Lincoln rhetorically redefined treason to essentially mean criticism of himself and his government. --- he paid for his mistakes the hard way
On Aug 21, 1:56 pm, MJ <[email protected]> wrote: > Is the Fed Treasonous?by Thomas J. DiLorenzo > The neoconservative talking heads recently took a short time out from > praising, deifying, and anointing Texas Governor Rick Perry as the next > president of the United States to chastise him for criticizing the Fed. In > particular, he was taken to the neocon woodshed for saying that the printing > of trillions of dollars of paper currency was harmful to the economy and, > since we are in a depression, such an act was "almost treasonous." > Governor Perry could not have been referring to the actual definition of > treason that is contained in Article 3, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution, > which reads as follows:Treason against the United States, shall consist only > in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them Aid > and Comfort. (emphasis added).The only Americans who were ever guilty of > treason under this definition would have been Abraham Lincoln, his cabinet, > the "Civil War" Congress, the Union Army command, and all army volunteers > from the Northern states during the War to Prevent Southern Independence. > Waging war against the Southern states was the very definition of treason > under the U.S. Constitution. > Lincoln rhetorically redefined treason to essentially mean criticism of > himself and his government. This has always been the preferred definition of > treason by American statists, beginning with Daniel Webster, who attempted to > redefine it as such in his famous debate over the nature of the union with > Senator Robert Hayne of South Carolina. Lincoln simply adopted Webster’s > subterfuge while subverting the Constitution with his war. > So where does the Fed fit in here? Was Governor Perry totally off base when > he said the Fed’s irresponsible and reckless behavior is "almost treasonous." > The Fed is not "treasonous" according to the actual definition of treason in > the Constitution. But what the Fed is guilty of is being the financial > handmaiden of the subversion of constitutional government in America ever > since its founding in 1913. It has helped to finance all of America’s > unconstitutional wars and other "military adventures," for example, beginning > with the Korean War. Congress no longer declares war, as required by the > Constitution, and then disguises the costs of war with debt and with money > creation by the Fed. Without the Fed, there would have been fewer > unconstitutional wars over the past 60 years, and the wars that did occur > would have been shorter. > World War I was a nightmare for civil liberties in America, with governmental > goons literally imprisoning people for such "crimes" as reading the Bill of > Rights in public. The Fed financed about one fourth of that war, and is > therefore partly responsible for such atrocities. The same is true for World > War II and all the other wars, including the most recent ones, where state > power was used to trample on the civil liberties of American citizens (as > always, in the name of "preserving" those same liberties for us). > World War I also introduced socialistic central planning to America with the > government policy of "war socialism," which included the nationalization of > numerous industries and the dictating of prices and production quotas in many > others. All price controls are a violation of the contract clause of the U.S. > Constitution, which prohibits laws that abridge legal contracts, such as > those between buyers and sellers or employers and employees. The contract > clause, and much of the rest of the Constitution, was simply ignored during > the World War I years and in the succeeding decades, especially during the > Roosevelt administration. The Fed was instrumental in making this possible by > financing such interventions. > In his book,Takings, legal scholar Richard Epstein made the argument that > both the New Deal and "Great Society" programs were all unconstitutional > under the actual constitution despite the fact that generations of lawyers > have created case law that essentially rewrites the document as being a > toothless inhibitor of governmental powers. All of these government programs > have been partly financed by the Fed. > The original Constitution listed a very few enumerated powers of the federal > government in Article 1, Section 8. All other powers were reserved for the > people and the states under the Tenth Amendment, which Thomas Jefferson > considered to be the cornerstone of the entire document. The creation of the > Fed in 1913, along with the federal income tax in that same year, was one of > the final nails in the coffin of the Jeffersonian constitution. Armed with > the ability to engage in legalized counterfeiting, virtually all political > power became centralized in Washington, D.C. All states became effective > franchises of the central government who could easily be bribed or bullied > into submission with federal grants or the threat of their withdrawal. > Thanks to the Fed, American presidents can behave like world dictators, > ordering the dropping of bombs anywhere and everywhere on a whim without any > consent by Congress or anyone else. Thanks to the Fed, the majority of > Americans are on some kind of governmental dole and are therefore neutered as > opponents of the never-ending growth of government. They do not really have > free speech rights, in other words. The same is true of all corporations that > receive government subsidies. Or even if they do not, government has become > so powerful that it can use its oppressive regulatory powers to ruin any > business person who dares to speak up against the government too effectively. > Thus, the Fed may not be responsible for "levying war" against the states, > the definition of treason that is in the Constitution, but it has played a > crucial role in the destruction of the system of federalism or states’ rights > that was established by the American founders. Perhaps Governor Perry can do > a better job of articulating this point the next time he attempts to steal > Congressman Ron Paul’s thunder on the campaign > trail.http://lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo212.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
