Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Whatever Happened to Innocent Until Proven Guilty?

Have you ever noticed how few people who are accused of crimes (real or imagined) in the media actually have any cases brought against them in trial? Or if they do, we don’t hear about it. Or the person ends up being found “not guilty” after they’ve been drug through the mud and paid a hefty penalty for being falsely accused.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust the media as far as I can throw a cast iron Dutch oven across my front lawn. Modern media does a pathetic job of investigating, and then puts individuals on trial in their media outlets, convicting them publicly. The result is that people’s lives are ruined, their livelihoods decimated, and their reputations destroyed without any fair trial occurring in the court system.

Why I Stopped Watching the News

I’m so tired of it, I don’t even watch the news anymore. All the media cares about is money… selling ads. It’s all about the clicks, and the views, with no regard for the lives they destroy by releasing information that hasn’t even been properly investigated or brought to trial. They relate their opinions and judgements as if they were facts over and over and over again, as if telling nonsense ad nauseum makes it true.

Each of us needs to really consider what is happening rampantly in the media. It’s a kangaroo court. If we all stopped watching and reading their tripe and refused to believe everything they say, it’s possible that things might change. Imagine a world that the Founding Fathers envisioned where each person was innocent until proven guilty. Imagine a world where we all reserved judgment until someone is given a fair and speedy trial before a jury of their peers and a legal judgement passed!

Perhaps, then, the media wouldn’t be able to destroy people based on twisted facts, insinuation, jumping to conclusions, hearsay, opinion, framing, or pure fabrication. Have you ever for a moment put yourself in the position of one of these folks (regardless of who they are or what they believe) who is the target of a media slam campaign? Can you imagine having your good name run through the mud, your livelihood destroyed, and people you once considered friends turn on you?

Whether we’re talking about someone we like or dislike, whether it’s someone who seems to have witnesses stacked against them according to the media, they still deserve to be considered innocent until proven guilty!  Why do we feel the need to take sides and pass judgement based on opinion, hearsay, accusations, or just because someone is being sued? Anyone can be sued for anything these days. Anyone can be accused and charged with anything. I have no idea if all the people whom the media has turned on are innocent or guilty. But I know this…I will stand behind the US Constitution which says a person is innocent until proven guilty. That is a hill I will die on.

And may we pray to the Almighty that our judicial system will deliver fair trials. That’s a whole other subject that needs to be addressed.

US Constitution and the Supreme Court EPA Ruling

Supreme Court EPA Ruling and the US Constitution

A look at the U.S. Constitution and how it applies to the June 30, 2022 Supreme Court EPA ruling …sending power back to Congress.

“All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.”

Article 1, Section 1 of the US Constitution

ALL legislative powers – means ALL. Does that leave any legislative powers for the Executive branch? The Judicial Branch? Bureaucratic agencies? Absolutely not! ALL doesn’t leave crumbs.

On June 30, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling which limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to set standards on climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions for existing power plants.

The court ruled 6-3 that Congress, not the EPA, has the power to create a nation-impacting system of cap-and-trade regulations to limit emissions from existing power to push the nation to transition away from coal to renewable energy sources.

You’ll find nowhere mentioned in the U.S. Constitution the bloated bureaucratic alphabet soup we have today. They were first created as an extension of the Executive branch under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930’s when he created the SSA, FSA and others. The easy way to remember that is FDR created all the acronyms … just like his own name has been abbreviated to one.

None of these agencies are constitutional. They are like branches of government that have largely been left unchecked, unbalanced by the three legitimate branches of government. They are like rogue vigilantes who have become gods unto themselves.

President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of the EPA on July 9, 1970. It began operating on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate to implement Congress-approved rules. Just because its creation was approved by Congressional committee, that doesn’t give it the ability to create new laws. Congress can’t delegate its law-making powers to an independent agency.

The Supreme Court’s ruling that the EPA doesn’t have power to create regulations is absolutely spot on. Even if you want to call these agencies part of the Executive branch, they don’t have the Constitutional authority to create law.

If you look in the Constitution, the only time the term, “regulation” is mentioned is in conjunction with Congress. When someone or a business entity can be punished (fined, imprisoned, etc.) for breaking a rule, that’s a form of law. Regulations are basically rules for implementing a law. The way regulations have been created by the Executive branch and the unconstitutional agencies is completely unconstitutional.

ALL LEGISLATIVE POWERS are vested in the Legislative branch (Congress). If you want a new law, it’s got to go through Congress. A board of un-elected bureaucrats or an out-of-control President don’t get to make edicts that make American citizens or American businesses pay fines or worse for the violation of their stipulations.

Finally, the Supreme Court is doing its job of upholding the US Constitution so that the Legislative branch can do its job which has been abdicated by varying degrees since the 1930’s! This ruling isn’t about whether you can protect the environment, it’s about who is in charge of passing laws regarding it – bureaucrats or Congress (elected by the people).

Biden and the Green-New-Dealers can pout all they want about the Supreme Court decision, but the fact is that the United States of America is a REPUBLIC, not a democracy or a bureaucracy – or at least the Constitution is a document of a REPUBLIC. Not that anyone has really been following it closely for decades. Republic means RULE BY LAW .. not rule by oligarchs, bureaucrats, Presidents, mobs, majorities, or world organizations.

With this decision by the Supreme Court, we can say a massive, “SCORE ONE FOR LIBERTY!” Now, if they will rein in the other nonsense being done by these agencies to the American people.

While the Supreme Court is concerned about bureaucrats making sweeping decisions that impact our economy, I’d love to see them look at the Federal Reserve next … which is not even Federal. It is a private group of bankers who control our entire economy! No checks, no balances, no audits… just free reign over our economy!

And the list goes on, and on, and on… this could be fun!

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A Word of Warning to My Fellow Patriots

A logical, common-sense and Constitutional look at the theories that claim the military is really in power and other theories of undercover operations to restore our nation.

As any of my readers know, I have supported President Trump throughout his Presidency. I believe he has done a great service to our country. I also have grave doubts about the validity of our elections and the election results of 2020.

I understand the feeling of utter helplessness that many Americans feel at this time. We feel violated and unheard. While sworn affidavits and evidence abounds, it has been summarily dismissed on technicalities of presentation without hearing the substance of their claims in court. As a whole, the media and the nation assumes these allegations are libelous or false even though they have never been properly heard in a court of law..

On top of that, anyone who purports that there could have been malfeasance is ridiculed, silenced or “cancelled.”

Amidst this widespread hurt among conservative Americans is a swirl of reports that have been building for some time. They claim the military is now in charge of our country and that the current resident of the White House is simply a ruse. Through a series of complex theories which multiply daily, many are convinced the military will ride in to save the day.

They claim we are technically in a state of war (from some prior events), that Martial law will be put into place, that military courts will try the perpetrators in our government, send them off to jail, and re-instate President Trump to his rightful role – or some other variation of this theme. What’s more, many claim President Trump not only knows about, but is also complicit in this complex plan (even though he has never said an actual word about it).

An Appeal to the Constitution

I feel it my patriotic duty to raise a voice of warning to my fellow Americans. I have studied the U.S. Constitution – specifically regarding the military, martial law, and what is possible under various circumstances.  From what I have read in the Annotated version of the U.S. Constitution on Congress.gov, this is what the Constitution and Supreme Court interpretations have to say:

“Martial rule can never exist where the courts are open, and in proper and unobstructed exercise of their jurisdiction. It is also confined to the locality of actual war.” (Constitution Annotated)

Chief Justice Chase wrote in regard to the Milligan trial of March 3, 1863:

We by no means assert that Congress can establish and apply the laws of war where no war has been declared or exists.

“Where peace exists the laws of peace must prevail. What we do maintain is, that when the nation is involved in war, and some portions of the country are invaded, and all are exposed to invasion, it is within the power of Congress to determine in what states or districts such great and imminent public danger exists as justifies the authorization of military tribunals for the trial of crimes and offences against the discipline or security of the army or against the public safety. In short, only Congress can authorize the substitution of military tribunals for civil tribunals for the trial of offenses; and Congress can do so only in wartime.” (Constitution Annotated)

There must be such widespread war and danger that normal courts are not possible and then the CONGRESS has to authorize the military to conduct courts in lieu of regular courts.

First, we are not in such widespread war that regular courts can’t function. The odds of this level of widespread anarchy occurring is remote. And if it is occurring, we’ve got a lot more problems than who is President.

Second, the current Democrat-held Congress (or even a Republican one) would never give the military the right to try Congress members!

These supposed “military to the rescue strategies” are

  • completely unconstitutional
  • impractical and highly unlikely, if not impossible
  • terrifying

Think About What These Theories Actually Advocate

Do we really want the military to have that kind of power? The proposed solution is more terrifying than the problem.

We’ve questioned the validity of our elections already, and now shall we invite a completely unelected group of military generals with the power and might of weapons, tanks, jets and drones to be in charge? If we give them power will they ever relinquish it? No! No man since President Washington has had the humility and righteousness to step away from power of his own accord.

As for practicality and common sense, are we to believe that a President who was not able to arrest a single “swamp rat” (not because criminals in our government don’t exist, but because it was not within his constitutional purview to do so) is now able to have the whole cabal arrested from some side-perch? The concept is preposterous.

The Real Danger is Spreading These Theories

At best these rampant theories are neutralizing people by breeding false hope so they don’t do the hard work of rooting out corruption locally. They give people the false sense that if they share this stuff on social media they are somehow working to save their nation!

At worst, the promulgation of these theories is breeding mistrust in the cause of liberty.  They have already done great harm to President Trump and lost good Senators their seats.

Continuing to spread these theories will certainly nullify President Trump’s prospects of re-election in the future. We elected President Trump BECAUSE he HAD NO TIES with CORRUPTION. Shall we spread the false claims that he’s in league with a rogue unconstitutional military coup? How could anyone think that helps his chances of re-election?

Most likely all these claims are counter-information, designed by our enemies to undermine President Trump and make all conservatives look crazy in the process. I sympathize with many well-meaning individuals who feel hopeless and are grasping for a life-raft. Please know that those who make up these things most likely care nothing about your freedom. Most likely their motives are sinister or for their own personal gain (clicks, likes and ad revenue).

Another ramification of spreading these things is that we are neutralizing our effectiveness. We live in such a swirl of misinformation, that any appeal to truth becomes impossible. No one believes anything anymore —- including any legitimate reports of crime, malfeasance, or treason by those who have actually committed such. These nonsensical and un-Constitutional theories are quite possibly part of a multi-pronged attempt to destroy the MAGA movement.

Please, my friends, I implore you to stop spreading these theories! Our future depends upon it. We must remember that the end never justifies the means. We can’t violate the Constitution to save the Constitution. If we advocate for these unconstitutional strategies, we are no better than those who have chipped away at our liberties for the last century.

Hold Fast to the Constitution

No one with any wisdom or honesty uses the Constitution when it meets their ends and violates it when it doesn’t. That is what has put us in this mess to begin with.

For example, while we all would have liked Congress to nullify some state electors for fraud, Senator Rand Paul and Vice President Pence were right. Selection and certification of electors is constitutionally a state matter. Congress simply counts the votes. We can’t violate states’ rights and the Constitution to suit our ends — no matter how justified we feel we are or how much corruption we believe exists on the state level. This is a matter for the courts to judge these allegations.  I understand the frustration in feeling the courts are corrupt as well. Yet there are those in AZ who have found a way to have their case heard. Every Constitutional effort should be made to insist on free and valid elections.

If we feel we have been wronged, we must root out corruption at the local and state levels. Not just the federal.

Hold the line. Yes, the line we must hold is the US Constitution. It hangs by a thread and we must do all within our power to educate others on it and see that wise and honest men and women will remain true to their oaths to uphold it.

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U.S. Constitution

Episode #43 – Are Term Limits a Good Idea or Not?

I’ve seen a lot going around suggesting we need an amendment limiting Congress to two terms like the President. When I see this stuff, a warning bell always goes off in my head. My dad taught me that you don’t mess with the Constitution. If you do, you do it as little as possible. The Founders thought through the rippling impact of what they included in the Constitution and the odds of modern Americans being smarter than the Founders is remote.

But, I couldn’t tell you WHY my gut sent up so many red flags when people talked about term limits. That’s why I asked Jacob Householder, National Director at Restoration Generation, to get on Zoom and explain it to me. Jacob is a Constitutional expert, having studied the Constitution from the perspective of the Founding Fathers and the eye of history.

In this exclusive interview with Jacob, he explains why Term Limits isn’t such a hot idea and what needs to be done instead to course correct our nation so that our Republic stands for another two hundred years.

Jacob Householder is also the Director of International Outreach at Columbus Center for Constitutional Studies and Board member/Volunteer at Thomas Jefferson Center for Constitutional Restoration. http://learn.columbuscenter.org/

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