Before Thomas Jefferson is wiped from our national memory, every American should remember these words from the Declaration of Independence:
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.
Our nation was founded on the belief that the consent of the governed is fundamental to preserving our democracy. A government that disregards our will and instead protects the interests of those we elect to serve us is illegitimate.
Architect of the Capitol
Are Americans citizens or subjects?
President Biden has an abysmal 38% approval rating. It makes little or no difference apart from his reelection campaign because his regime does not seek, nor is it interested in our approval or consent. Instead, it demands submission and silences dissent with censorship and threats of an overwhelming security state.
The House Judiciary Committee warns:
Government agencies and disinformation “experts” are quick to cite the need to combat foreign actors attempting to undermine American elections as a justification for this censorship regime. While foreign states do attempt to conduct influence operations, the Committee’s and Select Subcommittee’s investigation has revealed that the true focus and purpose of the censors’ “election integrity” work was to target the very Americans they claim to protect.1
Even the freedom of religion is threatened by an agency we pay to protect us:
The [Judiciary] Committee and Select Subcommittee’s oversight shows that the FBI abused its counterterrorism tools to target Catholic Americans as potential domestic terrorists.2
It’s impossible to imagine that a majority of Americans approve of this kind of Big Brother scrutiny, but this is what happens when citizens become subjects and an out-of-control government operates without our consent.
Consent of the governed is no joke
President Biden began his remarks at this year’s Governor’s Ball Dinner with a joke about being “the only Irishman you ever met that’s never had a drink.”3 He’s been called out for this sort of inappropriate witticism before. Criticism does not deter him because public opinion does not matter. He also repeated his tall tale about traveling with China’s Xi Jinping:
So, I traveled 17,000 miles with him throughout the country — our country and — and in — in China, as well.4
It is immaterial to our president that we know this story is untrue. Neither does it matter that we know his son did not die in the Iraq war or that the border is not secure or that Bidenomics is a disaster for the middle and working classes or that he did discuss his son’s foreign business affairs. The American people and what we believe, want, and need are not relevant and have no impact on an administration that mocks the Jefferson maxim that the consent of the governed matters.
The Xi story ends with the Chinese dictator asking how to define America. Biden’s punchline? “Possibilities.”
comes from our consent
Library of Congress
America’s endless possibilities are subverted by an illegitimate government
It is undeniable that America’s possibilities are endless. It’s also true that denying the consent of the governed narrows our possibilities to what most empowers and enriches those in charge. This makes our government illegitimate and the values we were founded on anachronisms that interfere with the business of politics.
There were endless possibilities to prevent the murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. The suspect charged with her killing is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Instead of protecting Riley and other Americans who will be victimized by the illegals sweeping across our border, the Biden administration, Democrat Party, and Homeland Security enforce open border and sanctuary policies. They ignore our laws and our will because their political priorities come first.
The White House dangles the straw man of border enforcement as part of its push for proxy war spending in Ukraine. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called out this effort to deny the will of the American people with supplemental “national security” legislation passed in the Senate with the help of 22 Republicans:
The mandate of national security supplemental legislation was to secure America’s own border before sending additional foreign aid around the world. It is what the American people demand and deserve.5
Pew Research reports that 80% of Americans believe their government is doing a “bad job” with the border. 70% of Republicans consider the situation a crisis and 44% of Democrats call it a “major problem.”6
Instead of taking the steps to reverse the crisis the Biden administration created, the will of the people is subordinated to an open border agenda. We are brutally invaded because Democrats and Biden wish it while they simultaneously decry the invasion of Ukraine:
The President also emphasized the urgent need for Congress to continue standing with Ukraine as it defends itself every day against Russia’s brutal invasion.7
The White House continues to push the myth that it can’t reinstate the border security measures the president revoked on Day One. Just last week, National Security Advisor John Kirby claimed:
First, the President has taken executive action at the border. And he — and he certainly will continue to do so as appropriate and within the bounds of the law.
He’s also said y- — that in order to make the changes, the fixes to border security, you got to have new legislation.8
An opaque, “bipartisan deal” to achieve overseas political objectives instead of addressing the demands of Americans to protect our country is what we get when our government operates without our consent.
Riley’s murder is a tragic anecdote to this ongoing abuse of citizen subjects held hostage to a self-serving, illegitimate behemoth dedicated to protecting, empowering, and enriching those with power and influence over our lives.
Democrats benefit from her death by spinning the blood on their hands to blame Republicans.
Republicans benefit from another opportunity to write angry press releases and make impassioned floor speeches and complain on FoxNews knowing nothing will come of it any more than the House investigations into the president and his family will hold anyone accountable for whatever malfeasance is eventually revealed.
Biden mimics Xi and Putin leadership
The president follows the lead of Xi, Putin, and other autocrats who put power and party first and refuse to be constrained by what’s best for their subjects. The difference is that the governments of these adversaries are predicated on totalitarian rule. America’s is not, but that doesn’t mean the values we were founded on are still in effect.
Democrat and Republican lawmakers have their own interests at heart. The GOP pretends to respect the will of the people while pushing aggressive anti-abortion legislation like the Life at Conception Act. Meanwhile, state legislatures promote and even pass activist pro-life bills with no exceptions for extreme circumstances like rape and incest. This is completely out of step with what most Americans want. Like extreme pro-abortion Democrats who advocate partial birth killings, Republicans prefer activism that brings in donor cash to honoring the will of the people.
Did Americans want that Green New Deal inflation bill?
Democrats joined the president to pass the massive “Inflation Reduction Act.” Biden freely admits what we knew when the bill was passed: this was about forcing AOC’s Green New Deal on our economy, not reducing the inflation kick-started by his promise to end the fossil fuel industry. Pandering to climate activists was a priority. The consent of the governed facing a hostile Bidenomics economy was not:
Polling shows that a majority of Americans disapprove of the state of the economy under President Biden. Even he regrets naming the bill the Inflation Reduction Act, since it ultimately “has less to do with inflation.” Republicans warned this Inflation Expansion Act was, in fact, a massive down payment on the Green New Deal that would fail to strengthen our economy and continue to make life unaffordable for people.9
After food and fuel prices skyrocketed, they doubled down and we began to hear about plans to restrict our buying decisions to activist-approved, climate-friendly products.
WASHER Act shows what happens when Washington denies our consent
When Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) introduced his Withdrawing Absurd, Senseless, and Haphazard Energy Regulations (WASHER) Act, he noted how Green New Deal activism defines anti-democratic government overreach:
Whether it’s gas stoves, dishwashers, gas-powered cars, or washing machines, it’s clear the Biden Administration will go through any means necessary to push their extreme climate agenda while sacrificing consumer choice and the American way of life,” said Rep. Newhouse.10
Enforcing the left’s extreme climate agenda by force of law is inimical to the idea that our government requires the people’s consent. So are blue city anti-policing policies that dump criminals back on the streets and pandering to the demands of a tiny minority of transgender proselytizers who believe genital mutilation of children is “health care” best enforced by penalty of law.
You will hear “elections matter” many times before November 5, 2024. These examples show what happens when going to the polls hands power to idealogues who believe their own political will is the only valid consent.
Consent of the governed is a political liability
The Founders created a democratic government that now views the will of the people as a liability instead of a prerequisite. Since January 2021 the fundamental precept that our voice matters is subjugated by an authoritarian and at times autocratic, anti-democratic regime diametrically opposed to the best interests and will of the American people.
Republicans, our last line of defense, are more than willing to play games and undermine their own strength by supporting phony “bipartisan” legislation instead of defending the national interest.
SCOTUS strikes a blow to shut down those who deny our voice
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously to keep Trump on state primary ballots. Attacking the right to choose our leaders to influence the outcome of a presidential election is unprecedented in our history. The justices stopped this assault on our democracy and the notion that a government by and for the people matters.
Washington may not care what we want, but at least for now we still have the right to fire leaders who don’t seek our consent and to elect those who we believe still value the gift Jefferson bestowed on his new country.
Sources
1”The Weaponization of “Disinformation” Pseudo-Experts and Bureaucrats: How the Federal Government Partnered with Universities to Censor Americans’ Political Speech.” judiciary.house.gov. November 6, 2023. p. 3. https://judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-judiciary.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/EIP_Jira-Ticket-Staff-Report-11-7-23-Clean.pdf, retrieved March 4, 2024.
2“New Report Details the Extent of the FBI’s Weaponization of Law Enforcement Against Traditional Catholics.” judiciary.house.gov. December 4, 2023. https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/new-report-details-extent-fbis-weaponization-law-enforcement-against, retrieved March 4, 2024.
3“Remarks by President Biden at the Governors Ball Dinner.” whitehouse.gov. February 24, 2024. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/02/24/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-governors-ball-dinner-2/, retrieved February 24, 2024.
4Ibid.
5“Speaker Johnson Statement on Senate’s Failure to Address the Most Critical Aspect of National Security Supplemental Legislation.” mikejohnson.house.gov. February 12, 2024. https://mikejohnson.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=1363, retrieved March 5, 2024.
6“How Americans View the Situation at the U.S.-Mexico Border, Its Causes and Consequences.” Pew Research Center. February 15, 2024. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/02/15/how-americans-view-the-situation-at-the-u-s-mexico-border-its-causes-and-consequences/, retrieved February 25, 2024.
7“Readout of President Biden and Vice President Harris’s Meeting with Congressional Leadership on Government Funding and the Bipartisan National Security Supplemental.” whitehouse.gov. February 27, 2024. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/02/27/readout-of-president-biden-and-vice-president-harriss-meeting-with-congressional-leadership-on-government-funding-and-the-bipartisan-national-security-supplemental/, retrieved March 3, 2024.
8“Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and White House National Security Advisor John Kirby.” whitehouse.gov. February 27, 2024. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2024/02/27/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-white-house-national-security-advisor-john-kirby/, retrieved March 3, 2024.
9“One Year Later, Even President Biden Admits the “Inflation Reduction Act” Failed to Lower Costs for Americans.” energycommerce.gov. August 16, 2023. https://energycommerce.house.gov/posts/one-year-later-even-president-biden-admits-the-inflation-reduction-act-failed-to-lower-costs-for-americans, retrieved February 27, 2024.
10“Newhouse Introduces Legislation to Stop the Biden Administration from Banning Your Washing Machine.” newhouse.house.gov. September 13, 2023. https://newhouse.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/newhouse-introduces-legislation-stop-biden-administration-banning-your, retrieved February 26, 2024.
Images:
Trumbull, John. “Declaration of Independence.” Architect of the Capitol. Retrieved from https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol-campus/art/declaration-independence on March 5, 2024.
Declaration of Independence. Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcwdl.wdl_02716/?r=0.015,0.061,0.872,0.779,0 on March 5, 2024.
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