors are out to crush the last vestiges of the rights and liberty we enjoy. It’s not that we weren’t warned this day would come. But like so many in other situations, we never thought it would happen in our lifetimes.