When you direct your attention at your fellow American, it is hoped you are aware that they too possess a mind just like yours. Nothing physical matters. That point of view is one of true equality.

"We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the Courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution." - Abraham Lincoln

Concerning unrest in the Middle East offered here is a well researched book in its entirety "Against Our Better Judgement" by Alison Weir.

Meaning of "We the People"

The first three words in the Constitution are the most powerful: We the People. They declare that the Constitution derives its power, not from a king or a Congress but from the people themselves. This concept of popular sovereignty, power to the people, is the foundation upon which the entire Constitution depends.

While you may think that “We the People” is about all Americans, there is much more to the phrase. “We the People” includes all the citizens of the United States of America. The importance of this phrase shows that it wasn't just the framers of the Constitution or the legislators who were given powers to the government. Instead, the government gets all of its powers from the Citizens of the United States of America.

When you read the entire preamble, you can see that “We the People” gives the government its' powers. This is very important because without the people lending that power, the United States Constitution would not have been able to become the guideline for the Republican government we have today.

GOVERNMENT, CITIZENSHIP, AND EDUCATION

by Mortimer Adler

In the middle of the last century, when a constitutional democracy in this country was still a hundred years

away, Horace Mann wrote:

“The establishment of a republican government without well-appointed and efficient means for the universal

education of the people is the most rash and foolhardy experiment ever tried by man.”

Every citizen, both young and old, should know about the ideas and ideals of the Constitution.

By “every citizen” I mean not only the persons who are of an age to exercise the franchise that enables them

to participate actively in political life. I include also those individuals who will become our future citizens -- the

young, who, when they come of age, will take on the responsibilities that the high office of citizenship puts on

their shoulders.

Most Americans, I fear, do not know or appreciate the fact that citizenship is the primary political office

under a constitutional government. In a republic, the citizens are the ruling class. They are the permanent and

principal rulers. All other offices that are set up by the constitution are secondary.

The first and indispensable qualification for holding political office in any of the branches of government is

to be a citizen. Officeholders, moreover, whether elected or selected, are citizens in office for a period of time,

but all citizens are citizens for life. Officeholders, from the President down, are transient and instrumental rulers,

unlike citizens in general who are permanent and principal rulers.

The distinction between the permanent status of citizenship and the transient or temporary character of government

officials is obvious. But it may not be so obvious why I refer to citizens as the principal and call government

officials instrumental rulers. To understand this point it is necessary to realize that the government of

the United States is not in Washington, not in the White House, not in the Capitol, which houses the Congress,

nor in any or all the public office buildings in the District of Columbia.

The government of the United States resides in us -- we, the people. What resides in Washington is the

administration of our government. We recognize this, at least verbally, when we say, after a Presidential election,

that we have changed one administration for another. That change leaves the government of the United

States unchanged, because its principal rulers are also its permanent rulers, whereas its instrumental rulers, its

administrative officials--are transient and temporary.

Administrative officials, from the President down, are the instruments by which we, the people, govern

ourselves. They serve us in our capacity as self-governing citizens of the Republic. Lincoln never tired of

saying that he conceived his role to be that of a servant of the people who elected him. The word “servant” in

this connection does not carry any invidious connotations of inferiority or menial status. Rather, it signifies the

performance of an important function, one carrying great responsibility, a responsibility officials are called upon

to discharge while they are serving a term in public office.

I am sorry to say that most Americans think of themselves as the subjects of government and regard the

administrators in public office as their rulers, instead of thinking of themselves as the ruling class and public

officials as their servants -- the instrumentalities for carrying out their will.

It is of the utmost importance to persuade the citizens of the United States, both young and old, that they

have misconceived their role in the political life of this country. If they can be persuaded to overcome this misconception,

and come to view themselves in the right light, they will understand that their high responsibility as

citizens carries with it the obligation to understand the ideas and ideals of our constitutional government.

In earlier times, when much smaller societies than ours were ruled by princes, books were written to instruct

princes in the art of governance. The education of the prince, both moral and intellectual, was of supreme

importance if one had any expectation of obtaining good government from their benevolently despotic rule.

Now, when the people have replaced the prince, when they are the self-governing rulers of the Republic,

how can we expect good government from them, or from the administrative officials whom they directly or

indirectly choose to serve them, unless we think it supremely important that they, the citizens both young and

old, be educated for the discharge of their responsibilities.

Preparation for the duties of citizenship is one of the objectives of any sound system of public schooling in

our society. Our present system of compulsory basic schooling, kindergarten through the twelfth grade, does not

serve any of these objectives well.

The reasons why this is so and what must be done to remedy these grave deficiencies have been set forth in a

series of my books (Reforming Education: The Opening of the American Mind, We Hold These Truths, and The

Paideia Proposal) that have initiated much needed reforms in our schoolsystem. Here I will borrow from them

only what is germane to the explanation of what must be accomplished educationally to make the future citizens

of the United States better citizens than their elders.

I am going to state the educational objective in its minimal terms. The least to be expected of our future

citizens (as well as all the rest of us) is that they will have to read the three documents that are our political

testament -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg

Address--and that their reading of these three documents will have eventuated in their understanding the ideas

and ideals of our Republic. While much more might be added, the primary concern here is the understanding of

the ideas and ideals of the Constitution.

I have engaged in the Paideia project to reform basic schooling in the United States. In the course of doing

so I have had the occasion to conduct many seminars with high school students in which the reading assigned

for discussion was the Declaration of Independence. Taking part in the seminar resulted in their reading that

document for the first time.

The discussions that followed revealed how little they understood the meaning of the Declaration’s principal

terms before the discussion began, and how much more remained to be done after the seminar was over to bring

them to a level of understanding that, in my judgment, is the minimal requisite for intelligent citizenship in this

country. The same can also be said with regard to the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address.

I am sure that the sampling of high school students I met in these seminars is representative of the general

state of mind, and that a similar sampling of our college graduates would not change the picture.

Over the last sixty-five years, I have also conducted executive seminars under the auspices of the Aspen

Institute for Humanistic Studies, in which the participants are graduates of our best colleges and universities

and have reached positions of eminence in our society -- the top echelons inindustry, commercial establishments,

journalism, the so-called learned professions, and government. Their understanding of the basic ideas in

the Declaration and in the Preamble to the Constitution is not discernibly better than what I found among high

school students.

On one very special occasion, I conducted a discussion of the Declaration with leading members of President

John F. Kennedy’s Cabinet and his political entourage. To my surprise and chagrin, the result was the same.

The inevitable conclusion that I draw from all of these experiences is that there is work for us to do. I am

fully aware that I cannot hope we will succeed in achieving what we seek to do -- to help every citizen, both

young and old, understand the ideas and ideals of the Constitution.

Considering the extent of actual and functional illiteracy in this country, even that may be too much to hope

for at the present time. Still, one must believe that reform of basic schooling will succeed in the years that lie

ahead and that, at some future time, an understanding of the fundamental principles that underlie the political

life of this Republic will be the possession of every citizen of the United States.

Our schools are not turning out young people prepared for the high office and the duties of citizenship in a

democratic republic. Our political institutions cannot thrive, they may not even survive, if we do not produce a

greater number of thinking citizens, from whom some statesmen of the type we had in the eighteenth century

might eventually emerge. We are, indeed, a nation at risk, and nothing but radical reform of our schools can save

us from impending disaster.

Whatever the price we must pay in money and effort to do this, the price we will pay for not doing it will be

much greater.

Courtesy of Mortimer Adler’s Center for the Study of Great Ideas

GOVERNMENT, CITIZENSHIP, AND EDUCATION

In the middle of the last century, when a constitutional democracy in this country was still a hundred years away, Horace Mann wrote: “The establishment of a republican government without well-appointed and efficient means for the universal education of the people is the most rash and foolhardy experiment ever tried by man."

”Every citizen, both young and old, should know about the ideas and ideals of the Constitution.

By “every citizen” I mean not only the persons who are of an age to exercise the franchise that enables them to participate actively in political life. I include also those individuals who will become our future citizens -- the young, who, when they come of age, will take on the responsibilities that the high office of citizenship puts on their shoulders.

Most Americans, I fear, do not know or appreciate the fact that citizenship is the primary political office under a constitutional government. In a republic, the citizens are the ruling class. They are the permanent and principal rulers. All other offices that are set up by the constitution are secondary.

The first and indispensable qualification for holding political office in any of the branches of government is to be a citizen. Officeholders, moreover, whether elected or selected, are citizens in office for a period of time, but all citizens are citizens for life. Office holders, from the President down, are transient and instrumental rulers, unlike citizens in general who are permanent and principal rulers.

The distinction between the permanent status of citizenship and the transient or temporary character of government officials is obvious. But it may not be so obvious why I refer to citizens as the principal and call government officials instrumental rulers. To understand this point it is necessary to realize that the government ofthe United States is not in Washington, not in the White House, not in the Capitol, which houses the Congress,nor in any or all the public office buildings in the District of Columbia.

The government of the United States resides in us -- we, the people. What resides in Washington is the administration of our government. We recognize this, at least verbally, when we say, after a Presidential election, that we have changed one administration for another. That change leaves the government of the United States unchanged, because its principal rulers are also its permanent rulers, whereas its instrumental rulers, its administrative officials--are transient and temporary.

Administrative officials, from the President down, are the instruments by which we, the people, govern ourselves. They serve us in our capacity as self-governing citizens of the Republic. Lincoln never tired of saying that he conceived his role to be that of a servant of the people who elected him. The word “servant” in this connection does not carry any invidious connotations of inferiority or menial status. Rather, it signifies the performance of an important function, one carrying great responsibility, a responsibility officials are called upon to discharge while they are serving a term in public office.

I am sorry to say that most Americans think of themselves as the subjects of government and regard the administrators in public office as their rulers, instead of thinking of themselves as the ruling class and public officials as their servants -- the instrumentalities for carrying out their will.

It is of the utmost importance to persuade the citizens of the United States, both young and old, that they have misconceived their role in the political life of this country. If they can be persuaded to overcome this misconception,and come to view themselves in the right light, they will understand that their high responsibility as citizens carries with it the obligation to understand the ideas and ideals of our constitutional government.

In earlier times, when much smaller societies than ours were ruled by princes, books were written to instruct princes in the art of governance. The education of the prince, both moral and intellectual, was of supreme importance if one had any expectation of obtaining good government from their benevolently despotic rule. Now, when the people have replaced the prince, when they are the self-governing rulers of the Republic, how can we expect good government from them, or from the administrative officials whom they directly orindirectly choose to serve them, unless we think it supremely important that they, the citizens both young and old, be educated for the discharge of their responsibilities.

Preparation for the duties of citizenship is one of the objectives of any sound system of public schooling in our society. Our present system of compulsory basic schooling, kindergarten through twelfth grade, does not serve any of these objectives well.

The reasons why this is so and what must be done to remedy these grave deficiencies have been set forth in a series of my books (Reforming Education: The Opening of the American Mind, We Hold These Truths, and The Paideia Proposal) that have initiated much needed reforms in our school system. Here I will borrow from them only what is germane to the explanation of what must be accomplished educationally to make the future citizens of the United States better citizens than their elders.

I am going to state the educational objective in its minimal terms. The least to be expected of our future citizens (as well as all the rest of us) is that they will have to read the three documents that are our political testament -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address--and that their reading of these three documents will have eventuated in their understanding the ideas and ideals of our Republic. While much more might be added, the primary concern here is the understanding of the ideas and ideals of the Constitution.

I have engaged in the Paideia project to reform basic schooling in the United States. In the course of doing so I have had the occasion to conduct many seminars with high school students in which the reading assigned for discussion was the Declaration of Independence. Taking part in the seminar resulted in their reading that document for the first time.

The discussions that followed revealed how little they understood the meaning of the Declaration’s principal terms before the discussion began, and how much more remained to be done after the seminar was over to bring them to a level of understanding that, in my judgment, is the minimal requisite for intelligent citizenship in this country. The same can also be said with regard to the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address.

I am sure that the sampling of high school students I met in these seminars is representative of the general state of mind, and that a similar sampling of our college graduates would not change the picture.

Over the last sixty-five years, I have also conducted executive seminars under the auspices of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, in which the participants are graduates of our best colleges and universities and have reached positions of eminence in our society -- the top echelons in industry, commercial establishments, journalism, the so-called learned professions, and government. Their understanding of the basic ideas in the Declaration and in the Preamble to the Constitution is not discernibly better than what I found among high school students.

On one very special occasion, I conducted a discussion of the Declaration with leading members of President John F. Kennedy’s Cabinet and his political entourage. To my surprise and chagrin, the result was the same.

The inevitable conclusion that I draw from all of these experiences is that there is work for us to do. I am fully aware that I cannot hope we will succeed in achieving what we seek to do -- to help every citizen, both young and old, understand the ideas and ideals of the Constitution.

Considering the extent of actual and functional illiteracy in this country, even that may be too much to hope for at the present time. Still, one must believe that reform of basic schooling will succeed in the years that lie ahead and that, at some future time, an understanding of the fundamental principles that underlie the political life of this Republic will be the possession of every citizen of the United States.

Our schools are not turning out young people prepared for the high office and the duties of citizenship in a democratic republic. Our political institutions cannot thrive, they may not even survive, if we do not produce a greater number of thinking citizens, from whom some statesmen of the type we had in the eighteenth century might eventually emerge. We are, indeed, a nation at risk, and nothing but radical reform of our schools can save us from impending disaster.

Whatever the price we must pay in money and effort to do this, the price we will pay for not doing it will be much greater.

Courtesy of Mortimer Adler’s Center for the Study of Great Ideas

“Does Congress Represent You? I bet you thought a congress person represented you. Wrong. They represent their political party. Whatever the party leadership says, that's how congress members vote. If you don't do as the party says, look for your party to run an opponent against you in your next primary election.” Charles Tolleson

Democracy, contrary to popular belief, is not under attack, what IS under attack is the republican form of government created from The Federalist Papers, The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution & The Bill of Rights.

Any peace officer, policeman, policewoman if fired for violation of a citizen’s Constitutional rights which they took an oath to uphold shall NOT be eligible for hire as a police officer in any jurisdiction or State of the United States of America.

The subject of Abortion doesn’t belong in the legal system but only as a discussion between a man, woman & doctor in their own home.

Why, is it when police are being aggressive or using too much force upon a citizen in detaining them is the act of coming to your fellow human beings AID considered interfering with a police investigation. Isn't this against all sense of ones humanity? If we as a society ALLOW this form of violence we are also allowing other forms of violence under the guise of being "socially acceptable" All violence stems from anger which stems from FEAR. Citizens are NOT second class people. Change the world you agreed to be in. rjdiiorio

The first priority of our politicians isn't solving our problems: As the great Thomas Sowell has said: "No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems — of which getting elected and re-elected are number one and number two. Whatever is number three is far behind..."

The real problem with and between Governments are the Goverments themselves. "
Put another shrimp on the barbie will ya"

'Regardless of your political affiliation or leanings, or which candidate you like or dislike, we should all be alarmed when those who are driven by their insatiable hunger for power are actively undermining our democracy without care for the short- and long-term consequences of their actions. They are doing all they possibly can to keep the American people from being able to choose who we want to vote for as president. They have no respect for us and our fundamental rights as citizens in a democratic republic. They are so afraid that we, the people, might make “the wrong choice” that in the name of protecting our democracy and saving us from ourselves, they are destroying our republic and taking away our freedom to decide who our next president should be. To make matters worse, those leading this fight really believe they’re doing the right thing. They say, with great concern in their voice, that if the American people elect Donald Trump again, he will destroy our republic and be the dictator-in-chief. This is why they feel they are justified in trying to take away our right to vote for any candidate we choose … in other words, they say they need to destroy our republic which they mistakenly call a democracy in order to “save” it.

This is lunacy. It’s the mindset and mentality of dictators.'

Gabbard, Tulsi. For Love of Country: Leave the Democrat Party Behind

https://views.cira.colostate.edu/fed/Pub/FederalLands.aspx

This is a list of lands that are owned or administered by the Federal government. National parks, wilderness areas, national wildlife refuges, military reservations, and public-domain land are all examples of lands owned or administered by the United States Federal Government, which is responsible for managing and protecting these lands to preserve the resources of the United States, to conduct the business of the Government, and to provide recreational and other opportunities to the public. This list was adapted from the US Federal Lands geospatial data layer obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Data Service.

Notice how the 'to conduct...' clause is included.

Eliminate the phase or clause that appears at the end of the majority of fiscal bills legislated "and for other purposes"

The President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States of America, and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Under Article II of the Constitution, the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. Fifteen executive departments — each led by an appointed member of the President’s Cabinet — carry out the day-to-day administration of the federal government. They are joined in this by other executive agencies such as the CIA and Environmental Protection Agency, the heads of which are not part of the Cabinet, but who are under the full authority of the President. The President also appoints the heads of more than 50 independent federal commissions, such as the Federal Reserve Board or the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as federal judges, ambassadors, and other federal offices. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of the immediate staff to the President, along with entities such as the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the United States Trade Representative.

The President has the power either to sign legislation into law or to veto bills enacted by Congress, although Congress may override a veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses.