Date: Thu, 15 Apr 1999 21:28:12 EDT From: ANTIFEDGOV@aol.com Add to Address Book Subject: The United States Constitution: Exploding the Myths To: ANTIFEDGOV@aol.com Reply To: ANTIFEDGOV@aol.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi, Are you tired as I am hearing the leading figures in the freedom movement prattle on about how America's problems would be solved if only we "returned to the U.S. Constitution?" Is the reason why these individuals put forth such an idiotic solution to the problems we face as a nation because they do not know of anything else to say, or because they do not realize what a disaster the U.S. Constitution has been, and was meant to be, to the average American? I have to laugh, albeit with a twinge of sadness, when some "patriot" says with a straight face that "the U.S. Constitution was designed to limit the powers of government" or "the Framers wanted to protect the citizen against the power of government, which is why they put in the Bill of Rights." If you have ever uttered or believed either one or both of these "facts," or others similar to them, then you stand about as far away from the truth as one can possibly stand. The eventual adoption and ratification of the U.S. Constitution represented one of the biggest grabs for political and economic power in the history of man. If the United Nations attempted a similar power grab today, the "constitutional patriots" would (rightfully so) be screaming and threatening revolution. Yet these same misled patriots today support a scheme of government which was designed to vastly increase the power of one central government, and to perpetuate and further increase its power until it reigned and ruled over the its Framers' "posterity." As a public service, then, I give to you here Part I of my series on the biggest fraud and con (yes, even bigger than the income tax!) ever foisted on Americans, the United States Constitution. This series fits nicely with the true meaning of my e-mail name: ANTIFEDGOV. You see, I am anti-federal government in the proper sense. I am opposed not only to the actions of the United States government but also to the very concept of federal, actually national, government which the Constitution brought into existence. I believe that the Anti-Federalists, those who opposed the ratification of the Constitution, were 100% correct and that it is they who should be looked upon by us with admiration rather than the Federalists. Unlike most patriots whose one favorite book is "The Federalist Papers," my favorite book is "The Anti-Federalist Papers." It is within that spirit and frame of mind that this series is written. Is the accusation I level at the Constitution justified? Let us look at how the U.S. Constitution came to be in existence: 1. The Convention which framed the U.S. Constitution was supposed to be meeting for the sole purpose of "revising" the Articles of Confederation, the existing charter of union for the United States. Instead the delegates threw out the Articles of Confederation and came up with a totally different, and more massive, scheme of federal government. 2. The Articles of Confederation, by their terms, was called a constitution of "perpetual union" among the several states. Yet the delegates to the Constitutional Convention were willing to sacrifice four states and turn them out of the "perpetual union" in order to get their new constitution; for only 9 states were required to ratify the Constitution before it went into effect--amongst only those 9 states! 3. The entire Constitutional Convention met in the utmost secrecy, and had no concerns about "freedom of the press," "open government," or other like high-sounding ideals generally associated with the Framers. These 55 gentlemen who were selected as delegates by their respective state legislatures; and who, in the Preamble, purported to speak as "We the People...," for nearly four months lacked the inclination to even hint to the people exactly what was transpiring behind their closed doors, their locked lips, and their secret journals and notes. 4. While the delegates agreed upon the end sought by the Convention, a massive power grab for a new federal government, they were divided upon the means to accomplish this nefarious end. Yet in order to deceive the masses into believing that opposition to their power grab was bound to be futile, the delegates declared that the U.S. Constitution had the "unanimous consent of the states present" and each of them signed the Constitution as "witnesses" that such "unanimous consent" was given. The statement made of "unanimous consent of the states present" and the signatures of the delegates made as "witnesses" to it were deliberately designed to deceive. What the delegates to the Convention did not want known was that not one delegate truly approved the entire Constitution which resulted from their deliberations! The statement "unanimous consent of the states present" obscured the fact that one state, Rhode Island, refused to send delegates to the Convention because it knew the nature of the scam being concocted by the Convention; and that some of the delegates from the other states opposed the Constitution altogether! And the fact that the names of ALL the delegates (except the honorable ones, George Mason, Luther Martin and Elbridge Gerry) were signed to the Constitution tended to create the impression that each of the signers supported the entire Constitution, even though the Constitution itself designated them as mere "witnesses." Thus was the diabolical beginnings of the so-called "most noble idea ever struck off the brain of man," the United States Constitution. COMING IN PART II: An analysis of the extensive mass of power "delegated" to the federal government in the United States Constitution, and why this power was fully intended to be used against, rather than for, "We the People." Your comments on Part I herein are most welcome! I will answer you personally, and promptly, should you have comment or questions. Sincerely, Ed Bruning (ANTIFEDGOV@aol.com) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------