Ron Paul and the Militia - Part 1 and 2
Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.
Part 1
The last thing I claim to be is a political-campaign tactician. Yet it seems obvious to me that revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” ought to become a major issue in Representative Paul’s Presidential campaign, for the following reasons:
1. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” is required by the Constitution—“[a] well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a
Self-evidently, a constitutionalist candidate should promote whatever the Constitution requires—particularly when the Constitution describes no establishment or institution other than the Militia as being “necessary” for any purpose. And especially when neither Congress, nor any State, nor any Presidential candidate is doing or saying anything of consequence about this unconscionable and dangerous disjunction between constitutional mandates and political practices.
2. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” is necessary to set any program of “homeland security” on a legally proper and practical foundation.
Basing “homeland security” on the Militia will uniquely comport with the Constitution, which explicitly assigns the authority and power “to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions” to the Militia and only to the Militia, and explicitly assigns the duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed” only to the President of the United States, who it appoints as “Commander in Chief * * * of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States” (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 15; art. II, § 3; and art. II, § 2, cl. 1).
Basing “homeland security” on the Militia will promote federalism in the most thoroughgoing manner possible, because it will organize “the security of a free State” from the bottom up, through mobilization of concerned and knowledgeable citizens within each of the States, not from the top down, through a central bureaucracy staffed with supposed “professional security experts” within the General Government.
Basing “homeland security” on the Militia will remove any further excuse for the on-going para-militarization of State and Local police forces, ultimately subject to directives from the General Government’s Department of Homeland Security. This will thwart the creation, whether intentional or accidental, of a National police state in this country.
Basing “homeland security” on the Militia will mobilize tens of millions of Americans for various types of service—far in excess of any police or emergency-response forces that could possibly be raised otherwise, let alone funded.
Basing “homeland security” on the Militia will prepare this country for any conceivable crisis, because it will bring to bear on the question the minds of millions of citizens best situated, most knowledgeable, most experienced, and most highly motivated to foresee future problems in their own States and Localities, and to devise workable solutions for those problems that take maximum advantage of the personnel and resources locally available.
Thus, making revitalization of the Militia a major campaign issue would demonstrate to the electorate Representative Paul’s concern for and realistic assessment of what is requisite for successful “homeland security.” Indeed, it would demonstrate that he is stronger and more cogent on “national security” than any other candidate, because he would be the only one with a plan that was at once constitutional, comprehensive, practical, and proofed against a National police state.
3. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” will restore popular self-government in this country.
At the present time, little scope exists for intensive self-government in America, other than during elections and on those odd occasions when large numbers of citizens may be moved to petition their representatives with respect to some controversial pending legislation or other governmental action. In contrast, when revitalized the Militia will be permanent institutions, in continuous activity, directing the attentions of the vast majority of citizens every day towards all the needs of “homeland security” in their Localities, their States, and the Nation as a whole. The Militia will provide citizens, not only with a context in which critical political debate and action could take place, but also with a personal and collective sense of need, of mission, of cohesion, and of competence. Moreover, through the Militia, a large measure of initiative, authority, and responsibility will pass from public officials to the people, to be exercised by them directly. The people will be able to solve problems themselves, rather than wait for others to solve them (and generally be disappointed by the results); and to act immediately, often in advance of danger, not when it is too late. Thus, as members of the Militia, citizens will become active, self-directed participants in self-government, rather than remaining mere spectators who can do little more than respond to the initiatives or (more likely) failures of others.
The bedrock of Representative Paul’s campaign—as of his entire career in politics—is his concern for popular, constitutional self-government. Making revitalization of the Militia a major issue would demonstrate how this political philosophy can be translated into actions that truly promote “the common defence” and “the general Welfare” (U.S. Const. preamble).
4. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” will provide a means for the American people themselves to effect many critical reforms in addition to the restructuring of “homeland security” against “terrorists.”
The likelihood of a collapse of America’s monetary and banking systems in the not-too-distant future hangs over this country as a sword of Damocles. Although major reforms of those systems are absolutely essential, for Congress or the Judiciary to undertake any significant actions in that direction unless and until a financial catastrophe erupts is improbable to the point of impossibility. Representative Paul is the only major political figure speaking out on the issue. But it is not enough even for him simply to advocate “repeal” of the Federal Reserve System without explaining exactly how—gradually and systematically, according to a detailed plan—this country’s monetary and banking arrangements could be restructured without plunging the markets into extreme turbulence, and the country into social and political crises.
A controlled reform, however, could be effected through “the Militia of the several States.” As part of a plan for providing economic “homeland security,” the Militia could require their members gradually and methodically to acquire adequate amounts of silver and gold coin, to maintain accounts in “electronic” silver and gold (such as through
Thus, by incorporating revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” into his campaign, Representative Paul could present to the voters a very concrete, comprehensive, and credible method for dealing decisively with the dangers the Federal Reserve System poses.
A problem that Representative Paul, as a constitutional “strict constructionist,” will be forced to face throughout his campaign will be the attempt on the part of other candidates and the big media to malign him as “insensitive” to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged, because he refuses on principle to endorse proposals to alleviate poverty and other economic ills by means of “top-down” bureaucratic schemes for redistribution of wealth. Here, too, supporting revitalization of the Militia could materially assist his candidacy.
One critical function of “homeland security” assigned to the revitalized Militia will be to maintain economic and social stability in their States and Localities. “The economy” and “society” are not bloodless abstractions, however. First and foremost, maintaining economic and social stability entails maintaining the economic and social stability and well-being of particular individuals, families, local businesses, educational and charitable institutions, and so on.
Because every able-bodied adult citizen will serve in some capacity in the Militia, everyone through the force of circumstances will learn to work with everyone else, and through relationships of mutual reliance and responsibility will come to be concerned with everyone else’s welfare. Participation in the Militia will teach Americans—from all social and economic classes, and all walks of life—
that their legitimate interests are often identical, and even more often interdependent; that people should gain from the community in proportion to what they contribute to it; that the selfish outlooks of special-interest groups and factions are counterproductive, socially destabilizing, and unpatriotic; and that unity in a community depends upon instilling in each member a recognition of his personal duty to every to other member, and through that recognition creating a spirit of mutual purpose, cooperation, reliance, and trust.
Thus, the Militia will become, in important part, institutions for promoting true social welfare, primarily on the Local but also on the State level. Militia units will concern themselves with the economic condition of their individual members and their members’ families. They will raise money for those in difficulty, arrange for jobs, and generally act as clearing-houses to match the needs and skills of some members to the resources and opportunities that other members can provide. They will assist legal immigrants to assimilate quickly. And they will even help to socialize troubled youths, by taking them from street gangs and other undesirable milieux (including the menticidal “public schools”) into the discipline of Militia training where responsible members of the community will mentor them in patriotism, constitutionalism, and general civilized behavior. [See Ron Paul and Edwin Vieira in the new DVD "Fiat Empire"]
Moreover, because the Militia will operate in the very Localities where social-welfare work may prove to be needed; will number among their members not only the individuals who may require assistance but also those who can best provide it; and will otherwise have unique knowledge of Local needs, personnel, and resources; they will perform the social-welfare function far more efficiently than distant, aloof, and uncaring governmental agencies and the bureaucrats infesting them.
Applying federalism, subsidiarity, self-reliance, and concern for the general welfare of their communities, the Militia will demonstrate a “compassionate constitutionalism” that will exceed in scope and effectiveness anything that could be accomplished either through “liberal” politicians’ bureaucratic “welfare” schemes, or through “conservatives’” “trickle-down economics.” Thus, making revitalization of the Militia a key issue in Representative Paul’s campaign would enable him to turn the tables on all of his detractors.
5. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” will cut across the dividing lines on America’s phony “right/center/left” political spectrum, and unite Local communities in mutual efforts directed towards providing the only true “homeland security,” “the security of a free State.”
Tens of millions of Americans instinctively know what “the security of a free State” is—and that they do not now enjoy it. They have been prevented from attaining that security primarily because of: (i) the political oligopoly consisting of the “two” major political parties, professional politicians, special-interest groups, and the big media; and (ii) the “divide-and-rule” tactics that oligopoly has successfully employed in election after election. Americans realize that this is the situation, and resent it—but they do not know what to do to rectify it.
Revitalizing the Militia is the answer. The Militia will disarm the oligopoly and frustrate its tactics. Because their purpose is unitary—providing “the security of a free State”, and nothing less—the Militia will tolerate no parties, special-interest groups, or factions that detract from the unity necessary to achieve that end. And “divide and rule” will have neither place, nor proponents, nor practitioners within the Militia, because (as pointed out above) mutual duty, purpose, cooperation, reliance, and trust will be the rule. For part two click below.
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Part 2
Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.
NewsWithViews.com
Therefore, making revitalization of the Militia a major issue can be key to uniting people now; forming a grand political coalition by amalgamating voters on the “right,” “left,” and “center”; and thereby winning both a nomination and the Presidential election.
For practical examples, revitalization of the Militia will appeal to those on the “left” who are concerned—and rightfully so—with the elaboration of a National police state in this country under color of waging “the war on terrorism.” By taking over many important functions of “homeland security,” revitalization of the Militia will prevent any police state from being set up. Revitalization of the Militia will appeal to those on the “right” who are concerned—also rightfully so—with the loss of their right “to keep and bear Arms” through expansion of “gun control.” Revitalization of the Militia will end “gun control,” once and for all, because every member of the Militia (other than conscientious objectors) will be required to possess and become proficient with his own firearm, which he will maintain at all times in his own home. The only candidate who can plausibly make these arguments—because he has always opposed all the police-state schemes and tactics of the present Administration as well as all manner of modern “gun control”—is Representative Paul.
6. Revitalizing “the Militia of the several States” may provide the most direct and efficacious means for President Ron Paul to accomplish anything of significance in at least his first two years in office.
For Representative Paul to win election to the Presidency is one thing; making effective use of the office is another. Initially, Congress, the Judiciary, and the General Government’s huge bureaucracy will be against him. So, too, the major political parties; aspirant politicians of an Establishment stripe; influential special-interest groups, domestic and foreign; the big media; and the intelligentsiia. For that reason, President Paul must be prepared to sidestep the Establishment and go directly to the people—not simply with words from a “bully pulpit,” but with actions grounded in his and their legal authority.
The Constitution provides the roadmap. Article II, Section 3 imposes on the President the duty to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” Plainly, the Constitution itself is foremost among those “Laws”—for in Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 it requires of the President an “Oath or Affirmation * * * that [he] * * * will to the best of [his] Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Article I, Section 8, Clause 15 imposes upon the Militia the authority and responsibility “to execute the Laws of the
Many critical reforms that a hostile Congress would not entertain could nonetheless be effected by the President and the Militia as part of a wide-ranging program of true “homeland security.” Perhaps the most pressing would be the implementation of a system of silver and gold currencies, in anticipation of the collapse of the Federal Reserve System (described above). Many others can be imagined.
Announcing this strategy would lend immense credibility to Representative Paul’s campaign, by demonstrating that he has a plan for reform that follows the Constitution’s prescription and cannot be frustrated by entrenched special interests—if the American people will take his part in the election and do theirs afterwards. This would constitute a meaningful “contract with
7. Revitalizing “the Militia of the several States” will leave an institutional presence, fortified with constitutional authority, for common Americans’ political self-defense in both the governments of the States and the General Government, long after a Paul Administration has passed from the scene.
Even if a President Ron Paul could effect major reforms in foreign policy, in money and banking, in securing individual constitutional liberties, and so on, he would not be successful unless, at the termination of his Administration, he left the American people themselves firmly and permanently in control of their State governments and of the General Government. For future rogue Presidents and Congressmen might contrive to “roll back” these reforms, if the people could not deter, and if necessary oppose, them from positions of unassailable legal authority and power. Revitalizing the Militia will provide the American people with those positions. Indeed, only revitalizing the Militia can do so.
So, here and now candidate Paul should tell the electorate that the most important part of President Paul’s “legacy” to the country will be the constitutional means to regain and preserve individual freedom in the only way it can be regained and preserved in the final analysis: through the “well regulated Militia” that are “necessary to the security of a free State.” This would be the most significant political promise ever made since ratification of the Constitution, because Representative Paul not only would pledge to return the Constitution to the people, but also would explain precisely how he, together with the people themselves, will do it.
8. No one can plausibly oppose revitalizing “the Militia of the several States.” Opposition to the Militia is easily exposed as;
anti-constitutional—because the Constitution requires the Militia to be properly organized, armed, disciplined, and trained;
against federalism— because the Militia are “the Militia of the several States”;
against popular self-government— because the Militia are “We the People”;
against the only kind of “homeland security” that the Constitution declares to be “necessary” for “a free State”—and therefore implicitly against “a free State”—and therefore implicitly in favor of a police state; and
distrustful, fearful, and even contemptuous of common Americans.
If this list of deficiencies would not suffice to win any debate, and any election in which this were a major issue, what would?
9. If revitalizing “the Militia of the several States” becomes part of Ron Paul’s campaign (and even if it does not), it should be made an issue in every other Presidential and Congressional candidate’s campaign. The following questions would probably suffice to smoke out a candidate’s position on (or, more likely, total ignorance of) the matter:
QUESTIONS FOR CANDIDATES
People throughout the
- What do you intend to do, at the Federal level, to prevent such an apparatus from being constructed?
- Do you support a revitalization of “the Militia of the several States” along strict constitutional lines, so that, in the event of a regional or national crisis, the control and direction of “homeland- security” operations at the State and Local levels will remain in the hands of the States’ Militia and other public officials, with Federal assistance to be brought in only when and to the degree necessary, and in any case fully subordinated to State authority? If you support such a policy, what do you intend to do to bring it to fruition?
10. Patriots must also consider the possibility that Ron Paul may not obtain the nomination of any political party for President, or may not win the election. Although that would amount to a tactical set-back, his candidacy will nevertheless remain the harbinger of ultimate victory. [See Ron Paul and Edwin Vieira in the new DVD "Fiat Empire"]
Even in defeat, Ron Paul’s campaign for President would not be the end of the line, but the beginning. His success will lie in proving that the “two”-party system can be effectively challenged, that the big media can be circumvented, that common Americans in the millions and tens of millions can be aroused, mobilized, and organized to work for a restoration of limited, constitutional self-government in this country—in short, that patriotism is still alive, angry, and able.
At the seaside, the surfer waits for just the right big wave, then rides it in to shore. In American politics, the big wave of self-government has been waiting for just the right surfer—and when Ron Paul appeared, the wave began to swell. Even if the wave does not crest in this election, Ron Paul’s candidacy will provide the irrefutable evidence that the elemental political forces capable of generating an overwhelmingly powerful wave do exist below the surface, and that these forces can be harnessed and directed against the Establishment in a manner the Establishment cannot thwart. So, even if Ron Paul does not succeed in 2008, patriots can, and must, use the ground swell of enthusiasm he has unleashed to prepare for victory in 2012.
But the potential for and urgency of victory is not enough. It is not enough for patriotic Americans to know that they can and must win. They must also take the necessary and sufficient steps to insure that they do win. Here again, revitalizing “the Militia of the several States” can play a key part. Many of the same people who can be instrumental in forming the “Citizens’ Homeland Security Associations” that I advocate in Constitutional “Homeland Security” can serve as the focal-points for organizing the next “Ron Paul” candidacy (even if Representative Paul himself, for some reason, cannot run). And imagine if, not only does a second “Ron Paul” candidacy succeed in 2012, but also the new President enters office in 2013 with “the Militia of the several States” actually revitalized in a few States, and with the revitalization process well on its way elsewhere in the country.
History lays out an encouraging parallel here. Just as were the Japanese at Midway in 1942, America’s enemies in the Establishment today are suffering from “victory disease”—they have won, and won, and won political battle after political battle over the last several decades; and their ascendancy appears so secure, to them at least, that they are wallowing in arrogant self-confidence. Yet, just as the Japanese at Midway knew that they had to finish off the American Navy’s carrier force in one engagement, the Establishment also knows that it must impose a final, crushing defeat on the beleaguered forces of patriotism, before aroused Americans can mobilize vastly superior numbers and resources against it. For, like the Doolittle raid on
Ron Paul has taken
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Edwin Vieira, Jr., holds four degrees from Harvard: A.B. (
For more than thirty years he has practiced law, with emphasis on constitutional issues. In the Supreme Court of the United States he successfully argued or briefed the cases leading to the landmark decisions Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, and Communications Workers of America v. Beck, which established constitutional and statutory limitations on the uses to which labor unions, in both the private and the public sectors, may apply fees extracted from nonunion workers as a condition of their employment.
He has written numerous monographs and articles in scholarly journals, and lectured throughout the county. His most recent work on money and banking is the two-volume Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the
He is also the co-author (under a nom de plume) of the political novel CRA$HMAKER: A Federal Affaire (2000), a not-so-fictional story of an engineered crash of the Federal Reserve System, and the political upheaval it causes. www.crashmaker.com
His latest book is: "How To Dethrone the Imperial Judiciary" ... and Constitutional "Homeland Security," Volume One, The Nation in Arms...
He can be reached at:
E-Mail: Not available
www.newswithviews.com/Vieira/edwin71.htm