Elizabeth Willing Powel: “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?”

Benjamin Franklin: “A republic, if you can keep it.” (September 17, 1787)

The U.S. Constitution was drafted to replace the Articles of Confederation that had been our first governing document.  The Articles had lacked the strength to hold the country together.  The States each had their own currency, systems of weights and measures, and there was no national army that could defend the nation (States contributed whatever they wanted, whether it was enough or not).

The U.S. Constitution gave the national government more power, but it expressly listed what powers it could exercise and the limits of those powers.  Interestingly, the Constitution also expressly limited the national government’s power in many areas, calling for the States and/or the people to exercise those powers not given to the national government (10th Amendment).

Though it was not perfect, it provided for the freest form of government yet devised by man and it had an amendment process to help it reflect changing norms.  Problems with our government began when the apparatus began making changes without using the amendment process.

Despite its flaws, I would still rather be in America than any other country, but failing to remain vigilant to the Constitution over the last 250 years has irreparably harmed the system we were given and calamity is advancing at a greater speed due to the work of corrupt and duplicitous politicians and their cronies.  We are not as free as we were at the nation’s 200th anniversary and our rate of decline does not bode well for us celebrating a 300th anniversary.

My list is incomplete and biased by my philosophy (I’m an original intent Conservative).  I write this blog to show the increasing degree of corruption that has contaminated our system of government.  The framers of the Constitution borrowed many of its ideas from the Word of God, but today, our government directs many forms of evil and perversion that run counter to the Word.  The Father will not suffer our national lawlessness forever.

Thank God there is an America, but unless we reign in the forces of evil that undermine our great experiment, we are doomed to extinguish the light that our Founding Fathers lit and passed down to us.  I fear it is already too late.

¹ Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. ² By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. ³ Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.

⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. ⁷ As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. (Hosea 4:1-3, 6-7)

•  Marbury vs Madison (1803)

Justice Marshall watched as the political party he belonged to got swept out of office.  The Jeffersonian party was looking for an excuse to impeach Marshall and the other Justices and replace them with their own people.  Marbury vs Madison was the case that appeared to give them that opportunity.  Marbury sued to get an appointment he had been promised by the Adam’s administration.  The appointment was signed, but not delivered – it sat on James Madison’s desk and he had no plan to deliver it.

Marshall wanted to rule for Marbury but knew it would lead to his impeachment – political suicide.  Marshall instead ruled that the case, itself was “unconstitutional” since the Constitution did not grant the Supreme Court the right to try cases of this sort.  He advocated that the Court was the arbitrator of Constitutionality which is not a power granted to it by the Constitution.  This novel idea was not contested at the time and was not used again for over fifty years because the Justices knew they were not granted this power.  The second time it was used was in the Dred Scott case (54 years later).  The Court’s egregious decision in this case pushed the country in the direction of Civil War.

Today the courts use judicial oversight to advance their political causes and to nullify the agenda of their political opponents.  Since five Justices on the Supreme Court can declare anything unconstitutional, Marbury vs Madison gave us the tyranny of five, and the effects affect the whole nation, these unelected few can (and often do) wield tyrannical power over the nation’s laws and often create new laws where none existed (the job of the Congress).

And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment. (2Chronicles 19:6; see also Deuteronomy 1:16)

• The Bureaucratic State (1883)

The size of the government grew to a great degree out of necessity during the Civil War.  After the war, the government maintained the expanded size of govt and created a permanent bureaucracy to operate it.

The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883 saw the rise of regulatory agencies that could issue directives and mandates, independent of Congress or the President.  Many tens of thousands (and still growing) regulations have been enacted by the bureaucracy concerning every aspect of our daily lives with little or no oversight (compared to 613 Laws ordained by Yahweh).  These regulations are often drafted by the entities that the bureaucracy is supposed to have oversight over.  Relief from these oppressive rules is often only achieved by taking legal action against the government, which can be expensive and few can afford.

¹ Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; ² To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! (Isaiah 10:1-2)

• Election of Woodrow Wilson (1908)

Democrat from New Jersey.  Blacks had been making progress in assimilating into Northern society (there was still overwhelming discrimination in the Southern States).  One area in particular was in the Civil Service – because of his hatred of Blacks, Wilson eliminated all Blacks from Civil Services.  Wilson watched the movie “Birth of a Nation”, a post-Civil War, pro-South, pro-Ku Klux Klan production and praised it to the Press.

Wilson used the First World War as an excuse to expand the bureaucracy and the dictatorial powers of the Presidency.

• The Federal Reserve (1913)

Wealthy bankers of the five wealthiest families in the world devised a central bank system that was separate from the authority of the federal government but named it the Federal Reserve to hoodwink people into thinking it was part of the government.  Corrupt politicians helped enact the Federal Reserve because of the promise that the Fed would finance the massive federal government without the politicians having to raise taxes on their constituents.

The rampant printing of money makes the dollar worth less every year (inflation) and causes the price of goods to rise.  Congress is not incentivized to balance the budget because the Fed will cover the shortages causing a massive national debt that cannot be sustained.  The Fed (the Rothchilds and other wealthy demons) gets paid interest on that debt (without having to use their own money as collateral), so they encourage more spending.

The end result will be bankruptcy (who can pay off $39T?), the collapse of the dollar, and the destruction of all savings and investments.

The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is [in bondage] to the lender. (Proverbs 22:7; see also Matthew 6:24)

Read the story of this travesty in G. Edward Griffins book, the Creature from Jekyll Island.

• Direct Election of Senators (1913)

The Constitution directed that the State legislatures were responsible for appointing Senators (Article 1, Section 3).  This allowed for the States to have some influence over the laws being passed by the federal government.  States’ rights were to be a counterbalance to federal authority.  Direct election has had negative consequences for a State’s interests when the voters choose a popular person rather than someone invested in their own State.  Senators also have no allegiance to the State if they can charm a majority of voters – their allegiance is to the Party apparatus.

Direct election removed a formidable check on federal tyranny.

• Election of Franklin Roosevelt (1932)

FDR used the Great Depression as an excuse to expand the bureaucracy, welfare, the national debt, and to stifle free enterprise.  The Depression lasted nine more years because of his attempts to control the economy and his wasteful government spending.  He sent a letter to Mussolini (1933) praising him for his Socialist make-over of Italy and complained that he did not have the same dictatorial powers as Il Duce.

FDR started the welfare state and social security as a replacement for hard work and individual responsibility.  Despite there being numerous private charities to help people who were temporarily down on their luck, the government set up public (often inefficient) agencies that existed on the tax dollars that Americans once gave to private charities.  Since all government entities live to increase the scope of their powers and the size of their budgets, there is never an incentive to lessen the rolls of the impoverished – rather they seek ways to add to the list of the destitute, which increases taxes, making it further difficult for Americans to contribute to private charities.

The government makes more people dependent on public hand-outs and insists that poor vote for the proponents of the welfare state in order for the hand-outs to continue.

The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money (Alexis De Tocqueville – 1831)

After Pearl Harbor, he ordered Americans of Japanese descent rounded up and placed in concentration camps – they lost their homes, farms, and their private property.  He set a precedence for future enslavement in times of crisis.

• United Nations (1945)

Established to promote international cooperation, it has had no real positive impact on the relation of countries to each other.  The organization itself has established numerous agencies that ultimately promote a one-world government (with themselves in charge) at the expense of the sovereignty of every nation.  The United States pays a vast majority of the operating expenses and in return, it gets a world body that often advocates policies that are counter to America’s interest (when they aren’t voting to condemn Israel).

Since most of the nations of the world are run by despots, all the UN agencies have despotic majorities and tendencies that undermine the rule of legitimate republics (often on purpose).

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (2Corinthians 6:14)

• Election of Lyndon Johnson (1964)

Johnson vastly expanded the welfare state and added provisions that broke up families to be eligible for payments.  Black families were hardest hit – during the 1940s, black families were 95% intact.  After implementation of the Great Society in the 1960s, less than 50% of black families remained intact.  The number of single-mother led families exploded, trapping generations of families in government programs and ensuring they will continue to vote for the people administering those programs.

I’ll have those n**gers voting Democratic for the next 200 years. (Lyndon Johnson – 1964)

The Great Society was so expensive that Johnson raided the Social Security “lock box” and placed all the funds in the federal budget.  Social Security has not been solvent since the 1960s and every year a larger percentage of the national budget goes to paying Social Security, adding to the national debt and each Americans tax rate.  This arrangement is untenable.

• Public Education / Department of Education (1979)

In the early 1800s, States started providing for free education – each State establishing its own standards. As transportation between States became easier (the railroad and then cars) the desire for a National standard of education became more prevalent.

The national government began to give money to the States to enhance their schools and curriculum, then once the States’ budgets were dependent on these subsidies, the federal government began to impose their will on the States’ education program and the States were forced to comply under threat of losing that funding.

Schools were forced to abandon Creation for Evolution (despite its obvious lack of evidence) and abandon classes in Life Skills (e.g., Home Economics, Shop, Personal Finance) to make room in the schedule for diversity and inclusion agendas.

The Supreme Court even imposed their will over the States with a ban on prayer in the schools (Engel v. Vitale- 1962) and a ban on reading the Bible in school (Abington School District v. Schempp – 1963).

Schools today require a plethora of sexually related classes to even the youngest of students that advocate an increasing acceptance of every type of immoral perversion. Students are introduced to graphic images and literature that would have gotten a person arrested just twenty years ago if they had shard it with a minor.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverb 22:6)

Let me control the textbooks, and I will control the state. (Adolf Hitler)

•  The CIA (1947)

Having an organization that collected intelligence on our enemies was needed, but the mandate of the CIA went much further and the organization had ineffective oversight.  The CIA developed numerous operations that were directed against the American public:  Echelon, MK Ultra (mind-control), Tuskegee airman syphilis experiments, LSD experiments, cocaine distribution, political assassinations, nation-destabilization . . . .

•  Election of Barrack Hussein Obama (2008)

Obama’s election was thought to finally erase the sins of slavery (which had been erased when 650,000 Americans lost their lives in the Civil War) and racial discrimination (which had been correcting itself over time) – instead, Obama inflamed race relations, causing new racial divisiveness and empowering the race-grievance industry.

His signature program (Obamacare) has destroyed the healthcare industry and made the costs prohibitive.  Insurance companies now control the type of treatment someone can get, and the costs are rising much faster than the cost of living.  The system has not collapsed due to the subsidies paid by the government (your taxes) to the program.  The tax rate of the average American is 37% – include an inflation rate of 5% and we see that American lose nearly 40% of their pay to a bloated and wasteful government.  It is no wonder that both parents must work to support a normal family.

•   Buying the Public

Congress gives subsidies to favored groups – those favored groups vote for continued subsidies.  Money is extorted (taxed) from one group and given to others who are more likely to vote correctly.  These subsidies are always paid to NGOs who keep a large portion of money for themselves and to reward (kick-back) the campaign coffers of the congressmen who made the subsidies available.  This fraud and corruption has made a majority of Congress exceptionally rich, increased the size of the national debt, and made most Americans exceptionally poorer.

Too many people are being enriched off of the bloated and corrupt government (including the Congress that oversees this monstrosity) for it to correct itself – the watchdogs are in on the scams.  The fraud and payoffs will continue until the swindle collapses on itself due to an exhaustion of the taxpayers’ ability to support the government’s racket.

When half your paycheck goes to someone other than your family, will you continue to support this hustle?  60%?

What will a very powerful government, with lots of guns, do when its serfs refuse to pay into the system?

I am very pessimistic about America’s future.  I hope I’m wrong and I contribute to groups I believe can check some of the corruption, but I believe it is a losing battle.

I am very optimistic that Christ will return (in my lifetime?) and initiate a just government founded on just laws.  If you read your Bible, you know that a lot of pain and suffering takes place immediately before his return.  You may also notice that America is not mentioned (or even hinted at) being of any influence in the events that take place.

Do not place your faith in a country or a leader.  Work to make your country and its leaders better, but there is only one person that will save you when the world descends into darkness:

⁹ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ¹¹ For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. ¹² For there is no difference between the Jew and the [Gentile]: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. ¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:9-13)

Confessing Christ as Lord means more than just saying the words – it means doing what he commands.  Learn what that means now while life is relatively good because it will be much harder when times get harder.  Don’t be a fair-weather Christian only to discover that that was not enough:

²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7:21-23)

YOU are responsible for working out your salvation with the Savior – your pastor, priest, minister, rabbi, imam, guru, or any other religious leader cannot get you over the finish line.  I would venture to say that most of them are a hinderance to salvation because of the corrupted doctrines they teach.

Nearly all Christians (as do all other religions) believe they will be saved, but Christ says that the opposite is true:

¹³ Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: ¹⁴ Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. ¹⁵ Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (Matthew 7:13-15)

Religious leaders may mean well, but if they were taught error, they are probably teaching error (of course many are wolves who feed off their parishioners).

You must test the words of your teachers to the standard of the Word.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1Thessalonians 5:21)

Now for the shameless plug.  My book, GRAFTED: Embracing Torah, is a good starting point.  It gives a good overview of the Law of God and includes a chapter on making the Word your own:  how to study the Word, how to use interlinears, lexicons, context, etc.

If you don’t want to get my book, my website includes the chapter about making the Word your own:  https://graftedonline.com/2022/02/10/make-the-word-your-own/

Start today – do it as if your life depends on it.

America can be pretty good, but it will not save you when it counts.