Declaration Of Independence Redux

I often reread the Declaration of Independence, an exercise that at one time was a reminder of the genius of the Founding Fathers but has now become an irritant, a reminder of what we are in danger of losing.  For example, the passage that makes the case against the King begins with “The history of the King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.”  What follows is a myriad of objections to authoritarian rule, but one objection, in particular, stands out.  “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.”  To anyone that has the grave misfortune of living in a blue state, or perhaps a democrat-controlled city, this passage should sound vaguely familiar.  And if you consider “our people” to be conservatives, then you’re really on to something. On the federal level, virtually any of the three-letter abominations qualify for inclusion in the tyrannical category. Recent evidence shows the FBI and the DOJ applying the rule of law subjectively, charging conservatives, and in particular Donald Trump, with offenses that are totally disregarded when perpetrated by democrats. The speed at which these charges progress through the system when a conservative is accused is contrasted with slow-walking investigations, vanishing evidence, or a refusal to bring charges altogether.  Witness the manipulative and supremely arrogant James Comey with his proclamation that  “no prosecutor would bring a case” regarding Hillary Clinton’s mishandling of classified material and ultimately her obstruction by destroying over 33000 emails, SIM cards, and devices that contained evidence. Contrast that with the treatment of Trump. The rabid and incessant attacks on former President Trump, from the debunked Russian collusion theory to the dredging up of a 1917 statute to accuse him of espionage, strikes one as glaringly hypocritical given the video evidence of the Biden crime family engaging in pay-to-play schemes and outright extortion. The stark comparison of the harsh treatment of supposed insurrectionists on January 6 contrasts sharply with the complete disregard for much more serious and injurious offenses that occurred during the Black Lives Matter riots in the summer of 2021. And we can’t disregard the most powerful and punitive three-letter bureaucracy in the land, the weaponized IRS, which admittedly targeted conservative organizations under the guidance of Lois Lerner, who either outright denied them tax-exempt status or delayed that status so they would be unable to influence the 2012 elections.  Despite “substantial evidence of mismanagement,” Lerner was allowed to retire with pension intact and no charges filed.  Mission accomplished.  And now we have Joe Biden seeking to increase funding for the IRS with additional agents to squeeze even more tax revenue out of working Americans. I wonder which Americans will be squeezed. Recall, “swarms of Officers to harass our people.”  But even on the state level, bureaucracy has run amok.  Unelected officials are entrenched in state offices and departments that mete out rules, regulations, and punishment with impunity. The State of New York leads the nation in licensing and controlling everything from medical practice to hair braiding and cosmetology.  Fees are levied, and hours of continuing education are required. Business licenses and a license to collect sales tax are all required to do business. 

And how about your local tax assessor?  You have the right to contest your assessment, but in my experience, that rarely leads to success. They need more money, they raise your taxes, and there’s virtually nothing you can do about it. A “view tax” surcharge, a waterfront surcharge, a “village” tax, a library tax, a fire tax, and the exorbitant school tax all ringing the government cash registers. That’s the “eat out their substance” part of it.

One can only surmise that as time marches on, our government is becoming less like what our Founding Fathers intended, instead becoming more like the tyrannical oppressors from whom we secured independence.  Is the endgame totalitarianism?  Or, with the national debt now equal to our GDP, will we descend into insolvency like Venezuela? We are so preoccupied with political partisanship, racial division, bail reform, and gender identity that we have forgotten about the blueprint from which we built the greatest constitutional republic in history.