The Constitution of the United States of America requires no interpretation. Its wording and intent are clear. The document was meant to be taken quite literally.

There are, unfortunately, many who seek to undermine the blueprint for our democratic republic. Those who, under the shallow guise of 'interpretation', craft laws, bureaucratic regulations and executive mandates which fly in the face of that revered document. They question why we should still adhere to principles set forth two centuries ago. They believe those principles are outdated.

The authors of our Constitution were, of course, men who had all the flaws inherent to humanity. But they knew the price of freedom. They were true patriots, exceptional men who, as a militia, personally took on a tyrannical government and won the right to liberty for themselves and for their descendants. They were not drafted. They were not issued arms and munitions by their government. They risked not only their lives but the lives of their families and their personal fortunes. They were outnumbered and outgunned and they often had only their spirit and determination to sustain themselves. These were men who loved liberty and understood freedom is the birthright of mankind and not a favor granted by the state. They were, in fact, suspicious of government in general and installed into our Constitution the safeguard of a well armed citizenry to assure government remained the servant of the people and not their master. They etched a document which embodies the essence of liberty. A document which serves as a model for others who cherish freedom. A document which limits the powers of the state. A covenant once held sacred between those who govern and we who select them.

Such is no longer the case.

The spirit which thrived at the birth of this nation has grown stifled and mute. Over the past eight decades, our Liberty has been squandered by an indifferent public which remains silent as government encroaches upon our personal lives, confiscates our earnings and encumbers our property in the name of public welfare, necessity, security and, of course, endangered species. This silent public, to whom I refer as the 'dumb masses', is comprised of the apathetic, the politically unconscious and those too cowardly to stand up to the state when it exceeds its authority.

In a free society, the individual has the right to engage in any activity which does not infringe upon the rights of another, cause him harm or deprive him of his property. Government must be underwritten to the point it may effectively safeguard our rights, provide for courts of justice and defend our nation against its enemies. But, when the state confiscates fifteen percent of your earnings and tells you it might parcel some of it back to us in monthly payments IF we live long enough, it has exceeded its authority. When government takes another twenty five percent of your earnings and gives it away to corporations, the United Nations and the IMF, it has exceeded its authority. When government takes up to two thirds of your estate when you die, it has exceeded its authority and caused your survivors great harm.

When laws are concocted which tell the individual how to run his business or use his property, how and to whom it is permissible to make love, or what size toilet you may purchase for your bathroom, government has exceeded its authority. When the state fills its prisons, at taxpayer expense, with offenders whose only victims are themselves, it has exceeded its authority.

When the federal government usurps the ability of local communities to determine how their children are to be educated, it has exceeded its authority. When it attempts to socialize and monopolize our system of health care, it has exceeded its authority. When it dictates to the ill how they may medicate themselves and requires them to obtain its written permission to purchase or even possess life saving medications, it has exceeded its authority, When it attempts to disarm the citizenry, the only force which constrains government from becoming even more tyrannical, it has dangerously exceeded its authority.

And when our elected officials surrender the sovereignty of this nation to a horde of multinational bureaucracies, they forfeit their right to govern.