In the aftermath of the recent Supreme Court decisions, many in the liberty movement have come to a vexing realization – the fact that most people have no problem with edicts, as long as they find favor with the edict in question. However, this type of governance is exactly what Americans are asking for when they allow five unelected political appointees to place binding mandates upon 320 million people.
If anything, the symbol stands for brave defiance against a usurping, national juggernaut of a state that was willing to plunge the country into bloody warfare simply to suppress secession efforts.
According to Jefferson, each individual state, as parties to the compact of the Constitution, had an independent ability to judge each law’s constitutionality. He wrote that the Constitution “is a compact of many independent powers, every single one of which claims an equal right to understand it and to require its observance.”
The Magna Carta did not guarantee liberty to all free persons, but it did serve as a lasting forerunner to all constitutions since. Its brilliance remains its applicability to all ages – there will always be a King John somewhere.
The real Jeffersonian vision in the Declaration of Independence stresses that states serve a non-sacred, utilitarian purpose, and that decentralized government is the only way that liberty can thrive.
History Channel’s “Sons of Liberty” was an excellent opportunity to tell the tale of the events that drove Massachusetts against the crown, setting the stage for independence. Unfortunately, it is a highly fictionalized account that gets much wrong. It is filled with myths, dramatized character assassinations, false hyperbole, and relevant omissions. Ultimately, it is a program that seems to provide entertainment rather than to shed light on important historical events.
