The Constitution for Today

"We the People," are the first three words of the Constitution of the United States of America. They are there to tell us who has the true power in this country if we are, as Ben Franklin said after the Constitution was written, "a Republic, if we are strong enough to keep it." We do not elect people to rule over us but represent us.

To start this discussion of the Constitution let us look now at the preamble in its entirety.

"We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

We the people need to learn the rights we have from the Constitution before we lose them. To do that we must learn what it says for ourselves. Not what some politician, judge, or bureaucrat tells us it says. I urge those who read this to get a copy of the Constitution, read it, and decide for themselves what it means.

You can get a copy of the Constitution by going to.

www.archives.gov/founding documents

Bill of Rights

I am going to skip the main body of the Constitution for now and move on to the 1st ten Amendments to the Constitution known as the "Bill of Rights." These are enumerated rights that every citizen of the United State enjoys.

We are going to start with the 1st Amendment.

"Congress shall make no respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

A little history on why this amendment was added to the Constitution. Many immigrants coming from Europe came here to flee religious persecution in their own countries where there was an official state-established religion and all other religions were prohibited. Also, in every European country, it was illegal to say or print anything derogatory of the leadership in that country. And to peaceably assemble in protest of government action, or to petition the government if you did not like a law passed was also illegal.

Going thru the Amendments in order, let us now look at the 2nd Amendment.

"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

It is also necessary to include a Webster's dictionary definition of the word militia; "an army composed of citizens rather than professional soldier called up in a time of emergency."

In the "War of 1812," Col. Andrew Jackson led members of the Tennessee Militia to New Orleans, LA, stopping the advance of British troops until Pres. James Monroe could mobilize an Army of significant strength, capable of repelling the invasion.

Again in 1836, the Tennessee militia, led by David Crockett joined William Travis in defense of the Alamo, holding the Mexican army for two weeks before being defeated. It was only a few months later: when members of the Louisiana Militia joined Gen. Sam Houston, leader of the Texas Army to defeat Gen. Santa Anna, commander of the Mexican army at San Jacinto, TX.

In short; the Second Amendment is not about going into the woods and killing dinner. It is about average citizens having the ability to slow the advance of an invading force until the President of the United States can activate the regular military to repel the invading force.

With the drug cartels and illegal immigration at our Southern border; the rising crime in our cities and everything else that is going on in our country. I now believe it is time for us to find a way for the militia to be activated to help local, state, and Federal agencies to help combat these problems. Since many of the people causing the issues are armed with serious firepower, I believe these militia units should, under this amendment, should also be armed with the same weapons.